MÜLLER FREIENFELS, Richard. Mysteries of the Soul. Trans. Bernard Miall. London: George Allen and Unwin. 1929. 8vo. First British edition published simultaneously as the American edition. Publisher’s plum cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket. A near fine example, the cloth slightly marked and rubbed, the binding tight and perhaps just a trifle rolled. The contents clean and fine but with some odd black spots to the fore-edge. The dust jacket unclipped (12s 6d net), the spine panel slightly marked and toned, with some tiny chips and rubbing to corners and tips, but still a pleasing copy.
A rather uncommon volume of what is often a very dense mixture of philosophy, psychology and theology—in his much more accessible preface and indeed the later chapters, the German philosopher considers a golden rule for the young thinker: more knowledge leads to more questions. Müller Freinfels was at the time of publication a highly regarded social critic, winning the prestigious Nietzsche Prize in 1922. His legacy was obliterated when he joined the Nazi Party in 1933, and existed quietly throughout the Third Reich and indeed until his death in 1949. Yet the Christian principles he concludes with here contrast with the Germanic Paganism his apparent party enforced, and several scholars point to his letters as to his compromise over the fascism which surrounds him; ‘the writer’s conformation is ambiguous or ceremonial, and what he really thinks and believes is unmistakable’ [H. M. Kallen]—an ethical issue which today blights not only academics and philosophers, but athletes and celebrities.
MÜLLER FREIENFELS, Richard. Mysteries of the Soul. Trans. Bernard Miall. London: George Allen and Unwin. 1929. 8vo. First British edition published simultaneously as the American edition. Publisher’s plum cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket. A near fine example, the cloth slightly marked and rubbed, the binding tight and perhaps just a trifle rolled. The contents clean and fine but with some odd black spots to the fore-edge. The dust jacket unclipped (12s 6d net), the spine panel slightly marked and toned, with some tiny chips and rubbing to corners and tips, but still a pleasing copy.
A rather uncommon volume of what is often a very dense mixture of philosophy, psychology and theology—in his much more accessible preface and indeed the later chapters, the German philosopher considers a golden rule for the young thinker: more knowledge leads to more questions. Müller Freinfels was at the time of publication a highly regarded social critic, winning the prestigious Nietzsche Prize in 1922. His legacy was obliterated when he joined the Nazi Party in 1933, and existed quietly throughout the Third Reich and indeed until his death in 1949. Yet the Christian principles he concludes with here contrast with the Germanic Paganism his apparent party enforced, and several scholars point to his letters as to his compromise over the fascism which surrounds him; ‘the writer’s conformation is ambiguous or ceremonial, and what he really thinks and believes is unmistakable’ [H. M. Kallen]—an ethical issue which today blights not only academics and philosophers, but athletes and celebrities.
