ABSTRACT
In all things the end in view must be considered. Much as we may wish to avoid theoretical disquisitions, it is impossible to lay down a satisfactory scheme of collective life without being clear first as to what collective life is for. True, it is there and it need not be justified. But what is needed is not the justification of the fact of collective life, but an agreement as to its purpose and its finality without which nothing can be said as to the order of importance of the elements which compose it. The point has sprung to the first rank of our preoccupations, for of recent years the old doctrine which subordinates the individual to the State has gained new strength and dominates unchallenged in a few nations by no means unimportant. It is therefore necessary to discuss afresh this old controversy in order to build the rest of our work on solid ground.
