m
I
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■'■«*
UNIVERSAL CLASSICS
LIBRARY
ILLUSTRATED
WTH PH0T0CRAWRE5 ON
JAPAN VELLVM ETCHINGS
HAND PAINTED INDIA-PLATE
RLPRODVCTIONS.AND
FULL PAGE PORTRAITS
OFAVTHORS.
A\ WALTER DUNNE, PUBLISHER
WASHINGTON
b~
LONDON
Copyright, 1901,
M. WALTER
DUNNE,
PUBLISHER
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
From
a
Painting by
F.
von
Lenbach.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
AND
OTHER
ARTHUR
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER
FKASMAUL)
BAILEY
K\
SAUNDERS
and
ERNEST BELFORT BA\
WITH
A
SPECIAL
INTROLXCTIOS
B1!
JANES GIBSON HUN E, N. A.,Ph. D..
f'rolfssor ot
Philosophv L'm\ ersit\
ol
Toronto
nUXNU'UI'.LIM IFI:
WASHINGTON & LONDON
rlAVALTII!
Copyright
M. WALTER
1901,
DUNNE,
PUBLISHER
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION
Essays
The
are
Schopenhauer
of
designated
well
by
It
tains to the first Essay.
earlier
essays
are
physical,
practical
which
important
of
as
valuable,
sitions, to the
in
such
a
student
thus
of
standing
great
so
It
authors,
to
his
habit
his
reader
even
title.
note
How
writings
to
expo
has
illuminating.
is taken from his
and
not
stolen.
by
It
the
to
accredited
adopted
advantage
He
in
has
a
himself,
and
form
a
Schopenhauer
become his own,
of
with
of
this
he
and
selects
he
While
and
pleasing
to
given
writes
and
developed
expression
recluse
when
distinctive
a
highly
a
entertainingly.
it
will
has he
title
be
are
the advice to
a
It is indeed
crowd.
writes
accordance
literature
well
the
classified.
superscription.
the
in
it is
enjoys
the
talks to
he
does
to practice what he preaches in regard
matters,
of
he
transmuted as to
style.
frankly
writing
instance,
Ethics,
presented
be
cannot
lost in the
Although
pretend
ethical
the
we
num
general reader and
Schopenhauer
while
and
and
talking
not
yet
He
what
and
material
readers.
of
his
to
and
literary
arranges
and
however, borrowed,
possesses
sense
artistic
a
and
writers
acknowledged
his image
also
polished
of
is,
assimilated
bearing
He
deal
case
each
original
it is
meta
abstract
alone.
being
escapes
predecessors.
in
more
to the
appeal
philosophical
true that a
is
upon
Metaphysics
to his
or
Hence
literature.
advantage
He
to
as
views
per
that the
noticed
ethical.
in philosophy,
specialist
manner
of
Among
in
problems
introduction
an
volume
specially
theoretical
or
have in these Essays Schopenhauer's
ber
be
will
predominantly
later
the
in this
comprised
the title
found
that his
practiced
writers
succeeded
appropriate,
by
upon
views
himself.
on
For
the choice of a
in this.
striking,
Each
of
his
suggestive,
SCHOPENHAUER
VI
Another
this
An
in
is
more
of
what
of
can
we
this
for,
as
admire
with
He is
writer
any
On the
sense
Indeed they
than
more
multitude
most
of
sins.
there
personality.
the peculiarities of
a problem as
are
not
other
whole
than there is
in Schopenhauer's
individual.
much
as
much
a
is fascinated
philosophy.
any
theory,
own
This
striking personality.
interest even if it does not
approval.
in
commend
one
eccentric
his
as
can
we
what
Nevertheless
and
or elicit
admiration
evoke
be
Schopenhauer has is
that
and
unique
notice
a
covers
advantage
a
attracts
always
that
dignity
additional
possessing
his
in
confidence
without
earnest at all times,
not, makes him
and savage attacks
moods
his petty
or
even
makes
certain
a
fault-finding
merely
His
a positive
advocate of
the
also
not
proposed.
justifiable
whether
attain
is
criticism
substitute
and
critic, he is
a
posing as
His
lief.
that while
has, is,
that Schopenhauer
advantage
the
same
excepting
complex
problem,
Fichte,
and
Schopenhauer's
writers,
His own peculiar
philosophy is an expression of himself.
character
is the <( will B of which his philosophy is the
*
to use his own phraseology.
From this
presentation,"
would
one
be
naturally
led to
expect a consistent and
harmonious system, but this presupposes a unitary char
acter.
Such, however, is just the reverse of the facts in
this
Schopenhauer's
case.
No delineation
diction.
to
the
weird
are
bound
approach
the
two
is
well
not
aware
for it first
the
of
this,
and
by heredity
Universe.
himself
alternating,
"writ
His
large,"
a
walking
uncanny way in which
together, forever fiercely
and
in his
own
secondly
philosophy
as
contra
Mr. Hyde
and
in Schopenhauer.
and
just
is
Dr. Jekyll
a
natures
can
fighting,
character
of
of
his
He himself
way tries to account
by
the
a
philosophy of
Universe is just
remarks
on
women
are
his mother, as he views her.
just a detailed
was
born in 1788, died in
Schopenhauer
Arthur
His
account
of
i860.*
and Writings, » see Article "Arthur Scho
Britannica, Vol. XXI., pp. 448-458; also
»
"Life of Arthur Schopenhauer,
by William Wallace, with Bibliog
to
published by Walter Scott, London.
J.
P.
1890;
Anderson,
up
raphy, by
*For Schopenhauer's «Life
penhauer »
For
in
son
in Encyclopaedia
a criticism
«Mind,»
of
Schopenhauer's
Vol. I., 1876,
pp.
system
491-509.
see article
by
R. Adam-
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION
father, Heinrich Schopenhauer, was a
Dantzic, of strong political opinions,
vii
wealth}'
of
terests,
independence
and
Johanna
Schopenhauer,
erary instincts
death,
and
unfortunate
less fears,
also
father's
and
mental
form
It
for
be
easy individual to deal with.
and
her selfishness, her
and
mortifying,
her
disparaging
the
true
sadly
tude
ate
and
that
his
mother
natural
there was
not
snubbing,
to
seem
and
have
Schopenhauer
which
the tender solici
recall
deeply
and
godly
whole
him
was not
butterfly
mother's
of
he
Scho
with
that he
method
side
affection
life, Schopenhauer
could
heartlessness.
Not
and
lacking
in
regard
This
in
interest
his love for the beautiful
was
reflective
he
Plato
philosopher
in
tendencies that dragged him to the earth,
that turned his gaze upward
conjoined a genius
persistently.
us.
dealing
ap
ground
to
according
love
frivolity
of
that
son.
With
world
a
were
son were unfortunate
could
of
the
positively cruel, but simply
she was
for her
influence
molding his
was
of
She did
of
While Kant
pious
mother
accuse
instinct
mother
needed.
author
alienation
His
lit
of
in
granted
vanity
injurious in their influence.
an
eccentricities,
On his mother's
method
must
as
of
environment,
testimony, her
lady
Schopenhauer
there
as
in
was
her husband's
success
side,
suspiciousness.
in
unsympathetic.
was
of
mother
refined
after
who,
heredity
to
in the
son
suffered
penhauer's
an
the
tendencies
in the
peared
ambitions,
standpoint of
on
father strong
a graceful and
to some degree
attained
From the
ess.
His
thought.
of
merchant
cosmopolitan
contrast
From
contemplation.
appropriated
with
the
a vision
fleeting
of
shadows
and
the
the
that
his
poet-
ideal
mock
Plato's story of the Cave is Schopenhauer's philosophy
He turns with eager interest to the
main features.
in its
neo-
Platonic
self-obliteration, its
vana.
He
familiar
thinker.
claimed
the original Plato.
adaptations of
he is led back to Oriental
speculation with
annihilation of
the
Kant assiduously
the leading features of
studied
with
When
he
began
to
to be the true disciple
write
of
translates, selects, rejects, adapts,
From this
its Buddhistic
Will-to-live, its Nir
made
himself
this great
modern
and
his
Kant,
and
own
views
he
but in reality he
modifies
Kant to
SCHOPENHAUER
viii
suit
his
He
predilections.
own
tention to the differences in
"Critique
for
English
fered to
they have been first
and
looked
fiercely
through
at
Schopenhauer's presentation, which is
The fault is partly with Kant
Kant's
Kant
attacks
edition.
Hegel have
in
that
suf
cases
many
the
at
call
of
second
and
fact
from the
to
editions
the
both Kant
readers
extent
some
two
into
introduced
modifications
Among
Reason,"
the Pure
of
the first
was
the
spectacles
of
often a misrepresen
tation.
Schopenhauer
the
about
says
What
Hegel.
and
lack
style or rather
of style
It
unfortunately too true.
surprising that the majority of those to whom
German is a foreign language should begin their acquaint
in
much
is
not
that
they
is
wrote
—
German
philosophy through the reading of
and
because
of the elegance, simplicity,
Schopenhauer,
charm of his exposition.
But Schopenhauer is not a trust
with
ance
worthy
himself
w
he
and
exposition
the
or
expositor
of
an
originals
cast of
and
almost
antidote
It
as
be the
contradictions
that
is
a
rightfully
What
Schopenhauer
means
easily
solved.
The
reader
ceptions.
find
opposite
istic to the
to
In
poles of
most
and
displeases
♦The
all
the
refined
sorts
with
to
to his
It
the
own
the
place
abiding Will.
a
puzzle
warned
chief
theory
where
usurp
be
his
this
idealistic.
and
an
trace
to
world
contradiction
strive
meaning from the
enumerate the ambiguities
Hegel
of
student as
According
should
with
A
onesidedness.*
deeper, more
(<
*
by Will is
the term
connection
type.
old
comprehension
A knowledge
mighty
continually
belongs to the
lightly identifying
in the
philosophical
appearances
any
impressions from the
much
in Schopenhauer.
the whole Universe
false
accepting
them to go to
thing in
easiest
for
speak
advises
indistinct like
Schopenhauer's
against
would
to the
essential
can
against
their
and
help
will
He
others.
Schopenhauer.
and correction of
is
of
readers
take
not
blurred
cast,
of Kant
knowledge
his
author, earnestly
"
a
critic
warns
previous
term
crudest
would
not
against
we
con
may
material
be tedious
whereby he alternately pleases
conditions of theorizers and
following writers in English have been in various degrees
by Hegel: Morris, Wallace, Green, John and Edward
Caird, Watson, Royce, Ritchie. Dewey, Harris.
in0uenced
SPECIAL
He declares that
anti-theorizers.
"I
a
all
that
usual
not
does
beautiful
a
life,
expect
it
(?)
proves
sculptor who
make
for
wisdom
should
we
and as
saint,
from the
ful to
a man's creed
should
be
a
tion is for action,
argues
ix
"
metaphysic, and then elaborately argues
metaphysic is foolishness.
He asserts that specula
have
must
that
INTRODUCTION
then
and
a
by
a
misleading analogy
to be himself beauti
not need
He does
statue.
sophistically
to be
metaphysician
not
claim
con
Although
sistency between his theory and his practice.
he discovers the root of all morality and religion in a basal
sympathy due to the fact that in the last resort all be
ings are but passing phases of the one identical striving;
the
the
tics,
of
of
In
the
and
he cleverly
spite
to the
gather
much
hauer.
His
of
is true
what
that
claim
sometimes
his
of
life that is really his
a
not
the
also of
should
and
often
amusing,
character, we may
excellent from Schopen
own
and
man
own
mys
the foolishness of suicide.
refutes
conflict
misan
the
demand
his
the joys of life but
contradictions
of
tragic, due
his
outruns
in
pantheists
renunciation of
life,
Schopenhauer is
Although he
sympathy.
pietists
only for the
love
in
characteristic
chief
thropic lack
not
have
theory
a
blindly
one
of
adopted
a truth
that needs to be reasserted in
on authority is
Without this insight, no progress.
Schopen
every age.
hauer has been accused of repudiating history altogether.
What he despises
of
incidents
and
is the
condemns
their
discerning
without
mere enumeration
deeper
meaning.
It may be granted that he does more to state the prob
He refers to
lem of life than he does toward solving it.
"
"
ultimate
metaphysical
his
as
Will
reality, and to
K
*
Sympathy
lem
tt
sense
they
Will
are
to
destruction
to
and
result
in
such
start
with
as
<(
spite
are
of
is
successors
Sympathy
in
n
John
a
theory
brought
in
understood, if
and not in self-
Even
Schopenhauer's
philosophical
Locke
and
not
it, whereby
decked in borrowed plumage,
end with
because
the
Unlike
value.
John Stuart
and
what
be
self-conservation
has
prob
to discover in
must
Schopenhauer.
a narrow
that
The
ultimate ethical principle.
his
conclusion
writers
but in
"
as
pessimistic
truths
his
as
he leaves
many
theory,
jackdaw
Schopenhauer
who
excellent
their
of
original
Mill,
with
gets
all
his
SCHOPENHAUER
x
is
waywardness
with
least in his final
at
his fundamental
his "materialistic
it is
which
seen
insight than the
issue
to
be
will
those who
gloomy
regarded
shallow optimism
somewhat
reject
pessimism
as
a
that
pessimistic conclusion
the
eration of
original
is
more
charac
The
against
is throughout
him every
one
anyone who
who
announces
so-called
every
a
is
a reconsid
presuppositions.
Schopenhauer explicitly
revolt
to lead to
likely
in
truer
other recent theosophical pantheistic systems.
terizes
work
the
pantheism,"
consistent
conclusion
To
philosophy.
that he
orthodox
He
protest.
dissatisfied,
is in
His
attracts
naturally
and
open
position.
where can
we
to
find
thinks seriously who does not find something
?
It will not be surprising if the
emendation
needing
majority of those who would in varying degrees accept
Schopenhauer's denunciations of established opinions
should
be
also
urged
that instead
of
being
covery
to
of
the
would
see
against
equal
his
position.
gained
combination
far in
advance
Schopenhauer,
in
spite
of
and
we
all
both to the literary
If we understand the
suggestion
and
The
result
could
might
be
saying that nothing was left over worthy
retained, the point of view gained by the dis
inadequacy in each one-sided position might lead
or his
opponents, for which
humble and hearty thanks.
student.
that
objections
of
stereoscopic
be
force in the
own
extend our
whereby
of either
should give
his
and
a
both
faults, is
to the
secret of
his
new
result
Schopenhauer
a
of
them
mine
of
philosophical
waywardness
sympathy,
not waste our efforts
we
shall
reap much benefit
in too harsh criticism.
A*4*>ia^^JL^%
CONTENTS
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
Chap.
pAOB
Introduction
1.
II.
i
Division
Personality,
III.
Property,
IV.
Position,
Subject
the
ok
or
What
or
What
or a
...
Man Is
a
u
.
Man Has
a
Man's Place
3
...
36
...
Estimation
in the
of
Others
—
Sect.
1.
Reputation
Sect.
2.
Pride
Sect.
3.
Rank
53
Sect.
4.
Honor
54
Sect.
5.
Fame
85
44
....
51
ESSAYS
Sketch
of
a
History
of
the
Doctrine
of
Philosophy
of
the
Ideal
and
Real
Fragments
101
ok the
History
—
Sect.
1.
On the
Sect.
2.
Pre-Socratic
Sect.
3.
Socrates
Sect.
4.
Plato
141
Sect.
5.
Aristotle
145
Sect.
6.
Stoics
Sect.
7.
Neoplatonists
Sect
8.
The Gnostics
159
Sect.
9.
Scotus Erigena
160
same
.
.
150
.
10.
Scholasticism
Sect.
11.
Bacon
155
....
the
12.
The
13.
Further Observations
Sect.
14.
Observations
and
Philosophy
on
of
the
on
Moderns
Kantian
Schopenhauer's
Its Method
on
Antithesis
164
165
Sect.
Some Rkflkctions
....
Verulam
Sect.
On Philosophy
130
139
.
Sect.
of
lag
Philosophy
.
of
...
167
Philosophy
178
Philosophy
230
.
Thing-in-itself
.
237
and
Phenomenon
255
(")
SCHOPENHAUER
Xll
Page
Some Words
on
Pantheism
263
On Ethics
On
the
266
Doctrine
Nature
by
the
of
Indestructibility
Death
...
of
Our True
....
On Suicide
Contributions
304
318
to
Negation
the
of
Doctrine
the
of
Will-to-live
the
Affirmation
and
...
323
INTRODUCTION.
In
these
in the
of
which
our
pleasure
of
may be
to lead
reflection
—
of
Now
whether
to which, as is
ever, the
happy
my
that
and
well
a
purely
and
mature
decidedly
we
should
subjective
to
preferable
of
non
cling to it for its
or could
existence, is
a
own
further,
possibly
question
my philosophical system returns
On the eudaemonistic hypothesis, how
must
be
answered
in the
affirmative;
Accordingly,
in
elaborating the
scheme
to
metaphysical
lead;
theories
own
some
is,
as
extent
the very
make
the
word
and
and
will
upon
a
is
possess
eudjEMOnology
shall
a
compromise;
standpoint
at
in
to
and
again
which
say here
so
of
every
the bottom of it.
far,
day,
My
only a qualified value, for
is a euphemism.
Further,
partly because the sub
partly because I should otherwise
what has been
already said by
to completeness;
ject is inexhaustible,
over
ethical standpoint
everything I
common
error which
no claims
have to say
rest
I take the
embrace
others.
i
of
existence, I have had to make a complete surrender
remarks, therefore,
I
cool
of
how
known,
question
the higher
will
after
us
I have shown, in the second volume of my chief work
49 ) , that this hypothesis is based upon a fundamental
mistake.
of
*
might per
necessarily involves
be
conception
answer.
negative
( ch.
theory
from
at
human life corresponds,
correspond, to this
and
an existence
rather,
question
that
the
art
for it teaches
merely from the fear of death ; and
should never like it to come to an end.
we
Life
of
and not
sake,
a
Such
or
view,
would
—
an
success;
which, looked
one
implying
existence;
that
as
for the
considerations,
The Wisdom
Eud^emonology,
existence.
haps be defined
objective point
<(
speak of
and
called
happy
a
shall
meaning of the term, as the art, namely,
lives so as to obtain the greatest possible
common
ordering
amount
I
pages
(D
2
INTRODUCTION
The only book composed,
like
to
purpose
that
far
as
as
I remember,
this
animates
which
with
collection
a
of
aphorisms, is Cardan's De utilitate ex adversis capienda,
which is well worth reading, and may be used to supple
ment the present
Aristotle, it is true, has
work.
the fifth chapter
eudaemonology in
his <( Rhetoric ; " but
words on
book
of
to very much.
made no use
cause
lost,
in the
As
of
these
compiling
of
In general,
always said the same
not
predecessors;
of
individuality
and
this kind.
is
compilation
process
he
what
my
does
and
few
a
the
first
not come
business,
I have
especially be
of view is
more
individuality
is the kernel
view
indeed,
thing,
says
of
the
the
of
wise
in
fools,
who
all
works
ages
at all
of
have
times
form the immense majority, have in their way, too, acted
alike, and done just the opposite ; and so it will continue.
For,
as
FOOLISH
Voltaire
AND
says,
AS WICKED
we
shall
AS WE
leave
FOUND
IT
this
ON
OUR
world
as
ARRIVAL.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
CHAPTER I.
Division
of
Subject.
the
Aristotle divides the blessings
those
—
which
soul, and those
division but the
tal
(i)
a man
sense
health,
strength,
intelligence
the
of
Keeping
that is
:
to say,
under
word;
personality, in the
are
included
which
beauty, temperament,
moral
has
man
is,
that
:
in
stands
property
the
and possessions
estimation
is to be understood, as everybody
is in the eyes of his fellow-men, or,
in
the light
their
man
of
by
which
the honor in
which
which
come
Nature herself
from this fact
and
;
they
in
much
under
the
of
effect
personal
heart,
birth,
The
he is
more
two
we
or
held,
strictly,
and
advantages,
the
privileges
are
but
as
kings
was
of
on
said
as
a
rank
the
may
by
his
head
man
once
are
and
infer that
of
mankind
way than those contained
are
which
merely the
great
or
stage
long
at
Compared
arrangements.
such
first
the
between
unhappiness
following heads,
all
thing
set
vital and radical
human
same
under
has
alone
influence the happiness
a
what
they regard him. This is shown by
him; and their opinion is in its turn
The differences
those
more
reputation.
and
rank
others :
which
opinion
manifested
of
knows,
which
man
character,
education.
man
a
every kind.
(3) How a
is
the
of
and
What
(2)
a
classes
those
without,
classes :
What
widest
by
body.
the
of
life into three
of
from
us
nothing of this
number, I observe that the fundamen
differences in human lot may be reduced to three
distinct
of
to
come
ago
with
mind
birth,
or
even
to kings in
genuine
a
great
of royal
real
by Metrodorus,
(3)
life.
the
disciple
earliest
one
his
of
be
And
in
called
is
it
that the
question,
FROM
OBTAIN
WE
fact,
obvious
an
of
from
receive
we
WHICH
THAT
title
the
as
wrote
who
happiness
THAN
GREATER
surroundings.
our
cannot
The
chapters,
IS
OURSELVES
Epicurus,
of
OF LIFE
WISDOM
THE
4
which
element
principal
in a man's
indeed, in the whole tenor of his
made of, his inner constitution.
is
is what he
that inward satis
source of
immediate
For this is the
the sum total of
from
faction or dissatisfaction resulting
well-being,—
existence,—
his sensations, desires
ings
the
on
influence
events
and
hand,
other
This
him.
upon
with
perfectly
of
his
world
hension only
is
For
own.
his
own
a
two
people
indirect
external
alike;
lives
every
has immediate
feelings
and
even
in
a
appre
volitions; the
influence him only in so far as it brings
The world in which a man lives shapes
can
outer world
these to life.
itself chiefly by the way in which he looks
it proves different to different men; to one
dull,
surround
or
same
one
man
ideas,
the
why
no
similar surroundings
of
a mediate
only
or circumstances affect
his
while
thoughts;
exert
at
it,
and
it
is
barren,
so
superficial; to another rich, interesting, and full
On hearing of the interesting events which
and
of meaning.
have happened in the course of a man's experience,
many people will wish that similar things had happened
in their lives too, completely forgetting that they should
be envious rather of the mental aptitude which lent~those
events
the
them.
To
significance
a man
they possess when he describes
they were interesting adven
genius
of
tures ; but to the dull perceptions of an ordinary individual
they would have been stale, everyday occurrences. This
is in the highest degree the case with many of Goethe's
and Byron's poems,
which are
obviously founded upon
actual
the
facts;
poet
him,
instead
which
of
into something
will
make
and
so
to
of
man
person
a
of
phantasy
common experience
beautiful.
melancholy temperament
of
tragedy
out
only in the light
a phlegmatic
power
fairly
a
to envy
happened to
reader
things
mighty
turning
great and
way, a
scene in
a
foolish
to a
open
many delightful
envying that
same
the sanguine
flict,
so
was capable
In the
it is
where
because
soul
as
of
of
what
an
appears to
interesting
something
without
con
any
DIVISION
This
meaning.
in
operation
oxygen
these
or
and
factors,
are
fact that every event,
the
upon
5
requires the
appreciated,
a subject and
namely,
an
co
object;
closely and necessarily connected as
When therefore the
in water.
as
hydrogen
and
objective
rests
realized
two
of
although
all
be
to
order
SUBJECT
OF THE
factor in
external
the same, but the
subjective
an
is
experience
it varies, the event is just as much
eyes of different persons as if
the
different
a
actually
appreciation
personal
or
factors
objective
of
in the
one
had
been alike; for to a blunt intelligence the fairest and
best object in the world presents only a poor reality and
like a fine landscape
is therefore only poorly appreciated,
not
—
in dull weather, or in the reflection of a bad camera obscura.
In plain language, every man is pent up within the limits
cannot directly get beyond
of his own consciousness, and
those limits any
skin
so
;
one
stage,
differences;
by
and
pleasure;
poor
he
of
can
a
another
—
a
poor
every
implies a difference
there is the
with
his hardships
the
to
of
play, but
inward happiness
being
same
in
all
—
Though
troubles.
and
anxie
Differences
part
of
a
these ap
all
all
same.
his
man
of
with
player,
third
external
mere
on,
own
On the
a
minister,
so
general,
reality, the kernel
here, too,
mortal,
to him.
use
and
give
means
no
beyond his
get
much
In life it is just the
wealth
this
a
same
his lot.
and
rank
prince,
the inner
is the
pearances
of
a
not
a soldier or a
servant or
ties
is
aid
is
man
than
more
external
indeed, in every case proceed from dissimilar
causes, they are in their essential nature much the same
in all their forms, with degrees of intensity which vary,
no
doubt, but in nowise correspond to the part a man
these may,
has to play, or the presence or
Since everything which
wealth.
exists
man
alone, the
in his
only
absence
exists
consciousness
most essential
thing for
the
important than
contents.
rored
All the
in the dull
pride
imagination
of
the
"
»
Quixote
half
of
ingly
life
takes
and
pleasure
of
compared with
Don
and
consciousness
in
a
miserable
a
of
fool,
is the
cases
a
go
constitu
far
the world,
is
more
to form its
poor
mir
indeed
Cervantes writing his
The objective
prison.
reality is in the hand of fate, and
forms in different cases: the
various
and
happens for it
most
which
circumstances
position
happens for
and
a man
tion of this consciousness, which is in
of
or
accord
subjec-
OF
THE WISDOM
6
tive half is
in
and
ourself,
LIFE
it
essentials
remains
always
the same.
stamped with the same
every man is
much his external circum
however
throughout,
Hence the life
character
of
like a series of
may alter; it is
get beyond his
can
one
No
theme.
stances
variations
single
own
ity.
under whatever circumstances
An animal,
the
within
remains
irrevocably
a pet happy
it;
consigned
nature,
with
and
be
the
man;
keep
to
restricted
measure
to
our
to
endeavors
the
compass
it
can
feel.
happiness he
a
it is placed,
has
nature
which
within
what
of the
by
determined beforehand
that
so
always
must
limits
narrow
on
individual
make
attain
can
More
his individuality.
its
of
So it is
is
espe
mental
powers, which fix
cially is this the case with the
kinds of pleasure.
higher
the
once for all his capacity for
from
efforts
If these powers are small, no
without, noth
ing
that his fellow-men
or
that fortune
can
do for
him,
will suffice to raise him above the ordinary degree of hu
be.
man happiness and pleasure, half animal though it
and
a
His only resources are his sensual appetite,
cosy
cheerful
family
pastime;
even
anything,
highest,
the
life
at
the most, low company
vulgar
and
education, on the whole, can avail little, if
For the
for the enlargement of his horizon.
most varied
mind, however
and
lasting
our
much
pleasures
youth
those
are
may deceive
us
of
on
of the mind turn chiefly on
It is clear, then, that our happi
ness depends in a great degree upon what we are, upon
our individuality, while lot or destiny is generally taken
this point;
the
to
lot,
of
and
powers of
the
pleasures
the mind.
Our
only what we have, or our reputation.
in this sense, may improve; but we do not ask much
it if we are inwardly rich: on the other hand, a fool
mean
remains a
fool,
though
he
is why
Goethe,
every man,
were
a
dull
blockhead, to his
by houris in
surrounded
in the
whether
<(
West-b'stlicher
he occupy
a
low
last
This
that
position
its victor, testifies to personality
factor in happiness:
—
Volk
und
Knecht
und
Ueberwinder
Sie gestehen, zu jeder Zeit,
Hochstes Gliick der Erdenkinder
Sei
nur
die Personlichkeit.
even
*
Divan,
emerges as
est
hour,
paradise.
as
says
in
life,
the
or
great
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT
Common
in life is
experience
incomparably
than
pleasure
and
Hunger
is
the
that the
shows
subjective
important for
more
objective, from
the
best
Youth
and
7
such
element
happiness
our
sayings
Age
and
as
cannot
sauce,
together, up to the life of the Genius and the
Saint.
Health outweighs all other blessings so much that
live
one
an
may really say that
A quiet
ailing king.
in the
enjoyment
lect clear,
lively,
conscience
and
gentle
which no
privileges
For
him
accompanies
things
good
is in him
is alone,
he
they
a
rank or wealth
a man
what
when
as
therefore
and
intel
an
physique,
seeing
will,
replace.
or
temperament, happy
sound
perfectly
these are
—
what
self,
and
up for
can make
a
beggar is happier than
and cheerful
penetrating
moderate
a
are,
of
healthy
a
what
no
take away, is obviously more essential to
him than everything he has in the way of possessions, or
give
can
one
even
he
what
intellectual
happy
of
social
can
of
has
ward
off
gentle
delight
by
after
a
even
while
boredom
from
them
:
life,
with
pleasures
a
be
can
envious
in
the
has the
high
a
which
are
are
perfectly superfluous; they
burden.
And so Horace says
a
however
that,
of
and
individuality,
no
excur
character
who
the
of
enter
theatres,
to one
more;
special
most
mankind
trouble
himself,
fancy-goods
without
a
of
intellect,
of
Nay
An
the world.
excellent
fancies,
and
pleasure,
temperate,
miserable.
goes
degree
of
thoughts
own
good,
eyes
solitude
in needy circumstances, while a covetous,
man, even if he be the richest
constant
are
the
malicious
world,
run
in
complete
amusements,
A
dullard.
and
in
diversity
or
and
sions
be
may
man
in his
tainment
amount
or
there
are
many
is
one
at
deprived
least
who
the
of
can
live
—
Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas.
Argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas
Sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere;
Socrates
and
when
out
for
the
world
sale,
that
So the first
happiness is
he
and
what
saw
various
exclaimed :
I
do
not
most
we
are,
articles
How
of
luxury
much
spread
there
is
in
want.
essential
our
element
in
our
personality, if for
life's
no other
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
8
it is
reason than that
all
circumstances.
which
are
described
the sport
so
far,
the merely
worth
its rights,
all-powerful
gradually
inaccessible to it.
under
rob
In
view
the
us,
superior
be
might
vantage
their very
able,
and
least,
of
heads,
two
other
were
is
coming into
of
and claims
and
possession
directly
Another
first.
they
the
them;
ef
named
time cannot
with
of
alone
the destructive
external,
presented
mental
character
if the blessings
the
people
without.
and
for them, namely, that
objective
one
every
of
which
of
to those
claimed
nature
as
in
comes
physical
to
conse
difficult than
Moral
away.
time, it seems, indeed,
of
contrast
The
two.
other
Time,
agent,
waste
advantages
remains
in
value
much more
its influence
before
and
the
of
not
from us; and,
wrested
to get a hold on a man from
suppose
commonly
But here the
be
heads, it is
two
an absolute
with
blessings
the
unlike
other
cannot
and
endowed
relative
the
this is that it is
quence of
fect
Besides,
under
destiny
of
it is
factor coming into play
a constant
under
ad
being
possibility,
while
in
attain
are
what
at
is
but making its
is
divine right, it remains for life, im
kind
of
a
entry by
Let me quote
mutable, inalienable, an inexorable doom.
in
Goethe
those lines
which
describes how an unalterable
is
destiny
so
assigned
that he
him,
as
never
path
the
and
escape,
man
at
the hour
declare that
prophets
any power of time
his life is cast:
of his birth,
laid down for
stars;
and
how
himself a man can
avail
to change the
—
an
dem
Die Sonne
Bist
to every
nor
on which
Wie
to us to acquire,
develop only in the lines
by the conjunctions of the
can
it were,
the Sibyl
open
not
subjective
Tag, der dich der Welt
verliehen,
Grusse der Planeten,
fort und fort gediehen,
stand zum
alsobald und
Nach dem
Gesetz, wonach du angetreten.
du sein, dir kannst du nicht entfliehen.
So sagten schon Sibyllen und Propheten;
So
musst
Und keine Zeit
und keine Macht zerstiickelt
Gepragte Form, die lebend sich entwickelt
The only thing that
to
make
sonal
the
most
qualities
pursuits
only
we
as
stands
in
advantageous
possess,
will
call
and
our power
use
to achieve, is
of the per
possible
accordingly to follow
such
them into play, to strive after
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT
the kind of perfection
of
they
which
9
to
and
admit
avoid
every other; consequently, to choose the position, occupa
tion
life
and manner of
are
which
for their
suitable
most
development.
Imagine
is
a
man
by
compelled
pation,
some minute
ample,
or
herculean
with
endowed
to follow
circumstances
to engage in study and
strength
sedentary
hands, for
labor
mental
who
occu
the
of
work
exquisite
a
ex
demanding
powers, and just those which he has not got,
that
compelled,
is, to leave unused the powers in which
quite
other
is pre-eminently strong; a man placed like this will
feel happy all his life through.
Even more miser
he
never
a
and
not
his
it
be the lot
will
able
of
the man
of
is insufficient.
strength
be
should
of
precipice
presumption,
and
is
which
not
not
Since the blessings described
cidedly
of
outweigh
a
manifestly
our health
in
Still,
a
care, especially in
our
of power
superfluity
is
intellectual
with
those
wiser
and
ascribe
aim
cultivation
this
of
at
our
sense
the
of
supply
necessaries
the
to ourselves
the other
the
a
two, it
maintenance
faculties,
than
Wealth,
at
mistaken
adequate
in the
strict
do little
the word, that is,
superfluity,
happiness ; and many rich people feel unhappy just
can
great
of
our
life.
of
kind,
avoid
the first head de
under
to
of
there.
contained under
course
the
case
youth, to
the amassing of wealth; but this must not be
as meaning that we should neglect to acquire an
for
powers
very high order, who has to leave them undeveloped
unemployed, in the pursuit of a calling which does
require them, some bodily labor, perhaps, for which
any true mental culture or knowl
have
no objective interests which
edge, and consequently
intellectual
For be
occupations.
for
would qualify them
natural
real
and
of
some
satisfaction
yond the
necessities,
can
achieve
has a
the possession of wealth
that
all
because
very
they
small
are without
influence
the word;
sense
of
cause
the
indeed,
preservation
unavoidable anxieties.
more
intent
though
much
it is
more
on
of
his
rather
still men
a
proper
a
it,
great
be
many
thousand times
than on acquiring culture,
that
happiness
are
the
disturbs
entails
property
And
certain
happiness, in
wealth
becoming rich
quite
to
our
upon
what
than
a
man
what
he
is
contributes
has.
So
you
see
may
many
from
occupied
his
crease
a
industrious
as
man,
morning to
heap
an
as
in the
night
the
Beyond
gold.
of
LIFE
OF
THE WISDOM
io
ant, ceaselessly
to in
endeavor
narrow
his
means to this end, he knows nothing;
to
unsusceptible
any
and
consequently
mind
horizon
is
a
of
blank,
influence.
other
to him
intellect,
The highest pleasures, those of
replace
them
to
by the
inaccessible, and he tries in vain
which
he
indulges, lasting
fleeting pleasures of sense in
And if he is
but a brief hour and at tremendous cost.
a really great
lucky, his struggles result in his having
the
of
pile
it
still
he leaves to his
which
gold,
larger
to
or
like this,. though
those
of
penury, feel
still engaged
ination
spirits
make
many
minds
common
—
so
for
are
are
imag
driven to
similis simili gaudet
of
pursuit
tertainment, consisting for the
they
with
who
vacant, their
are
and
poor,
struggle
those
as
unhappy
those like them
of
they
where
as
quite
Their
their
dull,
the company
—
bottom
in it.
another which
beyond the
placed
are
who
at
and
earnestness
is, then, the chief element
is, as a rule, so very little,
himself
Because this
in his happiness.
of
make
A life
extravagance.
as
silly
to
either
symbol.
a
most
as
heir,
sense
a
with
just
fool's cap for its
What a man has in
has
it in
squander
pursued
importance, is
an air of
are
pastime
in
most part
and
en
sensual pleas
ure, amusement of every kind, and finally, in excess and
A young man of rich family enters upon life
libertinism.
a
with
large patrimony,
incredibly
and
why ?
and
void,
was sent
short
Simply
and
his
often
runs
through it in
an
time, in vicious extravagance;
because, here too, the mind is empty
the
man
forth into the
and
poor,
so
and
of
space
is bored
world
outwardly
endeavor
vain
with
was
to
existence.
rich
He
but
inwardly
his
external
make
for his inner poverty, by trying to ob
tain everything from without, like an old man who seeks
to strengthen himself as King David or Mar6chal de Retz
wealth
compensate
And
tried to do.
comes
I
to be
need not
also
so
in the
poor
insist
upon
of
life;
nowadays the value of
known
to
which
require
one who
the importance
kinds
blessings
end
is
inwardly
poor
outwardly.
of
the other two
up the happiness of human
possessing them is too well
make
advertisement.
The
third
class, it is
DIVISION
OF THE SUBJECT
n
compared with the second,
of a very
character, as it consists only of other people's
Still everyone has to strive for reputation, that
true, may seem,
ethereal
opinions.
is to say, a good name.
Rank,
be aspired to only by those who
by
very few indeed.
upon
as a priceless
cious
of
Fleece,
fer
all
as
rank
over,
Petronius'
the favor
way
treasure,
blessings
it were,
of
to property.
are
of
the
In any
reciprocally
maxim, habes
getting
case, reputation is looked
fame as the most pre
man
we
can
while
attain, the Golden
only fools will pre
second and
and
effect;
third classes,
so
is true;
habeberis,
forms,
others, in all its
what
hand, should
State, and fame
other
the
and
a
The
the
serve
the elect:
cause
of
on
want.
often
far that
and
more
is,
as
conversely,
puts us
in the
II.
CHAPTER
Personality,
We
have
contributes
and
so
chief
him
already seen, in general, that
his happiness
more to
what
always and
experiences.
the
he
pleasure
Every
one
in his
it is
in
this
—
bitter
man
all
upon
the
accompanies
to
color
his
all
physical, and how
When we use
to
oneself,"
of
To
a man possessed of an
gall.
and
we
are
em
life, less depends
of
has in
our
general
himself,
—
upon
All
but the influence
of
can
be
in
a mouth
that
as well
befalls
what
is,
susceptibility.
a
upon
else
and
is
a
with
direct factor in
mediate
neutralized
us
the
What
word, personality,
immediate
and welfare.
its influence
in
ill-conditioned
wine
in the blessings
Therefore,
it entails, is the only
and
is like delicate
the way in which it is met,
his happiness
rect,
is,
man
always
pleasure.
