Human Cycle

* Book: Sri Aurobindo. The Human Cycle: The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination (The Psychology of Social Development). Lotus Press, 1999

URL = https://www.auro-ebooks.com/human-cycle/ (pdf)

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Description

Editorial history

"Three works of social and political philosophy. In The Human Cycle, Sri Aurobindo traces the evolution of human society and suggests where it is headed. In The Ideal of Human Unity, he examines the possibility of the unification of the human race. In War and Self-Determination, he discusses the sovereignty of nations in the aftermath of the First World War. These works were first serialised in the monthly review Arya between 1915 and 1920; later Sri Aurobindo revised them for publication.

The Human Cycle was first published in monthly instalments in the review Arya between August 1916 and July 1918 under the title The Psychology of Social Development. Each chapter was written immediately before its publication. The text was revised during the late 1930s and again, more lightly, in 1949. That year it was published as a book under the title The Human Cycle. The Publisher’s Note to the first edition, which was dictated by Sri Aurobindo, is reproduced in the present edition.

The Ideal of Human Unity was written and published in monthly instalments in the Arya between September 1915 and July 1918. In 1919 it was brought out as a book. Sri Aurobindo wrote a Preface to that edition which is reproduced in the present volume. He revised the book during the late 1930s, before the outbreak of World War II. References to political developments of the period between the world wars were introduced at this time, often in footnotes. In 1949 Sri Aurobindo undertook a final revision of The Ideal of Human Unity. He commented on the changed international situation in footnotes and made alterations here and there throughout the book, but brought it up to date mainly by the addition of a Postscript Chapter. In 1950 the revised text was published in an Indian and an American edition.

Five of the essays making up War and Self-Determination were published in the Arya between 1916 and 1920. In 1920 three of them—”The Passing of War?”, “The Unseen Power” and “Self-Determination”—along with a Foreword and a newly written essay, “The League of Nations”, were published as a book. In later editions the other two Arya essays, “1919” and “After the War”, were added by the editors.

In 1970 The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity and War and Self-Determination were published together as volume 15 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library under the title Social and Political Thought. This edition was reprinted several times. In 1998 The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity and War and Self-Determination were brought out as volume 25 of The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. This edition was thoroughly checked against the Arya and the texts of all revised editions."

(https://www.auro-ebooks.com/human-cycle/)

Contents

The Human Cycle

• Chapter I. The Cycle of Society
• Chapter II. The Age of Individualism and Reason
• Chapter III. The Coming of the Subjective Age
• Chapter IV. The Discovery of the Nation-Soul
• Chapter V. True and False Subjectivism
• Chapter VI. The Objective and Subjective Views of Life
• Chapter VII. The Ideal Law of Social Development
• Chapter VIII. Civilisation and Barbarism
• Chapter IX. Civilisation and Culture
• Chapter X. Aesthetic and Ethical Culture
• Chapter XI. The Reason as Governor of Life
• Chapter XII. The Office and Limitations of the Reason
• Chapter XIII. Reason and Religion
• Chapter XIV. The Suprarational Beauty
• Chapter XV. The Suprarational Good
• Chapter XVI. The Suprarational Ultimate of Life
• Chapter XVII. Religion as the Law of Life
• Chapter XVIII. The Infrarational Age of the Cycle
• Chapter XIX. The Curve of the Rational Age
• Chapter XX. The End of the Curve of Reason
• Chapter XXI. The Spiritual Aim and Life
• Chapter XXII. The Necessity of the Spiritual Transformation
• Chapter XXIII. Conditions for the Coming of a Spiritual Age
• Chapter XXIV. The Advent and Progress of the Spiritual Age

The Ideal of Human Unity

Part I

• Chapter I. The Turn towards Unity: Its Necessity and Dangers
• Chapter II. The Imperfection of Past Aggregates
• Chapter III. The Group and the Individual
• Chapter IV. The Inadequacy of the State Idea
• Chapter V. Nation and Empire: Real and Political Unities
• Chapter VI. Ancient and Modern Methods of Empire
• Chapter VII. The Creation of the Heterogeneous Nation
• Chapter VIII. The Problem of a Federated Heterogeneous Empire
• Chapter IX. The Possibility of a World-Empire
• Chapter X. The United States of Europe
• Chapter XI. The Small Free Unit and the Larger Concentrated Unity
• Chapter XII. The Ancient Cycle of Prenational Empire-Building — The Modern Cycle of Nation-Building
• Chapter XIII. The Formation of the Nation-Unit — The Three Stages
• Chapter XIV. The Possibility of a First Step towards International Unity — Its Enormous Difficulties
• Chapter XV. Some Lines of Fulfilment
• Chapter XVI. The Problem of Uniformity and Liberty

Part II

• Chapter XVII. Nature’s Law in Our Progress — Unity in Diversity, Law and Liberty
• Chapter XVIII. The Ideal Solution — A Free Grouping of Mankind
• Chapter XIX. The Drive towards Centralisation and Uniformity — Administration and Control of Foreign Affairs
• Chapter XX. The Drive towards Economic Centralisation
• Chapter XXI. The Drive towards Legislative and Social Centralisation and Uniformity
• Chapter XXII. World-Union or World-State
• Chapter XXIII. Forms of Government
• Chapter XIV. The Need of Military Unification
• Chapter XXV. War and the Need of Economic Unity
• Chapter XXVI. The Need of Administrative Unity
• Chapter XXVII. The Peril of the World-State
• Chapter XXVIII. Diversity in Oneness
• Chapter XXIX. The Idea of a League of Nations
• Chapter XXX. The Principle of Free Confederation
• Chapter XXXI. The Conditions of a Free World-Union
• Chapter XXXII. Internationalism
• Chapter XXXIII. Internationalism and Human Unity
• Chapter XXXIV. The Religion of Humanity
• Chapter XXXV. Summary and Conclusion

• A Postscript Chapter

War and Self-Determination

• The Passing of War?
• The Unseen Power
• Self-Determination
• A League of Nations
• 1919
• After the War