636 DOCS.
610,
611
SEPTEMBER
1918
The matter
naturally is not
urgent.
But
I would be
extremely pleased
if
you
could send
me
a
line
informing
me
of
whether
you
basically agree
to
my proposal.
In
case
of
an acceptance,
all further
questions
(length,
publication deadline,
etc.)
could be reserved for
later
discussion of
the
details.
In
the
hope
that,
in
the interest
of
all
philosophical circles, my request
has
not been in
vain,
I
remain with all due
respect, yours very truly,
Max Frischeisen-Köhler.
P.S.
In
the
form
of
a
footnote
I
may
perhaps
mention
that,
as
editor
of
the
Philosophische Jahrbücher,
I
have
on
one
occasion
already
tried
to
present
the
theory
of
relativity
to
philosophical
circles.
At the
time,
Mr. Laue
had the
kind-
ness
to
take
on
reporting
about
it.[4]
But since that
time,
the
theory
has
developed
very
much
further,
of
course,
and
it
would
matter
very
much
to
me if,
in
partic-
ular,
the author
of the
theory
could decide
to
develop
in
the Kant-Studien
those
elements from it critical for
our
conception
of nature
and
the
world,
and
primarily
free of
superfluous trimmings.
611. From Kurt
Hiller[1]
Friedenau, Berlin, 9
Hähnel
St., 7
September
1918
Strictly
confidential.
Esteemed
Professor,
The
parliaments
are
letting
us
down. It
is
clear
to
many
thinkers
today
that
salvation
cannot
come
from
the
official appointees
but
only
from
an
association of
intellectually
oriented individuals who
come
together
by
force of
voluntary
resolve
and
impose
themselves
on
the
public
at
the
critical
“psychological
moment.”[2]
Opinions diverge
on
whether
this moment
is
already
in
sight.
One
feels tempted
to
answer
the
question
in
the
affirmative
upon reading
letters
like
the
one
whose
text I
am enclosing
herewith. The
letter
originates
from
a
major at
the
front,
commander of
an
engineer
battalion
in the Somme
region.[3]
The
positive
sug-
gestion
made
by
this
officer
coincides in
essence
with
a suggestion
by
the
writer
Otto
Flake in
the June
issue of
the
Friedenswarte[4]
[Watch-Tower
for
Peace]
(unfortunately
not
importable
from
Switzerland)
and
is
in welcome
agreement
with what has been
running
through
the
minds
of
members of
the
immediate cir-
cle
of
activists
for
a
long
time
now.
The
“League
for
the
Cause”
[Bund
zum Ziel]
which, according
to
plan,
has
unfortunately
remained in statu nascendi since the
Westend Resolutions of
August
1917,
would
now
perhaps
have occasion to
come
fully
to
light
and
to
do its first
deed.[5]