The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination (CWSA Volume 25) collects three major works of Sri Aurobindo’s social and political philosophy, originally published in the Arya between 1915 and 1920 and later revised.

The Human Cycle (The Psychology of Social Development)

First published in the Arya as The Psychology of Social Development (August 1916–July 1918) and revised in 1949, this work applies Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual psychology to the development of human societies.

Key Chapters:

  • The Cycle of Society — The symbolic, typal, conventional, individualist, and subjective ages
  • The Age of Individualism and Reason
  • The Coming of the Subjective Age
  • The Discovery of the Nation-Soul
  • True and False Subjectivism
  • The Ideal Law of Social Development
  • Civilisation and Culture
  • Aesthetic and Ethical Culture
  • The Reason as Governor of Life
  • The Suprarational Ultimate of Life
  • Religion as the Law of Life
  • The Spiritual Aim and Life
  • The Necessity of Spiritual Transformation
  • The Advent and Progress of the Spiritual Age

Key Concepts:

  • The Cyclical Theory: Society passes through symbolic, typal, conventional, rational, individualist, and subjective stages
  • Subjectivism: The turn towards inner truth as the next stage of social evolution
  • The Spiritual Age: The ultimate goal of social development — a society governed by spiritual truth
  • Civilisation vs Culture: Civilisation as outer accomplishment, culture as inner development

The Ideal of Human Unity

First published in the Arya (September 1915–July 1918) and revised in 1949 with a postscript chapter, this work examines the possibility and conditions of human unity in the modern world.

Key Chapters:

  • The Turn towards Unity: Its Necessity and Dangers
  • The Imperfection of Past Aggregates
  • The Group and the Individual
  • The Inadequacy of the State Idea
  • The Possibility of a World-State
  • The Psychological Conditions of Human Unity
  • The Necessity of a Spiritual Foundation for Unity
  • Postscript Chapter (1949): Reflections on the post-war international situation

Key Concepts:

  • Unity must be based on psychological and spiritual principles, not merely political or economic arrangements
  • The nation-state is an imperfect and transitional formation
  • True human unity requires a spiritual foundation

War and Self-Determination

Five essays published in the Arya (1916–1920) and as a book in 1920: “The Passing of War?”, “The Unseen Power”, “Self-Determination”, “The League of Nations”, “1919”, “After the War”.

Source Summary

CWSA Volume 25 contains the complete text of all three works, checked against all editions published during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. The Human Cycle was revised in the late 1930s and again in 1949. The Ideal of Human Unity was revised through the late 1930s and received a final revision in 1949 with a new Postscript Chapter. The essays on war and self-determination were published as a book in 1920.

See Also