Albert Schweitzer's social and ethical philosophy is best expressed in The Philosophy of Civilization. Not widely available in recent years, this edition will give contemporary readers the opportunity to discover his prophetic thought.
In Book I, The Decay and Restoration of Civilization, Schweitzer argues that the essential feature of every culture is its world view, and that a culture can be healthy and stable only as its world view is optimistic and ethical. Without this outlook, it is impossible to avoid the world's destruction.
In Book II, Civilization and Ethics, he reviews the world's major ethical systems in search of the essential principle of "the moral," after which the world and life-affirming ethic of "reverence for life" is set forth. Through Schweitzer's guidance, man will strive for spiritual and ethical self-fulfillment which in turn may be actualized in all the processes of the world, making us a truly civilized people. Schweitzer's ultimate goal is to help us recognize that the source of universal misery and catastrophe is the absence of a theory of the universe.
Albert Schweitzer was born into an Alsatian family which for generations had been devoted to religion, music, and education. His father and maternal grandfather were ministers; both of his grandfathers were talented organists; many of his relatives were persons of scholarly attainments.
Having decided to go to Africa as a medical missionary rather than as a pastor, Schweitzer in 1905 began the study of medicine at the University of Strasbourg. In 1913, having obtained his M.D. degree, he founded his hospital at Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa, but in 1917 he and his wife were sent to a French internment camp as prisoners of war. Released in 1918, Schweitzer spent the next six years in Europe, preaching in his old church, giving lectures and concerts.
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