"to enjoy
pleasure
degree
and
is
all
with
in the ills
kind
its
a
is
he
very striking and appropriate phrase; for ob
Paris,"
one says not ehe enjoys
but Khe enjoys
individuality,
than
gives
regard
intellectual,
of
himself in Paris. B
as
individuality
and
everywhere,
person, is
man
what
a
ploying
made
than
What
others.
own
for his
that English expression,
serve
what a
In every kind of enjoyment, for instance,
depends principally upon the man himself.
admits
much truer
by
regarded
has
to consider;
thing
Man Is.
a
much
how he is
or
has,
What
or
and
and
indi
frustrated;
This is why the
is the most implaca
personality
never.
envy which personal qualities excite
ble of all,— as it is also the most
carefully dissembled.
Further,
present
the constitution
and
individuality
lasting
of our
element
is persistently
in
consciousness
all
we
do
or
is the
ever
suffer;
our
less,
work,
every
life; all other influences are temporal, in
fleeting, and subject to every kind of chance and
at
more
or
at
moment of our
cidental,
change.
This is why Aristotle says: It is not wealth but
lasts.
And just for the same reason we
character that
(12)
PERSONALITY,
easily bear
can more
OR WHAT A MAN IS
which
change, but
always
—
sano,
ness
that
so
;
and
And
of
we
these,
is
cheerful
so, the
a capable
nature,
a
our
not character.
well-constituted,
a word, mens sana in corpore
important elements in happi
more
intent
on
and
promoting
honor.
one
and
makes
which
flow
a genial
of
good
immediate
own
merry has
the
us
always
a
most
for this
spirits;
The
reward.
good
namely, that he is so.
fact,
being
ing which,
loss
be
the
quality is its
excellent
is
most
should
external
all
directly happy
who
and
a noble
spirits,
entirely
upon
such qualities than on the possession of external
preserving
wealth
physique, in
sound
the first
are
us
have drawn
we
Therefore, subjective blessings,
head, a joyful temperament, bright
perfectly
to
a misfortune which comes
from without, than one
selves; for fortune may
13
man
reason
There
is
for
noth
like this quality, can so completely replace the
If you know anyone who is
every other blessing.
of
young, handsome, rich and esteemed, and you want to know,
further, if he is happy, ask, js he cheerful and genial ? and
if he is, what does it matter whether he is young or old,
In
straight or humpbacked, poor or rich ? he is happy.
my early days I once opened an old book and found these
If you laugh a great deal, you are happy; if
words:
a
cry
you
remark, no
never
every
Instead
tions or
be
we
to
contented;
simple
I have
knocks
often
be
very
simple
though it is in the last
open, for it
that,
want
all
else, merely
never
make
quite
then
sure
we
at
our
comes
scruples
that
are
we
afraid
door,
inop
about
have
that
is but
eternities.
To
secure
should
be the
an
upon
cheque
in the
the
bank; for it
present
moment,
for beings like us, whose
infinitesimal moment between two
highest
that is the
happiness.
a
immediately happy
us
existence
after
even
so
spirits
of
makes
fulness
it,
a
unhappy;
cheerfulness
wide
of
are
may interfere with serious reflec
Cheerfulness is a direct and im
weighty cares.
gain, the very coin, as it were, of happiness, and
not, like
and
to
reason
cheerfulness
alone
We
it in.
mediate
So if
throw it
portunely.
you
just because it is
to forget
able
truism.
a
should
letting
deal,
doubt; but
been
degree
we
great
blessing
and
promote
supreme
aim
this
feeling
of all
our
of cheer
endeavors
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
14
Now it is
to
that
certain
as
cheerfulness
the
in the lower classes,
not
more
that
those
especially
among the rich, the
faces full of ill-humor and
should
try
degree
of
health;
I need hardly
it.
of
for
healthy
—
avoid
unpleasant
every
emotion,
exercise
in
hygienic
measures.
daily
the
exercise
open
of
to
is
remain
can
exercise
be
to
and
violent
all
healthy;
like
such
and
amount
the
all
for the due
daily
take
proper
a
without
flower
very
do
must
baths
we
high
a
the
one
it
find
we
maintain
overstrain,
cold
is
and
that
Consequently
?
excess,
mental
For
one
no
what
air,
life demand
of
cesses
vexation
cheerfulness
all
Is it
faces ?
classes,
upper
say
kind
little
working classes,
live in the country,
who
possible
as
much
as
much,
contented
not
as
so-called
them
and
cheerful
see
we
of
so
or
riches,
so
health.
contributes
nothing
of
pro
performance
functions, exercise not only of the parts more
immediately concerned, but also of the whole body.
For, as Aristotle rightly says, Life is movement; it is
their
of
Ceaseless and rapid
its very essence.
The
in every part of the organism.
double
systole
.complicated
and
the
with
untiringly;
action;
with
own,
draw.
we
is the
twenty-eight
beats it has to drive
are
brain
the
are
peristaltic
and
constantly absorbing
has a double motion
the countless
with
in
always
all
every beat of the pulse
When people can get no
case
its
diastole, beats strongly
and
intestines
the
glands
even
creting;
on
with
blood through arteries, veins and cap
lungs pump like a steam-engine, without
illaries; the
intermission;
the
goes
heart,
the
of
whole
motion
every breath
and
exercise
numbers
se
its
of
at
all,
as
con
are
who
demned to
a sedentary life, there is a glaring and
fatal
disproportion between outward inactivity and inner tumult.
For this
ceaseless
counterpart,
of
emotion
be
must
rule
which
expressed
How
these
which
shaken
internal
the
and
we
much
by
our
of
are
it
application
they
are
of
health,
The
to thrive.
here may be
motus, quo celerior,
happiness depends upon
external
like those
Even trees
to suppress.
omnis
again upon our state
some
produces effects
obliged
the wind, if
finds its
in Latin :
motion requires
want
most
briefly
eo tnagis motus.
our
may be
spirits,
seen
by
and
com-
PERSONALITY,
OR WHAT A MAN IS
paring the influence which the
or events have upon us when
the effect
troubled
ively
way
they have
which
ill-health.
with
same external circumstances
we are well and
we
when
It is
in
themselves, but
looking at them, that
and
of
not
what
they
what
makes
us
As Epictetus says, Men
are
things
but
about
nine-tenths
general,
With
alone.
it,
without
the
even
their
thoughts
of
our
is
health, everything
whatever
other personal
blessings,
—
degraded
are
and
and
for us, in
are
happy
not
or
our
the
re
influenced
by
And,
things.
source
a
with
things are object
happiness depends
nothing else,
temperament
strong
depressed
are
verse.
by
15
of
in
health
upon
pleasure:
it may be, is enjoyable;
a great mind, a
dwarfed for want
—
happy
it.
of
So it is really with good reason that, when two people
meet, the first thing they do is to inquire after each other's
health, and to express the hope that it is good; for good
health is
by
far
the
most
happiness.
It follows from
follies is to
sacrifice
fame, let
which
be
other
of
postponed
of
to it.
entirely depend upon health; for a
perfectly sound in his physique and still
do
spirits
may be
man
kind
greatest
health may contribute to that flow
is so essential to our happiness,
much
spirits
good
good
in human
element
that the
this
health for any
should rather
else
But however
of
all
happiness,
it may be, for gain, advancement, learning or
alone, then, for fleeting sensual pleasures. Every
whatever
thing
important
not
melancholy temperament and be generally given
The ultimate cause of this is un
up to sad thoughts.
in innate, and therefore unalter
found
be
doubtedly to
possess
able
a
of
equality
whose
to
be
less the
says,
in
as
a
power
has
very
a
he
politics,
melancholy
passage
melancholicos
correctly
which
largely
or
temperament.
Cicero has in his
in
Men
observed,
poetry
in
produces
predominating melancholy,
A genius is
liveliness.
is
less
or
to his muscular
sensitiveness
or sensitiveness
philosophy,
of
the more
sensitiveness
of unrestrained
nervous
all
man's
Abnormal
spirits,
fits
Aristotle
guished
a
energy.
vital
periodical
as
of
relation
normal
and
constitution, especially in
physical
art,
with
one
excess ;
distin
appear
This is doubt
mind
when
he
often
does, Aristoteles
omnes
ingeniosos
esse.
Shakespeare has very neatly
expressed
ait
this radical
«
lines in
innate
and
diversity
The Merchant
Nature has framed
Some that
And laugh, like
And
strange
evermore
will
»
parrots
those
in
:
fellows in her time ;
peep through their eyes,
bag-piper;
at a
of such vinegar
others
temperament
of
Venice
of
LIFE
OF
WISDOM
THE
•i6
aspect,
That they'll not show their teeth in way of smile,
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.
is
This
eukoAoc
difference
the
dixncoXoi
and
disposition
difficult
varying degrees
show
man
to
of
will
at
stronger
sions, the
weaker
vice
in
what
man of
refers to
different
which
makes
the SOmoXot
ill,
he
impressions;
and painful
If it is equally
versa.
well or
easy,
of which
proof
the
and
that
so
despair.
another
the
people
one
As
a
the susceptibility to unpleasant impres
is the susceptibility to pleasant ones, and
rule, the
out
—
of
between
draws
Plato
which
man
susceptibility
pleasurable
laugh
the
—
for
possible
will
be
to turn
an event
annoyed
or grieved
if
the issue is unfavorable, and will not rejoice, should it be
On the other hand, the e?«oAoj will neither worry
happy.
nor
fret
over an unfavorable
If the
out well.
one
is
issue, but
successful
in
if it turns
rejoice
nine out of
ten
under
takings, he will not be pleased, but rather annoyed that
one has miscarried; while the other, if only a single one
succeeds, will manage to find consolation in the fact and
remain
truth,
cheerful.
that
hardly
pensation; for
But
here is
any
evil
the
is
misfortunes
instance
another
entirely
without
the
of
its
com
sufferings which
and
the
is,
Soanolot,
gloomy and anxious character,
have to overcome, are, on the whole, more imaginary and
therefore less real than those which befall the gay and
that
careless; for
people
a
man
of
who
paints
everything
black,
who
constantly fears the worst and takes measures accordingly,
will not be disappointed so often in this world, as one who
always looks upon the bright side of things.
And when
a
morbid
affection
digestive organs,
ency to gloom,
that
So
permanent
arises an
of
the nerves, or a derangement of the
plays
this
into the
hand
tendency may
discomfort
produces
inclination to suicide,
of
an
reach
a
innate tend
such
a
weariness
which
even
height
of
life.
the most
PERSONALITY, OR WHAT A MAN IS
trivial
the
unpleasantness
tendency
attains
may actually bring about; nay, when
its worst form, it may be occasioned
nothing in particular, but a man may resolve to put
end to his existence, simply because he is permanently
by
an
unhappy,
and
mination;
as
ferer,
to
waits
a
without
the
use
then coolly
may be seen
Even
release.
resolve
for
circumstances;
when,
inevitable
some
to
the fatal
a
act,
a
ful,
and
a
springs
of
most
certain
reach
such
his
or
a
pitch
The only difference
a
gloomy
the
a
supported
has entirely
by
suffering to
degree
a
countless steps
be;
is
man
him
in the
in
cheer
health,
lay
good
make
The
man.
it
re
hands
scale
be
suicide, the suicide which
intensification of innate
morbid
of
suicide
But if
to zero.
are
from
merely
of
healthy
the
and
cheerful
for putting
grounds
objective
an
man,
to
end
existence.
as
speaking,
does
so
favor
affair
of
advantage;
contribute
directly
letter
the
advantage,
those lines of
even
recommendation,
of
person
who
Homer,
presents
the
gift
It may be reck
does not, prop
to our happiness.
It
health.
though it
indirectly, by impressing
unimportant
open
an
a personal
oned
erly
be
the
under
his sufferings,
death.
that
extremes
Beauty is partly
no
of
There
two
and
gloom,
his
recoil, he may
effecting his
even
death
misfortune,
in
are
spirits
high degree
the
tween
perhaps
instance,
even sink
himself.
upon
who
his
is,
of
low
and
the end, it may
quires
suf
of
the melancholy, the lower need the
greater
the
he usually
suffering necessary to bring about
degree which will be high in the case of
degree
cheerful,
or
means
upon
the terrors of
outweigh
lies in the
struggle
healthiest,
the
fears
of
a
welcome
and
may
man,
cheerful
his deter
which
as
supervision,
without
natural
out
carry
the way in
by
the first unguarded moment, when,
seize
shudder,
now
firmly
and
under
placed
when
eagerly
as
17
other
in
people;
man.
predisposing
As is
it.
of
beauty
thrown away, that glorious gift which
save
the gods
oJrot
Saaa
alone
Beauty
aorol
£<rr\ Oetuv iptitoSia
Suiatv,
£na>v S'obn
well
not
rtj
said
lightly
none can
dwpa,
av
it is
is
an
the heart to
—
aicdfikriT
nev
is
and
Slotro.
in
to
bestow
1
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
8
The
most general
human happiness
further,
the
to
enough
oscillation
away from
get
these two
of
the other,
or
external
and
a man
is
well
on
than
more
need, in
other
constant and
a
The inner
that, in
or
one,
for
are
approach
we
or
less
violent
of
this
is that
double
a
antagonism
inner
to
subjective.
or
in
a
ceaseless
strug
pain, the upper carry
desperate battle with boredom.*
with
antagonism
from the fact
arises
susceptibility to pain varies in
susceptibility to boredom, because suscepti
individual,
the
versely with
is directly
bility
explain.
often
may
we
reason
engaged
words
subjective
which
poverty produce pain; while, if
Accordingly,
off, he is bored.
the lower classes are
with
go
more
a
and
objective,
surroundings
gle
of
We
the
in
stands
poles
Needy
while
that the two foes
boredom.
and
Life presents, in fact,
The
between the two.
other.
each
are
us
shows
pain
degree in
say that in the
and
tunate
survey
A dull
to
proportionate
mind
is,
as
a
nerves
which
no
perament, in short,
which
does
sensibilities,
mental
rule
Let
power.
associated
stimulus
can
feel
not
with
or
tem
a
affect,
pain
me
dull
anxiety
very much, however great or terrible it may be.
Now,
intellectual dullness is at the bottom of that vacuity of
which
soul
which
all
is
stamped
betrays itself
on
by
a
so
many
constant
the trivial circumstances in the
is the true
source
of
boredom
—
a
faces, a state of mind
lively attention to
and
external
This
world.
continual
after
panting
for giving the
mind and spirits
something to occupy them. The kind of
things people choose for this purpose shows that
they are
excitement, in
order
to
have
a
very particular, as witness the
have recourse to, and their ideas
not
conversation;
the
on
doorstep
because
quest
sort,
ing
or
of
of
pretext
miserable pastimes
of
again, the number
or
gape
out of
this inner vacuity
the
of
social
of
pleasure
people
they
and
who
gossip
It is mainly
that people go in
window.
soul
society, diversion, amusement, luxury of every
lead many to extravagance and misery.
Noth
which
is
so
good
*And the
a protection against such
extremes
meet;
for the lowest
misery
state
of
wandering life, finds its counterpart in the
everyone is at times a tourist.
The earlier stage
necessity; the latter is a remedy for boredom.
nomad or
as
inward
civilization,
highest,
was
a
a
where
case
of
PERSONALITY,
wealth, the
wealth
grows, the less
OR WHAT
the
of
A MAN IS
because the
mind,
greater
it leaves for boredom.
room
19
haustible activity of thought! finding ever new
to work upon in the multifarious phenomena of
and
nature,
able
there
them,
ready to form
and
have
you
mind, and apart from the moments
far above the reach of boredom.
But,
is
of
the other
on
in
rooted
greater
will,
qualities
hanced
an
of
from the
and
it
intelligence
greater strength
susceptibility,
passionateness;
comes
sets
relaxation,
high degree
this
of
of
the
these
union of
increased capacity for emotion,
an
en
sensibility to all mental and even bodily pain,
impatience of obstacles, greater resentment of in
greater
terruption;
of
power
hand,
high degree
a
of
and
invigorates
that
something
material
self
combinations
new
it
The inex
all
the
of which
tendencies
imagination,
the
thought, including
range of
are
is
what
by
augmented
vivid character of
the
the whole
disagreeable.
This
applies, in varying degrees, to every step in the long scale
of mental power, from the veriest dunce to the greatest
that
genius
either
from
to one
of
ever
these
sources
farther he is from
bent
will
to his
to
fering
above
the
lead him to
greatest
which
all,
strive
of
make
nearer
is,
anyone
an objective point of
view,
suffering in human life, the
And so a man's natural
his
objective
most
world
conform
possible; that is to
as
measures against
he is
after
from
other.
subjective as much
take the
will
Therefore the
lived.
a subjective or
The
liable.
freedom from
wise
pain
say, he
form
that
and
of
man
suf
will,
annoyance,
life,
be; and so, after a little
experience of his so-called fellow-men, he will elect to live
in retirement, or even, if he is a man of great intellect,
For the more a man has in himself, the less
in solitude.
he will want from other people, the less, indeed, other peo
quiet
with
ple
as
can
tends to
lect
few
encounters
make
be
live
even
unsocial.
But the individual
scale
is
no
sooner
a
high degree
True, if
who
will
not
stands
free from the
make
at
the
pangs
of
intellect
quality of
up for by quantity, it
in the great world ; but,
hundred fools together
modest
may
This is why
a man
made
as
tranquil,
a
consequently
be to him.
could
while to
a
leisure,
and
might
one
be
unfortunately,
man.
wise
other end
of
intel
worth
need
of
the
than he
to
endeavors
with
up
the
waste
a
his
folly
is its
own
is
worse
than
is
a man
intellectually
in this
and
sociable
most
the
of all
on
which
peoples
Seneca
thoughts.
laborat
may be com
The life of
Sirach,
of
the
are
For
vulgar.
beyond
go much
It is
the other.
people
talent
omnis stultitia
generally
not
burden
And, as a rule, it will be
just in the degree in which
death.
vulgarity
a
of
with which
son
sociable
does
man
animating
poor and
world
a
raiment groans under
burden,
saying,
Jesus,
of
side
one
very true
words
found that
he is
a
the
fool
choice
off,
with
fastidio sui,
the
while
so
every one is
man has in him
where
personality,
miserable
throw
places
declares that
pared
his
of
never
can
avoiding nothing
what
in fine
the fool
:
and
solitude,
resources,
own
to light
the burden
he
his
upon
self comes
in
For
any cost, taking
at
society
he meets,
person
himself.
as
much
thrown
and
pastime
get
the first
LIFE
OF
THE WISDOM
ao
one's
solitude on
that the
said
negroes,
they are
I remember read
and
at the bottom of the scale in intellect.
ing
in
once
America,
themselves
because
French
a
they
snub-nosed
or
in large
up
cannot
too
be
may
in the
much
regarded
the organism, a pensioner,
that
leisure,
and
of
enjoyment
fruit
fond
are
enslaved,
numbers
have
blacks
the
of
in
of
shutting
smallest
one
North
space,
another's
company.
The brain
body;
that
paper
free
whether
one's
or produce
as
is,
a
the time
consciousness
the rest
of
as
it were,
of
kind
who
one
or
of
parasite
dwells
with
has for the free
individuality,
existence,
of
the
which
is the
is in
gen
But what does most people's
only labor and effort.
leisure yield? boredom and dullness; except, of course,
when it is occupied with sensual pleasure or folly.
How
eral
little
leisure is worth may be seen in the way in
it is spent; and, as Ariosto observes, how miser
are the idle hours of ignorant men !
ozio lungo d'uomsuch
which
able
—
ini ignoranti.
shall
spend
Ordinary
their
time;
merely how they
any talent tries to use
limited intellect are apt to
people
a
man
it.
think
of
The reason why people of
be bored is that their intellect is absolutely
nothing
than the
is
put
means
into force ;
to set the
will
by
which
the
power
of
the
more
will
there is nothing particular
rests, and their intellect takes
and whenever
in motion, it
motive
PERSONALITY, OR WHAT
a
holiday, because,
thing
external
awful
to
stagnation
word, boredom.
of
To
to trivialities
run
taken up,
hoping
into
The
play.
whatever
power
a
for the
please
thus to
the
engage
has
in
—
feeling,
moment
will
is
result
man
counteract this miserable
which
21
the will, it requires some
with
equally
it
bring
A MAN IS
to
a
men
they
order
an
in
are
rouse
it to action, and so set the intellect in motion; for it is
the latter which has to give effect to these motives of the
Compared
will.
but
as
trary
—
too ;
ing
of
a
or
real
in
Hence,
an outward
like,
try
not
wish
and
win
all countries
in
for the
preparation
world
unalterable
get
as
upon
little
a
(cards, in
as
one
table,
strikes
in the
regard
and
meum and
arm
of
daily
the flower,
man
into
the
of
pushes
tuum
or
in
in
who possess
the
of
a
a
hand,
the
something
life.
belongs
the
card-
practical
gradually
same light
utmost
life;
comes to
as
cards,
whatever
not come within
I
mean
are
of
Since, then, leisure is
existence, as it puts a
fruit, of
himself, those
real
at
a man
much
mercantile
rather
possession
put
other
win what
its way into
day
every
to
order
this sort, learned
he possesses, so long as he does
Examples of what
the law.
occurrence
how to
that card-playing is so demor
object of
it is to employ every
and
affairs of
to do this
and
reason
to consider that he may use to the
advantages
the
root
can;
dissimulation,
But, on
habit
a
fortuitous
this case), and to
and
alizing, since the whole
kind of trick and machination in
And
remark
bad business.
it is exactly for this
to another.
that it may
card-playing that it is a
for business life, because
me
of
and
them
of
a
its value,
Be
deal cards,
But I do
make a clever use of
circumstances
out
face
let
so
defense
but
learn
of
Idiots!
learns thereby how to
much
gauge
in, they
one
man must
the chief occupation
it is the
thoughts to deal
unjust;
said
and
another's money.
no
one
be
to
certainly be
and
which
that it is bankrupt in thought.
sign
have
people
and
good
motives, these are
value is
only arbi
have been invented
natural
for their
And if there is nothing else to be
man will twirl his thumbs or beat the devil's tat
a cigar
may be a welcome substitute for exercis
society is card-playing
cause
;
purpose.
his brains.
and
and
coin
card games and the
for this very
done,
with
money to
paper
are
in themselves.
happy
But
indeed
what
do
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
22
most people's leisure? only a good-for-nothing
is
terribly bored and a burden to himself. Let
fellow,
not chil
us, therefore, rejoice, dear brethren, for we are
from
you get
who
dren
the
of
Further,
few imports,
has
who
land is
no
in his
enough
nothing from
or
ger,
all
when
for home
is
No
man
one
little
asks
im
For
dan
entail
said and
produce.
is
man
dependence,
reveal
requires
which
inner wealth, and
for his maintenance.
outside
substitute
that
happiest
own
things,
trouble, and,
occasion
poor
free.
as
the
so
all,
ports are expensive
a
off
so well
at
none
or
the
of
but
bondwoman,
as
done,
are
ought
to
from others, or, in general, from the external
What one human being can be to another is not
expect much
world.
a
deal ; in the
great
very
thing is
the important
then, is
Goethe
another
as
Our
will
felicity
source of
means
happiness
of
the
be
then,
tude for
not
always within
happiness
genuine
much
social
us
and
to be
misery
—
most a man can
the
more
the
—
truth
in
the
their
that Aristotle
nature
sport of
For
reach.
all
most un
chance;
circumstances
this is
a man
happier he
and so
they
can
unavoidable, because
And in old age these
necessarily dry up: love leaves
travel, delight in horses, apti
intercourse; friends and relations, too, are
by death. Then more than ever, it de
longest ;
and
III.),
most
has in
pends upon what a man
to him
which
(Bk.
wit, desire to
and
from
taken
*
self-sufficient.
favorable
nay,
so
great
be
are
fleeting,
most
exhausted;
is
in himself
to
sources of
us
and
with
happy
under
are
the best
this
more
Therefore, it is
certain, precarious,
they
find.
be
sources
easily
truth
place consign'd
make or
we
sources of pleasure
says, To
even
in every
ourselves
The
achieve.
be.
other
general
Wahrheit
a man
own
Himself is the
finds his
the
und
has ultimately to appeal to him
Goldsmith puts it in c< The Traveller":
Still to
or
"
in
that in everything
be
of
Dichtung
application
recognizes
self; or,
every one stands alone, and
it is that stands alone. Here,
end
who
and
lasting
got
at
any
source
anywhere
pain;
and
if
himself;
period
of
for this
will stick
life it is
the only
There is not
It is filled with
happiness.
in the
a man
of
world.
escapes
these, boredom
PERSONALITY, OR WHAT A MAN IS
lies
in
evil
which
for him
at every corner.
Nay more; it is
has
upper
the
hand, and folly makes
generally
noise.
Fate is cruel, and mankind pitiable.
In
wait
the most
such a world as
this,
is
a man who
in himself is like
rich
bright,
a
out
are
fore,
warm, happy room at Christmastide, while with
the frost and snow of a December night.
There
doubt,
without
have the
rare
gift
happiest
the
of a
destiny
on
individuality,
rich
There
very brilliant one.
which Queen
Christina
a
all,
was
remark
nineteenth
twenty
essay:
HIS
deepest
SEEMS
CONDITION
the
was
as
course,
case
his life
of
master
a
Ecclesiastes,
TO
Wisdom
is
of
wisdom,
will
the fountains
open
be
of
the
and
most
happiest
as
or,
SEE
to
read
in
inher
THE
SUN.
the bless
careful
he has in
which
Of
cir
man
an
granted
and
anxious
happiness
we
with
THAT
fate have
men,
external
to allow a
together
THEM
of
ENVIED.
BE
Descartes,
happiness;
UNTO
her
Holland, and,
by a single
TO
enough
good,
in that
made, in
her only
MUCH
with
and
itance, AND PROFITABLE
The man to whom nature
ing
ME
intellect;
be, after
wisdom
in
solitude
be favorable
must
cumstances
be
in the
years
to
espe
more
had then lived for
who
from report, was known to
M. Descartes, she said, is
apart
AND
Descartes,
about
year,
great
Sweden
of
is
earth
and,
cially, to be possessed of a good endowment of
this is the happiest destiny, though it may not
8
23
keep
himself;
to
To
for this, independence and leisure are necessary.
moderate
he
will
be
to
his
desires
them,
willing
and
obtain
harbor his resources;
and
like others,
So he
ures.
or
restricted
money,
not
will
or
be
favor
the
the more because he is not,
all
to the
external
misled
and
applause
into surrendering himself in
sires
the
and vulgar
that Horace
advice
It is
a
piece
great
outer
man, to
quiet
leisure
titles
and
luck drew
give
and
quite
which
that
the
of
order
in
folly
to
the whole
such
in his
gives
This
is
in the
I
am
chief
for his
his
of
to
a
case
epistle
sacrifice
the
of
he
to
to low de
will
inner for the
one's
My
good
direction.
insisting
source
of
rank, pomp,
did.
Goethe
what
follow
Maecenas.
or the greater part
other
pleas
office,
fellow-men,
conform
independence for splendor,
honor.
me
The truth
namely,
tastes ; nay,
by
world
expectations
of
upon
here,
human
the
truth,
happiness
is
is
internal,
«
in the
pleasure
presupposes
of
sort
some
of
The doctrine
sists
tetic
by
that
by
thing,
whatever
forces
with
him to
to
set
for
no
are
the
at
as
exist.
con
is
also
the Peripa
of
means vigorous and
and
is to
man
difficulties
enable
beset him
which
to an end, his
comes
burden to
those
of
original purpose
endowed
he
in any
mastery
means
with
him;
and
he has
I mean,
their
use
all,
It is the
upper
classes,
still
—
people
boredom.
miserable
great capital
and
state,
wealth,
the
long
truth
to-day in
recognized
where
of
Lucretius
who
ago
of
the life
his
of
the rich man is seldom in his
because it bores him to be there, and still he
no better
off outside; or
he is away in posthaste to his house in the country,
halls,
returns
else
cannot
them,
them,
play
beyond avoiding the other source
suffering, boredom, to which he is at once
and
description may be
own
a
every
application
UNDERTAKINGS;
struggle
greatest victims of
described
every
the
against
purpose
exposed.
has
forces become
work
human
of
the
Now,
nature
But if this
sides.
unemployed
to
it be.
struggle
all
on
he
(apirrj)
vigor
which
YOUR
ALL
IN
that
faculties,
exposition
Happiness, he says,
ACTIVITY
SUCCESSFUL
»
happiness
man's
a
his highest
his
in
Stobasus
it
which
that
of
exercise
Ethics,
activity, the
of
without
Aristotle's,
philosophy:
explains
some sort
observation
accurate
most
Nichomachean
power,
of
in the free
enunciated
that
by
confirmed
Aristotle
of
LIFE
OF
THE WISDOM
24
if it
thither, because he is
were
than he
in sleep,
fire;
on
is bored
or
Exit
else
and
he is
no
sooner
saepe foras magnis ex czdibus
Esse domi
arrived
there,
again, and seeks to forget everything
hurries back to town once more.
quern
Quippe forts
pertaesum est,
nihilo melius
Hie,
subitoque
reventat;
qui sentiat esse.
Currit, agens mannos, ad villam precipitanter,
Auxilium tectis quasi ferre ardentibus instans;
Oscitat extemplo, tetigit quum limina villae;
abit in somnum gravis, atque oblivia
quaerit;
Aut
Aut
etiam
properans
In their youth,
of muscular
of
the mind,
very
long;
petit
such people must
and vital
cannot
and
urbem
energy,
maintain
in later
years
atque
revisit.
have had
a
superfluity
powers
which, unlike those
their full degree of vigor
they
either
have
no mental
PERSONALITY, OR WHAT A MAN IS
powers at
ment
in
a
or
all,
which
as
of
a
choose
some
he
which
of
painting;
employ
they
are
or some
stakes
—
such
excitement,
undoubtedly
a most
may say generally that
nothing to do, he is sure to
suited to
the kind of power in
one
with
it may
bowls,
horse-racing
philosophy,
passionate
And
vice.
amusement
excels,
by
for high
chance
finds himself
man
that
so
plight.
form
degrading
if
bring
to stimulate their will
games
want of
them into play;
Will, however, they still possess,
power
that is inexhaustible; and they
only
wretched
for this is the
try
any for
develop
cannot
would
25
or
be,
or
music; cards,
dilettante
other
hunting
chess;
or
heraldry,
poetry,
interest.
or
We
might
classify these interests methodically, by reducing them to
expressions of the three fundamental powers, the factors,
is
that
to
of
man
in
sources
choose
will
direction
one
First
drink, digestion,
where
world
and
of
national
muscular
or
it
the
be
energy,
the
and
sleep;
however, I
see
the
ure
of
greater
always
pleasure,
will
or
a
every
excels
a
a
great
use
of
the
are
characteristic
there
are
the
and
pleasures
pursuits,
which
of
sometimes
Thirdly,
there
are
a
the
observation, thought, feel
deal
might
supply.
learning,
read
which
place
which
it
repetition
than
be said, which,
But every one will
is brought into play,
of one's own
frequent
higher
food,
of
these
that in this respect the
deny
he
as
As
philosophy and the like.
worth and duration of each of
pleasure
involves the
occupy
affording
energy,
culture, music,
the power
be the
in
as
which
there are parts
sport,
such as
invention,
nobler
consists
will
bility
of
leave the reader to
that the
piness
one
sensibility,
the value, relative
these kinds
of
these
the definite
walking, running, wrestling,
warfare.
real
of
regards
simply
out
and similar athletic
taste for poetry
meditation,
that
as
form
ing,
ing,
a
of
according
and
Secondly,
such
pleasures
or
him,
said
pleasures.
military life
pleasure,
pleasures of vital
and
rest
can
take
physiological
another.
dancing, fencing, riding
sometimes
and
subserve,
what suits
come
of all
the
up
from any
apart
possible
of
make
further, by considering
and
they may
aims which
to
go
and
man;
by themselves,
powers
three
which
say,
constitution
gives
; for
powers,
of pleasure.
pleasures
either
of
pleas
and
of
hap
No
sensi
the other two
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
26
in an equal, nay, in a
his
greater degree in brutes ; it is
preponderating amount
man
from other animals.
of sensibility which distinguishes
of
forms
sensibility, and
Now, our mental powers are
fundamental
kinds;
exist
which
that kind of
of
intellectual pleasure;
called
the
dominates,
The
the
greater
in
anything only
say, is
of
matter
a
excitement
far
so
personal
is
the will
of
Nature
so-
mind,
pre
sensibility
be.*
will
takes
a
interest in
vivid
his will, that is to
But constant
interest to him.
it
excites
never an
good, to
unmixed
it involves
the least ; in other words,
*
and
as
with
the more
pleasure
man
normal, ordinary
makes us capable
has to do
which
pleasure
it
of
amount
therefore a preponderating
say
Card-playing,
pain.
progress, starting from the mechanical
activity of the inorganic world, proceeding to the vege
its dull enjoyment of self, from that to the animal world,
exhibits a continual
and chemical
table,
with
intelligence
where
only
ment
all
begin,
and consciousness
at
first very weak,
her efforts, the
even within
the
difficult
perfect and
most
the human
range of
of
intellect,
her
all
there
differences of degree, and it is very seldom
its highest point, intelligence properly so-called,
and strict sense of the word, is Nature's most
reaches
narrow
product,
the
and so
rarest and most precious
The highest
boast.
consciousness
in
which
product of
the
world
All
ways
erally
the
satisfied at
with
other
more or
pain
has
intellectual
pleasures
medium of
the
for the
of
are
accessible
whole of
and are
is
Nature
that
and
earth;
nothing but leisure
it were, to polish
as
the intellect
of
will
—
case
of
are
are
ambition,
in
all.
al
gen
intellectual pleasure,
In the realm
clearer.
all
of
desires,
on
of
Further,
entirely and only through the
limited by its capacity. For all
USELESS TO HIM
accompanied
shows
on
directed: they
what
in the
With
of
plainly and com
this form of in
best
asks
Knowledge is
IN THE WORLD IS
advantage
he
clearer and
world
comparison with which all
are not of
to
and
illusion.
no power.
intelligence,
THE WIT THERE IS
Still this
less
pain,
the
all, movements
no matter
of
truth becomes
hand,
intelligence
the cost
that
one and
in this
consummate
degree
with
he has got, time,
other pleasures
lower kind ; for they are,
hopes, fears and ambitions,
a
in
surroundings
enjoyment of what
his diamond.
endowed
which
clearest
more
noblest and
a source of pleasure
From his
others are small.
for the free
itself
mirrors
many
that intellect
of which
Nature is the
A man
pletely than anywhere else.
telligence is in possession of what is
accordingly, he has
thing
And
works.
are a great
observable
can
and
many intermediate stages attaining its last great develop
in man, whose intellect is Nature's crowning point, the goal of
after
by
with
a
WHO
substantial
the
HAS
NONE.
disadvantage;
growth of
intelligence
increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest
degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.
comes
PERSONALITY,
OR WHAT A MAN IS
that
universal
is
device for providing
means of interests
a
"good society " everywhere
this kind of excitement, and
occupation
of
that, too, by
slight
and
pain.
Card-playing is,
in
small
so
instead
momentary,
27
of
fact,
a
man
of
real
to produce
as
and
mere
permanent,
tickling
the
of
will.*
On
the
capable
hand,
other
of
taking
a
intellect
powerful
interest in things in the way
a vivid
is
of
mere
knowledge, with no admixture of will; nay, such
interest is a necessity to him.
It places him in a
sphere
where
pain
is an alien, a diviner air where the
an
live
gods
serene :
Oeol
Look
dull
its
all
as
soon
sort
On the
of
and
*
Vulgarity
is,
completely
predominates over
more
nothing
fore,
bottom,
and
the kind
the
will
makes no
demands,
of
man
an
consciousness
where
of
endowed
existence
in
which
by
the
the latter does
its master, the
no
is
roused
occupied
meaning,
supplies
man
be
the wild fire
a
leading
intellect,
of
the
can
by
have
power,
than perform the service
the
when
at
masses,
entirely de
and
he
only
you
life
will
the
of
effort
satisfied
whence
mental
of
and
welfare, to misery
intolerable boredom as
by
are
side
full
life
the
personal
movement
other
high degree
a
in thought
of
beset
himself,
of
—
struggle
aims
upon
some
passion.
with
pictures
of
life
a
those
back
to
again
forms,
ever
thrown
rich
two
record
to the petty interests
voted
in
these
on
long,
one
£wovt£<?.
p'eta
There
will.
motives, strong
or
intellect entirely loses its power, and the result is complete
Now will without intellect is the most vulgar and
vacancy of mind.
common thing in the world, possessed by every blockhead, who, in the
weak, the
of
gratification
is the
his passions,
of
condition
mind
shows
called
the
stuff of which
vulgarity, in
he is
which
made.
the only
This
active
are the organs of sense, and that small amount of intellect
is necessary for apprehending the data of sense. Accordingly,
the vulgar man is constantly open to all sorts of impressions, and
immediately perceives all the little trifling things that go on in his
elements
which
environment:
ficient to
mental
—
as
is
a
his
condition
hence that
if,
the lightest whisper, the
rouse
attention
reveals
most
itself in his
base,
case,
his
will
selfish and altogether
—
an animal.
face, in his
vulgar, repulsive appearance,
is usually the
trivial circumstance, is suf
; he is just like
which
is
Such
a man's
whole exterior ; and
all
the
more
offensive,
the only factor in his consciousness
bad
one.
to
himself
give
the
tion
What
works
of
human
affairs
and
countries,
ages and
of all
is to him that
hearers
casual
those
that
alone
others, the
they
who
only half
ing,
For,
need of
pleasures
why to such a man
denied to others, the
To
literature.
and
needs;
heap
leisure.
no
are
real
the need of them is
which
accessible
are
the
meditat
studying,
there
beauties
varied
than
of undisturbed
and
pleasures
them or
need
more
one
these round
them and cannot appreciate
want
it is
so
the intel
characteristic of
Voltaire has very rightly said,
real
who
one
either
understand
reading, observing,
without
great
have really lived; it
the rest are but
ones
practicing, the need, in short,
as
the
their appeal;
make
Of course, this
implies that he has
man
wants
appreciated
And
them.
with
great
he
contempla
the only
being
as
their followers.
lectual
thoroughly
of
a source
of
achievements
feel
and
understand
quite
for him
the
himself
from the
and
which are
he is free
ever
as
promptings
external
nature,
this type alone,
of
a man
can
bearing in
from the
of
soon
as
objects
to them,
pleasure.
noblest
come
by
interesting
and
worthy
LIFE
OF
THE WISDOM
28
of
nature
art
do
not
who
people
are
and
them, is like expecting
A man who is privileged in
gray hairs to fall in love.
this respect leads two lives, a personal and an intellectual,
life;
the latter gradually
and
the true one,
Other
ence
and
people make
an
by
tions:
the
give
will
acquire
which
as
over
life,
growth
like
a
a
consistency,
becomes ever more
of
said,
people
makes
make
upon as
to
means
but
this
his
all
insight
and more
a poor
baser
it.
exist
the intellect such
of
a permanent
which, a life devoted to the
comfort, a life that may broaden
deepened,
a
other
of
work
intensity,
a
of
personal
indeed, but
can
and
as
show:
art,
unity
compared
complete;
attainment
a
occupa
knowledge,
and
slowly-forming
with
be
merely
To the life
preference
the constant
this intellectual
to be looked
comes
former
this shallow, empty and troubled
in itself.
end
man will
the
yet,
sort of existence an
never
I have
end
in
itself.
