Principles and aims of the New Atlantis Foundation

The Foundation does not claim to assess the relative significance of each of the world elements. The work is one which will have to evolve over a long period with the co-operation of individuals from all of them. It requires a wholly new orientation of thought and feeling away from narrow specialisation, aggressive partiality, exclusive adherence to dogma, or the pursuit of new cults. The aim is to foster an appreciation of the need for this new attitude of mind; and also the realisation of the central significance of culture. For by culture we mean Religion, Philosophy and Science, the Arts, and all human activities which have their value in themselves rather than in their usefulness towards some further end. Culture should be concerned with the meaning of Man’s life on earth and not merely with occupying leisure time.

The new, wholly new, creative task is now to review the whole of Man’s past history — the wonder and glory of saints, heroes, sages and prophets; the work of scientists, philosophers, scholars and artists; and equally the wickedness and shame of tyrants, criminals and fools — so as to make these live again imaginatively in our present experience. And then to revalue them in relation to one another and to the whole development of mankind. Most important is it to realise that it is by the creative valuation of individual persons of genius, those who have been able to express thoughts and feelings of the most universal human significance, that human life with all its attainments has developed. It is through this review and revaluation of Man’s past in the light of the present, and through appreciation of the works of genius, trying to see each in his significance in relation to the others, and all as expressions of the whole Man, that we may approach an answer to the questions ‘Who is Man?’ and thence “What is the meaning and purpose of Man’s life ?’.

It is, however, only individual persons who can accomplish this review and revaluation. They may indeed profess a particular religion or philosophy, and will belong to a particular race, age and profession, but they will be those who realise that, while each of these is significant as a function of the whole, the whole mankind and the whole man is beyond any of them. Finally every individual must be enabled to share in this common human work. The task is one of critique. Criticism has in the past tended to be thought of as analytical, negative and destructive. The new critique is to be synthetic, positive and creative. It is not to decide which point of view is truer or better than another, but to focus the full light of man’s critical powers on to the whole varied panorama of what has already been given; and thus by continually reassessing and revaluing every element in Man’s past history and present life to create a living picture of Man and his possible future fulfilment.