Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/278

mon. Therefore, as regards solidarity, the negation of sin leads to its destruction.

If we deny the solidarity of man, of the family, of the state, and of the species, we must also deny the unity of man, of the family, of the state, and of the species; because the identity between solidarity and unity is so complete, that what is one cannot even be conceived of except as possessed of solidarity, nor that which has solidarity, except as possessing unity. Therefore, as regards the question of unity, the negation of sin leads to its destruction.

The following negations proceed from the absolute negation of unity: that of humanity, society, the family, and man. In effect, nothing whatever exists, except under the condition of being one, and it is equivalent to the negation of the family, society, and humanity to deny the domestic, political, and human unity. From the negation of these three unities proceeds the negation of these three things. To affirm their existence and to deny their unity is a contradiction of terms. Each one of these things must either be one or have no existence whatever. Therefore, if they are not one, they do not exist, and even their name is an absurdity, since it is a name which neither represents nor expresses anything.

As regards the individual man, his negation as the result of the negation of unity, proceeds in a different manner. The individual man alone may, up to a certain point, exist without unity or solidarity. What is denied of him in denying his unity and solidarity is, that in the different moments of his life he remains the same person. If there is no link which unites the present with the past and future, it results from this, that mans.