The ordinary
moved
by
moved, it
whom
life
of
every
passion, is tedious
soon
nature
becomes
day,
and
painful.
has favored
with
so
far
and
Those
alone
some
it is
as
insipid;
if it is
are
superfluity
of
not
so
happy
intel-
PERSONALITY,
lect, something beyond
the behests
intellectual life
vivid
ficient : there
from the
intellect; for,
death,
tomb.
will
life,
the life
lection
and
labelling
be
the
it
dom,
also
it keeps
not
the
wards off
a
minerals, coins, or
philosophy.
The
and
poetry
only
losses
and
of
the
of
the mere col
maybe
protection
pernicious
extravagances
which
bore
against
effects of
from bad company, from the many
us
fortunes,
of
amount
est
developments in this
countless
insects, birds,
of
is
mind
the
with
the mind; it
of
the highest achievements
of
—
Varying
will
second
life
superfluity of power, set free
and devoted to that of the
real
Seneca says, otium sine litteris mors
illiterate leisure is a form
there
superfluity,
a
sepultura
living
a
is just necessary to carry out
enables them to lead an
what
the
of
as
hominis
vivi
et
be
must
service
29
well, a life unattended by pain and full
Mere leisure, that is to say, intellect
service of the will, is not of itself suf
as
interests.
unoccupied in the
of
IS
will; for it
their
of
OR WHAT A MAN
boredom ;
dangers,
the
man
mis
who
his happiness entirely in the objective world is sure
encounter.
My philosophy, for instance, has never
places
to
brought
in
me
a
sixpence
; but it has
spared me
many
an
expense.
The
ordinary
to
external
his life's happiness in things
places
man
in property, rank,
him,
the
wife
that
like,
society,
finds them disappointing, the foundation
friends,
or
and
In
is destroyed.
so
when
words, the
other
and
children,
he loses them
of
centre
his happi
of
gravity
in himself ; it is constantly changing its place, with
If he is a man of means, one
every wish and whim.
house
in the country, another buying
his
will
be
it
day
ness
is
not
horses,
short,
his
or
pleasure
health
use
own
of
and
in
luxury,
things
strength
jellies
vital
friends,
entertaining
general
of
and
the
traveling,
or
reason
Like
him.
outside
the
two,
guished
the
type
endowed,
powers
ordinary
of
in
seeks
whose
one
gone, he tries to regain by the
drugs, instead of by developing his
power, the true
common
life,
are
the
it
man
may
who
be,
mind, but
amount
of
us
compare
with
midway between
exactly with distin
comes
not
with
intellect.
he has lost.
what
of
source
Before proceeding to the opposite, let
this
a
that he
being
somewhat
He
will
more
take
a
than
dilet-
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
30
in
interest
tante
branch
of
such
amuse
and
studies,
happiness
of
sources
himself
some
as
or
physics,
of
pleasure
them
with
exhausted
are
to
attention
botany, for example,
great
deal
and find a
tronomy, history,
nal
his
devote
or
art,
science—
in
exter
when
fail to satisfy
or
like this it may be
said that
Of a
him any more.
a dilet
in
himself.
But
is
his centre of gravity
partly
creat
different
from
is
a
tante interest in art
thing
very
man
ive activity; and an amateur pursuit of science is apt to
be superficial and not to penetrate to the heart of the
A man cannot entirely identify himself with
matter.
such
filled
in
what we
intensity,
striving to
self, his
own
necessity to
the
highest
Hence,
thoughts
such
a
peculiar
life
and
good,
as
the
of
subject
of
and
the world,
of
conception
occupation
works, is
and
its theme,
existence
undisturbed
poetry or
him
with
a matter of urgent
is welcome, leisure is
everything else is unnecessary,
solitude
man;
This is the only type
that his
and
burdensome.
even
nay,
its
contemplates
philosophy.
of
time
all
express
it
whether
interest
It is only the
genius, that attains to this degree
call
making
completely
all
highest intellectual
else.
everything
so
existence
whole
them that he loses
with
permeated
and
power,
have his
or
pursuits,
centre
of man
of
it
whom
is entirely in
of
can
be
said
himself; which
and
they are
gravity
why it is that people of this sort
no matter how excellent their character may
very rare
and
unlimited interest
in
do
not
show that warm
be,
—
explains
—
friends, family,
selves
they
else.
This
is
all
the
are not
gives
more
the
isolation to their
an
effective
satisfy them,
quite
community in general, of which
capable; for if they have only them
inconsolable for the loss of everything
and
so often
others are
as
since
being,
on
other
character,
people
the whole,
never
of
a
which
really
different
nature; nay more, since this difference is constantly forc
ing itself upon their notice, they get accustomed to move
among mankind as alien beings, and in thinking
humanity in general, to say they instead of we.
about
So the
nature
est;
so
conclusion
has
endowed
true
we
with
of
to is that the man whom
intellectual wealth is the happi
come
it is that the
subjective
concerns
us
more
PERSONALITY,
than the
can
medium
—
former
the
the latter
whatever
indirectly,
only
of
Lucian :
for
objective;
work
OR WHAT A MAN IS
—
truth
a
finely
expressed
by
—
nXouTo*:
6
TaXX.a
tyec
other
The
the
it
the
-r^?
Iot\v aXythj?
<pu%f)s nXoGTo? i±6vo<;
clttjv
icXeiova
t3v
KTtdvwv.
the wealth of the soul is the only true wealth,
all
be,
may
through
and
secondarily,
31
riches
inner
of
man
comes
a
wealth
bane
even
wants
nothing from
for
than
greater
with
they.
but
outside
leisure, to develop and
mature
his intellectual faculties, that is, to enjoy his
wealth ; in
short, he wants permission to be himself, his
whole life long, every day and every hour.
If he is des
negative
of
gift
undisturbed
tined to impress the
race, he has only
ness
to succeed
—
completing his
value
as much
sist
in
all
the happiest ;
"
he
which
he
says
tallies
to
leisure
"
powers
and
consequence.
have
set the
exactly
appears
as
the
to
con
fairest
Nichomachean
re
of
Ethics,"
devoted to philosophy is
((
in the
with
finds
Politics,
it
may
*
be,
Goethe
what
man who
use,
whole
worth
ages
as
a
unhappi-
or
Diogenes Laertius
and
whatever
The
meant
all
Happiness
life
a
of
leisure,
the
power,
again,
Meister:8
is
in
that
as
any
of
Wilhelm
in
or,
This,
ness.
perfecting his
is of small
minds
praised
So,
concludes
upon
else
Aristotle;
Socrates
mind
happiness
of
undisturbed
says
possessions.
exercise
in
All
greatest
upon
leisure,
Aristotle
fail
or
the man himself.
as
that
ports
measure
work.
the
Accordingly,
highest
his
character of
one
the
is
free
happi
says
in
is born with a talent
his
greatest
happiness
it.
using
But to be in
of
possession
undisturbed
leisure
is far
lot; nay, it is something alien to
being
human nature, for the ordinary man's destiny is to spend
life in procuring what is necessary for the subsistence of
from
the common
himself
and
his family; he is a son
So people
tired of
undisturbed
if there
are
play,
no
pastime
reason
quies
of
free intelligence.
not a
is
and
it is full
a
leisure,
fictitious
of
hobbies
and
of
possible
true saying,
—
and
struggle and
as
rule
a
need,
soon
get
it becomes burdensome
forced
danger,
to occupy it,
For this very
difficilis in otio
aims
every kind.
and
it is difficult to
keep
quiet
if
you
LIFE
THE WISDOM OF
32
On the other hand, a measure of in
have nothing to do.
tellect far surpassing the ordinary is as unnatural as it is
But if it exists, and the man endowed with it
abnormal.
is to be happy, he will want precisely that undisturbed
leisure which the others find burdensome or pernicious;
for without it he is a Pegasus in harness, and consequently
If these two
unhappy.
and
internal,
pen
to
fortune;
leisure
undisturbed
in the
coincide
far
so
the life
life,
circumstances,
favorable,
protected
external
intellect, hap
and great
person, it is
same
if fate is
and
the higher
unnatural
a great piece of
man
a
can
from the two
lead
opposite
human suffering, pain and boredom, from the
for existence, and the incapacity for en
sources of
struggle
painful
leisure (which is free
during
itself)
existence
evils which
—
may be escaped only by being mutually neutralized.
But there is something to be said in opposition to
this
Great intellectual
view.
eminently
very high degree
Further,
and
such
more
gifts
mean
character,
susceptibility to
of
an
and
pain
activity
pre
consequently a
in every form.
imply an intense temperament, larger
ideas, which, as the inseparable accom
gifts
vivid
of
paniment
in its
nervous
intellectual
great
entail
power,
on
its
pos
the emotions, making
corresponding intensity
them incomparably more violent than those to which the
sessor
a
of
world
of
has it from
them ;
he
is
and
will
said,
more
intellect tends to
estrange
people
himself,
and
their
things in the
Again,
the
doings;
a
man
for the
large
who
more
the less he will be able to find in
the hundred things in which
instance
itself
and
there are
pleasure.
think shallow
another
makes
pain
than
of
other
has in
man
Now,
a prey.
productive of
endowment
a
is
man
ordinary
felt
of
and
that
insipid.
law
everywhere.
of
How
they take delight,
Here, then, perhaps,
compensation
often
one
which
hears it
said, too, with some plausibility, that the narrowis at bottom the happiest, even though his
minded man
fortune is
stall
unenviable.
pecially
as
I
shall
make
no
attempt
to
fore
judgment on this point; more es
Sophocles himself has given utterance to two
the reader's
diametrically
own
opposite
IJoXXw
nptoTOV
opinions:
rd
<j>poveTv
6xdp%et.
ebdaifiovias
PERSONALITY,
he
in
says
one
place
OR WHAT A MAN IS
—
and
the life
the thoughtless is the
of
'Ev
The
a
Qpovetv yap
tS
greatest
part
most
fiydh
pleasant of all
rJ<Wroj /Sioy.
Old Testament find themselves in
fool is
of a
than death.
worse
—
In much wisdom is much grief;
And he that increaseth knowledge increaseth
sorrow.
I may remark, however, that a man who has no
needs, because his intellect is of the narrow and
amount,
is, in
Philistine
afterward
a
the
—
an
language,
man
in its
still
—
contradiction.
The life
a
Son
of
I
&wip.
a
strict
expression
kind
original
first
at
normal
the word, what is called
of
to the Ger
peculiar
slang term at the universities,
analogy, in a higher sense, though
by
used,
sense
mental
of
meaning, as denoting one who is not
A philistine is and remains afiouaos
Muses.
the
to take
should prefer
higher
a
point of
and
view,
apply the term philistine to people who are always
occupied
ously
as such
a
with
definition
realities
in the
lar.
The
indicating,
other
as
nature of all
From this it
he has
no
before,
there
knowledge
can
philistine
a
follows, firstly,
are
and
If
be
more
be in
hardly
being
would
aims
at
popu
easily elucidated,
does,
intellectual
that true
to them.
it
which
and
satisfactorily enough, the essential
those qualities which distinguish the philis
philistine's
ence
definition
it
but
are no realities;
transcendental one,
a
intelligible,
treatise,
He is defined to be
tine.
the
present
seri
which
be
would
therefore not generally
place
The
of
passage, he declares that
another
philosophers of the
like
And
in
again
is the
wisdom
happiness;
33
is
aesthetic pleasure
of
for,
pleasures
animated
insight for their
pleasures
without
relation
pleasures;
real
no
life
man
in
this
finds himself
no
compelled
himself, that
was remarked
is
are
real
desire
sake,
which
kind
as
without
by
own
mental needs.
to
or
so
to
needs.
to
gain
experi
nearly
akin
fashionable,
and
to pay attention
to
them, he will force himself to do so, but he will take as
little interest in them as possible.
His only real pleas
ures are of a sensual
3
kind,
and
he thinks that these
in-
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
34
him for the loss
demnify
his life is to
the height
are
champagne
and
welfare,
him some trouble.
he
him,
upon
dom he has
If the luxuries
ing
being bored,
so
intellectual
for
akin
are
interests
or
exhausted,
The
peculiar
no
charac
a
for
him,
the
and
from
man
a
intellectual needs,
dull, dry kind of gravity,
Nothing really pleases, or ex
is
philistine
balls, theatres,
drinking, travel
protect
no
are
possible.
to that of animals.
cites,
bore
against
and
women,
cannot
there
where
pleasures
teristic of the
bored,
horses,
which
of
all
on;
bodily
many fancied remedies,
a great
parties, cards, gambling,
and
be
inevitably
will
of
aim
way if this causes
heaped
are
of life
happy
a
oysters
existence; the
contribute to his
of
will
what
procure
he is indeed in
and
To him
the others.
of
sensual
society
is
pleasure
soon
philistines
of
quickly
becomes
burdensome, and one may even get tired of playing cards.
True, the pleasures of vanity are left, pleasures which he
in his
enjoys
in
point of
own
either
way,
wealth,
or
by feeling
rank,
himself
influence
or
and
superior
power
him
to
honor; or,
people,
any
by going about with those who have a superfluity of
these blessings, sunning himself in the reflection of their
thereupon pay
who
other
at
rate,
splendor
the English
what
—
From the
essential
in regard
secondly,
intellectual, but
society
former.
the
he
chances
of
any
to meet
snob.
the
of
needs,
as
he
he
will
from
secret
occur
envy,
himself.
feeling
from his friends is
him to
to
it,
has to
to the standard
to
the
influence,
advantages
them
preference
which
in his
his
of
to
an unpleasant
heart, a dull
be carefully concealed even
it sometimes [grows into a
But for
rancor.
make
conform
give
the
intellectual capacity; nay, if
it will rouse his antipathy and
Nevertheless,
of
the
latter,
expect
not
sort of
with
which
seek
but
will
hatred ; simply because in addition to
sense of inferiority,
he experiences, in his
of
follows,
possesses no
satisfy the
even
kind
it
philistine
that,
physical
thing he
a
call
others,
can
who
The last
possession
to
only
those
of
nature
own
all
ideas
that, it
of
such qualities ;
rank
eyes seem
and
will never
worth or
he
will
riches,
value
continue
power
and
to be the only genuine
in the
himself.
world ; and his wish will be to excel in
All this is the consequence of his
being
PERSONALITY, OR
a
man without
of all
and
of
intellectual
philistines
that,
realities
dangerous;
when
fatiguing.
But the ideal
they lose
Note.
which
cerned
For
an
—
go
to
with
these
make
the
is illimitable
upon
remarks
on
happiness,
I
and
the direct
happiness,
"The Foundation
and
calm,
afar
sphere of our sorrow.
physical
account of
morality
on
In
unsatisfactory or
they become
interest,
something
From the
great affliction
no
either
are
their
world
35
interest in ideas,
they are in constant need
being bored,
Now
The
needs.
is that they have
to escape
realities.
WHAT A MAN IS
of
let
the
have
personal
been
intellectual
and
me
Morals*
qualities
mainly
nature
con
of man.
immediate influence
refer
to my
(Sec. 2a.)
prize
of
essay
III.
CHAPTER
Property,
Epicurus divides the
is
ness
true
a
this
by
fine
a
and
Man Has.
a
into three classes,
of happi
needs of mankind
the division made
and
What
or
professor
great
First
one.
come
natural
and
necessary needs, such as, when not satisfied, produce pain,
food and clothing, victus et amictus, needs which can
—
easily be
of certain
report
and
of
given
mention
point
my
are
those
are
Diogenes
by
the
of
than the
Epicurus
Laertius,
senses
he means;
his doctrine is
The third
need of
show and
reason
there is
will
is
no
satisfy
should
impose
absolute or
say, just so much as
between what he wants and
happiness only
a man's
he
what
a
fraction
nator.
A
which
man
never occurs
out
as
them;
by
to get, is
expects
while
ask
another,
an
will
what
of
maintain
he
loss
which
relative, that
try
to
but
no
things
of
he is just
may have
because he has
much, feels miserable
which he wants.
In
an
the proportion
and not
a numerator
for;
and
to
; for to measure
gets
he gets,
futile as to
as
luxury
come
wealth
always
who
a
as
also
by
express
denomi
which
happy
it
with
hundred times
not got
the
one
here too, every man has
horizon of his own, and he will expect just as much
he thinks it possible for him to get.
If an object
thing
as
is
feels the
to him to
definite
define the limits
what
have
shall
never
never
amount
amount
to
not
this
on
the desire for wealth; for
on
definite
The
a man.
does
that
class consists of needs which
splendor, which
end, and are very hard to satisfy.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to
which
which,
are needs rather more
necessary, the
nor
so
somewhat more
These
original.
satisfy.
neither natural
prodigality,
needs
not
account of
exact
there
necessary, such as the gratification
the senses.
I may add, however, that in the
which
difficult to
are
Secondly,
satisfied.
though natural,
within
his horizon looks
reckon on
(36)
getting
it,
as
he is
fact,
though
happy;
he
could
confidently
but if difficulties
come
PROPERTY, OR WHAT A MAN HAS
in the way, he is
has
no
effect
possessions
What lies beyond his horizon
miserable.
at
all
it is that the
So
him.
upon
the rich do not
of
37
vast
the poor, and
agitate
con
a
wealthy man is not consoled by all his
for the failure of his hopes.
Riches, one may say,
versely, that
wealth
like
are
and
the
sea- water:
become ;
drink,
more you
the same is true
and
of
the more
thirsty
The loss
fame.
you
of wealth
prosperity leaves a man, as soon as the first pangs
over, in very much the same habitual temper
grief are
before;
the
and
diminishes the
is just
the
what
is
us, to
most
higher
higher,
and
It is in this
But it lasts
the
of good
a piece
feeling
no
is
this
illustrating
to
truth,
less,
and
once
of
our
have
we
is felt
and
has healed.
no
Conversely,
that the delight
the
to
is
of
itself,
process
delight
complete, the
There
them.
satisfies
expansion
indifferent
consequently
fate
as
fortune befalls us, our claims mount
there is nothing to regulate them.
of
accustomed
soon
amount
when
painful;
longer than the
expansion
become
as
as
the
reduce
done so, the pain becomes less
more; like an old wound which
when
that
his possessions, he himself im
amount of his claims.
But when
of
comes upon
misfortune
is,
this
of
amount
reduces
mediately
claims
reason
of
as
ceases:
increase in
our
the
of
a
amount
in
passage
which
I may
it lies.
of
and
when
have
we
and
claims,
wealth
"
the
which
Odyssey
"
the last two
quote
lines :
Totos
vdog
yap
OTov £<p rjfiap
—
the
thoughts of
day
the
granted
Discontent
the
the
When
we
matter
cere
the
for
goal
pushed
of
aside
or
and
constant
when
the
of
re.
earth
gods
endeavor
we
that
is based
wealth
greater
ought we
life,
on
father
Oeuiv
are
and
to increase
are powerless
to in
to
honor,
wonder
them, it is
is held in more
upon
than anything
that
gain
everything that does
thrown
as
men.
will
existence
surprise
; nor
a
re
satisfy them.
how full of needs the human
consider
whole
dwells
the
claims,
esteem, nay, in
world
only
our
amount which
is, how its
a
of
avdpwitwv
Trarijp dvdpwv
that
by
from
springs
amount
crease
man
him
1<tt\v lxt](0ovt<D)'
txyet
overboard
—
is
not
race
not
sin
else
in
made the
lead to it
philosophy, for in-
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
38
by
stance,
those
for wishing for money
proached
above
are
re
often
for
and
things,
all
than anything else; but it is natural and
inevitable for people to love that which, like an un
it
loving
even
more
Proteus, is
wearied
always
ready to turn itself into what
or manifold desires
their wandering wishes
object
ever
may for the
isfy
only
are
hungry;
you
People
it.
profess
who
fix
upon.
one
need:
moment
one
wish,
wine, if
Everything
food is
else
sat
can
only if
good
you
you are able to enjoy it; drugs, if
for
the
winter; love for youth, and so
sick; fur
are
These
relatively good, ayaOa izpd? «
Money alone is absolutely good, because it is not only a
need in particular; it is an
concrete satisfaction of one
on.
has
man
a
only
satisfaction of all.
abstract
If
all
are
it
independent
an
bulwark
he
fortune,
should re
the
many evils and mis
fortunes which he may encounter; he should not look
upon it as giving him leave to get what pleasure he can
gard
out
as
the
of
him to
the
of
that
as
way.
by
end
making
talents
whatever
large
one
through
they possess,
almost
a
their capital,
are
money they have gained is merely the
it ; they do not lay by a part of their earn
the
upon
ings to form
much
rendering it incumbent upon
People who are not born
as
to think that their talents
come
interest
against
it in this
fortune, but
exercise
always
and
or
world,
spend
a
with
a
permanent
they have
capital, but
earned
it.
spend
their money
Accordingly, they
decrease, or come
fall into poverty ; their
earnings
end
because their talent is
by becoming
pens
in the
under
now
either
altogether,
a
antiquated, as, for instance, very
of fine art
or else it was
case
special
passed
—
conjunction
of
circumstances
often
to
an
exhausted
often
hap
valid
only
has
which
There is
away.
nothing to prevent those
of their hands from treat
ing their earnings in that way if they like; because their
kind of skill is not likely to
disappear, or, if it does, it
can be replaced
by that of their fellow- workmen ; more
who
live
on
the
over, the kind
common
of
work
labor
they do is
that what the proverb says is quite
is a
mine
of
gold.
every kind the
case
But
is
with
quite
in
always
true,
artists and
different,
a
demand;
useful
so
trade
professionals of
and
that is the
PROPERTY,
why they
capital out
upon
other
them
croach
are
to
try
well
paid.
So
few
most
remarks
to
applicable
capital
their
and
capital
interest,
secure
and most
and
not
en
nay, if they can, they put by at least
their interest in order to meet future con
of
tingencies.
These
make
it;
upon
eighth
an
39
their
of
how to distinguish between
of
HAS
They ought to build up
but
earnings;
they recklessly look
them as merely interest, and end in ruin.
On the
hand, people who inherit money know, at least,
reason
a
OR WHAT A MAN
them
of
about
life, for
commercial
their
maintain
position.
interest
and
capital
merchants
are
look
not
upon
money only as a means of further gain, just as a workman
his tools ; so even if their capital has been entirely
regards
the result
it
so much
at
It
will
their
of
increase
own
less
it,
of
afraid
who
bred in
careful
more
much
and
economical, in fact, than
those
nowhere
know
about
by hearsay.
circumstances
the
by
it
very much
inclined to ex
good
who
what
are
who
have been born
a rule
as
are
who
consequently more
know poverty only
and
is
class.
destitution
and
need
travagance, than those
People
wealth
generally be found that those
is to have been in
to preserve and
they try
efforts,
Accordingly,
using it.
home as in the merchant
by
future,
a piece
more
of good
have suddenly passed from poverty to wealth. This
looks as if poverty were not really such a very wretched
The true reason, how
as it appears from a distance.
luck,
thing
ever, is
into
so
;
he is generally
But the
upon
man who
it
in for
to be
he
air
without
a
as
the
enjoyed
less;
or,
as
one,
more
live than he
could
he does his very life ;
if
and
it
as
by
a
and
any
chance
as
the adage
.
mounted
said
run
must
he
comes
superfluity, something
because, if it comes
before, with one
says in Henry VI,
well
as
.
be
no
as
of
regards
Shakespeare
should
it
has been born
wasted,
just
That beggars
But it
lover
natural
or
could
guards
who
order, prudent and economical.
has been born into a poor position looks
a
fortune, he
can get on
he
he
man
to look upon it as some
comes
wealth
of
which
without
thing
live
the fact that the
rather
a position
be
to an end,
anxiety the
verified
their horse to death.
that people of this kind have a firm
OF LIFE
THE WISDOM
40
trust, partly in fate, partly in
excessive
and
have
means which
poverty,
the
upon
they do
so
and
also;
of
shallows
themselves
already
trust not only
a
—
with
as
poverty
again, they
this trait in human
can
take
who were poor
but
and
the heart
of
man
they have
when
before their
It is
the fact that
explains
which
touched
flight.
another upward
character
peculiar
born rich, look
bottomless, but console
the
the thought that
ground
women
like
not,
head,
the
of
the
them out of need
raised
often make
marriage
claims, and are more extravagant, than those
have brought their husbands a rich dowry; because
who
greater
rule,
to
bring
rich girls
of
this,
not
fortune, but
instinct,
a
only
the inherited
of
more
If
than poor girls do.
it,
preserve
truth
them,
with
eagerness, nay,
also more
as a
doubts the
anyone
thinks that it is just the opposite, he will
and
find authority for his view in Ariosto's first Satire ; but, on
hand, Dr. Johnson agrees with my opinion. A
woman of fortune, he says, being used to the handling
the other
of
spends it
money,
has such
riage,
it
the
capital
that
but only the
has
she
and
case
let
me
not
to leave her
to take
especial care
girl
poor
interest,
the
not
a
gets
her mar
she throws
that
it,
who
upon
And in any
profusion.
marries
who
anyone
advise
time
in spending
a gusto
great
with
away
first
the
woman
a
but
judiciously;
the command of money for
management
the
of
children's
fortune.
I do
by
not
a
subject which
I
recommend
have
earned
much
as
any means think that I am touching upon
is not worth my while to mention when
people
or
will
to be
inherited.
one
make
to live comfortably
careful
to
For to
start
preserve what
life
with
independent,
is,
having to work even
that
without
they
just
as
allow
one
if
one
—
has only just enough for oneself, not to speak of a family
is an advantage which cannot be overestimated; for it
means exemption and immunity from that chronic disease
—
of
penury,
it is
natural
like
lot
of
this can
the proper
own
fastens
which
emancipation
time
every
a
and
of
the life
be
Only
said to
the word,
powers,
of
that forced
mortal.
man
sense
on
from
and
under
a
be born
sui
able
man
labor
to
juris,
like
a plague
which
;
is the
favorable fate
free,
to
master
be,
of
in
his
say every morning,
PROPERTY, OR WHAT A MAN HAS
day
this
is
my
And just for the
own.
difference between the
has
who
most value
line
life
of
he is
for
at
But inherited
all.
when
high order,
compatible
not
doubly
then
year
by
achieve,
general
producing
good,
Another,
large.
philanthropic
his
does
who
attempts
so
and
schemes,
But
to study
thoroughly
that he may
not
from
man
even
be
live
to mankind
other
could
to
contributes
humanity
of
to further
wealth
well-deserving
does
what
none
he
these
of
riches,
is
fellow.
contemptible
happy, because, in
toward
can
he is into
as
—
money;
can
do them, who never
one branch of knowl
to
do
such a one, born
promoting it
mere idler and thief of time, a
will
his
some
least
at
no
which
who
try
even
not
what
himself
make
man
a
debt
use
of
and
to the honor
redounds
again, may
fellow-men.
things,
edge
and
fate
ut
with
to pursue
resolved
his
work
its
endowed
the making
by
endowed
some
is
who
with
for his genius; and he will pay
hundred times, by achieving
a
of
a
reaches
wealth
it falls to the individual
powers of a
mental
at
the
reason
hundred
who has a thousand,
is infinitely smaller
difference between the former and a man who
the
has nothing
the
same
a
the man
and
than
a
man
41
his case,
a
He
exemption
delivers him up to the other extreme of hu
suffering, boredom, which is such martyrdom to him,
need
that he would have been better off if poverty had given
And as he is bored he is apt to
him something to do.
be extravagant, and so lose the advantage of which he
himself
showed
Countless
unworthy.
numbers of
in want, simply because,
money, they spent it only to get momentary
the feeling of boredom which oppressed them.
find
themselves
It is
quite
life,
important, in
political
the ladder of
rung.
on
of
the
when
another
where
order
world
noble
but is
advantage
by
and
life,
a
one's
friends
mount
of
without
family,
dound to his
favor,
to
promotion,
In this kind
if
matter
penny;
to
be
their
perhaps
it is
a man
object
and
much
and
of
an
they had
from
relief
is
aid
step
gain
by
the
better
to
talent, it
all-
step
on
topmost
be
aspirant
absolute
in
success
connections are
if the
some
people
is
will
pauper.
cast
not
re
For
contact with his
every one most aims at in ordinary
to
them
inferior
himself; and how
fellows is to prove
what
THE WISDOM OF
42
much more
is this the
an
absolute pauper who
of
his
own
from every
complete,
point of
has
the
and
his
of
he
conviction
positive
inferiority
insignificance
utter
take his
can
only
thorough
He is the only
machine.*
political
a
own
view,
Now, it is
politics.
such
profound
worthlessness, that
and
in
case
LIFE
quietly in
place
one who can
keep
low enough, and even go right down upon his
face if necessary; he alone can submit to everything and
laugh at it; he alone knows the entire worthlessness of
bowing
on
merit; he
type
placed
so
a
betimes,
becomes
and
his boldest
those
who are
or
He
alone
he is
when
high
a
voice
speak or write of
occupy any position of influence;
little scribbling, he is ready to applaud
head,
a masterwork.
as
and
he has to
his
if they do
and
it
over
his loudest
uses
alone
whenever
light;
that
of
priest
Goethe brings to
how to
understands
hardly
out of
hidden
his
beg,
boyhood, he
mystery
which
—
Ueber's Niedertrachtige
Niemand
Denn
Was
it is
—
use
no
to
beklage:
sich
ist das Machtige
es
man
dir
complain
auch sage:
of
rule the
may say, they
On the other hand, the
people
low aims;
for,
whatever
world.
man
who
is born
with enough
is generally of a somewhat independent turn
of mind; he is accustomed to keep his head up; he has
not learned all the arts of the beggar; perhaps he even
to live
upon
presumes a
he
to
ought
diocrity,
riority
and
Nay,
upon
know,
long
can
in the
those
of
they try
little
such
run
are
insults
possession
never
he
of
talents which,
compete with
comes
placed
to
over
cringing
recognize
his
head,
as
me
the infe
and when
he becomes refractory
This is not the way to get on in the world.
a man may at last incline to the opinion
freely
to
shy.
who
the
put
*
upon
him,
Translator's Note.
Schopenhauer is probably here making one
his many virulent attacks upon Hegel; in this case on account of
what he thought to be the philosopher's abject
servility to the gov
ernment of his day.
Though the Hegelian system has been the
fruitful mother of many liberal ideas, there can be no doubt that
Hegel's influence, in his own lifetime, was an effective support of
of
Prussian bureaucracy.
—
PROPERTY, OR WHAT A MAN HAS
expressed
it
is
not
by Voltaire:
worth
to contemptible
the way, that
our
We
have
while
But
rascals.
contemptible
only
to
is
may be predicted of an abominable
What Juvenal says
it is difficult to
—
is
greater
than
your
Haud facile
Res
is
me
an
in
to
live;
cringing
observe
by
attribute which
number
if
rise
of
your
people.
poverty
—
emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat
angusta
applicable
more
talent
them
let
alas!
rascal
days
two
spend
43
domi
to
—
a career
of
art and
literature than
to political and social ambition.
Wife
and
possessions:
easier
friends
children
he is
to include
belong
to them.
I have
not
rather
in their
friends
under
to him
not
reckoned
among a man's
It would be
possession.
that
a whit
head; but
more
a
man's
than he belongs
IV.
CHAPTER
Position,
or
Man's Place
a
in
Estimation
the
of
Others.
By
a
of
them;
the slightest
nature,
others
form
show
that
will
reflection
gen
people
opinion which
it may be, is not in itself essential
Therefore it is hard to understand why
whatever
happiness.
to
human
the
about
much
although
this opinion,
of
weakness
peculiar
erally think too
reputation.
i.
section
everybody feels so very pleased when he sees that other
have a good opinion of him, or say anything flat
If you stroke a cat, it will purr; and,
to
his vanity.
tering
people
as
inevitably, if
delight
praise
is
will
is
you praise
lie, it
he
prides
applaud
right
him,
a
a
man,
face;
will
sweet expression
even
and
though
be welcome, if the
If only other
himself.
man
of
the
matter
people
himself for down
console
may
for the pittance
or
misfortune,
a
his
a palpable
one on which
will
on
appear
he
from the
gets
human happiness already discussed; and
it
is
conversely,
astonishing how infallibly a man will be
and
in
some cases deeply pained by any
annoyed,
wrong
two sources
of
done to his
feeling of self-importance, whatever be the
nature, degree, or circumstances of the injury, or by any
depreciation, slight, or disregard.
If the feeling of honor rests upon this
peculiarity of
human nature, it may have
welfare
of
ity; but
peace
to
a great
upon
of mind
happiness,
rather
happiness,
effect
view,
consider
and
vantages,
(44)
set
thus
to
substitute
more
especially
be
which
disturbing
are
for
so
the
moral
upon
that
essential
and prejudicial
Therefore it is advisable, from our
limits to this weakness, and duly to
rightly to
and
susceptibility
to
will
effect upon
a
as
independence
and
than salutary.
point of
very salutary
many people,
their
its
a
estimate the relative value
temper,
as
other people's
far
as
of ad
possible, this
great
the
opin-
opinion,
whether
REPUTATION
45
ion be
one
flattering to our vanity, or whether it causes
pain; for in either case it is the same feeling which
is touched.
Otherwise, a man is the slave of what other
us
people
are
to
pleased
to disconcert
or
think,
the
soothe
Therefore it
duly
we
the
former
our
existence
comes
advantages
of
conduce
to
value
of
a
and
place
the
hand,
fills
that
it
and
is,
is the
of
sphere
is in
the
under
up
the
own
what
and
Under
up the span of
in short, all the
and
man's
—
happiness
our
man
summed
property;
:
avarum
eyes of others.
what
considered
this takes
other
it
makes
already
what
he is in the
personality
which all
On the
much
everything
and
laudis
animum quod
the
with what
requires
that is greedy of praise
very
compare
for himself
heads
will
how little it
and
mind
Sic leve, sic parvum est,
Submit ac reficit.
if
—
in
sphere
consciousness.
we
are
for
other
is their consciousness, not ours; it is the kind of
figure we make in their eyes, together with the thoughts
people
this
which
direct
no
us
arouses.
*
But this is
immediate
and
has
which
something
for us, but
existence
can
affect
only mediately and indirectly, so far, that is, as
behavior toward us is directed by it; and
other
people's
even
then it ought to affect us only in so far as it can move
to modify
from this,
as
most
their
ideas,
of
them;
depreciation
come
a
man
to
his
other
it,
are
how
when
to fear
not obliged
not
futile
and
their opinions,
verse
in
for
and
we
will
him,
ears.
when
most
mean
how
and
learn
speak
or
ourselves.
people's
indifference to
of
indifferent to
really
superficial
narrow
in
are
goes on
what
a matter
such,
get
we
what
us:
we
consciousness
by
of
of
experience
his
fellow,
thinks that
And if
ever
what
we
their
well
me
remark
say:
our
people
in the highest
per
in
with
what
when
he is
he
says
will
have had
men
will
blockheads,
positions
an
meet
in life,
we
with
display, magnificence and general show, may
happiness lies entirely outside us, for it exists only in
brilliance,
the heads
that
how
there is
error
seeing how the greatest of
opportunity
with nothing but slight from half-a-dozen
•Let
thoughts, how
their sentiments,
much
is,
we
how
to see
come
people's
of
all
in time
and
us
Apart
pomp,
of others.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
46
that to
shall understand
lay
great
value
upon what other
say is to pay them too much honor.
At all events, a man is in a very bad way, who finds no
first two classes of blessings
source of happiness in the
people
already treated of, but has to seek it in the third, in other
words, not in what he is in himself, but in what he is in
the
opinion of
whole
physique,
and
the most
be
can
and
we
value
to
We
set
recognition of
existence
opinions;
factor in happiness is
health,
much
very
the
simple
is in his
and
or
life,
—
one
side,
former,
to
And if
to think
what
as
of
main
care.
between
and
if it
were necessary.
happiness
our
truth that every
own
by
a
timely
man's chief and
in
other people's
actual
conditions of
not
health, temperament, capacity, income,
wife, children, friends, home, are
important for our happiness than
pleased
our
health,
the ability to
freedom from
compensation
skin, and
and, consequently, that the
our personal
of our
is
happiness,
the
on
upon
our
honor, pomp,
however much
other,
the latter.
No one would hesitate
the
on
the latter for the
should add
real
factors
reputation
may
sacrifice
after
competition
no
these essential
rank
essential
all, the foundation
of
independence
tain ourselves in
There
after
therefore,
and,
in importance
next
and,
For,
others.
nature,
us;
a
hundred times
what
otherwise
more
other people are
we shall
be
miserable.
insist that honor is dearer than life itself,
they really mean is that existence and well-being are
people
nothing
compared
with
other
people's
course, this may be only an exaggerated
the
prosaic truth that
reputation, that
others
opinions.
way
is,
of
the
Of
stating
opinion
have
of us, is indispensable if we are to make
any
in the world; but I shall come back to that pres
When we see that almost everything men devote their
progress
ently.
lives to attain, sparing no effort and
encountering a thousand
toils and dangers in the
in
the end, no further ob
process, has,
ject than to raise themselves in the estimation of
when
we
see
that
wealth, nay,
not
only offices, titles,
even
knowledge
to
and
others;
but
decorations,
art,
are
striven
also
for only
obtain, as the ultimate goal of all effort, greater respect
from one's fellow-men,
is not this a lamentable proof of
the extent to which human
folly can go ? To set much
too high a value on other people's opinion
is a common
—
REPUTATION
error
itself,
the
or
arrangements
error, it may
an
everywhere;
nature
result
but,
generally;
of
feeling
dagger into his daughter's
do,
we
social
other
people
Virginius
life
even
is
feeling
those
of
is
will
the
plunge
induces many
this
exer
and
trace it from
can
what
and
instrument in the hands
venient
all
We
or
Undoubtedly
glory.
posthumous
heart,
riches, health
to sacrifice quiet,
and
its source, it
on
made
which
in human
rooted
whatever
a
say, up to the
be,
civilization
very immoderate influence
prejudicial
to our happiness.
very
a timorous and slavish regard for
cises
47
a
man
for
itself,
a
con
very
have the
who
or direction of their fellow-men; and accordingly
find that in every scheme for training up humanity
in the way it should go, the maintenance and strengthening
But
of the feeling of honor occupies an important place.
control
we
it is
too
be
rather
much
store
shows
perience
people
persist
precisely
on
us, however,
in making; most
other
about
They
of
consciousness
direct
direct
folly
that
or
which
called
has
people
and
Daily
them.
no
most
value
con
more
in their
on
own
immediately
and
the natural order,
reverse
as
are
ex
mistake
the utmost
and
we
from setting
real
existence
and
something shadowy; making
secondary into the principal, and con
immediate
is
set
goes
others
vanity
solid
or
out
of
world
thus
what
the
—
of
trying
has
they fall into
intrinsic
end
the
By
selves.
result
forget the
to
present
immediate existence,
which
such
the
and
treat;
as
sidering the picture they
importance than their own
a
of
think,
what
is the thing
to them.
and
men
people
opinions
derivative
the
to
people
think
others
human happi
effect on
object
that this is just the
present
own
our
to dissuade
what
which
regarding the
their
by
in its
matter
here
it than
consciousness,
directly
is
careful
what
about
cerned
it
which
of
should
different
a
quite
ness,
no
term
Like
value.
really
the kind
appropriate
in their
more
to get
eagerness
a
to
of
for
miser,
obtain
means.
