Gomparing material progress and spirituality, Dr. Hu Shih said, "Judged from the standpoint of human values, even material pro-itself is highly pregnant with spirituality. For progress in tech-ology means the use of human in: telligence to devise tools machines for multiplication Rim from the pitiful fate of sulferewer to do work and for rel
ing unnecessary pains without being able to corn a bare subsistence. Whatever may be the improper use man may make of the technological improvements and the resultant] Ieisure and comfort, the relief of Auman suffering and the enrichment of human life are in themselves spiritual. We do not necessarily condemn God merely because honest heretics have been burned to death in Hi On the other hand, there is little or no spirituality in much that passes by the name of religion. One has only to watch a Chinese funeral procession in, order to satisfy one's self that the religion of filial piety has long become a dead letter. It is interesting to note that during the last ten years, the few outstanding thinkers, of modern China all agree in recognizing the spiritual values of the modern civilization of the West. tual <element science is its scepticism, the spirit to doubt everything ud accept without sufficient evidence. ly negative, but essentially constructive and creative: it sims the conquering of doubt itself and establishing belief on a more solid basis. It is this spirit of "creative doubt" which has made the biograph-fea of the great scientists like Darwin, Huxley, Pasteur and Koch the most inspiring of all human records. Just, as credulity" has made our medieval saints, to has doubt made our modern gods who fought natu and blessed mane The Gift of Ideals and fraternity have become the pad "The ideals of liberty, eavalit
cry of great revolutions and have Worked themacives into. the con stitutions of the new republics. They ought about the downfall of monarchies and empires, and have given to. man equality before' the law and freedom of thought, speech, publication and religious' belief, 'Above. all, they have' emancipated the women and made -unversal education a reality. The ideals of socialism are merely supplementary to the earlier and more individ tis ideals of democracy. Partly by organizing labour, and partly" by farsighted governmental policy, many ideas once regarded at dan: {gerously socialistic-taxation on in-Heritance, progressive income tax, compulsory" insurance of workmen, regulation of working hours minimum wage, and others-—have become an integral part of the legis-{ative and governmental programme of the modern sta Concluding, the speaker said, "I beg to offer a new definition of the much abused phrases spiritual civilization' and materialistic civilization.'
That civilization is materialistic which is limited by matter and is tunable to transcend it; which feels. itself powerless against its material environment and fails to make the fall use of human intelligence for: the conquest of nature and for the improvement of the conditions of man, That civilization which makes the fullest possible use of human ingenuity and intelligence in search of; truth in order to control nature and. transform matter for the service of mankind, to liberate the human toit, and to reform social and political institutions for the benefit of the greatest mumber,—euch civilization is highly idealistic and spiritual. This efvitization is certainly not the best possible, but its fature growth and improvement will not be brought about by returning to the spiritualistic ideals of th East, but only by conscious end ours in the direction of fully realizing the idealistic potentialities which historical progress has indicated."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.