The inevitable result of a one-sided glimpse at historical
facts would have been a history of love, an undertaking for which I lack
both ability and inclination. On the other hand, had I written a merely
psychological treatise, disregarding the succession of periods, I should
have laid myself open to the just reproach of giving rein to my
imagination instead of dealing with reality.
I have availed myself of historical facts to demonstrate that what
psychology has shown to be the necessary phases of the evolution of
love, have actually existed in historical time and characterised a whole
period of civilisation. The history of civilisation is an end in itself
only in the chapter entitled "The Birth of Europe."
My work is intended to be first and foremost a monograph on the
emotional life of the human race. I am prepared to meet rather with
rejection than with approval. Neither the historian nor the psychologist
will be pleased. Moreover, I am well aware that my standpoint is
hopelessly "old-fashioned.
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