The truth is that the
others,
quite
value
we
and our constant endeavor
out
hope to
of
proportion
attain
tude may be
;
so
to any
set upon
in
the
respect of
result
we
opinion of
it,
are each
may reasonably
that this attention to other people's
regarded
as
a
kind
of universal
atti
mania which
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
48
think
is:
about
the troubles
on
ety
this
bothers
almost
people
will
feeling
the first
life may be traced to
of
which
at
so
very morbidly
say that
others will
we
our anxi
the bottom
self-importance, which is
of
solicitude about what
is
thing
nearly half
and
say;
; it is the anxiety
because it is
mortified
do,
all we
what
and
score
that
of all
In
inherits.
everyone
so
often
sensitive.
It is
underlies all our
all our show and swagger
vanity and pretension, yes, and
Without it, there would not be a tenth part of the
too.
Pride in every form, point d'konneur
exists.
however
varied their kind or sphere, are at
punctilio,
bottom nothing but this
anxiety about what others will
luxurv
which
and
—
say
—
in
even
life,
what
and
a
it is
child;
in
One
costs!
exists
at
can
see
it
period of
every
the capacity for
vanity and pride have only avarice
their dominion.
Frenchmen, perhaps, afford the
strongest
share
best
often
though it
and
because,
;
feeling,
this
of
example
age
when
fails,
sensual pleasure
to
it
sacrifices
and
among them it is
a
epidemic, appearing sometimes in the most absurd
ambition, or in a ridiculous kind of national vanity and
regular
the
most
call
boasting.
shameless
their own aims,
for
other
them la grande
By
However, they frustrate
people
make
fun
of them
and
nation.
specially illustrating this perverse and exu
for other people's opinion, let me take a
from the « Times » of March 31st, 1846,
giving a de
way
berant
of
respect
passage
tailed account
the
of
execution
of
one
Thomas Wix
an
who, from motives of vengeance, had murdered
master.
Here we have very unusual circumstances
apprentice
his
and
an
for
our
extraordinary character, though
picture
purpose; and these combine
of this
folly, which is so
deeply
and allow
nature,
extent to
cution,
which
says
attendance
meanor,
In
»
to
upon
the
him,
betrayed
form
no
very
give a
an accurate
rev.
but
ordinary
Wix,
interest
in
anxious only to
beyond
his
suitable
striking
in human
rooted
notion of
On the morning
will go.
the report,
pearing to feel
ly
us
it
one
to
of
was
a
the
the
exe
early in
quiet
ministrations,
de
ap
acquit himself « brave
before the spectators of his
ignominious end.
the procession
alacrity,
and,
Wix
as
he
fell
into his
entered
the
proper
place with
Chapel-yard,
re-
REPUTATION
sufficiently loud
marked,
a
sons near
him,
soon
the
know
Now,
fold,
THE
SLIGHTEST
TRE,
HE
WHICH
CALLED
CROWD
This is
an
THE
A
WHEN
opinion
was
much
TWICE,
CHEER
WITHOUT
TO THE CEN
A
PROCEEDING
FROM
THE
DE
of the way in which a
dreadful form before his
example
admirable
the
in the
most
kind
same
the king's
he
that
annoyed
of
executed at
was
on
attempt
an
much
DROP
GOT
SPECTATORS
will
of
gapers,
their heads.
thing in
Frankfurt,
the
and
There
case
of
Le-
in 1846, for
At the trial he was very
life.
was
for nothing
care
crowd
he leaves behind him in
who
comte,
HE
TREMENDOUS
very eyes, and eternity beyond it,
but the impression he makes upon a
the
per
BENEATH.
death
with
man,
TO
FORTH
several
by
THE
MOUNTED
AND
ASSISTANCE,
BOWED
GRADED
secret."
WRETCH
heard
Dr. Dodd said, I shall
On reaching the scaf
as
then,
grand
THE MISERABLE
be
to
49
also
to
allowed
not
appear
in
decent attire, before the Upper House ; and on the day of
the execution it was a special grief to him that he was
not
permitted
that this kind
Aleman
tells
to
of
It is
shave.
not
only
thing has been known
us,
in
the
"Guzman de
in
recent times
to happen.
introduction
to his
Mateo
celebrated
Alfarache,"
that many infatuated
criminals, instead of devoting their last hours to the wel
fare of their souls, as they ought to have done, neglect
this duty for the purpose of preparing and committing to
romance,
memory a speech to be made from the scaffold.
I take these extreme cases as being the best illustrations
I mean; for they give us
The anxieties of
own nature.
what
of
of our
a
magnified reflection
all of
us,
our
worries,
and
bothers, troubles, uneasy
perhaps
the
large
are
in
efforts
strenuous
due,
majority
of instances, to what other people will say; and we are
apprehensions
vexations,
just
as
Envy
foolish in this
and
hatred
respect
are
very
as
those miserable criminals.
traceable
often
to
a
similar
source.
Now, it is
the
most
be
served
of
human
obvious
part
by
nothing
nature
perhaps make
4
in
it
that
peace
of
happiness,
mind
so much as
within
by
reasonable
one-fiftieth
part
which
consists
of
foi
would
and
contentment,
reducing this impulse
limits,
what
—
which
it is
would
now.
By
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
50
doing
should
we
so,
get
of
rid
thorn in the flesh
a
which
But it is a very difficult task,
causing us pain.
because the impulse in question is a natural and innate
is
always
OF
FAME
human
of
perversity
IS
Tacitus says, The
nature.
WISE
A
THAT
LAST
THE
MAN
SHAKES
lust
The
OFF.
putting an end to this universal folly is to
see clearly that it is a folly; and this may be done by
recognizing the fact that most of the opinions in men's
of
only way
apt to be false, perverse, erroneous and absurd,
in themselves unworthy of any attention; further,
that other people's opinions can have very little real and
heads
are
so
and
influence
positive
and
an
such
in
upon us
life.
of
affairs
Again,
unfavorable
most
this
that it
character
in
things,
other
itself has
If
he
which
the
be
we should
no
result
but only
generally
would be
such
of mind and cheerfulness as at
able;
would
people
front
to
the
and
world,
and
retired mode of
life has
on our peace
mind,
and
of
having
escape
pay everlasting
word,
we
are
time a good
which
we
or, to
speak
piece
of
attention
deal
are
more
folly;
to
we
what
worth
doing
at
confident
with
sight
less
that
a
by striving
by indulging
At the
a
realities
present.
is hard to do.
But
same
be avoided,
after
consequently
and
of
others,
opinions; in a
casual
misfortune might
should
solid
less interruption than
is
to their
return upon ourselves.
correctly,
to
more
observable
drawn into
and
give
and
of positive
now
peace
inconceiv
exceedingly beneficial influence
this is mainly because we thus
an
regard
to
able
value.
universal
our
behave
constantly in the
to live
to
seems
and
generally
It is
the
among
indirect,
an
present
restraint.
embarrassment
or
the fact that honor
an addition
firmer
a
present
him,
finally,
from this
converted
of
a man
worry
said of
And
of.
clear about
direct,
really
people were
folly,
spoken
was
circumstances
is generally
would
to death to hear everything that was
tone
the
of
opinion
shadows,
mischievous
have
more
enjoy them
x01^*
T*
with
*<**<*
—
Section
The
folly
of
2.
our nature
Pride.
—
which
discussing
are
we
forth three shoots, ambition, vanity and pride.
ference between the last two is this: pride is
lished
conviction of
particular
such
a
by
panied
same
respect;
in
the
the direct
So
that
opinion
good
than
silence
therefore
as
a
Anyone
true
be
of
pride
in
present
the
real
conviction, it
not
I
being
its
mean
applause
the
of
is based
It is
our
greatest
quite
a
ally found
fault
those
pride
themselves.
ness
of
most
superiority or
it, if he does
will
rest
a
on
a
not
drop
to
which
that,
all
every
other
opinion
to
long
is thus
no
which
still
it be
as
in
rooted
knowledge in
of
Pride's
worst
foe,
which
courts
the
the
gain
of one's
in the
may,
character;
so
form
is vanity,
order
pre-eminent
proud
advantages
since pride
obstacle,
high
good
is
pride
have
man
conventional
for
And
in
persistent
has very
soon
own arbitrament.
true that
imagine, by
or
and
world
upon
he
conviction
a
pride
resembles
foundation for
pride
less
earnest.
within
—
one
adventitious
not
by
to affect
which makes
word,
proud,
character.
assumed
a mistaken
an
is
wishes
without.
and
unshakeable conviction of
value
the
of
sense
doubt,
are
special
and
to the
for, may be
strives
certainly
though
but he
man;
firm,
a
who
accom
to be aware that the
he
and
even
speech,
every other,
rousing
within; it is
from
talkative,
are
which
easily
some
is the desire
person ought
others,
proud
It is only
worth
vain
works
estab
in
of
Vanity
indirectly, from
people
more
by
things to say.
this,
vain
of
much
is the desire
oneself.
appreciation
But the
taciturn.
obtained
of
appreciation
find
we
Pride
oneself.
to arrive at this
an
worth
others, and it is generally
hope of ultimately coming
secret
conviction
paramount
vanity
while
conviction
own
one's
puts
The dif
own
of
it.
which
is
conviction
pre-existing
pride is something
necessary
worth,
while
gener
but usually, I
down;
with,
have nothing upon which they can
In view of the impudence and foolhardiand
cried
who
people,
merit
anyone
will
not want
do
who
well
to
possesses
keep
his
any kind
of
fixed
on
eyes
it to be entirely forgotten ; for if
(5i)
a
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
S2
man
is
good-natured
hobnob
and
were quite on
frankly
and
enough
to ignore his
own
privileges,
the generality of other people, as if he
their level, they will be sure to treat him,
with
This is
themselves.
as one of
candidly,
I
a piece
specially offer to those whose superiority
real superiority, I mean, of a
is of the highest kind
purely
nature
which
personal
cannot, like orders and titles,
of advice
would
—
—
to the eye
appeal
they
Romans
proverb;
soon
every moment; as, otherwise,
breeds contempt, or, as the
familiarity
to say,
used
he'll
and
or ear at
find that
will
Minervam.
sus
show
to despise
nor ought we
Joke
heels, is
his
Sume
Qu&sitam
an
what
with
excellent
a
slave,
Arabian
Horace says,
superbiam
meritis.
No doubt, when
usurp the fame you have deserved.
modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous
thing for the fools ; for everybody is expected to speak of
—
himself
for it
the
as
comes
This is
were one.
to look
as
if there
"
down indeed
nothing but fools in
leveling
were
world.
The
man
cheapest
is
qualities
with
sort of
proud of
wise, he
is
if he
so
his
of
would
many
pride
his
own
own
of
not
have
national
argues
recourse to
those
millions of
endowed with
is
nation, it
which he
can
pride; for if a
that he has no
be proud;
which he
his fellow-men.
important
personal
The
qualities
other
shares
man
will
who
be only
too ready to see clearly in what respect his own nation
falls short, since their failings will be
constantly before
his eyes.
But every miserable fool who has
at
all of
which
he
nothing
can
be
proud
adopts, as a last resource,
pride in the nation to which he
belongs; he is ready and
glad to defend all
its faults and follies tooth and
nail,
thus reimbursing himself for his own
inferiority. For
example, if
otry
of
you
speak of
the English
you will
hardly
find
the
nation with
one
stupid
and
degrading big
deserves,
the contempt it
Englishman in fifty
you; but if there should be one, he
to be an intelligent man.
will
to
agree with
generally happen
The Germans have no national
pride, which shows how
honest they are, as everybody knows! and how
dishonest
RANK
are
those who,
tend that
"
Bruder
by
they
I have
to mislead it.
invented
by
Why
is
care
about
makes
an
it
that
any
a
pretense
to large
the
speak of
asks,
does
that
not
if he
or
more
given
im
man
And
de
since
character
without referring
is impossible to be loud in
the same time honest.
for the
name
far
a
in any
National
particular
form
char
which
perversity and baseness of mankind take in
If we become disgusted with one, we
country.
every
praise
another,
nation
mocks
The
until we get
at other
:
others, may
honor,
words,
3.
first,
as
it
plays
an
and
of
the
take
masses
Every
right.
are
rank
further
be
rank and
although
us
this too.
with
all
chapter, which treats, as I have
in the world, or what we are
Section
Let
and
represent
we
eyes of
three heads
disgusted
nations,
this
contents of
of what
in the
the
order
Frenchman
a
consideration.
national
another
littleness,
said,
be
to
and
more
people, it
of
masses
is only
acter
and
one;
be, individuality is
may
praises and at
your
Lichtenberg
German
a
is
is
in
mob
that gunpowder was
not
he
it
all,
thousandfold
a
is
than nationality,
thing
cannot
you
at
flatter the
said
doubt it.
who
—
?*
However that
serves
who
pretending that
Englishman
portant
I
man
affectation, pre
w
the
Deutsche
their country
heard it
German.
a
of ridiculous
of
demagogues
the
and
a piece
are proud
53
distributed
under
fame.
—
Rank.
it may be dismissed in a few
important part in the eyes of
philistines,
is
and
in the machinery of the State.
It has a purely conventional value.
it is a sham; its method is to exact an
a
most useful
wheel
of
as a matter
and,
Translator's Note.
marks
a
were
German
written
as
—
in the
philosopher
bitter things
the whole
be said,
Orders, it may
*
fact,
It
bills
are
should
be
earlier part
of
of
could
hardly
exchange
past
he
write
in
respect,
farce.
a mere
remembered
the
speaking,
artificial
thing is
nowadays, even though
Schopenhauer,
Strictly
drawn
on
that these re
century, and that
were
as
apt
to say
a similar strain.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
S4
opinion, and the measure of their value is the
Of course, as a substitute for pen
credit of the drawer.
a good deal of money; and,
State
the
sions, they save
a very useful
serve
purpose, if they are
besides, they
public
distributed
judgment. For people
it is true; but not much
discrimination
with
and
general have
ears,
indeed, or even memory.
else, very little judgment
the State quite beyond the
services
to
There are many
their
of
range
understanding; others, again, are appre
in
and
eyes
gotten.
It
seems
cross or
a
star
to me,
should
to
proclaim
the
or
It is
them
guished
man
a
as
a pleonasm
service;
a much
If I
would
reality
honor,
but there
assent;
such
about
a
I
side,
other
■worth;
on
to this
opinion.
man
honor
of
its
people's
is
not
utterly
this is
as
is
more
would
many
show
than
hardly
what
respect
of
is
often
shame
exist
depraved,
go
a
we
are
we
pay
a
whole
in every
honor is
to
on its
view, to be
very
purely moral, influence.
and
and
peo
Honor is,
of
the
point
and more
to define it.
man
everywhere
The
something particularly valuable.
follows.
and
in
himself
a
man
can
By
recognized as
of
it
opinion
exercise what
and
bill.
for dis
conscience,
to say,
it
a
rank,
a good
be
and
side,
From the latter
some, but by no means
The feelings of honor
who
doubt
would
prefer
subjective
is to
than
by trying
external
no
definition,
the root of the matter.
objective
is
be
to
ought
a
distin
Honor.
begin
inward
is
—
they
reason.
question
us
to say Honor
were
•conscience
4.
larger
Let
difficult to discuss.
when
for
order
any
every order
That stands to
Section
Honor is
on
for
tinguished service.
value
people
he has
;
business is in signing
of
inscribe
to
of
like you
due selection, or in
be as careful in con
without
too great numbers: a prince should
ferring
ple
mass
everywhere, This man is not
something.
But orders lose their
distributed unjustly,
are
time, and then soon for
therefore, very proper, that a
a
and
always
done
for
of
made much
and
ciated
reason
accom-
HONOR
55
very little; he is like Robinson Crusoe on a desert
island.
It is only in society that a man's'powers can be
called into full activity.
He very soon finds this out when
plish
his
begins to
consciousness
the desire to be looked
one, that
as
ety,
—
benefits
of social
one
ciety,
must
to do
expected
particular
But
his
is,
is
who
pro parte virili
a man
as a
and
their arises in him
member of
useful
playing his
of
capable
soci
as
part
right to the
thereby acquiring
life.
Now, to be a useful member of so
do two things: firstly, what everyone is
a
—
everywhere
position
a man soon
being
develop,
upon
useful,
in the
and, secondly, what one's own
demands and requires.
;
world
discovers that everything depends upon
not in
his own opinion, but in the
opinion of others;
and so he tries his best to make that
favorable impression upon the world, to which he attaches
high
such a
honor,
or,
human nature,
under
the thought
tion
of
nay,
even
that
viction
means
tion,
will.
courage
other
that
which
which
the
everyone
is
an
feeling
of
regard
joins to
infinitely
with
him
give
obliga
gives
of
a man
the con
favor; because
help
bulwark
stronger
cheek
innocent,
or renewal of
him
—
estima
himself
upon
nothing in life
of
shame
absolute
he has taken
char
feeling
blush to his
a
to no
extends
attainment
people
the
suddenly
he knows that he is
Conversely,
as
the
innate
and
called
to fall in the
remissness
to
is
brings
which
when
one
primitive
which
aspect,
having
even
if his
free
own
so much
it
of
others,
tion, but only
his
another
It is this
verecundia.
at
this
Hence,
value.
of
acteristic
life than anything he can do himself.
ills
The variety of relations in which a man
and protec
against
the
of
so
people
other
their
good
opinion,
kinds
several
bearings that
performance
of
the
each
of
Civic
in the
the
of
which
and
their
obtain
rise
gives
to
a
can
stand
to
confidence, that is,
distinction between
honor, resting chiefly
different
the
on
may take to tuum; or, again, on the
various pledges ; or finally, on the relation
meum
sexes.
honor,
to
of
to
as
Hence,
sexual
honor
of
are
various
three
forms
main
—
kinds
civic
of
honor,
honor,
official
honor.
has the
assumption
rights
there
takes
that
widest
we
others,
sphere
shall
and,
pay
of
all.
It
consists
unconditional respect
therefore,
never
use
any
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
56
unjust or unlawful means of
is
the condition of all
and man
it is destroyed
and
;
what
man
anything that openly
this
It
want.
we
intercourse between
by
against
militates
manifestly
getting
peaceable
and
intercourse,
peaceable
anything, accordingly, which entails punishment at the
hands of the law, always supposing that the punishment
is
a
just
The
one.
foundation
ultimate
moral character
that future
is
actions
circumstances,
honor is the
of
a single
unalterable :
implies
action
under
will,
This is
be bad.
also
kind
the same
of
conviction that
bad
well
similar
expressed
by
the English use of the word character as meaning credit,
Hence
reputation, honor.
the loss
unless
recovered,
honor,
rested
once
lost,
can
some
on
never
be
such
mistake,
may occur if a man is slandered or his actions viewed
a false light.
So the law provides remedies against
as
in
slander, libel, and even insult ; for insult, though it amount
to no more than mere abuse, is a kind of summary slan
der
may be
any
a
with
suppression
well put
author
—
2ortv
a man abuses
he has
no real or
otherwise,
premises,
and
out
mean
not
quoted
from
(Tuvro/ids.
It is
true
—
complaint
against
forward
these
him;
as
the
his hearers to draw the conclusion
which, he gives the conclusion and
upon
of
the premises,
that he has done
of
bring
would
rely
What I
reasons.
phrase
another, he is simply showing that
true causes
he
themselves; instead
leaves
the
% Aottiopfa dtafiolij
that if
as,
of
in the Greek
so
trusting
only for the
that
people will suppose
being brief.
Civic honor draws its existence and name from the
middle classes ; but it applies
equally to all, not excepting
the highest.
No man can disregard it, and it is a
very
serious
make
thing,
light.
of which
The
man
breaks
whatever
confidence
be
There is
a sense
negative character
of
fame.
bitter
in
in
exclusively:
it is
careful not to
confidence
he may
do,
consequences
has forever
and whoever
of
the
loss
of
averted.
which
honor may be
said
to have
a
opposition to the positive character
For honor is
particular qualities
be
everyone should
who
forfeited confidence,
he may be; and the
can never
sake of
not
which
rather
the opinion
the
people
have
of
may happen to possess
opinion they have of the
a man
HONOR
qualities
which
to which he
that
means
a
thing
which
a
not
who
he does
the
It
of
marks
is
the
from
is to
have
by
the
and
the slander
confute
our
own
shall
see
of
presently,
to
only way
—
chivalry.
honor
which
with
power
can
be
repel
the
the proper amount of
due unmasking of him who utters it.
why respect is paid to age is that old peo
a
publicity,
The reason
whether
and
weapon
without;
and
ple
proceeds
entirely with what
has nothing to do with
the obstacles they place in his
or
only
pas
anything
in its working.
directly from the
concerned
something entirely in
This distinction, as we
Slander
honor is
negative char
true honor from the sham honor
off
attacked
attack
others
fame is
of
of
active
is
ifflp-wv.
r<uv
things
leaves undone,
and
actions
way.
is
This
confused with
which
it: it
exhibits
absence
but loss
quality.
be
above all
It is the only quality
The
negative;
positive
must
sive; for honor is
man
a
and
Honor, therefore,
fame, that he is.
honor, only some
exceptional;
be won ;
be lost.
is only
is
honor
of
not
to exhibit,
expected
false.
prove
which must
must not
which
which
shame,
acter
not
is
a man
Fame is something
obscurity,
may be
man
should
57
in the
shown
necessarily
they have
or not
been
their lives
course of
to
able
their
maintain
honor unblemished; while that of young people has not
yet been put to the proof, though they are credited with
the possession of it.
For neither length of years, equaled
as
it
is,
lower
and
even
excelled,
in the
case
closer
animals, nor, again, experience,
knowledge of the world's ways,
ficient
reason
for the
required
merely
a matter of
age
It
would
call
is, however,
a remarkable
stinctive.
Wrinkles
is
a
of
no
the
the
be any
a
suf
the young
the old:
are every
for if it were
—
fact that
a
much
at
all:
surer
you
wrinkles; but
white
hair
really innate
a reverence
sign
never
of
always
and
old
in
age
hear any
—
one
venerable white hair
expression.
Honor has only
at
—
reverence
venerable
common
can
of
is only
years, the weakness which attends on
for consideration than for respect.
reverence
speak
which
toward
some
rather
commands
command
respect
to show
where
of
which
beginning
an
of
indirect
value.
this chapter,
For,
as
I
explained
what other people
think
of
as
LIFE
THE WISDOM OF
58
can
affect us only in so far
us, if it affects us at all,
toward
behavior
us, and only just so
their
governs
it
But it
do
have
to
or
live
we
with, them.
as
with,
long
is to society
our
do
have
must
indirectly,
This is
he
an
TO
SAY,
A
with
what
TO
conclusion
ITS
OWN
SAKE,
And
brings.
of which
as
than
FOR
love
means
can never
so
1'
Esprit,8
is,
IT
WHICH
than the
more
have
I
as
for
not
esteem
be
IS
at great
is made,
much
IT
THAT
THE ADVANTAGES
which
used
RAIS
upon
«De
work
we
agree,
WORTH
NOT
insisted
of
itself,
NOT
WERE
value.
quite
Diogenes
and
the
life
I
IS
chief
is that
SOLELY
BUT
end, that saying,
dearer
by
Chrysippus
Helvetius in his
by
immediate
or
Cicero,
OBTAIN, IF IT
This truth has been
useful.
the
direct
a
REPUTATION
GOOD
A
before
held
also
FINGER
length
have
can
THAT
all we
Accordingly, their opinion of us is,
great importance; though I can
opinion
writes,
ING
it
in
they, in their turn,
they can have any
and
others,
us
which we and
of civilization ;
of
matter
a
that safety
owe
state
a
in
with us.
how
see
not
help
of
confidence
to do
thing
so
enjoy in
the
need
we
that we
alone
possessions
honor
is
remarked,
a
very exaggerated statement. So much, then, for civic honor.
Official honor is the general opinion of other people
that
a man
a
higher
fills any office really has the necessary
discharge of all the duties which
proper
to it.
appertain
duties
who
for the
qualities
man
and
the stronger
The
has
and
greater
more
influential
must
be the
the
his
post.
Therefore,
be
greater must
it
in titles,
is,
as
servient
behavior
man's
which ought
may be
any
of
keeping
of
paid
to
paid
common
clear of
paid
him,
however
a man
citizen,
dishonor.
of
Still,
who
whose
position, the
him,
to
As
him.
of
him fit
the generally
particular
the capacity
to
and
toward
others
implies the
by
his
honor
fills,
have
render
higher
orders
its importance.
honor is
than to the
in
to be
modified
notion
greater
of
rank
official
the
the
he
people
which
the
and
which
opinion which
the degree
pressed,
State,
the
office
the moral and intellectual qualities
for
important
more
discharge in
to
a
degree
much
ex
sub
rule, a
honor
of
this degree
the masses to form
as
a matter
fulfills
of
special
honor mainly
fact,
duties
consists
HONOR
Official honor
pies an
office
both
his
of
him.
demands, further,
must
This
respect
his
to the
an
official
duties,
to the
conduce
public
penalty for them.
Subordinate to the
that of those
who
sake
come
by
the
He
of
the
the
of
after
a proper
not
does
not
the
un
enforcing the legal
by
official
state
are
prove
must
state
any
office
itself
office
attacks
honor
unheeded
over
duties
welfare.
serve
will
maintain
can
that
warrantable nature of such
for the
it,
repelling any attack that
itself or upon its occupant :
the
or
man who occu
by
and
that
effect
discharged,
properly
for
those who
and of
may be made upon the office
he must not, for instance, pass
ment
that the
maintain respect
colleagues
observance of
59
personages
comes
in
any other capacity,
as doctors, lawyers, teachers, anyone, in short,
who
by
or
other
in
public
declara
graduating
any subject,
by any
tion that he is qualified to exercise some special skill,
to
claims
comes
that
have
who
fend their country really
which
will
strength,
bravery
ready to defend their country
and
have
once
honor in
a
no
In treating
it rests,
which
necessary;
and
sense
the
a
little
I
what
There
are
two
natural
of
women
and
the
in
a
far the
essential
more
Female honor
girl
that
she
is
say
of
of
the
of
the
in
to
a
two,
my
The
—
to
basis.
issuing
by
former is
the
most
to
man.
relation
in
on
are
the honor
because
opinion
office
conten
utilitarian
either side
her
regard
an
analysis
the subject
life is
they
official
principles
and
support
corps.
general
and
will
never
which
it is generally
the
and
men, in
de
woman's
is pure,
which
per
perfectly
and
taken
citizens
upon
rests
esprit
here
the
to de
qualities
are
death,
flag to
attention
divisions
important
feature in
by
honor
shall
honor
well-understood
have
due
more
tion that all honor really
they
the
than that in
respect
sexual
of
to
I
allegiance.
wider
used, namely,
itself.
the word,
requisite
desert the
circumstances
sworn
the
that
and
and
under
of
them to do so, especially courage,
enable
sonal
sense
bound themselves
possess
those
all
of
Under this head
whatever.
in the true
honor,
people
honor
word, the
a
pledges
public
military
opinion
it; in
practice
take any
who
regard
a wife
that
to
a
she
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
6o
the
in
following
the
all
one
of
life;
only.
So
interdependence
mutual
spring from their
based the welfare
out this
de corps,
their
common
him,
quer
those
power
female
—
his
To this
things.
the
upon
and
honor
the
enforcement of
the good
all
to
siege
him
the
end
show
front to
superior physical and
lay
to
order
a
with
possesses
who
virtue of
To carry
race.
undivided
one
is
which
on
arrangement
an
present
in
for
made
undertaking responsibility
for the children that
and so get possession of
good
depends
—
men
might
also
whole
man
enemy,
things of the earth, in
intellectual
is
arrangement
have to band together
and
upon
women, it
upon
men
an
man
—
the
of
women
plan,
esprit
of
union
rests upon
opinion
Women depend
and
needs
woman's
all
—
this
of
considerations.
relations
be said, in
for
importance
The
is faithful.
con
share
of all
that
rule
and
a
no
of
women
woman
in marriage, in
order that every man may be forced, as it were, to sur
render and ally himself with a woman; by this arrange
should
herself
give
ment provision
This is
by
a
a
is
a
breach
of
cause
its
were
to do
one
The
the
would
likewise;
to do
more
so
marriage
with
doom is
same
which
such
as
the
this
crime punishable
also
of
shame
former
latter,
tract.
civic
of
a
case,
by
the
marriage
can
in carefully
commits
can
be
shame
like the
who
as
her
conduct
is
from making a similar
of all her sisters.
Nay
breach
only
why
of
we
troth
is
a
personal, but
of
minimize
wife; because
restore
made
plague.
breaks the
is false to the terms
and
not
a
as
have any
avoided
coarse
is
will
woman
welfare
not of
with
is
she
loss,
out
woman
a
men
This
but
no atonement
cast
to
doing
and
honor.
girl,
Any
No
she
other
deception
corps
girl who
whole
capitulated;
frighten
to
her ;
surrender, it imperils the
more;
is
she
so
man
de
only
accordingly,
female race, be
be destroyed if every woman
awarded
tie; for in
upon
esprit
obtained
and
rule;
betrays the
rule
welfare
true
be
can
maintenance.
the female race.
of
whole
the
of
show
except
which
has lost her honor.
who
thing
its
upon
man
however,
observance
women everywhere
insisting
a
for the
made
result,
strict
to
honor,
while
for the breach
in
the
the
in the
of con
HONOR
Once this
foundation
de
esprit
a
some,
nay,
matter
of prudence
for
the
does
is
no
honor,
necessary
welfare
not
absolute
anything
lotti,"
ill
at
for
instance,
makes one
the
on
ease; and,
other
But it
It
value.
aims of
other
a
importance
exist
In this view, there
be nothing to applaud in the forced
duct of a Lucretia or a Virginius
easily degenerate into tragic
The
ble feeling of revulsion.
bottom
at
a relative
all
life itself.
a whole
recognized.
than
beyond
lying
ence and valued above
as
extreme
be
will
more
to be
seen
arrangement,
women
end,
is
be the
to
acknowledged
and
interest, its
and
of
possess
is
corps
female
of
61
will
and extravagant con
—
farce,
conduct
conclusion of
"
can
which
produce
and
terri
a
Ga-
Emelia
leave the theatre completely
hand, all the rules of female
certain
sympathy with Clara in
To carry this principle of female honor too
and
far is to forget the end in thinking of the means
this is just what people often do; for such exaggeration
honor
8
cannot prevent
a
Egmont. *
—
suggests
that the
sexual
value of
the truth is that it is more
One
irregularities
no
sees
derogation
from
honor
female
to
kind.
value
the
of
permitted and recognized
were
while
;
other
is purely
Thomasius how in all
countries, up to the time
and
absolute
than any
say that its
to
as
one
when
conventional,
ages
far
so
go
might
honor is
relative
—
not
to
Reformation,
by law, with
of
speak
the
temple of Mylitta at Babylon.
There
life
are
which
of
also,
make
course, certain
forms of
external
especially in Catholic countries,
as
thing
divorce.
my opinion, do
to dispense
to
perhaps,
a remote
produce
a
concluded
cession
sons
to
tether
civil
to
one, that
of
women
possible.
of
is
a
of
all
outward
priests
might
marriage,
a con
two classes of
careful
be
hap
though,
ceremony, is
—
It is further to
a
a
might
stock
possibility,
such
view,
contract
a morganatic marriage
most
such
no
which
if the legitimate
and
be
point
than
rather
And, besides,
war.
whom one should
as
a moral
descendants
that there
so
in defiance
made
the
is
there
everywhere, would, in
altogether
throne
the
to die out;
from
civil
impossible,
marriage
where
princes
better,
forms
marriage,
claims
pened
much
with
morganatic
raise
Ruling
in
circumstances
per
as
little
remarked
that
to
give
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
62
in
man
every
a
marry the
can
country
namely, the
individual,
choice, except one
His hand belongs to his country,
poor
only for
marriage
the
of
a
reasons
for
Still,
country.
follow
man, he likes to
and
good
as
man; and,
It is
forbid,
to
thing
priggish
in
given
his heart leads.
whither
unjust, ungrateful,
desire to forbid, a prince from
an
a
prince.
for the
is,
that
that, he is
all
be
can
and
State,
of
his
of
woman
or
to
his inclinations
following
in this matter; of course, as long as the lady has no in
From her
fluence upon the Government of the country.
does
for
has
her,
she
no
contravenes
her
the
and
whole
the
sex
mother's
—
code
No doubt
suicide.
breach
a
commits
; but this faith is
folly
is
infinitely
greater
I
immediately,
most
der
of
his
conqueror,
treaty
he
shall
a
has
man
which
take
is
care
maintained; both in
are
be
least,
honor to
a man's
part
of
resent a
his wife,
and
to
that
surren
that the terms
assured
permission of
having
of
the
of
punish
of
to
the
that the agreement
order
breach
de corps,
advantageous
it,
up
bargain,
it is
marriage
at
any
given
their
Accordingly,
exclusive possession.
namely,
the
at
may,
the
product of
esprit
made
so
itself may lose none of its force by the
laxity in its observance, and that men,
everything,
her
than her crime.
demands that, when
himself in marriage
which
who
against
is only secretly
And since, in most
corresponding virtue in men is a
It is their
have been discussing.
The
one
suffer
prospects
own
a girl
faith
of
one which
taken for granted, and not sworn to.
cases, her
female honor has
the many bloody sacri
the murder of
to it
which
children
loves
And in
marry.
of
principle
and
honor;
who
a man
cannot
in nature, is shown by
have been offered
origin
fices
but
loves
general, the fact that the
position,
sexual
of
rules
herself to
given
merely
whom
and
the ordinary
under
come
not
she
exceptional
an
occupies
she
view
of
point
part
of
tie
on
the very least
If he condones the offense, his
separating from her.
fellow-men cry shame upon him; but the shame in this
by
case
is
not
lost her
dye
—
nearly
honor;
levioris
woman
is
so
the
notae
foul
as
stain
macula;
subordinate
that
is
—
by
of
the woman who has
no means
because
to many
of so
deep
a man's relation
other and more
a
to
important
HONOR
in
affairs
two
of
ter's
Tale,
(the
*
his
of
Venganza"
two
great
taken
man's
<(
a work
*
<(
and
Honor),
poets
of
the theme
as
El Medico de
The Win
Honra "
su
"A Secreto Agravio
and
wife
to
only;
that
her
punish
This
honor
a man's
demands
honor
that
supererogation.
of
taken,
Othello
(<
however,
the
of
dramatic
honor
(for Secret Insult Secret Vengeance).
be said,
should
punishment
I have
each
Calderon in
and
Physician
too, is
The
life.
; Shakespeare in
plays
Secreta
It
his
times have
modern
63
the view
confirms
originates
the
paramour
in
esprit
de
corps.
The kind
erto
has
honor
of
I have been
which
in its
always existed
hith
discussing
forms
various
and principles
among all nations and at all times; although the history
female honor shows that its principles have undergone
of
local
certain
is
honor
a species of
no
honor
another species of
of
different
at
modifications
But there
periods.
differs from this entirely,
the Greeks and Romans had
which
which
up to this day it is perfectly unknown
It is a kind
Hindoos or Mohammedans.
and
conception,
among Chinese,
of honor which
only in the Middle Ages, and is
Christian
indigenous only
Europe, nay, only to an
small portion of the population, that is to say,
extremely
arose
to
higher
the
It
is
are
ciples
kind
classes
knightly
some
referring to
creates
the
to
an
or
give
and
I have been treating
until
even opposed
produces
of
knightly
opinion
people's
while
them.
Its
prin
underlie
and
the
As this is so, I
its principles,
explanation of
ape
now,
The sort I
to them.
the cavalier;
honor.
as a
other
shall
kind
the
in
am
kind
proceed
of code
courtesy.
To begin with, honor
(1.)
other
who
d'honneur.
which
man
mirror of
those
and
point
or
honor,
are
respects
society,
different from those
quite
honor
of
of
this
of
of what
we
consists, not in
worth, but wholly
sort
are
whether they express it or not, no matter
they really have any opinion at all, let alone
they know of reasons for having one. Other
entirely in
whether
whether
people
may
quence
of
they like;
entertain
what
so
his opinion,
we
long
our
the
do,
as no
honor
worst
and
one
opinion
of
us
in
conse
may despise us as much as
dares to give expression to
remains
untarnished.
So if
our
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
64
other
they have
and
people,
highest
the
compel
qualities
and
actions
how
matter
no
as soon as any one,
respect,
foolish he may be, utters something
—
think, but
people
the fact
had
unless
not
been
has
ever
cles
he
in
does
himself,
on
moment
tacked
the
at
tip
it is
gone
of every man
his tongue ; and if he
forever,
to
wrest
shall mention
danger to his
A
of mind.
