Chapter VIII: Conclusion

The character and frequency of the references which Herder makes in his writings to the philosophers of the eighteenth century show that he knew the predominant lines of thought which characterized the entire period of the enlightenment. The outstanding eighteenth-century theories which seem to have a place in Herder’s conception of _das Volk_ are well epitomized in the teachings of Leibniz, Shaftesbury, and Rousseau.

Herder’s own exposition of a part of Leibniz’ contribution to thought shows how he found here some things which were in agreement with his own fundamental ideas concerning innate potentialities.

The praise given to Shaftesbury’s principal ideas of the harmonious development of the individual and of humanity lead us to believe that Shaftesbury had exercised an influence on the German writer.

The numerous eulogistic outbursts over Rousseau, the coinciding in many writings by both men of details concerning the essential elements in man’s nature, concerning primitivism, liberty, and the ideal state, show that Herder was fully imbued with the spirit of Rousseau, expressed in the cry, “back to nature.”