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This highly philosophical work, which attempts “to ascertain whether there are creative forces at work in the catastrophes of the time” examines the various realms of thought as they are expressed in science, metaphysics, art, politics, ethics, and religion, and concludes that in every sphere there has been a capitulation to a capitalistically organized state which shows itself in every sphere by a relation to time, which is expressed by a self-sufficient finitude, for he says, “In the sphere of the finite every goal that is set up, every method which is employed, is doubtful, limited, ultimately irresponsible. Only the Unconditioned can create unconditioned responsibility….” He discusses his own philosophical attitude as one of “belief-ful realism,” and realism for Tillich is “direction toward the Unconditioned.” In other words, to put it briefly, so long as we are content to remain in the realm of the finite and the conditioned, we will never soar to those heights which freedom from these shackles would make possible and reach the spiritual sources of inspiration. For example, in the practice of medicine he says that” the separation of body and soul, then the mechanization of the body, then the conception of the psychic as the product of the physical machine— these logical consequences of a rationalistic, atomistic conception of nature which had been deprived of life and of inwardness made the healing art more and more a mechanical and technical activity” And then he says very interestingly: “It was only when the psycho-analytic method became effective after 1900 that more important consequences were realized. This method restores independence to the soul. The depths of the unconscious are explored independently of bodily and organic processes.”
White