—
it back
whole
and
all who
has
beast,
of
account
ut
quisque
is,
est
most
idler,
an
at
all.
likes to insult
Ungues
yet
by
again
the
more
the readier he is
in
it,
who
is
a
at
process
involves
property
may be in
and
peace
accordance
principles, his spirit
breathed, his intellect of the
his honor may disappear the
to insult
against
this
worthless
him,
code of
rascal
or
anyone
at
honor him
the
most
man, in short,
sort
of
fellow
Seneca rightly remarks,
; for,
et
ludibrio est, ita solutissimce
as
contemptible
with
talk it
a
gambler; debtor,
It is usually this
contemtissimus
—
man
a
people
can
attacks
or
His
noble
pleased
not offended
stupid
no
is
anyone
self, let him be the
who
who
says
does.
a process which
conduct
ever
that
he
life, health, freedom,
man's
the most righteous
moment
the
unless
presently,
may be the purest that
very highest order; and
with
what
says or
the mercy
of
manages
I
sort of
what
else, in consisting, not in
but in what another man
all
honor is thus
which
honor rests, not
he suffers, the obsta
from the honor which pre
place, this
does, but on
encounters; differing
vails
away
extorting it.
second
man
a
been
also
have been
are perfectly unimportant: so
is withdrawn, all is well. The
of this kind aims, not at
earning
conduct
at
In the
what
as
the
statement
respect, but
(2.)
uttered.
which
questions
truth is that
on
never
underlay the expression
why the expression should
the
what
Whether
and
are
I say,
them
makes
which
apology,
which
as
us,
they say, is furnished by
opinion
long
or
can
we
upon
they
used,
of
of what
though
rectified,
wicked
be withdrawn, or, if necessary,
can
an
of
subject
depends,
what
upon
insults
that
form the
honor
knightly
that
namely,
this
give
depreciatory
honor is offended, nay, gone forever,
A superfluous proof
manage to restore it.
our
from
respect
but to
option
no
his
and
tongue.
ridiculous a
His insults
man
are
HONOR
likely to be
described,
never be friends,
6S
most
directed
against
I have
because
people
to
apt
the
raise
Goethe
«
sight
ire
secret
in the
says
the
and
the very kind
different
of
of
of
pre-eminent
a
can
is
being
become
never
a
is
your
to them:
can
is
What
true,
quite
for
enemies;
if
friends,
your
reproach
standing
n
Westostlicher Divan
man
merit
ne'er-do-well.
that it is useless to complain against
they
of
tastes
your
whole
—
Was klagst du fiber Feinde ?
Solten Solche je werden Freunde
Denen das Wesen
Im
It is
have
because it
other
that
obvious
good
respect
of
Vorwurf ist ?
this
them
stand
on
far
level
a
honor,
principle of
in every
fellow likes to
with people
If
them.
above
description
worthless
to be thankful to the
cause
puts
people
du bist,
wie
stillen ein ewiger
a
who
insult anyone, attribute to him, for example, some bad
quality, this is taken prima facie as a well-founded opin
true in
ion,
of
a
fact;
a
decree,
law ; nay, if it is not
judgment which holds
other
words, the
man
at
good
who
the insult
earth
—
—
pleased
was
the insult
though he
even
—
to
with
wiped
and
out
—
what
were
to
valid
insulted
is
of all honorable people
eyes
it were,
as
once
the
the
all
in
all
force
blood,
it is
time.
In
remains
—
in the
man who uttered
the greatest wretch on
him; for he has put up with
term, I believe. Accordingly,
call
the technical
have nothing more to do with
leper, and, it may be, refuse
him,
to go into any company where he may be found, and so on.
This wise proceeding may, I think, be traced back to
all
honorable
and
people
treat him
will
like
a
the fact that in the Middle
Ages, up to the fifteenth cen
the
accuser
in any criminal process who
it
was
not
tury,
had to prove the guilt of the accused, but the accused
who
had to
swearing he
mentales
he
was
—
his innocence.
prove
was
not
had to
incapable
him in this
guilty;
come
and
and
of perjury.
the
swear
If he
way,
help
backers, recourse was had to
of God, which generally meant a
his
5
or
This he
could
his backers
—
do
by
consacra-
that in their opinion
could
accuser
trial
duel.
find
took
by
no one
objection
the
to
to
Judgment
For the
accused
OF
LIFE
had to
clear
THE WISDOM
66
then, is
whole
the
system
the
which
be
lie;
the
given
are
though lies are
however,
England,
more
has taken very
That
is
honor
As
follows
the
to
God.
that,
as
also
it
Hence,
when
to
must
to this pass,
superstition which
of
is,
should
that the
admitted
of
accused
left to be
the
a man
order,
a lie
code
crim
shorter
a
answered:
decided
by
knightly
of
the lie is given,
a matter of
if they
show
they say
telling
the
was
is
occurrence; but in
a
The fact
charge,
whereupon
of
for
another
This
indignation
of
comes
matter
a
himself.
one
prescribes
arms
common
root.
kill
to
reply
a
lie;
Judgment
the
of
the Middle Ages
of
In
form.
to
deep
have told
inal trial
seldom
than elsewhere, it is
threatens
who
never
It
honor
among
upon
that
of
and
omitted.
which
a reproach
blood.
in
out
wiped
it is
called
are
people
is
oath
deep feeling
that
of
explanation
honorable
now-a-days
the
that
only
Here,
himself.
disgrace,
of
notion
prevails
which
—
and
the
of
origin
people
able
also
disgrace,*
in
was now
an
appeal
So much, then,
course.
for the theory of insult.
But there is something even worse than insult, some
thing so dreadful that I must beg pardon of all honor
able
for
people
knightly honor;
hair
stand
will
as mentioning it in this code of
for I know they will shiver, and their
so much
on
end,
the very thought
at
of
it
—
the
malum, the greatest evil on earth, worse than
hordeath and damnation.
A man may give another
summum
—
ribile
thing,
other
this
dictu!
and
species
be
can
(3.)
lutely
pedantic
*
or
slap
only
third
ever
inquiries.
all
the nearest
by
This is
such
an
awful
the coup de grdce.
with what
with
the
kind
If
appearances
of
a man
question
become better
Translator's Note.
and special
blow.
place, this
or, again,
can
a
utterly fatal to all honor, that, while any
of insult may be healed by
blood-letting,
nothing to do
character
to
a
cured
In the
himself;
or
—
so
or
honor has
abso
may be in and for
whether his moral
worse,
and all
such
honor happens to be attacked,
gone, it can very soon be restored
your
It is true that this expression has another
meaning in the technical terminology of Chivalry, but it is
English equivalent which I can find for the German
ein
Bescholtener.
—
HONOR
in its entirety if
the
you
to the one
recourse
are
quick
only
universal
does
aggressor
67
in
having
duel.
But if
enough
—
remedy
a
which
belong
or
has
himself
knightly honor,
once offended against
it, there is a safer way of meeting
any attack upon your honor, whether it consists in blows,
the
recognize
code
merely in words.
down your opponent
will
But if
fear
of
restore
you
If
on
to
you
are
armed
you
can
avoid
such
an
step, from
extreme
arising therefrom,,
the aggressor is sub
consequences
from
uncertainty as to whether
ject to the laws of knightly honor or not, there is
or
strike
the spot, or perhaps an hour later..
unpleasant
any
classes
honor.
your
wish
the
of
or
This
to
not
another
making your position good, namely, the "AvanThis consists in returning rudeness with still
means of
tage."
greater
of
which
by
forms
by
blow
a
thrashing
a
not
must
you
(4.)
as
box
a
and
stick,
you
use,
in the
blow
and,
with
the
as
some
people recommend
these
all
from
methods
of
means
drawing
wiping
out
try
the ear may be
on
a
can
redemption
are
a
to spit
you
of
no
blood.
insult
stick
approved
avail,
And
the
is, in
this
follows:
To
Let
truth, right,
insult
an
receive
honorable.
take
me
an
reason on
and
right
Thereupon
him.
no
If
shrink
for these
reason
code,
last,
are
climax
of
horsewhip;
a
opponent.*
your
a
with
with
remedy for this
at
insults
sort
a
honor; for instance,
your
cured
if
and
rudeness;
blow,
a
is disgraceful;
his
and
to give one,
My
Very well.
side.
leave
honor
has
opponent
example.
him
I insult
and come
until
to me, and, for the time being, he has lost them
he gets them back, not by the exercise of right or reason,
—
but
is
a
any
Accordingly, rudeness
sticking me.
in
point
of
honor, is a substitute for
quality which,
The rudest is always
other and outweighs them all.
by
right.
or
the
and
shooting
What
wicked
more
a man
bargain, he
do
•Translator's
customs
here
of
bad,
been, if he is only rude into
his faults.
and legitimizes all
may have
condones
If in any discussion
hauer is
However stupid,
want?
you
Note.
or
—
describing
It
conversation,
be
must
or perhaps
the German aristocracy
of
another
that
remembered
caricaturing,
half
a
the
century
man
shows
Schopen
manners
ago.
and
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
68
knowledge,
more
love
greater
of
truth,
judg
a sounder
ment, better understanding than we, or generally exhibits
intellectual qualities which cast ours into the shade, we
can
in
and
ness,
it
argument;
does
ignoble
rivalry
honor is
and
for
more
still
answer
totally
care
not
turn be
our
on
so
of
as
beat
standing, intellect, wit,
field to this almighty insolence.
Honorable
to
their
if
shows
which
than
they
serve
retire
This
principle
heart
and
with
ical
a
of
the
man can
another
force,
are
on
that
the
entire
code
hand;
so
now
be
must
in applauding this
the tone
of society.
which
forms the
another,
code.
court
to
in any differences he may have
of honor is the court of phys
a point
of
It
can
loss for
rudeness,
to
implies that the highest
appeal
is,
right
ennobled
from
of
readier
position.
quite
having
springs
soul
(5.) Fifthly,
as
come
and
the
of
people
honor
principle of
which
well
masters
that
obvious
as
adverse
they
at a
and
will
under
a show of mount
intelligence
more
victors
leave the
utters an opinion
anyone
if in any controversy they are
reply, they look about for some weapon
muster;
a
immediately make
horse,
or
into the
the
are
a retreat and
people
war
theirs,
we
not
will
Truth, knowledge,
side.
must
ing
attack, and
to plunge us
"Avantage,"
the
our
in
him, by being
is better than any
intellect.
If our opponent
mode
rudely,
of
shallow
our own
to
rudeness
eclipses
our
and
superior
For
offensive.
and
sulting
his superiority
annul
at once
brutality.
Every
piece of rudeness
is,
strictly speaking, an appeal to brutality; for it is a
declaration that intellectual strength and moral insight
are
incompetent to
fought
case
out
of
by
decide,
physical
animal,
man, whom
is decided
species;
and
well-known
the
by
the
decision is
principle
of
a
—
Franklin
the
battle
that the
and
force
struggle
defines
as
weapons
of
be
which, in the
a
tool-making
peculiar
irrevocable.
right
must
This
might
to
the
is
the
—
irony,
course, like the wit of a fool; a parallel phrase.
The honor of a knight may be called the
glory of might.
(6.) Lastly, if, as we saw above, civic honor is very
scrupulous in the matter of meum and
tuum,
of
paying
great
respect
to
obligations
and a promise
once made
HONOR
the
code
we
the
hand,
which
here
are
be
not
may
discussing displays,
liberality.
noblest
69
broken,
There
the
is
word
of
the other
on
one
only
honor
word
—
upon
the presumption being, of
say
course, that every other form of promise may be broken.
Nay, if the worst comes to the worst, it is easy to break
as
honor,
my
even one's
people
word
—
honor,
of
adopting that
by
fighting with those who
word.
Further, there is
again
no
under
all
remains
The
as
strange, savage,
no foundation in
ing,
its
of
unpaid
Ages,
will
and
see
at
its
of
of
Asia,
kind
of
honor
is
virtue
of
first,
to
be
by
said
any
his
did
or
other
Europe
upper
or
under
angry
and
tainly
honor.
or
and
not
omitted
The Greeks
and
to
of
the
Romans
his
blow
of
I discussed
himself
but
harder
a
might
the
death,
nations
—
not
and
—
a
blow
make
a
man
but
it
had
vengeance;
kept
one
but
blow
one
is
a man
what
honor,
own
was
a
No
were
code
shows
that
account
of
satisfaction which was
Yet in
to be demanded.
contempt
inferior
or of
this
of
he
thought
immediate
with
the
classes, officers,
Neither
them.
which
what
circumstances
insulting words,
demanded
bravery
do
to
a
a
the feel
since
any wagging tongue
give
could
certain
demand
is
affect
To them,
donkey
but that
They
perhaps
might
which
nothing
blows or
him.
of
in
narrow
highly civilized na
Among them no other
what
not
actions,
a
the
nor
man
a
such
this has
as
extremely
to
confined
or modern.
which
knightly
intensify
only to
serves
recognized
man's.
any horse
gam
warrant
any
The
then only to the
ancient
to say
pleased
a
that
once
nor
nature,
principles;
tions
in
—
your
honor
code of
affairs.
exclusively
and
like;
you
soldiers, and people who imitate
Greeks nor Romans knew anything
or
our
alone, that
one
and
honor
and
stain.
human
operation
is
which
Middle
and
be left
ridiculous
human
of
view
as
a
reader
and
healthy
debt,
must
much
without
unprejudiced
sphere
remedy, the duel,
that we pledged
—
has accordingly been called a debt of
other kinds of
debt you may cheat Jews
Christians
honor
one
honorable
remain
which
In
honor.
and
still
maintain
circumstances
bling debt,
and
universal
the
of
ancients
Christian
thorough
personal
were
cer
Europe.
heroes,
if
you
THE WISDOM OF
7o
like; but they knew
they had any idea of
the life
with
it
duel,
a
totally
was
merely the exhibition
devoted to slaughter, con
mercenary gladiators, slaves
demned criminals, who, alternately
to butcher
set
When
day.
Christianity
Christian times, by the duel,
difficulties by the Judgment
fight
prejudices
—
a
which
the
a
was
Roman holi
a
gladiatorial
taken, in
place
of
a
way
settling
If the gladiatorial
desire
prevailing
for
to existing
sacrifice
cruel
not of
sacrifice,
their
beasts,
wild
with
make
God.
of
is
dueling
spectacles,
and
to
sacrifice
cruel
a
was
great
to
introduced,
was
done away with,
were
shows
another
one
unconnected
was
of
were
If
d'honneur.
point
about
nothing
the nobles; it
of
LIFE
criminals, slaves,
and
pris
free.*
oners, but of the noble and the
There are a great many traits in
duel
moned
to
to the
effect
might
go
him
a
by
in
command
was
him;
strike
reader
we
refused
a
acted
who
declares
honor,
in
passage
length
of
to
round
Strike,
he is
not
an
or
anyone
connection with
a
man
*
and
such
he bore it
Translator's Note.
doubt
wear a
yet antiquated
me.
who
stick
to
drawing
of
How sorry
man, to find
Athenian
the
officers
the
either!
philosopher
showing
matters.
followed
all
Demosthenes
considers
honor
of
assault,
cussions were often
dled,
his
will excite a smile of
that the ancients had no notion
in
Eurybiades,
honorable
that
offered
any longer under Themistocles,
There is a modern French writer
"Laws,"
Plato's
but hear
he
life,
Plutarch
two.
or
raised
once
his
of
time he
same
serve
if
that
aida
a
fleet,
his ignorance
was
the
information
like that!
that Cicero
at
Themistocles, instead
said:
no
body
if he
man of
the
be, if
must
have
in
of
the
of
returned answer
tired
were
Themistocles that
of
whereupon
his sword, simply
that
chief
for
a veteran gladiator
in his life
the
the
hang himself;
relates
character
were
Teutonic chief, he
a
that, if
and
they
When,
these prejudices.
the
entirely free from
for instance, Marius was sum
that
show
ancients which
mildly.
us
pity ;
In
a certain
speaks
clearly
at
enough
of honor
Socrates's frequent dis
his being severely han
of
any
by
Once,
feeling
for
instance,
These and other remarks on dueling
belated look to English readers; but
they are
for most parts of the Continent.
—
a
and
when
will no
hardly
HONOR
71
somebody kicked him, the patience with which he took
the insult surprised one of his friends.
Do you think,
Socrates,
said
I
that
resent
should
asked, Has
if
an
On
?
it
not that
happened
ass
another
fellow
abused
me.
insults.
which
was
insulted
and
that
which
this.
the
K
The
by
given
a
form
other
law provided,
Greek received
the
by
"
Gorgias, where
satisfaction
from Plato's
found.
no
and
If
could get
how the
can see
we
They knew
even
you
?
of
wise
avoid
Socrates's
by
astonished
Crates,
face
the
the
on
of
fluteplayer
upon
the
evident
a
tells us that he
men
on
a
spot
he had
whom
his
on
brought
committed
all
letter to
a
Athenians; but he
blue;
and
disgrace
much
such
a
whereupon
piece
as
it
was
a
the
household
a
of
from the drunken
that
to
brutality
of
Melesippus, Diogenes
adds
a
inscription,
the
with
Athens honored
beating
such
got
the musician, that his
forehead,
which
had
got
Cynic philosopher,
Nicodromus,
whom
man
And in
met
the
on
and
money,
became black
and
fecit,
who
he
whom
provocation what
conduct.
from
up
small
penalty to the
celebrated
label
a
Nicodromus
god.
his
ear
swelled
put
is
opinion
consequences, he told
ulterior
any
bag
a
the trivial legal
paid
as
may be
be
the
account
seen
in
thing may
one
Lucius Veratius, who had the
of
Gellius
bring
to
the ear, he
on
law;
the
same
ever; but to
slave
than
despised
people
box
a
aid of
treated
ancients
satisfaction
audacity to give some Roman citizens
the road a box on the ear, without any
the
me,
he
was
sonius, from
he
kick
his answer, what he says is not addressed to
Stobaeus has preserved a long passage from Mu-
No,
box
to
when
occasion,
Sinope
sons
matter
of
of
no
And Seneca devotes the last few chapters
B
De Constantia to a lengthy discussion on insult
importance.
his
of
a
—
contumelia;
notice
no
man
wise
a
when
up
or
but
you
some
you
are
order
to
that
show
a
wise
In Chapter XIV. he says, What shall
What Cato did,
blow ?
do, if he is given a
it.
one
avenge
simply
Yes
in
of
take
will
man
struck
the
ignore
say,
fools,
him
insult,
on
or
the
even
mouth;
return
—
not
the
blow,
it.
but these men were philosophers.
eh?
fire
Precisely.
—
And
THE WISDOM
72
It is
was
they
of
code
whole
knightly honor
to the ancients; for the
unknown
utterly
that
son
the
that
clear
OF LIFE
took
always
simple rea
unprejudiced
and
natural
a
human affairs, and did not allow themselves to
be influenced by any such vicious and abominable folly.
view of
A blow in the face
trivial
a
more,
them
to
was
injury;
physical
blow
a
and
nothing
the
whereas
moderns
it, a theme for a tragedy; as,
for instance, in the
Corneille, or in a recent Ger
"
The Power of
man comedy of middle-class life, called
*
Circumstance, which should have been entitled "The
Cid w
<(
Power
Prejudice."
of
of
out
a catastrophe
make
of
If
National As
the
a member of
sembly at Paris got a blow on the ear, it would resound
The examples
from one end of Europe to the other.
given of the way in which such an
occur
have been treated in classic times may not
I have
which
rence
would
the ideas
people, so let me recom
kind of antidote, the story of
Monsieur Desglands in Diderot's masterpiece, tt Jacques le
suit
of
honorable
to their notice,
mend
Fataliste. *
honor,
It is
a
an excellent specimen of modern
no
which,
as
doubt, they
will
find
knightly
enjoyable and edi
fying.*
From
the
I have
what
principle
origin
spontaneous
its
and
product,
said
knightly
of
it
must
honor
in human
source
is
not
be
quite
evident
that
no
essential
and
has
nature.
It is
hard to find.
an artificial
Its
existence
obviously dates from the time when people used their
fists more than their heads, when priestcraft had en
chained
Age,
when
*
the human
with
let
people
is
briefly
Desglands,
by
as
were
intellect,
system
Translator's
refers
side
its
the
of
the much
chivalry.
Almighty
not
bepraised Middle
That
only
was
care
the time
for them
Note.—
The story to which Schopenhauer here
follows: Two gentlemen, one of whom was named
paying
the
court
to the same lady.
As
they
sat at
table
lady
opposite, Desglands did his best to charm
her with his conversation ; but she pretended not to hear
him, and kept
looking at his rival. In the agony of jealousy, Desglands, as he was
side,
with
holding a fresh
its
egg in his
hand, involuntarily crushed it; the
shell
broke
bespattered his rival's face. Seeing him raise his
hand,
Desglands seized it and whispered: Sir, I take it as given. The
next day Desglands appeared with a large piece of black
sticking plaster
upon his right cheek.
In the duel which followed, Desglands
and
contents
severely
HONOR
but judge for them too ;
by
an
ordeal,
exceptions,
meant
duel,
a
difficult
when
Judgment
a
73
not
with
which,
where
only
decided
cases were
God;
of
few
nobles were
concerned, but in the case of ordinary citizens as well.
There is a neat illustration of this in Shakespeare's
Henry
VI. * Every judicial sentence was subject to an appeal
to arms
a court, as it
were, of higher
Judgment of God: and this really
the
ical
strength
the
usurped
in
ing
had
and
same
by
of
such
is really the
an
Duelling.
supporters
wrong,
the force
with
in
origin
excellent
B
Nay,
f
the
of
of
—
animal
by
not
he
prevails
If
our
you
system,
our
which
phys
nature,
what
was
to-day
the
duel, let
him
«
The His
find among the
still
by
who,
opposed,
under
that
Millingen,
may
a man
doubts
anyone
modern
J. B.
by
work
is,
namely,
that
meant
the judgment seat, decid
on
and
fact, as
knightly honor.
read
of
reason
right
system,
principles
tory
of
of
but
that
activity,
place
matters
done,
the
instance,
—
the
are
way,
not
some
usually the most educated or thoughtful of men,
who look upon the result of a duel as
really constituting
a divine judgment in the
matter in
dispute ; no doubt
—
in
consequence
But
be
leaving
use
the traditional
the
to us that the
clear
to
of
aside
physical
of
respect
superfluous
to
acquire
comes
the
to
the
much
in
thermometer and so make
the
is this :
matter
intercourse,
that
and
ditional
respect
wounded
his
When his
rival
again, and
six
at
times.
last his
•Part
f
rival;
upon
again made
civic
his
which
they
he
had
II.,
were
your
fact,
honor
opinion
to
hand
an
or
which
prove
on
the
the kernel of
aims at peaceable
of
other people
reduced
killed.
Act 2, Sc.
1849.
3.
the
size
of
the
plaster.
duel ; Desglands drew blood
little smaller; and so on for five or
another
plaster a
After every duel Desglands's
Published in
you
In
extorting
too difficult
full
recovered,
rival was
if
now
confidence, because we pay uncon
to their rights, knightly honor on the other
deserve
we
as
it rise.
in the
of
proceeding
by holding
whereas
consists
a
must
the principle is
of
deemed
reality;
the subject.
on
origin, it
purpose
is
thing
room
of
tendency
for the
which
same
your
of
warmth
main
menace
appearance
feeling
question
plaster grew
less
and
less,
until
WISDOM OF
THE
74
lays down that
hand,
termined
As
at all
than to invite
one, if
his
the
the
in
useless
frequented
roads
Accordingly,
still
of personal
ishment
de
State
and
property,
it stands, like the
right,
fields and
railways.
of
is
assault which
the
of
every
age when might was
application
the hands
at
minimis
fear
false
maintain
the
where
person
a
where
directly
life,
integ
arouse
amidst well-tilled
this principle,
recognizes
cases
even
or
the
nature,
and
our
the
forlorn object,
and
of
applicable:
castles and watch-towers of
a
state
of
human
to
not, perhaps, be
civilized
longer
no
essential
himself
protection
is
principle
a
protect
But
rights.
own
undertakes
in
living
have to
own.
placed upon
more
would
confidence
were
we
man would
be
can
that it is
principle
being de
as
feared,
our
maintain
not much reliance
rity, the
be
to
are
we
to
costs
LIFE
knightly honor,
which
to those
small
confined
but
meet with
law,
or
even
slight pun
none
all, for
at
trivial wrongs, committed sometimes
mere
non,
The consequence of this limited application
only in jest.
of the principle is that it has forced itself into an
exag
gerated
utterly
—
it
which
an
elevated
excessive
The
degree
what
as
strikes me
*
not
remarkable
really
trivial
and as
very insufficient
it takes
injuries,
by attacking
is,
attack
the
aggressor
rests
upon
pride, which, completely
claims that he shall be ab
or even censure.
this principle
out
rule
by
main
Those
who
force,
and
of
action, whoever insults or
die ! ought for their
pains to be ban
honor is the
which
child of
is the heritage
fact that this
clusively among
deepest humility.
but, rather,
a
country.*
Knightly
pride,
shall
destiny
thing manifestly
whole
all
their
respect
of man
of sanctity:
imposed
such
a
person,
or
of arrogant
man
determine to carry
ished the
the
of
a species
them
punish
solutely free from
announce,
into
commission of
limb.
forgetting
value
that the State has
penalty on the
upon itself to
or
the
to the nature, constitution
it has
considers
in life
for
respect
alien
the
extreme
adherents
Still,
pride
form
of
and
folly,
the human
the
and
race.
of pride should
religion
which
it is
It is
a
need
very
be found
ex
teaches the
this pride must not be put down
to religion
to the feudal system,
sovereign who recognized no
person as sacred and
of
which made
human
inviolable,
and
judge,
any
every nobleman
and
learned to
attack upon
it,
or
a
petty
his
regard
any blow
HONOR
As
a
persons
of
and
meet,
finally,
neither
cause
fatal
a
a
will
special
formalities;
the most
forming
An
slightest
fisticuffs,
really be
would
a
the intermediate steps
omit
to
appeal
has its
arms
these have developed into
laws
precise system of
and
rigid
it
that
so
and
way, the
abuse, then
of
in
are
If two intrepid
give
shower
blow;
people
arrogance,
everything.
to arms at once.
appeal
own
rash
on
decorous proceeding to
more
and
this
giving way
difference may
and,
to
palliative
the habit
75
a
regulations, together
and
farce there is, a regular temple
For if two intrepid persons
solemn
honor dedicated to folly!
of
dispute
two,
of
That this is
—
by law),
with
will
trivial
some
over
dealt
are
course
so
is
matter
one
and
yield;
by
proved
not
the
acknowledge
any dispute
homicide is
run
its
they
will
of
course.
affairs
the
of
to differ.
agree
common
people,
the community
of
principle
natural
the cleverer
the fact that
or, rather, the numerous classes
do
important
( more
them,
of
who
knightly honor, let
Among these classes
hundredfold
rarer than among those
and
one
in
in
a
to
all,
thousand,
hardly
they amount, perhaps,
who pay homage to the principle : and even blows are of
a
—
very frequent occurrence.
Then it has been said that
no
the
and
manners
tone
of
ultimately based upon this principle of
society
with
its system of duels, is made out to be a
honor, which,
bulwark against the assaults of savagery and rudeness.
are
good
But
Athens, Corinth
excellent
good, nay
high order,
knightly
that
or
of
Rome
prominent
any
It is true
place
insulting word, as an
knightly honor and of
also
to
in
that
ancient
offense
was
and
manners
from the
women
society
punishable
the duel
assuredly boast
could
and
support
without
honor.
and, later on,
and
society,
at
by
first
did
bogey
death.
a
a
of
occupy
they hold
The
principle
to the nobles,
in the army, who, enjoying
officers
of
of
not
which
confined
tone
a
kind
of
upper classes, though they were never
relationship with the
It is
incorporated with them, were anxious not to be behind them.
true that duels were the product of the old ordeals ; but the latter are
off-and-on
not
the
foundation, but
principle
of
honor : the
to the divine.
they
times;
the
and
great
consequence
who recognized no
Ordeals, however,
may be found in
ancient
rather
man
are
not
and
application of
human judge
peculiar
force among the
the
appealed
to Christendom:
Hindoos, especially
there are traces of them even
now.
of
OF LIFE
THE WISDOM
76
taken
on
frivolous
a
and
dis
character, to the exclusion of that weighty
This change
distinguished the ancients.
which
trifling
course
has certainly
tendency
to
has
conversation
when
now,
is
in
observable
The fact is that
good
to the
courage
personal
prefer
quality.
deal to
a great
contributed
which
bring
the
about
society nowadays,
any other
is really a very
possession of
personal courage
merely the distinguishing mark of a
virtue, indeed, in which we are surpassed by
subaltern,
the lower animals ; or else you would not hear people say,
subordinate
virtue,
a
brave
as
Far from
a lion.
as
honor
knightly
honesty and wickedness,
affords
a sure
and
the
being
pillar of society,
in
general for dis
asylum,
also for small incivilities,
Rude behavior
want of consideration and unmannerliness.
is
often
passed
his
neck
After
what
risk
dueling
the
in
over
because
silence
in correcting it.
I have said, it will
is
system
sanguinary zeal precisely in that nation
and financial records show that they are
What that
able.
tic
life, is
who
are
social
a question
which
in the
experienced
have
culture
is like in its
nation
may
political
too honor
best
domes
to
put
those
Their urbanity
matter.
been
long
whose
not
of
pitch
private and
be
that
strange
highest
the
to
cares
one
not appear
to
carried
no
by
conspicuous
and
their
absence.
There is
urged
dog,
no
with
he
fawns ;
so
of
says,
there
envy
wound
for
in
religious
no
case
proportionate
the length
of
of
or
The
a
he
him,
hostility
irritated at
hatred: and, as Cicero
any-
penetrating
wisdom
and
in
the
worth
shaft
find
its
in the world, except,
is
an insult or a blow
sects,
And yet a natural view
demand anything more than
to
the
assigning
old
to return
at
and
offense,
death
as
anyone who accuses another of
cowardice.
pet
be
can
snarl
and nowhere
;
equanimity.
either would
go
few
a
with
requital
men
painful one
perhaps, in
taken
even
so
you
you
of men
treatment
It
pretexts.
when
when
embittered
is something
that
a
nature
be
to
depreciatory
signs
and
return,
it lies in the
and
such
justice that as,
in
snarls
by hostility,
of
truth, then, in
more
German theory
and
would
of
a
never
the proper penalty
lying
of
or
stupidity
or
blood for a blow
HONOR
77
is
a revolting superstition of the
in any case the return or requital
by anger,
by
and not
the advocates
age
of
chivalry.
And
insult is dictated
of honor and
duty
of
an
such obligation
any
The fact
chivalry seek to attach to it.
is that, the greater the truth, the greater the slander; and
it is clear that the slightest hint of some real delinquency
as
will
much
give
accusation
is
a
show
man
susceptibility which he does
for insults which
himself have
hastens to
who
he
but
a
poor
save
could
idea,
appearances
be
from
people
only stop
insolence
can
his
preciation
thinking
to
is,
to the
come
soon
like
are
a
you
by expressing
fight in defense
general
opinion
battle in
which
If
honor
we
—
could
brutality
it,
the
insulted,
we
readiness
of
him
enable
are
that wrong,
man
resent
anger.
about
unfa
a
help
returning the insult ; if
be legalized
satisfaction, that
all
by
restored
an
A
own
eye.
make
will
only get rid of this superstition
I mean, that it disappears when
can
and
his
of
black
a
dissemble
and
feel.
cannot
the utterance of
prevent
by
opinion
take
and
possess,
really indifferent to insult; but if he cannot
ing it, a little shrewdness and culture will
to
terrible
most
opinion
giving his enemy
True appreciation of his own value
vorable
a
not
vengeance
must
worth
than
offense
may treat it with contempt and will be safe in
The theory of honor demands that he shall
so.
bloody
greater
is perfectly baseless : so that a man who
that he has done nothing to deserve a
which
sure
quite
reproach
doing
of
we
that insult
to
and
give
should
de
and
the loser wins;
and
Vincenzo Monti
that,
as
upon
insult in this light
says, abuse resembles a church
because
it
always
returns to the point from
procession,
If we could only get people to look
which it set out.
rude
in
order
not
give
we
should
to
prove
no
longer have to say
we
are
in the
that
something
right.
Now, unfortunately, if we want to take a serious
first of all to consider
view of any question, we have
whether
the
at
will
dullard,
the
pen
it
who
merest
to be
pitted
thing but
generally
sign of
that the head
offense
intelligence
which
against
in
shows
contains
the noddle
narrowness and
some
alarm
and
:
or other
resentment
it may easily
the intelligent
which
stupidity.
If
to
way
and
is empty
all
hap
view
of
has
every
this were done
THE WISDOM
78
OF LIFE
away with, intellectual superiority
in society which is its due
could
—
place
though
have
would
people
from
a change
such
of
like to
not
fighting
mere
physique,
effect
do
people
leading
occupied,
excellence
of
pluck, in fact; and the natural
that the best kind of
would be
the
less for withdrawing
the intro
the way for
pave
would
courtesy and genuinely good society, such
If
in Athens, Corinth and Rome.
undoubtedly
duction
real
of
existed
as
to see
wants
anyone
like him to
should
last
The
is, that, but
thought! would be
briefly
may
ple
out
have
of
often
a good
read
"
I mean, I
what
Banquet. •
knightly
of
for its existence, the
a regular bear-garden.
honor
world
To
—
no
awful
which
I
reply that nine hundred and ninety-nine peo
a thousand who
do not recognize the code,
given
and
received
a
blow
without
any fatal
among the adherents of the
death to one of the parties.
whereas
consequences;
blow usually means
let me examine this argument
a
I have
often
plausible
basis
some
of
example
Xenophon's
in defense
argument
doubt
—
now
it, by
confess
reason
one
This
society.
take the
a place
more
code
But
closely.
tried to find some tenable or, at any rate,
—
positive
other
than
a
reasons, that
merely conventional one
is to say, for the rooted
a portion of mankind entertains, that a
dreadful
very
thing ; but I have looked for it in
in
animal
or in the rational side of human
either
the
vain,
A blow is, and always will be, a trivial physical
nature.
which
conviction
blow is
a
injury which
one man can
more
do to another; proving,
thereby,
than his superiority in strength or skill,
or
nothing
that his enemy was off his guard.
Analysis will carry us
no further.
The same knight who regards a blow from
the human hand as the greatest of
evils, if he gets a ten
times
harder blow
assurance,
as
from
his
he limps away in
a matter of no consequence
horse,
will
give
you
the
pain, that it is
So I have come to
suppressed
whatever.
think that it is the human hand which is at the bottom of
the mischief.
And yet in a battle the knight
get cuts
may
and
his
thrusts from the
wounds
are
not
same
worth
hand,
and still assure you
mentioning.
that
Now, I hear that
by any means so
a blow from the flat of a sword is not
bad as a blow with a stick; and
that, a
short
time
ago,
HONOR
cadets
were
other,
and
liable to be
that the
This is
accolade.
that I
find ;
can
the
nounce
thing
taken
deep
root,
which
show
the force
by
the
and
a
of
or
psychological
is nothing left
one
the
of
more
My
tradition.
of
the
is
the
basis
moral
but to
me
many
is
view
a
not
all
an antiquated superstition
fact that in China
well-known
bamboo is
the
and so there
whole
honor
greatest
but
the one
by
punished
very
all
79
pro
that has
examples
confirmed
beating
with
a
very frequent punishment for the common
even for officials of every class, which shows
people, and
that human nature, even in a highly civilized state, does
not run in the same groove here and in China.
On the contrary, an unprejudiced view of human nature
that it is just as natural for man to beat as it is
shows
for
savage
animal
rend in
pieces, or for
Man may be said to be the
Hence it is revolting to our sense of
that beats.
and
them.
give
of mutual
or
everyday
It is intelligible
single
to
fortunes,
which
bring
precise
itself
at
not
stupid
seem
lative bodies to
ests
of
with
stition,
to
For
the
flogging
which
all
any
a
as
obvious and
will
not
this
so
thing
to
and
as
them
compel
an
murder
genuine
for its
in the
by imaginary
in their train ;
a
awful
evils
and yet
governments
such
folly by
punishment
mis
this
they
point
inhuman
and
the
therefore the natural
to
civil
fact, they
flogging
sacrifices
except
reason
will
legis
or mili
acting in the inter
are
of
and
attempting to
in
abolition of
many
offenses,
listen
blow
a
a system
malign.
; for the
strengthen
by
cruel
a
cr
become
we
blows
me wise of
Their idea is that
made.
who
and
promote
opposite
as
is
the superstition, which thus proves
humanity; but, in
just the
only to
increasing
to
that,
that
blows
get
with
death
real ones
effect of
once
a
do,
hand, it
sometimes
for him to
too many
are
our
of
It does
the other
regard
have
must
There
allow
is the
do away
tary life.
class
which
consequences.
to
we
on
enough
But it is
a
as
to dispense
restraint.
misfortune
world
hear,
occurrence
we are glad
educated,
nation
to
has bitten another;
man
natural
and
or push.
the fitness of things
one
bite
to
animals
horned beasts to butt
are
will
abominable
have
worst,
serve
super
already been
a
beating is
penalty ;
yield
doing
to
and a man
blows.
