For when he says this, he is not primarily enunciating a program for changing the world or simply attaching himself to a chain of historical events. By way of an attempt to shed some light on what really is involved I should like to suggest that the act of believing does not belong to the relationship “know-make”, which is typical of the intellectual context of “makability” thinking, but is much better expressed in the quite different relationship “stand-understand”.
It seems he is telling us that we need to stand for our beliefs that can only come from understanding them.
