Foreign Seeds

Foreign seeds make their way into Britain in the updraft of passing trains, W. says. They spread along the sidings, following the railway …

And along what path do foreign ideas enter our country?, he wonders. Ah, the British want nothing to do with Old European ideas, we agree. They want nothing to do with our ideas, which we’ve borrowed from Old Europe, and are bringing along the railway in our own way.

Britain is essentially a unphilosophical country, we agree, just as we are essentially unphilosophical. Oh, we love philosophical ideas, that’s true. We have the highest enthusiasm for such ideas. But we love them from without, that’s our problem. We don’t understand what we love.

We love reading about philosophy because we know nothing whatsoever about philosophy, we agree. We love reading about politics because we know nothing whatsoever about politics. We love reading about God because we know nothing whatsoever about God …