@Lash,
Lash wrote: Diesen mentions Herder, who characterizes German society ‘das volk’ in such a lovely way—and Walter accuses him of perverting it with some Nazi interpretation with no evidence whatsoever.
Diesen quoted Herder's
Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit (Ideas for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind).
Herder's idea of viewing the dazzling diversity of peoples and cultures as expressions of a world spirit unfolding in its own way was influential throughout Europe.
He emphasised regional customs and cultural manifestations and contrasted them with the emotional and social rootlessness of a universalistic concept of society and culture. He distinguished between the state as a man-made entity and the people ["Volk"], to whom he attributed a metaphysical genesis through their own language. In his ‘Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind’, which traces far back into early world history, he states: ‘In this respect, the entire history of nations ["Völker"] becomes for us a school of the race to achieve the most beautiful crown of humanity and human dignity.’
NB: Volk, plural Völker
1. (collective) people, nation, folk, tribe, race (group united by culture, history, descent, and/or language)
2. people, population, citizens
3. common people, the lower classes, the working classes
4. folk, crowd (large group of people gathered somewhere)
5. (biology) herd, covey, swarm, colony; chiefly of insects