It
to
seems
fore
his
be
cannot
There
services.
talk
mere
'the
from
whole
business is
Not
ple.
the
case
latter
involved
method
the stick.
by
disgrace,
no
of
many
In
either
deroga
was not
and
the
exam
pain; but the
physical
produce
of
laughable
to honor.
tory
By
or
abolish
any
the duel
is
might
most
this
shame
be driven
allowed
find
right,
this
which
has
of
Middle
the
deal
a good
bag
to set dogs
baggage.
theory
from
us
has
still
life left in it
for the
principle
Nowadays,
fight
to
or cocks
natural
a
the
Age,
of
century
It is high time
and
As
of
down to
to us!
out
try
it is trying, to
fragment
come
and
time it is
same
enactment.
that
days
knightly honor,
that
pretends
legislative
by
savage
nineteenth
more
it
the
at
while
rate
we
consequence
that
duel;
at
of
principle
State is playing
the
superstition,
the
of
therefore of the
ing,
this
promoting
into the hands
the
to
was
object
the bottom
at
almost
an
was replaced
cat
pro
the
military discipline
ago, in the
long
countries, the
by
proved
only
which
subject, but
describing.
been
I have
lies
which
a superstition
talk
his
of
it;
against
—
on
notions
superstition
pernicious
That it is
loss
the
by
man
of
dignity
clear
any
put
because
prison
arguments
no
really
in
there
and
nothing
suffer
would
the
from
not
ceeds,
are
about
be
or cannot
fined,
interests
master's
corporal
administer
man who possesses
to the
punishment
to
proper
and
right
me
OF LIFE
WISDOM
THE
go
each
no
other,
one
at
in
—
to
is
any
rate, in England it is a penal offense, but men are plunged
into deadly strife, against their will, by the operation of
this ridiculous, superstitious
imposes
upon us
and
absurd
the obligation, as its
porters and advocates
declare,
of
fighting
like gladiators, for any little trifle.
our
purists
duel,
to
which
adopt
probably
the
to us,
In any case,
is
to
which
we
may
that
really revolting
can form a power
code
well
this foolish
laugh
system
this
me recommend
baiting, instead of
from the Latin
—
at
meaning
the
carried.
with
—
suffer
pedantic ex
has been
principle,
the State
within
sup
not
duellum, but from the Spanish duelo,
ing, nuisance, annoyance.
cess
which
with one another
Let
expression
comes
principle,
narrow-minded
its
It
absurd
imperium in
HONOR
imperio
nizing
no
which
come
put in motion, which,
recog
might, tyrannizes over the classes
too easily
a power
—
but
right
its range,
within
life
of
lurking
if he only belongs to the
and
even
one
any
death between
and
This is the
nent.
by keeping
up a sort of
may be haled on the
there and then be tried on an
inquisition, before which
most flimsy pretext, and
issue
81
an
the
turbing
us
at
be
with
or
classes
—
takes
who
foolish
of
and
passionate
strength
end
coming
should
upon
the
higher
I mean, of having to be ready every
and limb to the mercy of anyone
committing
or
contradiction;
For
As I
am
on
by
the
anything
often
in
sheer
to
and
an
its
here, too,
is
weapons,
corollary
6
killing
and
lying
of
from restoring
inferior rank of
the
puts
conclusion,
we
have
forbidden
me
which
be
persons on
by
end
results
in
very glaring
to
take
part
a
ab
in
a
to come out,
service.
more
frank
still.
insisted upon,
is
with
fight
equal
fair
enemy in a
in ambush for
the fact that the
a
it
declines
and
dismissed the
the matter, let
your
State,
by
You may generally
ridiculous by finding that,
challenged
by being
the
measured
tragic-comic
a
words.
despair.
and
officer
within
or
that
to
or
maimed
few
a
be
prevented
else
logical
The important distinction
between
power
superior
come
to be false
duel; but if he is
punished
are
who
honor
suicide
carried
surdity.
be wounded,
should
the superstition, may
level,
thing
a
if it is
boys
people
knightly
different
he is
by
society
An
weighs
this tyrannical
of
of
their aggressor,
know
dis
rogues
life!
simply because they have had
the fact that
a
and com
life!
it into his rascally head to be coarse, rude,
It is perfectly atrocious that a pair
the force
their
of
street
life
expose
killed,
The
burden,
your
which
in the
prevent
it
made
or malicious.
silly,
even
or
honor
burden
the
the
to
moment
Your
your
to
able
intercourse
peaceable
—
to
put
to be
now
him.
to
has
protection
scoundrel
—
ought
hatred
of
object
police
impossible in these days for any
to attack us with
Your money
sense
oppo
every rascal,
noblest
as such, must of course be
Our system of justice and
mon
his
and
which
in question, may menace
and best of men, who,
classes
exterminate the
himself
from
place
power
often
him, is entirely
within
the
State,
a
of
is,
might, that
Judgment
to kill
IS
a
or
the
of
fight, is
strength
to
For
whole code.
that
to
and
to
appeals
and
prove
skill;
you
are
justify
the
the stronger
right of
that the
assume
must
you
really
the basis
as
fair
a
to him in
superior
deed,
in
man
a
God
of
than
right
other
spoken, recognizes no
the right of the stronger,
have
I
which
a
OF LIFE
THE WISDOM
82
right.
But the truth is that, if my opponent is unable to de
himself, it gives me the possibility, but not by any
The right, the moral
means the right, of killing him.
fend
the motives
justification, must depend entirely upon
Even supposing that I
I have for taking his life.
which
have
why I
I
whether
can
for
motive
sufficient
reason
no
or
shoot
taking
make
should
a
man's
his
death
point of
the right of
view
vincing than the
which
is
Might
and
for
a
skill
instance,
is
if
are
myself
stupid of
another
have
stronger
more
murder
you
case
one and
In
From
is
no
skillful
a man
equally
a
I
moral
more
and
;
such a
whether
it is
con
skill
treacherously.
right:
in
a
duel,
into play ; for
for treachery.
If I con
the
name
him,
upon
other come
morally justified in taking a man's life, it
me to try first of all whether he can shoot
fence better than
or
the
the
in this
both the
feint is only
sider
right of
employed
depend
fence better than he.
case, it is immaterial in what way I kill
rear.
attack him from the front or the
is
there
life,
wronged
me,
I;
but
as, if he can, he will
have taken my life
not
only
into
the
bargain.
It is Rousseau's
an
insult
to
assassinate
is,
cautious
to
note
the
opinion
to fight
not
him,
that the
a
duel
proper
with
your
an
of
philosopher so
mediaeval
completely
superstitution
siders
it justifiable to
lying;
while
he
must
of
under
knightly
avenge
aggressor, but
which he is
opinion, however,
only just to indicate in
the books of his « Emile. »
—
enough
one
way to
a
mysterious
This
the influence
shows
of
honor that he
the
con
murder a man who accuses you of
have known
that every man, and
himself especially, deserves to have the lie given him
times
without number.
The
sary,
prejudice which
so
long
as
justifies the
it is done
in
an
killing
of
your
adver
open contest and with
HONOR
83
weapons, obviously looks upon might as really
a duel as the interference of God.
The Italian
who, in a fit of rage, falls upon his aggressor wherever
he finds him, and dispatches him without any ceremony,
equal
and
right,
any rate, consistently and naturally: he may be
If you
cleverer, but he is not worse, than the duelist.
say, I am justified in killing my adversary in a duel,
at
acts,
because he is
I
can
him
the moment
at
it is
that
reply
the necessity
under
mutually putting it
by
combatants
I
murder.
Volenti
maxim
agree
may,
are
to
their
set
not
of
principle
one
forcibly
inquisition.
bloody
I have been
Augean
to
life, is
modern
private.
—
and
second
before
a
knightly
so, because the
of
all else
life
modern
by
giving
aspect, from
which
it were, in the morning
mean
modern
honor and
as
fratrum!
of
this
of
than
more
antiquity,
sinister
I
free;
of
the relations
farther
being
which
those
par nobilc
all
The
much
than at
—
which
life,
pair
noble
first
have
whether
appears
com
public
its
extends
to
be
the
not
merely a physical, but also a moral
From the time that poisoned arrows have been
being
case, as
disease.
in
devilish
with
dark,
subject of
arrangements
natural, and,
poison
influence
and
mutually
argument
intellectual enormity in this
only with the besom of phi
social
completely
disease,
bined to
Cupid's
element
women, like
the warp
ing
gloomy,
fresh,
antiquity,
found
This
and
out
unfavorably
a
age
for
two things
are
the
make
compare
of
parties
combatants
the
on
reasons
moral
cleaned
There
losophy.
or
be
the
of
prolix
good
of
stable
can
least
at
rather
but I had
honor,
our
the
issue.
the
upon
be rebutted by showing that the injured
injured volens; because it is this tyrannical
knightly honor, with its absurd code, which
drags
serve
justify
for committing
by the legal
deed
the
injuria; because
life
that
and
however,
party is
world
defending himself;
the ground of self-defense, the
a plausible pretext
rather
fit
non
challenge
of
on
seeking
should
his best to kill me,
which has placed
doing
your
and
an
quiver,
has
a
woof
the foundations
entered
sinster
of
of
estranging,
into
thread
the
of
hostile,
relations
fear
and
of
men
mistrust
intercourse; indirectly
human fellowship, and so
their
nay,
in
shak
more
less affecting the
would be beside my
ject further.
is
lines,
that
—
forcing
Minotaur;
from
to the
keep
as
alone,
one
this
upon
to do now.
hope
Still,
ing system;
are
I
am
with
accept a
either
no serious
guardhouse,
twelve strokes
officer
there
with
or
a
a
corporal
him,
give
stick
a private
a
to
and
failed.
or
to
cope
law the
success
It
involve
will
into
operation
the gallows, or
homoeopathic
small
If any man send or
take him before the
in
broad
la Chinoise ;
receive
attended
inability
a
put
scaffold
It is
after effects.
challenge, let the
and
be
can
to the
for life.
eradicated.
has
that
success
and
measures,
recourse
imprisonment
sioned
attack
to suppress the duel
to guarantee.
prepared
be
legislation,
concerned
really
if the small
and
sanguinary
pilule,
regular
a
evil can
is really due only to their
the evil, I do not mind proposing
without
to
not
medicine
efforts
which
no
of noble
comes,
disappear before the
that
if they
of
word
a universal
the sons
tribute,
make
clearing our ideas that the
Governments have tried to do so by
with
is
old, but from every land
of
ideas,
only by
their
timid,
every
end of the century !
be
able to find some
may
and that, by clearing our
of preventing the one,
philosophy may put an end to the other; for it is
us
means
on
principle
world,
and
foolish system; and this is what I am trying
Would that these two monsters of the mod
ern world might
Let
watch
of
it
sub
on other
ancient
gloomy,
company
country
It is high time to
Europe.
in
the
it demands in yearly
which
the
knightly honor,
of
to
stiff,
The
all.
pursue
though working
strictest
the goodly
and
to
principle
society
Nor is this
that falls.
this,
unknown
modern
to
us
houses
the
by
farce,
exerted
makes
which
to
But
existence.
of
purpose
present
analogous
solemn
tenor
whole
or
An influence
OF LIFE
WISDOM
THE
84
a
six.
daylight,
non-commis
If
a
duel has
actually taken place, the usual criminal proceedings should
be instituted.
A
with
knightly notions might, perhaps, object
if
a punishment were carried
such
that,
out, a man of
honor would possibly shoot himself; to which I should
answer that it is better for a fool like that to shoot
him
self
person
rather
than
other
people.
However,
I know very
FAME
that
85
are not
really in earnest about
Civil officials, and much more so,
officers in the
army (except those in the highest posi
are
paid
most
tions),
inadequately for the services they
and
the
perform;
deficiency is made up by honor, which
well
governments
putting down dueling.
is
by
titles
and orders,
and, in general, by
distinction.
The duel is, so to
a
serviceable
extra-horse
for people of rank:
speak,
very
so they are trained in the knowledge of it at the uni
The accidents which happen to those who use
versities.
it make up in blood for the deficiency of the pay.
represented
the system
Just to
of
rank
and
complete
the
the subject
a
as
no
in the
unit
to
court
nation
aggregate
be
let
here
me
It is the honor
of
to but the
appeal
must
honor
discussion,
of national honor.
And
nations.
force ;
to defend its own
prepared
court of
mention
of a nation
there is
as
and
as
every
interests,
the
in establishing the opinion,
not only that it may be trusted (its credit), but also that
An attack upon its rights must never
it is to be feared.
be
of
nation
a
to
allowed
civic and of
consists
pass
knightly
Under the
to
5.
and
Pollux,
and
not.
was
I
honor.
that
is,
some
merely
those
speak,
and
of
to
be
which
under
which
qualities
twins;
the
in
the
estimation
this we must
now
of
the
proceed
course,
last
but
a
cannot
which
be
as
of
genuine
ephemeral
day.
everyone
has
fame,
of
the
many sorts of fame,
Honor is concerned
are
required
of
sense
may be
circumstances; fame
everyone
the other
and
the highest kind
and
there
qualities
similar
mortal
was
of
the true
sure,
twins, too, like Castor
and
one
undying brother
the
fame in
with such
show
are
whom
is
of
of
honor
of
Fame
for,
word;
of
of
FAME.
place
of
Fame;
put
combination
consider.
Fame
to
heading
have
we
a
honor.
SECTION
world
It is
unheeded.
of
a
expected
only with
Honor is
any man.
right to attribute to
himself; fame only
to
others
being
known
us; fame
of
to
far
as
in
advance,
way.
Every
fame, as
runs
it finds its
virtue
as
extends
to
honor; very few
to
only in
attainable
honor
our
of
left
be
should
which
wherever
claim
a
make
can
one
knowledge
us
makes
and
While
attribute.
have
people
those
of
LIFE
OF
THE WISDOM
g6
achieve
extraordinary
ments.
These
or
actions
of
path
recommendation; on that of
the two
of
detriments;
that
short
a
beneficial
disfigured
and
to us,
until
at
Works
committed
to writing,
Aristotle,
directly
as
us; but
with
*
work
at
The
lifetime.
has
are
Homer
to-day
"Vedas,"
of
the
All that
ages.
becomes
that
and
indifference
of
altogether; unless,
presents
it, fossilized,
themselves,
and
and
as
Horace
they
their
to
once
and
were
alive,
and
in their
own
are
"Upanishads,"
contemporaneous
all
down to
come
and
is
The in
remain.
a matter
extinguished
immortal in
and
them
noble, can last but
is a living influence,
memory,
—
head.
Of Alexander
may live forever.
have but the name and the record: but
we
and
a
takes it up,
posterity.
Plato
genius
time
by
last it is
indeed, history
the Great
is
actions
of
weak
so
never
of
chief
Each
advantages
between
works
ennobling throughout
and
remain
can
work
a
great
peculiar
while
either
two paths
are
heart is the
difference
chief
action, be it
time; but
a
works,
own
fleeting,
are
an
of
the
and
actions
fluence
has its
paths
there
great
a
actions,
kinds,
two
of
fame
to
so
and
works;
On the
open.
be
may
achievements
actions
not
are
a
still
trace
us.*
Accordingly it is a poor compliment, though sometimes a fashion
For a
one, to try to pay honor to a work by calling it an action.
able
An action is always
is something essentially higher in its nature.
something based on motive, and, therefore, fragmentary and fleeting
a part, in fact, of that Will which is the universal and original element
work
—
in the
constitution of
permanent
character,
the
Intellect,
the
world of
The fame
with a
loud
whereas
last,
as
world.
But
a great and
beautiful
work
has
a
significance, and sprung from
perfume, above the faults and follies of
being of universal
rises, like a
Will.
has this advantage, that it generally starts
as to be heard all over Europe,
work is slow and gradual in its beginnings
;
of a great action
explosion, so
the fame
the noise it
at
which
the
makes
after a
loud, indeed,
of a great
is
at
hundred
first slight, but it
years perhaps, it
goes on
attains
growing greater, until
its full force ; but then
FAME
Another
disadvantage
depend
that
87
under
which
for
labor
actions
is
the
they
possibility
coming into existence; and hence, the fame they win
does not flow entirely from their intrinsic value, but also
from the circumstances which happened to lend them
importance
and
in war, they
timony
chance
upon
lustre.
the fame
Again,
of
of
purely personal, depends
fewer witnesses; and these
are
of
are
This
observers.
the
not
present, and even if present, are not always
biased
if,
actions,
upon
always
just
disadvantage, however,
is
or
un
counter
the fact that actions have the advantage
balanced
by
being
of
a
range
of
general
character, and, therefore,
human intelligence; so that
practical
facts have been correctly reported, justice is
as
tes
of
within
the
when
the
immediately
indeed, the motive underlying the action is
first properly understood or appreciated.
No action
be really understood apart from the motive which
done;
not
unless,
at
can
it.
prompted
It
is
does
just
the
depend
not
their
upon
that
Their inception
works.
chance, but wholly
upon
they
they
whatever
and
author;
themselves,
with
contrary
remain
long
as
and
are
as
in
entirely
for
and
they live.
Further, there is a difficulty in properly judging them,
which becomes all the
harder, the higher their charac
ter;
often
the work,
there are
however, does
fame,
can
•they
to
honest
or
depend
not
to
competent
unbiased
appeal
an
enter
persons
no
no
and often
upon
understand
Their
critics.
judge only;
one
In the
another.
case
of
is only their memory which
actions, as
then only in the tradi
and
to
down
comes
posterity,
down themselves,
handed
are
works
but
tional form;
and.
form in
no
which
room
for
circumstances
it
remains,
which
grows
it
less
ends
history.
by
and
the
them have
when
less,
action
may have
the lapse
been
in the
lost,
works
the
and
first
them in their
prejudiced
with
because the
other case,
of
they first appeared. In this case there is
the facts; and any
any disfigurement of
origin, fall away
the
parts
when
except
said, it
have
I
of
time.
Nay, it is
remain, for thousands of years.
explosion
is heard
having only
a
is
over,
the
noise
it
often
But in
makes
fewer persons; until
shadowy existence in the pages of
by
fewer
and
LIFE
THE WISDOM OF
88
the lapse
after
only
to judge them
petent
judgment
in
in
persons
and
works,
sitting
their
giving
collectively form
These
succession.
com
really
critics
exceptional
appear—
exceptional
on
verdicts
weighty
time that the
of
and though there are cases
perfectly just appreciation;
taken some hundreds of years to form it,
where it has
a
further lapse
no
Whether
front,
that
THOUGH
body
THE
ciously ignoring
from the public
As
in
now, in
lasts
which
growth;
to
incompara
was an
sometimes
goes
on
CONTEMPORARIES
BE
COME
WILL
THOSE
age
there
envious
the
conspiracy
longer
a
of
to posterity,
in
an
in
far
is
so
none
which
which
For this
remark
it
silence.
like
endures
an
but
likely
oak, of very slow
a little while, like
reason :
the
more
a
die;
while
night
man
and
belongs
other
they form
part
of
mankind
at
that familiar local color about his
would
appeal
of recognition
likely
BY
WILL
words, to humanity in general, the
alien he is to his
contemporaries; since his
meant for them as
such, but only for them
as
of
SHOWN
will
posterity is
soon.
not
in
remark
be in coming; for all excellent
time for their development.
The fame
perishing as
And why ?
is
falling
to
fame is
man's
spring up in a year and then
false fame is like a fungus, shooting up in a
work
as
were rascals
plants which
more of
merit
WHO
From this
favor.
the
and
are, the less likeli
fame follows
And he
their
of
day, too, manifesting itself, both
our
an
that
and
That
so.
in Seneca's
rule,
require
products
or
works
shadow;
THERE
the later it
last,
dawn
the
the art of suppressing merit by mali
its existence, and of concealing good work
in order to favor the bad.
It is an art
general
a
a
OF
ENVY
even
well understood
and
a great work.
of
see
that
behind.
enmity
that
manifest
who understood
to
casts
SILENCE,
without
judge
then
doing
Seneca's,
of
and sometimes
UNIVERSAL
is
their
of
the
as
surely
important their
and more
fine saying
to
the verdict;
reverse
the chance of circumstance;
upon
hood there is
bly
to
able
live
ever
authors
fame depends
higher
is
time
of
inevitable is the fame
and
secure
so
to
them;
because it is
and
so what
strange.
large;
there
productions
he
People
does,
are
fails
more
to appreciate the man who serves the
circumstances
FAME
of
his
89
brief
hour, or the temper of the moment,
belonging
it, and living and dying with it.
The general history of art and literature shows that
own
—
to
the highest achievements
favorably
not
rule,
the human
of
received
mind
but
first;
at
as
are,
a
in
remain
obscurity until they win notice from intelligence of a
higher order, by whose influence they are brought into
a position which
they then maintain, in virtue of the
authority thus given them.
If the reason of this should be asked, it
that ultimately,
those
ciate
common
person
are
mixed
and
folly
of a
a
things
of
be
a man
all,
daopaaruv
KaX&j
c7psv
vOvo<s ff SvS
sense
is that
with
this
of
for to
a
dog
(fidiveTat,
and
the best
be
nal
for it
—
surprised
that
fancy
thing in
being
This is
—
Xiyliv
Sonuv
w»i
ff
«5j
uf.
should
if
they
the
all;
yJoof f$ot
[£<mv],
KaXXtardv
at
as
works,
himself.
ourto
aurouy,
ydp 6 kuwv
the
ideas
thought;
of
fabulous memory
raoff
with
and
whose
own
with
appre
brains
no
na\
na)
passage
not
we should
themselves,
of
pe
aVTotatv
xeQuitivaf
KdXXioTov
The
tori
obSkv
h'at dvddvciv
has
one
at
dull,
man
confusion
who
Epicharmus
as
a
be found
and
nature
is
what
like his
will
thoroughly
old
like
by
to him
like
of
common;
attracted
appeal
character
truth as
is
are
will
will
understand
really
which
person
what
will
will
can
only
The dull
himself.
but best
a man
not
are
people
in
are
is
world
be lost
a
—
pleased
good
dog ;
case;
to
an
ox, an ox; to an ass, an ass; and to a sow, a sow.
The strongest arm is unavailing to give impetus to
feather weight;
for, instead
of
on
speeding
its way
a
and
hitting its mark with effect, it will soon fall to the ground,
having expended what little energy was given to it, and
no
mentum.
So it is
with
the
of
mass
possessing
very
its
with
to be the
own
and
great
masterpieces
of
none
the
wise
in
all
ages.
Jesus,
He
stance, declares that
genius,
perverse
but little, weak,
has been
a fact which
them,
and
that
son
of
of
mo
thoughts, nay,
when
minds
deplored
the
vehicle
noble
there are
to appreciate
by a chorus of
Sirach, for in
telleth a tale
to
a
fool,
OF LIFE
THE WISDOM
9o
in
one
to
speaketh
matter
the
is
tale, he
sleeps in a
says, A knavish speech
same
is of the
opinion, that a dull
hath
he
when
slumber,
say, What
will
his
told
And Hamlet
?
And Goethe
fool's ear.
the
ear mocks at
wisest
word,
Das
Wort
gliicklichste
Wenn der Horer
and
again, that
Du
no rings
make
can
verhShnt,
be discouraged if
not
should
we
stupid, for you
stone into a marsh:
are
es wird
Schiefohr ist :
ein
if
you
people
throw
your
come
into
—
nicht, Alles bleibt
wirkest
so stumpf:
Sei guter Dinge !
Der Stein in Sumpf
Macht keine Ringe.
Lichtenberg
asks:
a
to
apostle
an
ass
looks
We
is but
one
foolish
The
value
outer eye
a plague
to
thing
must
of
in,
you
a
book
—
a
which
be
but
good
is
as
an
remember
gifts
daily
evil that nothing can
remedy can cure. There
though how difficult! the
no
done,
never with
expect
most men mis
become wise, and that they
life they never know; they
ial because the
are
that the best
that
and
this
to
well
the
always
cannot
do
should
admirers,
take the bad for the good,
prevent, like
and
touching lament,
and
find the fewest
all
head
hollow, is it
place : Works
like
out.
look
a
sounds
another
Gellert's fine
old
of
if
mirror:
When
one
collision, and
book ?
And in
the mind, and
to them:
strange
can never
see
praise
be.
the
with
the triv
—
Nie kennen
sie den Werth der Dinge,
Ihr Auge schliesst, hicht ihr Verstand;
Sie loben ewig das Geringe
Weil sie das Gute nie gekannt.
To the intellectual
fails to
must
recognize
be
incapacity
and
which,
appreciate
the
as
good
Goethe says,
which
exists,
something which comes into play every
where, the moral baseness of mankind, here taking the
form of envy.
The new fame that a man wins raises
him
added
afresh over
•degraded
tained
at
in
the heads
proportion.
the
cost
of
of
All
those
his
fellows,
conspicuous
who
possess
who are
merit
none;
thus
is
or
ob
as
FAME
has it in
'Goethe
is
praise
one's own
Wenn
We
excellence
the
number, is leagued against it in a
if possible, to suppress it. The
greatest
conspiracy to resist,
who
certain
ance
have
done
something themselves,
do not care about the
reputation, because its
into the shade.
Hence,
that if
we
had to
others,
we
would
to
nore
very
depend for
never
existence :
Hatte ich
man mir's
Ich
ware
noch
Honor,
to
of
from their de
people
gladly
ig
Erden,
konnt,
wie
um etwas zu
is
the favor
upon
all ;
sie
sich
geberden,
scheinen,
gerne mochten verneinen.
the contrary, generally meets
on
and
apt
declares
werden,
nicht auf
Wenn ihr seht,
ciation,
Goethe
Leben gegonnt,
Wie ihr begreifen
Mich
at
is
success
enjoy
appear
—
gezaudert zu
Bis
Die,
life
our
have lived
important themselves,
appear
our
more;
and
of a new
theirs
Nay
me"rite.
fame,
amount of
throw
sire
and
league is A bas le
this
password of
those
a
geben
selbst entadeln.
then, how it is that whatever be the form
takes, mediocrity, the common lot of
see,
far
by
wir uns
another's
—
Andern Ehre
wir
Divan,"
Westostlicher
depreciation:
Miissen
which
«
the
91
to the
not exposed
fair
with
onslaught of
appre
envy; nay,
every man is credited with the possession of it until the
But fame has to be won in despite of
contrary is proved.
which
awards the
tribunal
laurel is com
envy, and the
judges
of
posed
very first.
biased
Honor is
fame
something
everyone ; fame
number
is
so
come
by
any
of
much
learned
unattainable
Further,
work
people who
in
proportion
difficulty
to read
it;
It is hardest
all
in
the
result at which
case
they
of
aim
and
of
as more
winning
ratio
and
to the
hence it
author of a
only to
amuse.
philosophical
works,
than as a writer who aspires
of
able
encroachment
in inverse
likely
from the
are
suffers
the
stands
are
we
harder to become famous as the
work
because the
by it.
given
applicant
which
ready to share with
and is rendered more
people
the
against
is
rather
vague, and,
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
92
the
at
time,
same
a material point of view.
chiefly to readers
lines themselves.
They
same
It is clear, then, from
winning fame,
culty
love for their subject,
are
who
I have
what
that those
of
but
from
useless
appeal
to the diffi
said as
who
the
on
working
labor,
not
out of
in pursuing it,
the stimulus of ambition, rarely or never leave
legacy of immortal works. The man who seeks
under
mankind a
from
nor
pleasure
what is good and genuine, must avoid what is bad,
be ready to defy the opinions of the mob, nay, even
Hence the truth of
despise it and its misleaders.
to do
and
to
the
those
that fame
")
taste
their
of
defiance
for the
who
adapt
one
and
contemporaries,
it,
seek
(<de
and seeks
themselves to
the
others
the
work
in
it.
of
difficult though it be to
But
Osorius
by
upon
those
shuns
it;
shun
who
insisted
(especially
remark
Gloria
it
to
tsy thing
keep
is in direct opposition to
when
once
honor,
.ame
fame, it is
acquire
Here,
acquired.
with
an
again,
which
every
is presumably to be accredited.
Honor has not to
be won; it must only not be lost.
But there lies the
difficulty! For by a single unworthy action, it is gone
one
irretrievably.
But
fame, in the proper sense of the word,
disappear; for the action or work by which it
can never
be
; and fame attaches to
does nothing to deserve it
anew.
The fame which vanishes, or is outlived, proves
itself thereby to have been spurious, in other
words,
was acquired can never
its
author
unmerited,
man's
Hegel
due to
and
work;
to
not
UATES
A
THE
AS WILL
GROTESQUE
THE
OF
BIRDS
THIS
FIND
IT
THERE
by
AGO
DECAYED
INVITE
comparison
OF
OF
FLOWN;
EMPTY
THE
!
WILL
OF
NOT
HEADS;
WHEN
A
IT
SUCH
AT
NEST
WITH
THE
DOOR
CONVENTIONALITIES
EVEN
A
A
LIGHTS UPON
FINE
KNOCK
as
under-grad-
admiring
WORDS,
IT
STRUCTURE
AND
TRACE OF THOUGHT
PASSER-BY.
The truth is that fame
is in
ECHO
of
POSTERITY SMILE
ARCHITECTURE
LONG
describes
Lichtenberg
clique
RESOUNDING
MAKE
momentary over-estimate of a
of the
kind of fame which
which
a
UTTERLY EMPTY
TO
a
speak
and
enjoyed,
trumpeted forth
FAME
undone
though he
even
with
means
others.
nothing but what a man
It is essentially relative
FAME
in character, and
it
the
vanishes
famous
therefore only
moment
is.
man
here,
is
a man
fame
mere
it,
of
to happiness.
is
famous,
what
is
which
Not
any
directly
fame,
a man
be
and all
the
what
predicated
only
circumstances,
—
It is the
in himself.
and
for
valuable;
become
can
value
heart
possession of a great
indirectly
people
other
Absolute
of what a man possesses under
what
93
head, and not the
having, and conducive
or a great
worth
but that
deserves to be
which
hold in
should
This
esteem.
is,
it were, the true underlying substance, and fame is
only an accident, affecting its subject chiefly as a kind
as
external
of
the
without
It
if its
genius
own
depend
be
would
Every
world.
what
than
more
anyone
in this respect, he
idea
Besides,
indirectly.
wretched
a
cannot
place
other
to be the home
what
Universal
glers,
a
dancers,
temple
esteem
in
is
—
ment.
the
on
exists
which
given
more
from the
sincere
of
of a man's
great
not
mind,
true happiness
a real
one.
the Temple
and
Jews!
more
excellences
even
to
affecting him but
people's
heads are a
recognition,
several
his
of
exposed
end
millionaires
to the
form
not
much
worth
of
majority only
a
of
It is
a
genuine
such
high order,
a verbal
of
jug
ministers, charlatans,
generals,
singers,
than to superiority
obtains
or a
in
if he is
derivative,
company inhabits
mixed
Fame!
so
be
people
fanciful happiness perhaps, but
And
hero
is,
and
else;
other
which
is something secondary,
the chances of fate, and in the
very
other peo
a
that
lives
man
existence
—
fame,
of
and, therefore, mainly in and for him
he is and the whole manner of his being
The
otherwise.
all
should make
what
life
the
in
IT.
which
upon
a
one
Some
it,
puts
nicely
not
have the
can
DESERVE
existence
consisted
worth
himself
much
worth
value
itself
of
account,
and
self;
of
such
the
of
applause
concern
miserable
a
or want
think; but
ple
his
be
would
value
OTHERS
AND
FAME,
you
Lessing
as
or,
other;
OBTAIN
PEOPLE
sure
own
meets
But fame is
abroad.
merit; because
of
symptom
it
unless
talent is
and
his
confirm
visible
not
when
certain
to
serves
Light is
something to reflect it;
its fame is noised
with
only
its
which
symptom,
himself.
opinion of
folk,
which
acknowledg
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
94
From the
happiness, fame is,
human
point of view of
surely, nothing but a very rare
the appetite that feeds on pride
for
and
delicate
morsel
and
vanity
an appetite
which, however carefully concealed,
—
to an immod
exists
degree in every man, and is, perhaps, strongest
in those who set their hearts on becoming famous
erate
of
all
at
Such people generally have to wait some time
any cost.
in uncertainty as to their own value, before the opportu
which
comes
nity
it to the
proof
of; but
made
are
let
and
feel
if they were suffering secret injustice.*
as I explained at the beginning of this
But,
is
unreasonable value
an
and
one
has
some
he is
of
with
any
others,
think
the
strong
right.
remarks
well
great
worth
kind,
of
come
the
ourselves.
So
value
which
Hobbes
is
can
always
doubt
no
and
ec
comparing ourselves
conclusion
we
that
we
may
understand
easily
to
attached
if there is the
sacrifices
any
on
when,
to
we
and
Mental pleasure, he writes,
arise
opinionr
real worth.
this subject;
on
chapter,.
other people's
disproportionate to its
quite
quite
stasy
upon
set
other
then, they
until
see
as
what
put
will
they
people
fame,
hope
slightest
as
of
at
taining it.
Fame is the
(That last
To
And
scorn
spur
that the
infirmity
delights
clear spirit
of noble
and
doth
live laborious days.
again:
How hard it is to
The heights
We
thus
can
ple
in the
the
most
tions
Fame's
where
understand
world
are
great
something
echo or reflection
—
*Our
press
matter
other
even
if
they
sentiments.
how,
people
manages
leave him
as
a
secondary in
it were, a
as
greatest pleasure
their
talking
consists
in
Hence he
alone.
its
be
vainest peo
to
no
or
ac
doubt that
character,
shadow
with
great
a
mere
symptom
—
what excites admiration must
have every
sincerely
can
afar!
la gloire,
about
stimulus
But there
merit; and, in any case,
admire us,
climb
shines
how it is that the
always
works.
temple
proud
implicit faith in it
and
fame is
of
raise
mind)
being
reason
is
to
the
admired; but those
to do so,
happiest
admire
are
slow
man
himself
—
so
who*
to
who,
long
ex
no
as
FAME
tie of more value than the
is that
is
95
which
man
capacity from
and
proceed, whether they be
The best side of a man's nature
merits
important for him
flection
it,
of
others, is
a
it
ting
happiness,
the
that
degree.
truth
which
other.
It is
masses
of
He
should
that
not
a
incompetent
that he really is great,
hear
will
of
is thought
which
be
to
infatuated
often
of
element
him for the loss
the
of
by
great
but
people,
to envy his
in the fact that pos
should move us
lies,
him, but that
of
re
him
important
more
his happiness
and
position;
the
in the heads
exists
console
man
be
necessity
else:
only in a very
deserves fame without get
who
and
of
anyone
his
which
intellectual.
or
must
affect
far the
by
possesses
which
can
moral
for
than
opinion
matter
subordinate
terity
The
made
the disposition
by
correctly,
more
itself.
admiration
happy, not by fame, but by that
brings him fame, by his merits, or to speak more
a
not
he
is
the
creator
of
thoughts worthy to be treasured up and studied for hun
dreds
of years.
if
Besides,
is
be
'him to
false,
is,
himself
read
the wise
of
what
was
recipient
and
sentence
like
a
man
of
out
of
conceit
when, in spite
will
feel giddy
come
he
never
spurious
discovery
the
—
as
possessor
may
self-love,
he
which
its
put
time
the
born
threatened
will
If
ad
be nothing in
happens in the case of
fame; for its
unmerited,
often
must
illusions
upon
himself.
would
lives
actually possessing the solid substratum
fame is the outward and visible sign.
False
himself; for
heights
upon
aim, there
without
which
fame
chief
This is just
admire.
it
upon
his
were
that
has done this, he possesses something
from him; and, unlike fame, it
wrested
dependent entirely
a possession
miration
of
a man
cannot
which
meant
coin;
and
to
in
well-merited
the
the
the
on
or
climb,
with
of
look
anguish
of
degradation,
he
posterity on the foreheads of
his property to a forged
who owes
will.
The truest
never
heard
happy
man.
those
great
fame, the fame that comes
of by its
recipient; and yet
His happiness
qualities
opportunity that
which
lay
him
him
of
death, is
he is
both in the
won
was granted
after
called
possession
fame,
and
developing
in
a
of
the
them
—
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
96
the leisure he had to
to his favorite
self
the heart that
Greatness
happy
man
a
the laurel.
gains
intellect,
—
of
or wealth
soul,
such
is
intellect,
makes
what
stamped
when
as,
the admiration of
receive
will
productions,
pursuits.
ever
of
he pleased, to dedicate him
It is only work done from
as
act
on
centuries
its
to
thoughts which made him happy at the time, and
come,
will in their turn be a source of study and delight to the
The value
noblest minds of the most remote posterity.
—
fame lies in
of posthumous
own
Whether
reward.
in the lifetime
power
spread, it
on
faith
Would
which
as
applauding?
bribes to
where
no
fame
is
wide
hundred take it
of a
is famed far
chance
of
feel flattered
their
and
a
And
what
two
or
loudest
the
has
day
by
the
were
infirmity, they
soon as ever
one
secure
It is easy to
tremely
they
in his
wide
would
touched
loud
set
all
to
or
in
applause
nearly
saw one
deaf,
work
two
to
per
he say if he got to
had often taken
persons
for
applause
a
dead,
who
very
few
ejected on their
to erect
why contemporary
of
that the sanctuary
great
by
see
posthumous
fine description
remarks
and
it
no
the
poorest
!
develops into
the
and
if he knew that they
know that those
player
the
conceal
clap vigorously
sons
average
attain
affair, of
man
has
is absolutely incapable of
People are
a great work.
ninety-nine out
a man
a musician
to
chance
will, if he is wise, not set too much
because it is no more than the echo of a
audience
that,
and
a
he
it,
few voices,
his favor.
of an
If
alone.
upon
value
that
means
lifetime,
own
the
difficulty of
by authority;
swayed
is
and
the
appreciating
always
For
his own,
of
this is its
and
destined to fame
author
importance.
great
very
critical
their
of
deserving it;
works
during
living
death.
a monument
praise
so
seldom
fame.
D'Alembert, in an ex
the temple of literary fame,
of the temple is inhabited
by
their life had
no place
there,
persons, who are nearly all
Let me remark, in passing, that
to a man in his lifetime is
as much
posterity is not to be trusted in its
judgment of him.
If a man does happen to see his own
true fame, it can very rarely be before he is
old, though
as
declaring
that
FAME
there have been artists
by
confirmed
works; for
jects have
of
this is
is
a
too
are
such
be
But
for
in its
itself,
good
and
leaves
rest
like
opportunely,
a
force
with
of one's
what
it
to
has.
away in old
autumn, fame buds
in
that is
that
at
than the
in
green
must
grow
Yule.
works
winter.
the
all
There is
feeling
into
youth
enough and
with
life fall
of
enjoyed
age
Life
must
of
having
which
no
put
still
re
young.
Finally, let
fame
in
consolation
whole
main
plant
fruit
as
youth
and
economy
Youth has
tree
a
it were, the
is,
summer before it can be
the
sub
time.
same
strictest
content
joys
and
from
fame
as
the
one and
things.
must
the delights
the
Fame
greater
their
their
after
only
arrangement;
mortal at
business that the
a poor
when
age,
forth
proper
very
much
in
as
by
celebrated
people
taken
are
attained
exercised
spare
them
of
ex
This is
philosophers.
celebrity, generally depicting them as
gray ; more especially if philosophy has been the
their lives.
