We live in a time of functionalism, operationalism and technologism with all its levelling, depersonalising and dehumanising effects. In such an age, the question arises of philosophy as critical, reflective theory about the world, man's position and purpose in the world and the relationship between philosophy and man as a free individual. This book makes an attempt to give an answer to this question. It has been written from great concern as to the future destiny of mankind, in the light of various contemporary attempts at the abolition of philosophy and at merging it in practice, as this...

The function of philosophy may be circumscribed as consisting in ma king a keen analysis of the peculiar nature of the crisis-situation, as it has existed among men throughout the centuries of human history, and as it manifested itself in definite ways at the various stages of this his tory. That is to say, philosophy may be regarded as the discipline which, again and again, will have to determine the authenticity of man's ex istence in the light of the changing conditions of life, i. e., man's chang ing needs and interests. Fundamentally, these needs may be regarded as being of a material,...