Page - 122 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

122 chapter 4 science, philosophy, poetry and culture. Crucially, Bauer viewed the essence of the national character as primarily determined by cultural heritage. The provenanceof thenational character, on theotherhand,wasamatterof sec- ondaryimportanceforhim. However, thequestionremainsastowhyaparticular typeofnationalchar- acter arbitrates a strictly defined rangeof commonbehavioural patterns and bonds in thesphereofconsciousness.Furthermore,what traitof thenational character affords it priority over professional or class character? The answer is in how thenational charactermanifests itself in concrete human actions, andfor these, the ‘directionofwill’ (Willensrichtung, acategoryheintroduced under the influence ofMax Adler) is significant. According to Bauer, every rationalhumanbeingmakesconsciousdecisionsinthestruggletosatisfytheir needs.Ascogitativesubjects,humansregulatetheshapeofsocialphenomena, yetatthesametime,theirbeingisdeterminedbyreality.Everyexternalstimu- lustriggersaspecifictypeofbehaviour,oneparticularactioninsteadofanother. Defendingthemonist-deterministperceptionofsociety,Bauerwaspreparedto acceptthatgeneraldeterminationprevailedintheworldofsocialphenomena. ClearlyinspiredbyMaxAdler’sneo-Kantiandisquisitions,Bauerbelievedthat thiswas rooted in the fact that the individual’swillwas anexpressionof the aprioricollectivewill. Thecollectivewill, as a formofhumanconsciousness, is subject to thedeterminationprocess. Individuals formanation through a unifiedwill.Thisbecomesapparent inthefact thatpeopleof thesamenation make the same, or at least very similar, choices.When finding themselves in similar situations or being subject to similar factors, they drawon the same systemofvalues: Thewill expresses itself evenmore directly in decision-making. AGer- man and anEnglishman act differently in different circumstances and approach the samework indifferentways. Theychoosedifferentpleas- ureswhen theywish to enjoy themselves, prefer different lifestyles and satisfydifferentneedswhentheysharethesamelevelofprosperity.These traitsarecertainlyconstitutiveoftheessenceofthenationalcharacter.9 In relation to the world of humans and nature, Bauer regarded the will as the creative force. Consequently, the national character decided the type of actionsdirectedtowardsotherhumansandnature(naturebeingunderstoodas asocialcategoryintheLukácsiansense). InBauer’sestimations,this ‘direction 9 Bauer1996,p.99.