From a eudasmonistic standpoint,
and
work
the portraits of
most
have been
who
musicians
to this rule, but very few
ceptions
old
and
97
us examine a
which attach
fame
to
more closely the kinds of
intellectual pursuits ; for it is
little
various
this sort that my
of
remarks are more
immedi
concerned.
ately
I think
it may be
superiority it denotes
broadly that the intellectual
in forming theories, that is,
said
consists
These facts may be of
certain facts.
but the better they are known, and
kinds
different
;
very
the more they come within everyday experience, the
and wider will be the fame which is to be won
greater
new combinations of
about
by theorizing
in
question
as
science,
such
corrupt
passages
inscriptions,
bet
or
may be
a
obscure
their
and
by
special
zoology,
ancient
special
botany,
authors,
or
correctly manipulating
beyond those
number
are
or
the
of
persons,
envious
branch
of
of
most
of
who
knowledge.
of
or
anatomy,
undecipherable
such
alpha
which
facts
will
study of them
whom live retired
who make
others
facts
branches
it may be, in some unknown
points in history ; the kind of fame
obtained
small
in
lines
written,
not extend much
lives
physics,
or
instance, if
For
them.
numbers
are
a
become famous
in
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
98
But if the facts be
mind or the human
the
or
in
as
before
operation
laws,
which
are
agencies
which
human
the
of
by
shared
are
all
of
spreading the light of a new and manifestly true
in regard to them, is such as in time will extend
over
all
the
can
everyone
But the
intelligible.
the
grasp,
theory
extent of
the difficulties overcome;
be both
new and
have been
will
or no
of
by
theory
almost
such
as
be generally
depend upon
will
the fame will
will
be to form
true ; because
occupied with
possibility
also
of
the more generally known
and
the facts are, the harder it
shall
for if the facts be
world:
civilized
alike,
constantly
eyes, or the general course
fame which is to be won
our
the kind
known to everyone, for
are
characteristics
heart,
physical
great
natural
such
fundamental
example, the
them,
a
that
theory
many heads
there will be little
a
great
and
saying anything that has
been
not
said
before.
On the
other
labor,
and
theories;
are
hand,
nearly
so
facts
be
and can
everybody,
always
that, if
are
only
—
on
such paths
possess a
study
this
labor,
be
also
of
and
the facts in
sort
requires,
if only to get
no
at
a man
new
true.
judgment
do
not
may easily
theory in
But fame
beyond those
not extend much
knowledge
problems of
and
which shall
does
difficulty
qualities which
—
to them
to
accessible
much
understanding
them
upon
involve very high intellectual power
be so fortunate as to light upon some
gard
not
after
admit of new combinations and
sound
brought to bear
which
got at
To
question.
re
won
who
solve
doubt, a great deal of
facts'; while on the
the
the greatest and most widespread fame is to
be won, the facts may be grasped without
any labor at
all.
But just in proportion as less labor is
necessary,
more talent
or genius is
required; and between such
path where
qualities and the
possible, in
drudgery
respect
the estimation in which
And
so
people
of research no
either of
who
they
feel that they
possess
lectual capacity and a sound judgment,
claim the highest mental
powers, should
laborious study; for by its
comparison
their intrinsic value,
are held.
aid
they may
and
not
work
solid
yet
be
or
is
of
intel
cannot
afraid of
themselves
FAME
the great mob
above
constantly before
spots
which
sphere
of
nay, the
his
merit of
an
is
a
and a man
opportunity
true ;
new and
the
partly
But applause from
rest upon
the
who are
the subject,
of
will
facts.
the
at
rivals,
be both
shall
discovery
difficulty of coming
one's
fellow-students,
knowledge
that
secluded
For this
find
soon
capacity may
theory
a
fewer
facts
the
those
reach
to learned toil.
infinitely
are
have
who
and
eyes,
accessible
there
proclaiming
humanity
of
their
moderate
only
of
are
where
99
sounds
only persons with a
very faint to the far-off
multitude.
And if we follow up this sort of fame far
enough, we shall at last come to a point where facts
very difficult to get at are in themselves sufficient to
lay
a
foundation
a
theory;
fame,
of
any necessity for forming
for instance, in remote and little-
travels,
—
without
known countries,
which
has seen,
what
vantage
not
this kind
of
has seen, is
and
people
ideas,
by
much
are
make
he
fame is that to
of
easier
apt
to
famous
a man
has thought.
relate
than to impart
understand
by
The
he
what
great
ad
what
one
thoughts,
one's
descriptions better than
reading the one more readily than the other;
for,
as
Asmus says,
When
one
He has
for
And yet,
Horace
—
Coelum
But if
faculties,
of
the
will
do
without
various
ever
to
not
always
mutant qui
as alone
of
a whole
well
personal
reminds
finds himself in
such
hardest
as
do
animum
a man
tal
nature
non
a
often
scenes
new
forth a-voyaging
goes
tale to tell.
that,
all
travelers
celebrated
a
all
and
extend
straying
bypaths,
or
trans
view
far
invading
—
new
of
the
regions
ideas
—
great men
the solution
which
widest
equally in
amid
with
from
mare currunt.
those
in its
line
a
mean
possession
humanity
too
of
should venture on
problems
his
acquaintance
us
concern
range, he
directions,
all
intricacies
little
of
known; in
words, without occupying himself with special
branches of knowledge, to say nothing of their petty
other
details.
There is
jects difficult
of
no
necessity for him
access,
in
order
to
to
seek
escape
a
out
sub
crowd of
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
ioo
rivals
; the
for
new
ice
he
renders
they form
of which
tween
common objects
theories
at once
will
be
of
life
serious
will give
appreciated
a great part of mankind
he treats.
students
of
true;
and
What
a vast
—
by
him
and
all
who
material
the
those
serv
—
and
know the facts
distinction there is be
anatomy, miner
alogy, zoology, philology, history, and the men who deal
with the great facts of human life, the poet,
and the
philosopher
!
physics,
chemistry,
SKETCH OF A HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF
THE IDEAL AND REAL.
Descartes is
losophy,
inasmuch
teaching
he
as
a
as well
special,
the
placed
to
men
deemed the father
rightly
this in
and
their
use
reason
own
of
a
as
its
on
sense,
feet by
own
in
brains,
modern phi
general
the
place
the Bible had previously served on the one
But in a more special
Aristotle on the other.
and
the
bring
to
he
sense
narrower
this
was
upon
problem
turned to consciousness
Real
—
i. e., the
and
objective,
be
might
brain
it
as
to
they
must
by
to
us
things,
other
Images do
spring from
our
us
—
they
nor
in
do they pro
hence
—
are
Now
given.
do they have to things existing completely
from, and independent of us, and which are in
separate
way the
tainty
all
at
cause
that
these images ?
of
such
things
exist
?
Have
or even
we
any cer
if this be so,
that the images afford us any clue to their nature ?
is the problem,
separate
by
correctly-drawn
of
to the
it,
neither
schoolmen
ness
Real,
thus
of
hundred
cleavage
years
—
the
to
solely to our knowledge
i. e., that which exists independ
determine
the
relation of each
other.
Certainly
the
and
past
line
This
main endeavor
belongs
which
such, from the
ently
the
consequence
has been for the two
a
Ideal, i. e., that
as
in
and
of philosophers
to
we
our
But these images
an external cause.
known to
what
thoughts
own
what
words,
and
not arise
arbitrarily from within,
of
knowledge is
our
other
relation
what
some
in
is subjective; in
connection
immediately
are
problem
to what
as
and a
the first
was
philosophy has mainly
of the Ideal and
which
the
ourselves.
were
from the
ceed
question
what
ascribed
ascribe
must
—
he
since
also;
of
hand,
which
of
the philosophers of antiquity, nor
seem
to have
arrived
at
yet
a clear conscious
this fundamental problem of philosophy, although
we
find
a
of
the
Ideality
trace of
it,
of
Idealism, and even as the doctrine
time, in Plotinus, in Enneas III.,
as
(IOI)
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
102
Lib.
VII.,
by
quam
anima)
ypdvov
yeyovlvai, JT£
Tzdvrt
(Pfaec
vita
anima
tempus
cum
hoc
problem
immediately
is
world
With his
stellung.)
he sought to
jective
nature
truth
that
of
the
tt
The
that his
mine,
They
the
are
K
treated
the
(
as
The
in two
two
to
law
by
which
of
the
great
of
is,
the
Both
sides.
other, standing in much
inertia and that of
in the
me
preface
problems
prize
has been
feeling
started.
of
ground
of
I
two
essays
of
its
often
<(
by Dr.
p.
mere
sub
problem
object.
thing from
of each
academical
proposition
the
sum,
the
The only difference
Frankfurt-am-Main, 1841,
Liepzig, i860, p. xxiv.) Certainly, since
Descartes's
owing
to the
Vor-
(
to declare the
Schopenhauer.
edition,
that
ergo
of
are
we
and
cogito,
certainty
"
same
the
expounded
as
Ethics. "
dubito,
mediateness
"
that
the immediateness
accentuates
reverses
relation
same
causality,
w
the
truth
that from
presentment.
the
philosophy
in Des
unconditionally given, is
celebrated
considered, his
Strictly
express
the
awakened
presentment
and
quia
Never
and
equivalent of
proposition
subject;
as
sole
dictum
became
modern
rat
ra>8e
esse:
consciousness,
everything else,
is my
propositions
own
chap
kylvvrjaev.
progenuit.)
contradistinction
only real,
is the
world
in
Spa
Ttdvro<s
factum
the
with
even
following
too
had been
the
appellatur.)
statement
recognized,
of
rbv
autem
quemadmodum
quamobrem
universo
locus,
Xapftdveiv
ens
etpyrat
ko.)
rouSe
well-known
self-consciousness.
proposition
Std
merely
accentuate
consciousness
atical
distinct
gignit:
our
us
given
a
universo
reflection
limited to
He
ndvros
too
(Oportet
ovto?.
quod
subject
impressed
who was
cartes,
made
universi
</>o%ys
id,
clearly
characteristic
the necessary
too
perd
tempus una
specially
after
abrdv
hoc
this
£?a>
yevvd'
%p6vov
nostra
r^s
And in the
cum
theless,
the
time.
simul
tempus
hujus
have
of
tyoyfj
alius
tempus accipere,
we
rdv
robroo
2£w&ev
extra
seen
ideality
6 /9('o?
ooros
est,
be
will
Kant's
ter
ibi
aeternitatem
Here it
eyei
alaiva
abrob
ns
yap
ob%
animam
extra
nequaquam
neque
Ss
deT
rdv
obd)
mansp
oh
datur
{Neque
also
has
soul
from eternity into time.
transition
instance,
<po%y.
rojro?, i)
of
its
says, for
there
he teaches that the
where
ex.,
the world
enough
importance,
to
my
Ethics,
"
Arthur
xxiv;
2d
his time,
repeated,
and
with-
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
a
out
clear
then,
was,
insight he
tion
the
deceive
the problem
solve
—
he
—
Med.
by
how
showed
Meantime,
by him,
to
continue
The
disturbingly
work
and
this
scruple
could
its
final
would
difficult to
and
till
ex
solu
had been
fail to
not
settlement.
that without thorough knowledge
consciousness
distinction
the
of
understanding
This
to the
God
good
deep
introduced into philosophy
as
his inadequate
that the
to wit,
Real.
or
doubt
a
of
He it
14.)
lies between
p.
the Objective
and
was.
ii.
which
chasm
world; but
outer
us
special sense and purport.
in the form
this doubt
of
not
Ideal,
or
clothed
of
its
"Meditationes,"
discovered the
who
the Subjective
istence
of
understanding
(See Descartes's
103
had
which
and
dis
been
covered, no certain and sufficient system would be pos
sible, has been from that time ever present, and the
question
In
of
could
to
order
occasional
longer be
no
solve
shirked.
invented his
Malebranche
it,
He
causes.
the
grasped
system
in
problem
its
range
more
clearly, seriously,
deeply
Ve'riteV'
Livrc III. seconde
Descartes ("Recherche de la
whole
The latter had
par tie).
on
world
that
the
credit
the
while
world,
existence
worthiness
turned
of
of
the
God
branche teaches
God.
Livrc
in
things
VI.,
all
to
of
farther, Male
step
an
trust
and
demonstration
immediately in
by a still
unknown
according to
him,
sole
we not
only
activity therein,
they
only apparently such
"
<(
( Rech. d. 1. Ver. ,
—
occasionnelles.
causes
scconde
partic,
ch.
iii.)
We have
essentials, the Pantheism of
have learned
a
things
explain
are
causes
sought
existence
existence
cosmological
all
outer
enough
determines the
contrary,
the
going
see
curious
philosophers
in God, but God is the
physical
mere
are
here,
we
Moreover,
unknown.
all
that
so
that
the
it is the
was
God from the
from
This is certainly to
more
see
—
Even
round.
of
on
world
it
and
theistic
existence
Descartes,
the reality of the
accepted
God;
of
other
demonstrate the
the
than
and
more
from
here, therefore,
Spinoza, who seems to
Malebranche than he did from
Descartes.
Altogether,
gain
a
teenth
one
complete
century,
might
victory
seeing
wonder
over
that Pantheism
Theism
that the most
even
in the
did
not
seven
original, the
most
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
104
beautiful,
and
sentations
of
and
remained
covered
This
them
of
the
bear
will
Vedas)
all
saw
death,
seems
to
in 1681, four years, that is, after
saw the light in print.
and
for the first time
that the insight
prove
of
individuals
its effect, so long as the spirit
for its acceptance, for in our days
produce
not
is
Oxford,
at
Spinoza's
none
assuredly
the Upanishads of
pre
in that age, to wit, Bruno, Malebranche, Spi
Scotus Erigena, the last of whom, after he had
for many centuries lost and forgotten, was re
light
noza,
thorough-going European
most
(for
it
with
comparison
the
the
unripe
although
only
thought
the
confused
dominant
the
can
the time
Pantheism,
and
eclectic
become
has
Schelling,
of
in
presented
of
mode
and even with persons of
ordinary
scholars,
This is because Kant had preceded, and with his
culture.
overthrow of theistic dogmatism, had prepared the ground,
of
in
with
which
consequence of
for
it,
seventeenth
for
Locke,
at
and
way,
and
spirit
the
arrived
whom
the time was ready
of
Bacon
In the
seed.
hand, philosophy for
other
accordingly on the one side,
Hobbes had prepared the
and
the other at Christian
on
These two
nitz.
on
century,
this path,
sook
the
field is ready for the
a plowed
as
Wolff,
through Lieb-
dominant therefore in the
were
eight
century, especially in Germany, although latterly
in
so far as they had been absorbed by syncretistic
only
eenth
eclecticism.
The
profound
mediate
bilita,
of
which
in his time,
world.
notion
of
the
once
to
me
decided
monads
points,
upon
Ideal
and
Real,
cannot
of
might
to
the
that
of
the
such
to
are
and
spare
the
clear
at
once
yet
it
assumption
us all
connection
question
in
a
souls,
an
fact
success
to have
which
atoms,
the
of
easiest
pretend
serve
settle
consideration
confirmation
Leibnitz,
corporate
explanation
and
a
high
and
makes
unquestionable
hypothesis for the
that both
fame
the im
gave
harmonia praesta-
system of
affords
absurd which
Although I
mathematical
seems
extended
Malebranche
of
to Leibnitz's
the widely
that it is the
the
conception
occasion
further
between
in the
sense
already fully identified in the monads (for
which reason, in our days, Schelling, as originator of the
system of identity, has displayed a particular relish for
are
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
it).
it did
Nevertheless,
not
please
the
105
eminent
philos
to use
ophizing mathematician, polyhistor,
it for the purpose ; but he saw fit to specially formulate a
pre-established harmony to this end.
The latter furnishes
politician
and
us
totally distinct
two
with
incapable
each
worlds,
of
"
"
acting in any way on the other ( Principia Philos, § 84,
"
"
and
Examen du Sentiment du P. Malebranche,
p. 500,
sq.
"
the
of
CEuvres
Leibnitz,"
de
each
the entirely superfluous
both
of
for
once
which,
there,
all
P.
published
duplicate
of
run
Kaspe),
but
the other,
parallel,
exactly
keep time with each other to a hair; the originator
having from the first established the exactest
harmony between them, so that they proceed thence
and
of
both
forward in the
by
beautiful
most
We may observe,
manner.
the way, that the harmonia praestabilita may
be best
made
where
stage,
comprehensible
very
by
simply
means
of
a
comparison
influxus
cause
since
apparently present,
by
the
often
a
and
perhaps
is
physicus
effect
are
only
connected
harmony
pre-established
the
with
the
of
manager; as, for instance, when the one shoots and
Leibnitz has presented the mat
the other falls a tempo.
stage
absurdity in the crassest manner,
"Theodicy."
And yet with
brief, §§ 62, 63 of his
whole
dogma he does not even have the merit of
ter in
and
the
its
monstrous
in
the harmonia praestabilita in the
sented
"Ethics,"
with
i. e., in the 6th
their corollaries,
he had in the
5th
manner
the
so
that
see
all
we
Malebranche
whole
each
Spinoza had already clearly
since
originality,
line
in his
of
and
again
cognate
very
pre
his
propositions, together
7th
proposition of
in P. V.,
P.
II.,
prop.
stated
doctrine
of
after
1,
in his
own
Malebranche,
in God.
is, therefore,
thought
own
and
enough
second part of
which
way, has
the
alone
Spinoza
as
originator of
well
this
Leibnitz,
Leibnitz,
as
utilized and modified.
might very well have dispensed with it altogether,
he has already forsaken the simple fact which con
stitutes the
problem, i. e., that the world is given us
indeed,
since
immediately
for it the
as
world, between
time
our
dogma
presentment, in
of
which
interweaving
the
a
corporeal
no
order
world
bridge is possible;
question
of
the
to
and
substitute
a
at
spiritual
the
relation
same
of
our
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
106
to the things in themselves
presentment
possibility
then
the
of
both
solving
("Systeme
praestabilita.
nitz; "Opp.
iv.,
torn,
ii.
p.
p.
The
425.)
Bruck'er,
contemporaries, particularly by Bayle,
the consequences which flowed from it ( see
the
is
smaller
writings,
to
obliged
in
problem
Nevertheless,
to
assumption
a
which
hand,
of it,
been
at
again starts
first in his
dualism
and
the
the
one
er
on
his
side
ble ;
so
that
both
are
means
the
extensionis et
P.
II.,
to say
said
about
it.
He
our presentment of
the
The
an
insufficient transition to
by
means
and
idea illius
modi una
7, schol.); by which
bodies and these bodies
ever, is
mind
as
prop.
are
any
much
on
oth
extended, or soul
therefore inadmissi
to be
themselves
between
as
the
and
and
one
ought
one
since
("Eth."
one
were
he is untiring in repeating
To this he adds, as it were by a
it,
one.
that
thinking
more
that Modus
eademque est res
he
of
retains
mere sic etiam
a sub
from different sides;
This is
cogitans.
that nothing
nevertheless
the
even retains
a substantia extensa on
unfounded
an
of,
has
Descartes, hence,
assumes
viewed
as
conceived
is
body,
and
got rid
he found that both
feet,
own
that the distinction
by the
difficulty,
accordingly
extensa, the one as sub
knowledge.
But later, when
of
object
a substantia
as
and
substance
same
from
Cartesian he
of
the
such as
repudiation,
immediately
his
of
of
a substantia
and
as
other
stood
days.
his teacher
of
ject the
our
character
stantia cogitans
he
in
ventured upon
Spinoza
magnitude,
how little it can be
mere
1740,
driven
the
its
by
was
the
and
knot be cut,
the
the very absurdity
thinking head
proves
the perplexity
and
79,
his
Leibnitz himself
even
where
his
by
anno
the preposterous consequences
expose
doctrine).
own
page
on
observation
of
in Leib
also
by Huth,
translated
Ph.,"
showed
who
own
nitz's
in Leib
"Hist.
absurdity
light even
clearest
and
will,
his harmonia
Nature,"
de la
123;
the
the
of
monstrous
in
placed
was
assumption
means
nouveau
Edmann,"
ed.
by
together
that of the
with
body by
the
of
motion
same.
this,
sic
etiam, how
it does not
since
follow from the fact that the distinction
and
body
or
between the
presenting
and
is unfounded, that the distinction between
the
presented
our
presentment
and
an
objective
and
real, existing
out-
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
the
side
by
the
the
—
—
is
main
also
is,
problem, that
that
The
unfounded.
was started
and
presenting
may be perfectly well homogeneous, and
the question remains how I am with certainty
presented
yet
to
same
Descartes
107
still
infer from
ence
presentments
beings in themselves
of
former.
The
difficulty
"Theodic,"
(e. g.,
is
Part I.
§
to wit, that between the
world
for
no
sort
which
of
is merely
requires
only
by Spinoza;
kominem
continuously
while
of
rational
as
a
the
God,
is,
over
we,
is
who
the corporeal
governs
of
consisting
psychology
as is done
arguntentum ad
doctrine,
that
the
ideal
an
in
presentments
this,
above
and
—
for this
The abiding diffi
world, which is
bodies.
that
of sub
place
spirit, has created
world implies that
a
immediately, is simply
us
that
fiction,
this
of
maintainers
act
given
world,
a consequence
immediately on
rather the Cartesian,
spirit can
only
corporeal
take
to be discarded
dogma that
own
culty is
the
influence;
besides this, there is the
and
against
the
it mainly turn,
could
physical
exist
of
Leibnitz
which
souls and
action
he denied
reason
and
and
on
would make
59)
assumed
reciprocal
difficulty
their
that
not
between two wholly heterogeneous kinds
as
stances
in my head as to the
that are independent
brain;
to judge
undertake
a
world,
our
of
a
Spinoza
existing independently of our presentment.
then, in so far as he abolishes the distinction
between
substantia
real
world
the
solved
fluence
but,
at
But
for the law
difficulty
has
substantia extensa
rendered
most,
admissible.
again
the
solve
cogitans and
problem
is
this
of
physical
insufficient
not
in
to
is demon
causality
But even if it sprang
stratively of subjective origin.
from external experience it would still merely apper
ideally
the
to
tain
in
Hence,
no
the
case
given
can
another
one
vol.
ii.
explain
p.
12).
the
(
"
see
in the
ance with
als
the
adduced
extension
see
all
is
"
nearly to
order more
of
something
Malebranche and Leibnitz.
Malebranche, namely,
between
but it is
Vorstellung,
which
we
question.
phenomena with
und
postulates
view of
in
subjective,
Wille
identity
is
bridge
a
connects
And nevertheless, in
above
sentment, Spinoza
alike
which
Welt
that
furnish
and
objective
absolutely
rather, merely the band
world
it
and pre
contained
In
accord
things in God ;
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
108
ideae
rerum singularium
pro
causa
(" Eth."
cogitans
time the
same
ing
last
resort.
The
the
and
But
5
);
ideata,
Deum,
same
presented world :
( P.
II.
pr.
here the
that
presented
objectively
are
world
not
separated
est
similar
other
Leibnitz;
of
and
the
as with
the
world
existing
entirely
as
extended
idearum idem
and
7),
affix
him,
with
between the
This is the harmonia praestabilita
passages.
even with
nothing, in the
time there is
or do et connexio
rerum
also at
Spinoza
of
explains
exact parallelism
res
the
therein,
principle
Deus
est
quatenus
this God is
and
perceptas,
sive res
fact, however,
name
the
at
an
ac ordo et connexio
only
pr.
mere
the
world
Leibnitz,
with
II.,
real and active
Malebranche.
to the
P.
ipsum
sed
agnoscunt,
ipsa
non
last mentioned, merely corresponding to one another by
virtue of a harmonia regulated in advance and from out
We have here,
are really one and the same.
the
first
a
in
place,
therefore,
thorough-going Realism in
so far as the existence of the things exactly corresponds
side, but
they
to their
presentment
in us, both
being
accordingly the things in themselves
in
they
as
selves extensa
—
they
appear as cogitata
Schelling's
identity
of
the Real
on
and
mere
unclear
in
the
Ideal).
All this
The
assertion.
by
origin
the ambiguity
of
is,
expo
of
the
wholly improper sense;
itself
in
and
it
loses
comes in the end to
hence,
obscurity
nee impraesentiarum haec clarius possum explicare.
But
word
the
want
from
ing
la
which
of
used
in
clearness
a
the
exposition
arises
always
clearness in the understanding and think
of the philosopher.
Vauvenargues said very truly,
"
est la bonne foi des philosophes (see
R6vue des
a want of
out
clarte"
Mondes,"
deux
is the
ness,
filling
"pure
which
of
compelled
odi.
to
is
(here,
appear as extensa
properly speaking, based
sition is already rendered
Deus
cognize
in them
are
; in other words,
them, they
too, it may be remarked, by the way, is
our presentment of
we
one;
If,
1853,
section"
is the
which
to
say
15
Aout,
p.
635).
is in philosophy
conditio
sine qua
non
What in
music
complete
clear
without
everything loses its value,
and
quodcumque ostendis mihi sic
in the ordinary
affairs of practical
carefully avoid misunderstanding
much the less ought one to express
by
the ful
we
are
incredulus
life,
one
has
clearness, how
oneself
incompre-
DOCTRINE OF
in
hensibly
the
impenetrable
the doctrine of
in
thought,
of
and
109
wellnigh
the
constitute
which
The obscurity complained of in
is owing to his not proceeding
Spinoza,
a straightforward
difficult,
abstruse,
very
subjects
philosophy ?
of
problems
THE IDEAL AND REAL
from the
manner
nature
things
of
he finds them ; but from Cartesianism, and accordingly
from all sorts of traditional conceptions, such as Deus,
as
substantia, perfectio, etc. , which he was concerned to bring
in a roundabout way into harmony with truth.
He often
the best ideas only
expresses
ing
per
part
of
ambages
"
the
almost
and
Ethics. "
On
indirectly,
continually speak
allegorically, as in the second
the
hand, Spinoza
other
ex
presses an unmistakable transcendental idealism amount
ing to,
least,
at
a
clearly
general
Locke
by
expounded
to the real distinction between the
thing itself,
knowable
"Eth.,"
17,
finally
distinctly says
clearly,
the
they
18,
and
things,
the
the
they
can
we
in
are
subject
ii.,
p.
from the
of
relation
corollary;
25,
which
prop.
where
23,
it is
expresses
corollary to
neither know
prop.
ourselves
themselves, but only
of
prop.
P.
27,
it
29,
III.,
as
ex
the
doctrines
Spinoza to
of
may recall here what I have said
Presentment"
:
in the « World as Will and
those of Descartes
vol.
re'sume', the
that
first is
the matter the clearest, at least in the beginning.
Respecting
on
second
prop.
The demonstration
appear.
presses
as
as
as
the
and
the
only
19; prop.
prop.
to self-knowledge;
phenomenon
this may be consulted,
of
the
with
16,
schol. ;
truth
by Kant,
more
that
recognition
As instances
prop.
prop.
;
extended
nor
by
the
us.
P. II.
schol.
which
and
the
of
recognition
and still
639 (3d
I
ed.
p.
conceptions of
The fact
739).
of
his starting
the Cartesian philosophy,
only been the occasion of
standing in the exposition
has
not
obscurity and misunder
Spinoza, but he has thereby
much
of
been led into many flagrant paradoxes, obvious fallacies,
In this way
and contradictions.
and indeed absurdities
his doctrine, which contains so much that is true and
excellent
has
acquired
a
highly
undesirable
so that the
simply indigestible matter,
within himself between admiration and
the
aspect
considered
here,
that he has drawn his line
the
of
chief
is
vexation.
fault
cleavage
addition
reader
of
of
divided
But,
in
Spinoza is
between the Ideal
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
no
Real,
and
false
the Subjective
or
namely, is
presentment, but lies wholly
opposite of
We
Objective world, from a
in no wise the
and
Extension,
standpoint.
the latter.
within
things as extended, and, in so far as
perceive
they
But whether,
extended, they
of our presentment, anything is extended,
independently
exists at all is the question
whether anything
or
presentment.
our
are
are
indeed,
and
the
and
in
that
in
far,
words,
whole
pendently
later
by Kant,
accuracy, in the sense
or space lies entirely in the presentment;
that it depends on the latter, inasmuch as
is its
space
of
was solved
indisputable
with
extension
other
the
This
original problem.
so
of our
therefore, inde
and
no extended can
presentment,
certainly does
Spinoza's line of
and
exist,
exist.
not
most
form ;
mere
is accordingly drawn wholly
cleavage
; he has taken his stand on the presented
form of ex
world, regarding the latter, indicated by its
therefore
as
and
the
as
existing independ
tension,
Real,
He
i.
e. , in itself.
of
of
its
presentment,
possibility
ently
on the ideal
is
that
our
—
this
on
side
ground,
which
is
of
presentment
are
one
therefore,
and
the
assuredly the things
as
only
the
and
fully
admit.
in-themselves,
of
in
But
are
were
his
prove
spacial world
prop.
—
the
For
and are
res; this
then be
a
we
the
can
things-
knowledge
what he assumes, and in
Since, however, he does not
which
is
to wit,
a
i. e.,
as presentment
world
una eademque
realism.
—
schol.).
of
this,
involves
7,
extended
as
the extension, quality
things-in-themselves,
or
II.,
presented
is
space
presented
these bodies themselves
our perception would
which consists
ground
(P.
same
is
which
and
presentable
extended,
world
bodies
in saying, that
right
quite
that
extended and
that
our
spacial world
perception
independent
of
of a
this
perception, the fundamental problem remains unsolved;
This arises, however, from the fact, that the line of cleav
age
between the Real
Subjective,
and
the Objective
Ideal,
the Thing-in-itself
and
the
On the contrary
correctly drawn.
the cleavage, being in the middle of the
not
Phenomenal
side
the world as
presentment
tended
of
the world
—
—
splits
and
the
Phenomenon,
as
is
has been said,
that
Ideal, Subjective,
is, drawn through
the
latter into the
or spacial and our presentment of
the same,
ex
where-
DOCTRINE
OF THE
IDEAL AND
REAL
in
trouble is taken to show that both are only
indeed they are.
Just because Spinoza holds entirely by the Ideal side
upon
one
much
; as
inasmuch
the world,
of
the extended
the
belonging thereto,
is
perceivable
only
is the only
as, in consequence,
without
Real
and
us,
the
us,
he,
side, casts the only true Real, the Will, into
which he makes a mere modus cogitandi, even
within
so
another
Ideal,
identifying
the
"Eth."
we
and
Real
the
knowing {cogitans)
from
he thought to find the Real in
as
P.
it
with
II.,
the
Per
read:
facultatem;
and
As
to
props.
48
modum
cequales
this
et
affirmandi
Concipiamus
again:
trianguli
the
of
intelligo
voluntatem
nempe
volitionem,
angulos
judgment.
the
proofs
consult
49, where
et
negandi
singularem
aliquant
cogitandi, quo mens affrmat, trcs
duobus rectis, whereupon the
esse
corollary follows: Voluntas et intellectus unum et idem sunt.
Spinoza has, generally, the great fault of purposely
misusing words for the designation of conceptions which
throughout
Thus he
"
"
Justice
"
Will
is
what
other
and of
names,
is
what
everywhere
as
termed
everywhere
termed
this,
regards
Cossacks in Kotzebue's
the
of
"
justified
fully
bear
world
taking
meaning which they everywhere have.
God " what is everywhere termed " World " ;
the
calls
"
the
all
from these
in
"
"
"
Power,
Judgment.
"
"
and
We
are
Hetman
recalling the
Benjowskij."
Berkeley, although certainly later, and with the knowl
of Locke,
went logically farther in this problem
than the Cartesians, and was thereby the originator of
the proper and true Idealism, that is, of the knowledge,
that that in space which is extended and which fills it, in
edge
short, the
existence
existence
of
as
and
surd,
the
perceivable
even
knowing
world
our
generally,
can
presentment;
and
contradictory, to
outside
existing in
*
such, in
of all
subject,
presentment,
and
With laymen in philosophy, to
one ought never
know
what
thing
or
to
use
the
to
to it
a
further
independently
assume
a matter
it means, and carry on
* Idealism " at times
which
is
opposed
whom
many doctors of the same be
because they do not
word « Idealism,"
by
other
thereby
and
an
ab
itself.*
long,
understand
attribute
only have
that it is
to
with
it
all sorts of nonsense.
H Spiritualism," and at
Philistinism,
times
They
some
and are confirmed and
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
ii2
This
is, indeed,
true
a
to find the
He hit
else.
nothing
philosophy
Ideal and separated it completely;
where
Real,
but his
deep insight,
and
in
consists
but he did
the
know
not
he troubled himself
which
about
whole
upon
little, expressing himself respecting it only occasion
God's Will and Omnip
ally, piecemeal, and inadequately.
but
is
otence
the
of
him the immediate
with
perceivable
Real
existence
beings,
world,
only
as we
such
together
with
knowing
and
regarded as
God,
i.e.,
all
the
our
phenomena
presentments.
to
knowing and willing
hence
these constitute,
are;
accrues
ourselves
Real.
the
cause of
of
They
are
willing beings, for willing
inseparable.
He has this
spirits, that
is,
knowing
he
and
in
also
common
his predecessors, that he regards God as better
known than the present world, and deems a reduction to
His clerical, and, indeed, episcopal
him an explanation.
with
laid
position
come
but
true
This
of
works
fixed
step,
false
in
thought
his head
be
indeed, may
as
him,
could
to
years
religious
he
no
go
mutually
they
as
well
extended
to
the
philosophers, with the exception of
Jewish Theism, unamenable to any test,
research, and hence
planting itself in the
way
them all ; so that the evil
in
wars,
the
practical
inquisitions,
—
I
and
as
appearing really
of
truth
which
at
it
mean
in
the
conversions
a
every
produces
here in the theoretical sphere, may be taken as
ant to that |which it has produced throughout
sand
and
with which
these
The
vitiates
on
had to learn
all
idea,
chains
Hence he
conflict.
and
remark,
all
Spinoza.
dead to
into
themselves
accommodate
could.
heavy
a narrow circle of
could never
farther,
too
altogether
limited him to
a pend
thou
a
shape
of
of
nations
by the sword. The closest affinity between Malebranche,
Spinoza, and Berkeley is unmistakable. We see them all
proceeding from Descartes, in so far as they retain and
strengthened
ism
» and «
fixed
in this
Realism
view
philosophical meaning.
employ
the
ism
of
and
anything
Those who
letters.
The words
"
Ideal
everything, but have their
mean
something
else should
another word.
of " Idealism » and <{ Realism * concerns the Known,
Object, while that between Spiritualism and Materialism, concerns
knowing, the Subject. (Modern ignorant muddlers confound Ideal
The opposition
the
by ordinary men
» are not
and
Spiritualism).
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
to
seek
outer
and
subjective
Real
or
of
doubt
a
concerned
world;
separation
fundamental
the
solve
him in the form
or
they
as
connection
solely in
is
given
therefore, existing in itself.
this
is
problem
modern
from
he
these
himself
attaches
the
is
Ideal,
it,
of
the
and
presentment,
and,
have said, therefore,
we
on
the
which
in
whole
of
as
because
probably
Hobbes and Bacon,
that
influence
the
investigate
which
Locke distinguishes himself
philosophers
under
the
independent
As
axis
turns.
philosophy
stands
he
the
world
our
which
objective,
of
existence
to
are
the
of
the
by
presented
problem
to
as
113
of
as
closely
to
possible
ex
far
understanding, avoiding
hyperphysical
be
hypotheses.
The
real
is
for
may
him matter, and without turning his attention to the
the
and
perience
common
as
as
Leibnitzean
scruple
the
to
as
between
connection
the
impossibility
material, extended substance, he at
influence between matter and the
he
this
far
proceeds
to
as
might
Understanding,"
L.
IV.,
c.
for him later the
Voltaire,
and
in his
in the
ates
tact,
§
With
Worcester.
knowing
We have
or
and
whose
special
Locke
at the
a
with
such
other
things:
would
any
and
2 of
surprising
Ideal
in
is
the
which
to
to
is,
the
receive
undeniable.
great
gener
is, con
L, c. 8,
massive
its very exorbi
Berkeleyan Idealism,
by
be found
when
the
book
31st chapter of
absence
which
that
thoroughly
perhaps, to
the
matter one
case
Human
hand, the
the Bishop
L.
{Ibid.,
a
2nd
of
reflection, says, among
Figure, Motion and Rest,
"Solidity, Extension,
world as
they are,
being
other
so
thinking
the
of
"Impulse,"
be really in the
sensible
8
§
the
contradiction
origination
end of
one considers
false,
by
the
occasion
giving
praise
on
here, therefore,
Realism, calling forth
tance,
honesty
cunning Anglican priest,
him the Real, *'. e., Matter
subject
presentments,
11).
repeated
In
subject.
and
This it was,
6).
§
time,
own
a
malicious attacks of
3,
the
physical
possibly knowing and
"
also be matter (
On the
procured
of
knowing
casual
and
that
confess
itself
substance
a
once assumes
deliberation
rare
with
of
immaterial, thinking,
them
must
whether
or not.
"
For
recognize
there were
as soon as
the
above as
the Berkeleyan Idealism stands there
In
the
meantime
Locke
does
not
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
ii4
the
overlook
between the
chasm
in
presentments
and
us
independently of us, in short, the dis
Ideal and Real; in the end, however, he dis
the things existing
tinction
of
by arguments of sound but rough common
knowl
sense, and by appealing to the sufficiency of our
L. IV., c.
edge of things for practical purposes {Ibid.,
it
poses of
4
and
which
9),
and
question,
him to limit
in
shows
only
Empiricism
problem
Real,
obviously
to the
knowledge
of
to the Ideal
primary
the distinction between
becomes
which
point of
Locke, then,
more
immediately
cisms
Locke's
of
occasioned
doctrines;
they have only a polemical
Wolffian philosophy.
on
the
were
Hume's
by
while,
of
phenomenon,
in the Kantian
true
genetic
Kantian doctrines
The former
the earlier philosophy.
origin
and
have
we
between the
connection
are
mere
pertains
merely
This is the
qualities.
thing in itself
important later
so
In
philosophy.
our
the latter accordingly secondary,
terming
but the former
which
they
as
from
these
from that
them or
—
involves the
which
in the things
inhering
to distinguish
and
his Realism leads
even
knowledge
our
qualities
themselves,
But
remains.
in
that
nothing to do with the
how very inadequate to the
has
on
sceptical
the
to
relation
and
stimulated
other
the
and
criti
hand,
Leibnitz-
The above primary qualities, which are exclusively the
determinations in the things in themselves, and which
hence
of
the
are
such
are
and
similarity
as
qualities
mere
c
and
whatever
really
8, § 7,
seq.
is,
as creations
on
our organs
feelings in these;
smell, hardness, softness,
These therefore, have no
the quality in the thing in itself
etc.
with
them, but
are
reducible
qualities as their causes such alone
ive
of
such as
tone, taste,
roughness,
excites
secondary, that
those primary
consequently
color,
smoothness,
which
recognized as
actions of
sense,
independently
and
away, namely, extension, impenetra
All the re
motion, or rest, and number.
bility, figure,
mainder
outside
themselves entirely into
presentment,
be thought
cannot
of
these
to
appertain
resolve
our
part
of
.).
therefore really true
the
Our
to
the
primary
being
purely
existing things
{Ibid.,
conceptions of
copies,
which
object
L.
these latter
I.,
are
accurately reproduce
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
the qualities that
(I.e.
the
§
I
15).
reductio
are
ad absurdum
really feels here
We see then that
who
Realism.
of
accrues
an
organs,
our
action
the
of
from without, that
nerves
easy, comprehensible,
But Kant later on made
the
of
sense-
indisputable
and
sideration.
greater
to the
in them
the things
of
nature
whose presentments we receive
selves,
of
joy
reader
Locke deduces from the
which
in the things in themselves
present
the
wish
115
con
immeasurably
deducing what belongs to the action
incomparably greater nervous mass ) ;
the
of also
step
brain
( that
whereby all the above pretended primary qualities sink
into secondary ones, and the assumed things themselves
into
deep
against
lack
of
does
and
no
not
the
others
not
and
an
This assuredly
one which has
alike
attacks
as
of
now
entirely
requires
long
a
to be
misunderstanding
declares
deduce his primary qualities of things,
any further ground why only these
give
purely objective, except that they are
Now if we investigate for ourselves why
are
indestructible.
he
x.
analysis,
thing in itself,
over
understanding.
Locke does
and
remains
a mere
quantity,
and
defended
the real
these qualities,
of
unknown
difficult
and
phenomena, but
mere
stripped
some
mediately
directly from
of
qualities
the
on
sensibility,
be
to
not
without,
things
and
which
im
work
come
consequently
present
objectively,
objectivity to those which, as has since
been recognized, proceed from the special functions of
find the reason to be that the objecour intellect, we
while
he
concedes
tively-preceiving consciousness (the consciousness of other
things) necessarily requires a complex apparatus, as the
function
it appears,
which
of
and
consequently that its
fixed from with
most essential ground-determinations are
In this way the
in.
from
presents
itself
accordingly
stands
fold
and
only
variety.
space,
and
the
as
possible
in
no
that
of
the
can
perceived
proceed,
world,
and
which
admitted
which
through
or mode of perception
knowable
is absolutely necessary,
be got rid of; so that
to
way
of
everything else in its mani
that
condition
form
priori
as
This is
and
a
the warp
appears
unexceptional,
it
as
univeral
the
alone
which
them.
to
be, immediately,
follows
In
from
them,
themselves
time
and
time
is
and
space
it
its
fold
3d
ed.,
82;
p.
ed.,
ment,"
the
of
2d
ed.,
vol.
i.,
and
its
other
through
action, and
form of
objectively-conceived
"World
also
as
i.,
vol.
p.
activity ; in
in
consists
them,
within
come
an
("On the Four
for causality itself.
Principle of Cause," 2d ed., p. 77;
understanding
Root
being
as
is through
matter
but the
is
versd; it
the
is,
as matter, that
causality;
simply
is to
anything
causality, for
as
words,
vice
If
are empty.
must appear
3d
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
116
10,
p.
9,
and vol.
ii.,
Will
as
and
p.
and
Present
vol.
ii.,
52.)
Hence it
pp.
48,
49;
comes
that Locke's primary qualities are merely such as cannot
be
thought
indicates
away
—
fact
a
itself
which
their subjective origin,
as
clearly enough
proceeding immedi
ately from the construction of the perceiving apparatus
and he therefore holds for absolutely objective pre
cisely that which, as function of the brain, is much more
—
than the sense-feeling, which is occasioned, or
least more directly determined, from without.
In the meantime it is interesting to see how through
subjective
at
all
these
lem
the Ideal
by
and
clarified,
favored
by
was
turies,
heads
in
they
birth
thus
By
the
gift
enabled, in the
after advantage
calling undisturbed
foolish talk and caballing
noble
time, or,
short space
half
of
midst
and
the
of
ripened
and
It is true this
promoted.
circumstances
to
Europe.
were
struggling
the
nature, which, in the
of
gave
truth
the
and
correctly,
conceptions and explanations, the prob
Descartes respecting the relation between
the Real becomes ever more developed and
various
started
of
more
two
cen
dozen thinking
fortune, in addition,
of
a
a
groveling world
pleasure, to follow their
by
the yelping of priests, or the
of
the contemporary
professors
of philosophy.
Now
had
Locke, in
deduced
accordance
the
with
knowledge
of
his
the
strict
causal
empiricism,
from
relation
experience, while Hume did not dispute as he ought to
have done, this false assumption, but immediately over
shot the mark by the
observation, correct in itself, that
experience can never give us
sequence of things upon one
diately,
a
and
never
a
proper
necessary interconnection.
anything
more
than
another, sensibly
consequence
It is
well
and
a mere
imme
i.e.
known how the
and action
—
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
sceptical
objection
incomparably
which
Hume
of
deeper
the
was
occasion
investigations
led him to the
that
result
into
Kant's
of
the
time,
and
space
117
subject,
no less
than causality, are known by us a priori, that is, lie in us
before all experience, and hence belong to the subjective
side of knowledge.
From this it follows further, that all
those primary, that
is,
qualities of things, which
them, since they are all composed
of pure determinations of time, of space, and of
causality,
cannot belong to the things in themselves, but to our mode
Locke had
knowledge
of
to
counted
consequence
respect
mere
even
and
are
The
and
not
is that
this
of
phenomena.
whole
same,
they
as
remains
the
Ideal
of
the
absolute
to
assigned
in
Real,
know the things in
we
a
a
as
such, in
phenomenon,
some
mere
to
accrues
world
presentment,
The final
no
themselves, but solely in their
the thing in itself, therefore
something wholly unknown,
perceivable
to be
are
consequently
the Real.
to
which
way involves the
the
and
x,
Ideal
the
as
a
nevertheless,
Real,
as
thing in
itself.
From this
I, finally, have made a step, and
last; because I have solved the
standpoint
believe that it
will
be the
upon which, since Descartes, all
philosophizing
in
that I reduce all being and knowledge to the two
turns,
elements of our self-consciousness, in other words, to some
problem
thing beyond
explanation,
I have
ultimate.
the
there
which
researches
called
of all
be
can
it is the
since
most
to mind,
further
no
immediate
what
indeed
my predecessors,
noticed, to wit, that the
absolute
which
Real
principle
and
results
from
I have here
the
or
of
therefore
thing in
directly from without, in
the way of mere presentment, since it is inevitably in
the nature of the latter only to furnish the Ideal ; while,
itself
on
can
be
never
the contrary,
the knowledge
given
us
since we ourselves are
of
the Real must in
be derivable from within our own
it here appears, in an immediate
ness,
as
will.
The line
and
the Ideal falls
the
whole
including
therefore,
perceivable
every
of
man's
and
body,
nature.
way or other
And in fact
in
manner
cleavage
with
indisputably Real,
some
conscious
between the
me, in
such
wise
objectively-presented
together
with
Real
that
world,
time, space,
causality, in
and
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
118
Spinoza,
and
to the
sentment
remains as
the
other
the
Ideal.
Real,
sors,
thoughtlessly
into
the
Ideal
and
judgment.
incomparably
in any
the
other
this the
system,
closely knit to
and
thus the
world and of existence
But Will
and
inasmuch
as
sition
in
all
is
Presentment
they
constitute
things in the
The
as
pre
alone
presentment and of
having
identified it
even
Ethics is therefore
more
extended
whole of
my predeces
reflection, had thrown
result of
Spinoza
the
belongs
this case the Will
without
a mere
and
with
Locke,
of
But in
and
and
as
thought, Descartes
with the
words, together
matter
with me
directly
metaphysics
moral
than
significance
of
firmly fixed than ever.
fundamentally distinct,
more
are
the
ultimate
world
and
and
basal
oppo
leave nothing
the
re
maining
thing
it are the same, but only the presented thing, and
not the thing in itself.
The latter is always Will, it
over.
presented
and
presentment
of
matters not
in
what
form it may
appear
in
presentment.
APPENDIX.
Readers
tury, may
the
Real
because, in
simply
Hegel
are
no
honesty
wanted
to
They
to
not
Fichte, Schelling,
are
be,
interest
own
were
disciples
and
as
means
earnestness
entrance-examination,
and
the honorable company
of
so
and
sophists; they
have sought, not the
advancement in the
mere
and
and
to this
and
Hence
wisdom.
and
they fail in the
as
sham
inspiring
they have
cannot
students
as much
end
from their
the guiding stars
of
in
specially to belong to
able to include them,
philosopher,
as possible
effect
and
such
and
their
booksellers,
tion
been
opinion,
the
of
cen
mentioned
Places from governments, honoraria from
world.
and
seem
not
my
research.
seem
truth, but
of
philosophers, inasmuch
requirement
of
to find
not
for
passed
present
myself, either the Fichtean
the Absolute Identity of the
they
since
the
and
But I have
our subject.
first
system
Ideal,
has
what
course of
surprised
between Kant
or the
and
be
with
in the
Germany,
perhaps
period
Idealism
familiar
are
who
philosophy in
philosophy
genii
not
be
sensa
of
—
these
passed
the
into
admitted
the thinkers of the human race.
Meanwhile, they have excelled in one thing, and that is,
in the art of turning the head of the public and of mak
ing
for
themselves pass
quires
what
talent, indeed, but
they
were
ophy
was
incapable
of
not
they
were
not,
effecting anything
which
solid
in
re
That
talent.
philosophical
philos
owing, in the last resort, to the fact that their
intellect
was
the will;
and
free, but remained in the service of
in this case, though the intellect can in
not
for this or that purpose, it can do
much
achieve
For these
nothing for philosophy any more than for art.
as their first condition, that the intellect should
down
lay
deed
act
on
activity
that
is,
its
own
should
account,
cease
to have the
view; but
when
to
and
objects of
the
time
service
of
during
be in the
one's
own
it is itself active, simply
of
this
the will,
personality in
its own mo-
of
(»9)
SCHOPENHAUER'S
120
tion, it, in
to be a philosopher,
ing
else
nothing
it harmonizes
than
the church,
of
long
as
contemporaries;
of
suffice, in
(this be
order
of wisdom
interest,
own
with
or
the
or
far
so
the
as
will of
prejudices or
remains
one
as
other
no
truth), to love the truth in
one's
with
not
lover
which means
the dogmas
or
superiors,
tastes
Hence it does
than the truth.
purpose
nature, knows
its
with
accordance
ESSAYS
in this
For this
is only a <piXauro$ and no <j>d6<ro<pos.
position,
title of honor is well and wisely conceived, in that it implies
one
that one
love the truth earnestly,
should
heart,
whole
therefore
and
before everything,
serve
in
and
in the fact
free, in
any
interest than
they may
lying
Qn the
other
hand, it
is
we
all
bad
a
consequence
hatred
irreconcilable
an
deception,
In this way
in the world, but
understand
or
the
truth;
of
acquires
and
know
even
not
that
wear.
well
on
then
one
all
against
get
it does
which case
that
being,
re
necessity even to
reason is to be found
indicated that the intellect has become
above
other
one's
without
of
case
The
the defiance of everything.
with
and
unconditionally,
matter
no
are
the
not
more
very likely to
in philosophy.
for the
auspice
garb
what
if
latter,
proceeding avowedly from the investigation of truth, we
begin, thereupon, to say farewell to all uprightness, hon
esty,
thoroughness,
and
appear
ourselves
sumes, like the
what
we
only concerned to make
In this case one as
not.
are
and
are
three sophists, now a false pathos,
above
an
artificially high earnestness,
finite superiority, in order to dazzle
of
being
able
to convince;
one
tion, because, only thinking
thought up for the purpose
inculcate
pound
one
and
of
of
where
writes
mien
in
considera
saves
one
one
writing;
of
despairs
one
without
writing,
seeks
one's
now
to
demonstrations, now to pro
logomachy for deep thoughts ;
palpable sophisms as
hollow
and
senseless
invokes intellectual intuition
of
self -movement
pressly the
thought,
a
now
now
standpoint
or
the
conceptions;
of
"
reflection,
one
"
absolute
thought
challenges
that
is,
ex
of rational
consideration, and honest pre
words, the proper and normal use of
generally ; one expresses a boundless contempt
straightforward
sentation, in
the
reason
for
the
"
other
philosophy
designated
every
of
reflection,
connected
"
course
by
of
which
name
thought
is
which
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
deduces
earlier
every
is only provided
by
the
in
some
pitiable
such
that
see
from principles,
consequences
tuted
reason, is
Truth is the
difficult to
this, is
as
form
the
to
that
of
If,
truth,
of
ple
own
one's
of
gether
tastes
one
truth
itself
within
one
encouraged
is
who
befool
to
anxious
people
bridle to
looks
to the tem
hurrying
of
the
over
etc.
Mind,"
the
of
century.
nineteenth
which
person,
assume.
itself,"
that he has found his
under pretense
hands
can
I think it is not
36.)
forward anything like
p.
puts
charlatan,
the
of
accordingly,
which
"Phenomenology
and who observes
simpletons,
in the Germans
audacity,
edition,
whoever
shameless
a
and
of
complete
see
consti
accordingly, if
age, one expresses oneself
follows : " It is not difficult to
movement
in the
p.
has
as
the
of
the
not
preface
such
stating a proposition, adducing
refuting its opposite in the same way,
and
by
(Hegel,
lvii.,
spirit
mode
for it
reasons
philosophy;
with sufficient
manner
the
and
121
interests
the
toward alto
sideways
different guiding stars, such, for instance, as the
foibles of contemporaries, the religion of the land,
and
but especially toward the purposes
Oh, how then can
erning powers
and
one
—
hints
the
of
to
expect
gov
reach
abrupt, bald rock on which stands the temple
One may easily attach to oneself, by the sure
of truth?
bond of interest, a crowd of genuinely hopeful disciples,
high,
the
hopeful,
that
form
apparently
whose
all
united
the four
est
of
the
All this
when,
been
for
is,
a
person
above
sect,
the
a sage
as
really
one
the
study
described,
of
one
faction,
of
truth
turns to the
—
by
to
the inter
betrayed.
which
thinkers,
real
may
and
proclaimed
parallel
feeling
painful
who
places,
a
may be
without
is satisfied, that
explains
after
but
stentorian voices
winds
and
protection
seizes
such
as
writings of
one,
have
Fichte
indeed to the audaciously daubed
non
Schelling,
with
a
produced
it
is
as
sense
of
boundless,
Hegel,
With the
though justified, confidence in German folly.
or
and
former
truth
one
and
had
as
always
honest
thoughts to others.
Hume,
elevated
an
found
Hence he
Malebranche, Spinoza,
and
an
endeavor
honest investigation
to
who
communicate
reads
of
their
Locke, Kant,
Descartes, feels himself
pleasurably impressed.
This is
effected
by
SCHOPENHAUER'S
122
reading the
teach
would
who
breathe
does everything here
ophy is
as
is
but
which
is,
A
their books
thinker
a
of
about
deceive,
it;
The
dishonesty.
previous
all
much
so
tone
philos
certainty such
in all time,
kind
every
charlatanry
in this case claims to rest on immediate intel
for that
exchanged
intuition,
independent
unshakable
of
of
to
common
lectual
of
investigation characterizing
quiet
of
in doubt
minutes
in
and
would
who
a charlatan
of
or
five
remain
cannot
place
sophists.
is the tone
this
whether
of
opens one
who
person
himself
asks
takes
German
three
and
thoughts
this
of
reverse
above-mentioned
straightforward
then
The
thoughts.
awakens
has
which
mind,
noble
a
with
contact
ESSAYS
thought
on
or
the
of
subject
is absolute, that
From
which
and
its fallibility.
the endeavor to
page, from every line, speaks
now
the
to
by dazzling to
reader,
deceive,
hoodwink,
every
disconcert
flagrant
him,
tion to befool
throw
the
eyes
that
incomprehensible
him,
of
which
and
the
in
now
by
and
phrases
of asser
audacity
in every
discovers
respect
with
stun
in short,
him,
which
in
question
pared
to
dust in his
feeling
by
now
nonsense
way to
Hence
him.
mystify
itself in the transition in
possible
to
theoretical,
respect
of
be
may
the
com
he
practical
has, who coming from a society of honorable men, finds
How worthy a man,
himself in a haunt of swindlers.
in
comparison
had
and
images
with
furnished
phrases
and
truly distinguishing
is that
such,
ridiculed
and
undervalued
real
by
exponents
therefore
are
purpose
character
concerned
not
sophists,
Wolff,
thoughts, but they only
for the
word
deceiving.
of
so
He
The
philosophy of this
school, is dishonesty, its
of
whole, so-called, Post-Kantian
element is the blue ether
and
Its
Christian
these three sophists!
the
personal
to seem
not
philosophers.
ends
to be,
The
its
goal.
they
are
mockery
of
—
future generations, extending itself to their votaries, and
then oblivion, awaits them.
With the tendency of these
above
persons,
as
passing,
the
indicated,
scolding
and
is connected,
abusive
obligato accompaniment, pervades all
If this
were
ness and
not
tone
we
may say in
which,
Schelling's
as
an
writings.
so, if honesty rather than pretentious
had been at work, Schelling, who is
emptiness
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
doubt the
without
least have
of
he
of
an
most
the
occupied
gifted
the
of
subordinate
three,
123
might
at
in
rank
philosophy
The amalgam which
passing service.
from the doctrines of Plotinos, of Spinoza,
eclectic of
prepared
Jakob
Bohme,
times,
modern
by
produced
cancy
until
philosophy,
Kant,
of
the
a
and
for
might
the
of
negative
science
the
of
va
Kantian
the
of
results
philosophy had
new
really
natural
have filled
a while
for
come
properly afforded the satisfaction required by
the former.
He has more particularly used the natural
ward
and
science
of
of
century to
Spinoza had,
our
Spinoza.
philosophized
and
cate
life
blood,
and
done
as
and,
has
by
the
the
erected
skeleton with
to
communi
developed,
is the
application,
nature,
without
application
then
since
false
a
with
dry
be,
this
as might
it
of
conceptions, and,
clothe
well
to
pantheism
the
of
although
undeniable
Schelling in his philosophy of nature, which is
best of his multifarious attempts and new
of
service
To
motion
science which
natural
the
also
abstract
his doctrines.
of
flesh
often
of
abstract
any knowlege
the things themselves properly, had
knowing
edifice
out
the
revive
without
departures.
Just
as children
purposes,
sophists
have
we
here
subject
with
play
tools
or other
of
treated
two centuries
the
of
serious
than
up
with
it
knowing
our
nearer
much
presentments,
its
subjects,
being
of
no more
the Ego.
three
solution,
and
Fichte
of
the
method
pseudo-philosophers,
much
so
he
than
products of
While seeking in this
way to outbid Kant, he produced a
the latter's philosophy, inasmuch as,
application
on
more
the assertion that there is nothing behind
the presentments, these
the
and
self-existent
brought
thereby
starts
the
Kant had
the great problem of the relation
accentuated
ever
investigations
After
philosophers.
the
with
the grotesque
furnishing
laborious
of
serious
the three
grown-up persons,
have dealt
thus
of,
to
between
so
under consideration
pendant
part
intended for
weapons
mere
by
caricature
vaunted
abolished
of
the continuous
the
by
Real
these
alto
Then
left nothing but the Ideal remaining.
gether,
in
his
system
of
the
absolute
came
Schelling, who,
and
Identity
of
the
Real
and
Ideal,
declared the
whole dis-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
124
tinction
also
of
account, and maintained the Ideal to be
In this way he at
both were one.
no
that
Real,
the
tempted to throw
into
again
confusion
had been
what
so
carefully, and, by a process of such slow and gradually
"
On the
developed reflection, separated.
( Schelling,
Relation
pp.
the
of
imitation
At the
Spinoza.
—
that
namely,
of
monstrous
Ideal
of
the
of
same
Nature to the
of
The distinction
14-21.)
in
denied,
nitz,
Philosophy
time,
criticised
the
even
identification
the atoms and
error
monads
of
of
Leib
two absurdities,
of
the indivisible
of
"
Real is crudely
and
above
Fichtean,
original
and
are again
essentially knowing individuals, termed souls
brought forward, pompously apotheosized, and pressed
—
into the
of
2d
"
( Schelling,
service.
Nature,"
pp.
ed.,
Philosophy
Schelling's philosophy
82.)
38,
for the
Ideas
bears the
name of the
philosophy of identity,
in
the
footsteps
of
because, walking
Spinoza, it does away
with three
distinctions which the latter had also done
of nature
away with, to wit, that between God and the world, that
between body and soul, and, finally, that between Ideal
and Real, in the perceived world.
The last distinction,
above shown, in the consideration of
the two others.
depends
on
On the
Spinoza,
way
the
more
it
is
brought
into
contrary,
prominence, by so
much the more the two others are rendered
doubtful, for
however,
has been
as
in
no
while
it is based
based
on
on
dogmatic
a
simple
In
identified
by Schelling
diatribe,
accordance
with
with
erly
world-soul
metaphysical
themselves
silenced
upon
by
a
"
crude
denial
we
bestow
upon
and
they
Kant has
metaphysic
hence,
to
high-sounding
are
over
was
a mere
title
of
All those prop
untiringly impress
was affixed.
which
consciousness, were to be
in strong assertions.
clothed
Nature is here just because it
itself;
this,
physic,
problems,
human
the
reflection,
which
all
the
physical-chemical
concerning the
of
demonstrations,
thrown.
"
act
is, of itself and through
God, and therewith it is
it the title
disposed of, and he who asks for
anything more is a fool.
The distinction between subjective and objective is a mere
invention
of
the schools, like the
distinction of a priori
ophy,
whose
of no
account,
whole
and
a
our empirical perception of
Kantian
philos
posteriori is also
itself supplying
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
us with the
things-in-themselves,
"On the Relation
sult
Fichtean,"
the
the
of
Let the
etc.
Philosophy
125
reader con
Nature
of
with
ridicule
61,
57,
is expressly heaped on those " who are astounded to find
that not is nothing, and cannot sufficiently wonder that
pp. 51
Schelling
bottom, however,
this
talk is only
sort of
phraseology to the
understanding.
correctly rough,
here what I have
the
at
work,
book
said
in the
beginning
appeal
sound, but
For the rest, I may
second
chapter
of
a veiled
so-called
more
recall
of my chief
Significant for
volume
xvii.
very naive is the passage on p. 69, in the
Schelling's just quoted from : " Had empiricism
subject
our
where
We see, therefore, that with Herr
At
everything seems to explain itself.
von
pompous
as also p.
exists."
anything really
in
and
of
and
its object, its
attained
completely
to
opposition
philos
ophy, and therewith philosophy itself, as special sphere or
kind of science, would disappear; all abstractions would
dissolve themselves in the
the highest
the
would
would
with
us.
The
manner.
because
explain
you
himself
Schelling
problem
perception
senseless
sensible,
in the book
;
innocence,
of
and
nature."
old
does
not
Sphinx
with
dash itself
that it is a spectre.
got
rid
later that
off
its riddle
the
rock
As, therefore,
the
metaphysical
dictatorial assertions, he
genuinely metaphysical essay in his treatise on
whence
the tone
of
it
by
of
is, however,
which
bleu,
assumes
serious
and
observed
be
cannot
us a
freedom,
a conte
most
joyfully and freely
immovably there,
gives
'
certainly be very nice ! but it is not the case
Thought does not let itself be shown the door
This
lies
friendly,
sport of pleasure and
difficult easy, the
most
man might read
in this
be the
(
direct,
a
comes
mere piece
of
that the style,
has
demonstration,
a
imagination,
whenever
it
decidedly comical
effect.
By his doctrine of the identity of the Ideal and the
Real, Schelling has accordingly sought to solve the prob
lem, set going by Descartes, dealt with by all great
thinkers, and finally accentuated in the strongest man
ner by Kant, by cutting the knot, that is,
by denying
With Kant, from whom
the opposition between the two.
he
professed
contradiction.
to start, he
came
Meanwhile
he
in
consequence
had
at
into direct
least held fast the
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
126
original
special
and
chiefly
the
expressions
the
problem
maddest
badly,
doctrine,
est
substantia cogitans
(ii.
una eademque est
later to the
occasion
quce
jam
have
recognized
from
our presentment of
that the
body
illo
sub
at
or,
sub
cogitationis, jam
Sch.),
mens
to
et
abolish
soul; he may also
object is not distinct
and
empirical
it.
his
with
scilicet
(iii. 2,
concipitur
the Cartesian opposition of
hoc jam.
sub
Sch.),
7,
res,
extensionis attributo
sub
designated
et substantia extensa una
jam
qua
substantia,
tribute comprehenditur
latter
the
which
being,
gave
and
them
doctrines
his
from
Spinoza had attempted,
monstrosities.
eademque
corpus
and
being
present
got
adopted
and
thought
very
that
he
Spinoza,
of
out
which
But because he
in the former.
selves
the things
of
which concerns
the
and
perception
our
in themselves
essence
the problem,
of
sense
the relation between
Schelling
adopted
from him
the expressions thought and being, which he
gradually
substituted for those of intuition
(perception), or rather in
tuited
of
(perceived), and the thing-in-itself ("New Journal
»
Physic, vol. i., 1st article, "Further expo
Speculative
"
sitions,
things
great
For the
etc.).
to
their
being
problem whose
relation
and
of
history
thoughts, i. e., conceptions, is
of our
these are, quite obviously
tions from that which is
our
perception
of
in themselves is the
I have here sketched; that
essence
and
a
different one, for
undeniably,
mere
abstrac
known, having arisen
thinking away, or letting fall, of
perceptibly
through the
arbitrary
some
qualities, and retention of others ; and to doubt that
is so would ever occur to
any reasonable man.
These conceptions and
thoughts, which constitute the
this
class of
non-perceptive
fore
an
immediate
the
things-in-themselves,
is,
under
the
presentments,
mediation
never
to
the
nature
but
are
always
relation
of
have there
and
being
that
mediate,
it is the
perception;
of
last-
mentioned which on the one side
and on
matter,
themselves,
things
The
less
that
which
Spinoza
furnishes for them the
the other stands related to the things-in-
is
inexact
to the
expression
was used
charlatan
is,
objectivized
unknown
borrowed by
subsequently
Hegel,
who
true nature
of
the
in perception.
in
by
the
this
Schelling
spiritless and
respect
from
taste
appears
as
DOCTRINE OF THE IDEAL AND REAL
Schelling's
hanswurst,
in the
itself,
thought
distorted,
and
narrower
far
so
127
to make
as
as
sense, namely,
concep
tion, identical with the nature of the things-in-themselves.
That, therefore, which is thought in abstracto, should, as
such
immediately, be one with that which is objec
in itself, and logic should, accordingly, be
and
tively
present
the true metaphysic; in
to think or to let
which case we should
have free
our conception
only require
in order
course
world without is absolutely constituted.
consequence, every brain-phantasm would be
to know how the
As
at
a natural
once
better
true
"
the
period, the
Since, therefore,
real.
and
was
in
absurdity
that it
second, to wit,
the
was
based
upon
completed
counts
for
But this
on
another, equally resting
indeed,
by
a
the
the dialectical
called
and
this
of
thought, but that
help
our
et extra naturam.
which
and
we who
the conception,
things in
of all
not
the madder the
supported
was
is therefore
which
of
self-movement
lation
question
was
"
philosophasters
and without
alone
conception
thought process,
the
of
motto
a reve
humbug
the
misuse
never
was,
clearly stated,
it undoubtedly lies behind.
Schelling had, accord
"God."
ing to Spinoza's procedure, entitled the world
Now since this word
Hegel took this in its literal sense.
of
words,
though
properly
incompatible
altogether
qualities
together
being, embracing,
personal
a
signifies
other
with
with
the
world, that of omniscience, this was also transferred by
him to the world, in which it could naturally obtain no
than in the empty head of men who only
other place
require
to
movement) in
and
order
as
earth,
to
in the
One
lian dialectic.
free play (dialectical selfall the mysteries of heaven
their thoughts
give
art
reveal
galimatias
absolute
namely, how to lead the Germans
is
great
no
very
to hold
able
years.
three
sign
That the
them a
one.
We
the learned
sophists
see
and
in the
by
with
world
professors of
seriously,
place
of
the
Hege
this Hegel has certainly understood,
of
the
nose.
what
Germany
philosophy
But that
tricks
still
for
he
treat these
hold it for important to
history
of
was
thirty
as
philosophy, happens
belongs to their gagne-pain, in that they
only because it
material for elaborate dissertations, verbal
thereby
obtain
and
written,
on
the
history
of
the so-called Post-Kantian
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
128
philosophy, in
elaborately
point
reasonable
oneself
view,
to
the said
of
opinions
one
has
these persons, in
unless
market,
From
business to
no
be deemed desirable for the
sophists are
considered.
seriously
and
what
brought
something,
should
of
with
all
at
the
which
expounded
it
order
to seem
were
scribblings
a
concern
that
of
it
Hegel
chemists'
in the
to be kept
shops
vomitive, the disgust
iar.
But
Sciences,
of
them
and
will
leave
to
enough
we
glorification
which
they
excite
has
recognized
as
a
being
physically
really
active
quite pecul
their
originator, whose
Danish Academy of
the
in him
a summus philoso-
phus, in its sense of the word, and hence requires him
to be treated with respect, a fact brought out in the
judgment
of
appended
morality,
account of
as
its
a
acuteness
deserves to be
prize essay on the foundations
memorial, and which, no less on
than of its memorable honesty,
to my
lasting
rescued
from oblivion, if only that it fur
Labruyere's beautiful
nishes a remarkable confirmation of
saying :
"
Du
me'rite, I 'on
meme
fonds, dont
on
ne"glige
salt encore admirer un sot.
"
un
homme de
FRAGMENTS
THE
OF
OF
HISTORY
PHILOSOPHY.
Section
on
To read, instead
all
sorts
of
to
else
same.
the original works of philosophers,
of
their doctrines, or history of
expositions
of
philosophy generally, is
one
the
i.
though
as
food.
masticate one's
one
should
Would
get
some
anyone read
the
history of the world if it were possible for him to behold
the interesting events of ancient times with his own eyes ?
But, as regards the history of philosophy, such an autopsy
of the subject is really possible for him, to wit, the origi
of philosophers
nal writings
less, for the sake
leading chapters,
repetitions,
this way,
then, he
he may
will
learn to know the
an authentic and unfalsified
receives
of
of a professor
Now it is
a great mind
find
which
a place
as
obvious
in the
of
indeed,
and,
itself,
must
that the money-making history
hardly have read a tenth part
and
laborious
such
persons,
official
9
duties,
appears
writer of
of
clothed
accompanied
the
be
of
in the
by
his
considered
philosophy
writings which
can
he
study demands the whole of a long
such as formerly, in the old industrious
real
life,
the brave Brucker devoted to them.
times,
it
up considerably in order to
three-pound brain of a parasite of
it
Their
as
that the thoughts
shrink
Besides this,
reflections.
from
philosophy annually appearing
much of it as has entered the head
philosophy,
must
while
of
again
reports.
the
in their
essential
form,
philosophy, from which they emerge
contemporary jargon of the day, and
sapient
none
well-chosen
especially inasmuch as they all teem with
one may just as well spare oneself.
In
the half-dozen histories
there.
in
which
doctrines, in
he merely
;
shortness, limit himself to
of
who
are
vacation
detained
tours and
by
But
what can
continuous
lectures,
dissipations,
and
who, for
(™9)
the
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
r3o
most
come
part,
forward
their histories
with
philos
of
have thoroughly investigated ?
ophy in their earlier years,
Add to this, that they are anxious to be pragmatical, and
to have fathomed
claim
the
judge,
should
they
then, in order
to
endeavoring
give
them
it be
could
even
to
otherwise
matters
modern
of
genuine
each
and
ones,
make
the
and
other,
worse
tournure
of
by
the
quinquennium, pronouncing upon them, likewise,
spirit ?
On the contrary, a collection of im
current
in the
How
older
this,
the necessity
systems,
the earnest and
over
copy the
to hide
expound
of
former times.
of
than that
to
and
sequence
dominate
and
correct,
philosophers
and
the
and
origin
same
portant
passages and essential
made
philosophers,
honest
by
chapters
the
all
of
intelligent
and
leading
scholars,
in common, arranged in a chronologic
order, much in the same way as formerly
and, after him, Ritter and Preller, have done
conscientiously
and
ally-pragmatic
Godicke,
with
the
philosophy of antiquity,
in short, a universal
completely
although
—
plished with
care
and
be very useful.
The fragments
ditional,
sioned by
that
is,
my
a
knowledge
I here
which
of
study
the
Section
pre-sokratic
The Eleatic
scious of
thought,
the
$aiv6psva and
being,
maintain that
it is
so,
the
give
are
subject
least
at
accom
—
would
not
tra
occa
original works.
2.
philosophy.
first who became con
between the perceived and the
philosophers are the
opposition
them the true
not
chrestomathy
of
they are, rather, thoughts
copied;
own
much more
however,
voobpeva.
the
one,
with
The latter
alone
was
for
Svriws Sv.
Respecting this, they
unchangeable and
immovable;
the
Qatvoplvots,
that
is,
with
the
perceived, appearing empirically given, of which it would
have been absurd to maintain
anything of the kind
hence the so misunderstood proposition refuted
—
Diogenes in his
by
well-known manner.
tinguished, therefore, between
They already
appearance, <s>atV6pSVOV,
dis
and
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
131
The last mentioned could
thing-in-itself, Svrot 3v.
be senuously perceived, but only comprehended by
thought, and was accordingly known as voobpevov (Arist.,
the
not
"Metaph.,"
i.,
5,
509).
429, 430,
986, et
In the "Scholia
798), the
et
53°. 544.
"Scholia,"
p.
This,
mentioned.
work
then,
have implied
the
thing-in-itself,
indeed,
iv
Xiymv
elvai
called
less
rd
Sv,
The
^dXv elvat.
forth
or
iv
things,
all
Sbo (should
taught their absolute
they
as
He took his stand, therefore,
immobility.
Ccelo,"
d.
be noXXd)
to the
Eleatics, and probably
Herakleitos, who taught the cease
is
by them,
says: iv roij itp&$ dX-^&dav
S6£av
irpdf
the doctrine of
Respecting Melissos,
metaphysic.
toi?
doubt,
without
would,
dX^elav,
Philoponos
opposition
movement of
("Arist.
which
rd
work,
scholium of
a
rd
tar"
another
pp.
(pp. 460,
"ard S6£av is
have been the doctrine
would
the phenomenon, physics,
of
Parmenides,
of
Berol.,
edit.
Aristotle"
to
iii.
p.
1,
?atv6pevov
Berol.).
edit.
298,
the
on
He
forth thereby as his opposite, Plato's doctrine of
"
as appears from the statement of Aristotle
( Me
called
Ideas,
taph.,"
p.
1078).
It is noteworthy that we find the comparatively few main
propositions of the Pre-Sokratic philosophers which have
been preserved,
ings
for
of
instance,
the
times
numberless
ancients, but very
the
of
the doctrines of
dpotopeptat;
that
of
flux
etc.
chosis,
works
nitz,
all
of
of
and
their
of
all
these
motto of
the
The
Herakleitos,
Eleatics, as
the moderns,
even
Kant,
philosophers
Empedokles,
of
two
dogmas
ndvra
iv
of
e.g.,
would
who
na~i
rp)s
find
in the
also
have
koX6v
Leib
propositions
so
adopted
have been
rd
;
that this was the
we
to
of
metempsy
times repeated;
also
a
that
the
lover
(see
of
Sturz.,
504).
Anaxagoras
ndatv
of
Descartes, Spinoza,
seem
may
<ft?
p.
Lukippos,
few fundamental
the
numberless
philosophies
connection,
for
their philosophizing;
veUos and
above explained
the numbers,
Pythagoreans,
It may well be, therefore,
na)
the continuous
of
of
repetition,
"
"Empedocl. Agrigent. ,
sign
of
things ; that of the
of all
that of the
sum
that
the vouj and
of
ipdia
the four elements; that of Demokritos and
the atoms, eidcbXots;
writ
beyond them; as,
Anaxagoras,
Empedokles,
of
in the
repeated
little
is,
started
namely,
stand
in
a symbolical
close
desig-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
1 32
the dogma
nation of
chaotic
sense)
In order to their
completeness.
primal
(in the
accordingly, the partes similares
of all things were present in their
mass,
physiological
In the
homoiomeroi.
the
of
differentiation,
to
and
into specifically distinct things {partes
their
dissimilares), it required a voD? to arrange and to form
reduced con
them, who by a selection of the elements,
combination
fusion to order,
this chaos
since
Nevertheless the
337).
to
separation
thing
in
although
complete
a
perfection,
p.
therefore in every
and
itdkiv
most com
Aristot.,"
brought the first
not
of
elements
lesser degree:
the
Scholia in
had
vods
the
contained
was
contained
("
substances
all
mixture of
plete
yap
else,
everything
itav
iv
izdvri
pepixrat
{Ibid).
Empedokles, on the other hand, instead of the number
less homoiomeroi, had only four elements, from which
things
the
proceeded
role
ko.1
ipdi'a
much
vsUos,
love
vou?
and
For here
better.
{$iXia
will
the
of
not
it, and the variety of
Anaxagoras, mere educts,
them
makes
is
Empedokles
ko\
kc?(cos
the
and
intellect
but
realized
by
so
altogether
nature
of
ordering
a
has for its basis
Even in inorganic
separating, that is
substances
standing, Empedokles does
knowledgeless will.
fdia
Anax
with
according to him, played by
Both of these are very
hate.
to
Anaxagoras
as
is,
veUos) has the
KOLi
not
products,
The negating
agoras as educts.
ordering,
as
we
a
see
are
real
by
a
but the
(voDy)
things
not,
assigned
as
a
separating
blind
under
impulse, i.e.,
thorough
deep
with
While
products.
and
man,
true
a
his
and
appercu.
the elements unite
and
separate, seek or flee from each other, according to the
But those that show the strong
laws of elective affinity.
est
disposition to
only be
of
the
come
they
now
effected
most
into
in
again
themselves chemically,
a state
decisive
contact
separate
they
unite
in
fluidity,
electrical
with
one
opposed
seek
of
and
assume
antagonism
another
in
which
can
an attitude
when
they
a solid state
now
—
mutually hostile polarities,
embrace each other; and what,
and
I ask, is that polar antagonism which appears throughout
all nature in the most diverse
forms, other than a con
tinually
renewed
quarrel,
upon
which
the
earnestly
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
133
desired
reconciliation follows ?
So </>tX(a xal velno? is every
present, and, according to circumstances, first one
then the other displays itself at different times. We
where
and
ourselves
friendly
comes
waits
a
near
on
us
—
disposition to
the
It is only
circumstances.
is there
either
which
way, the
and
that induces
prudence
tarry on the indifference point of
is also, be it said, the freezing point.
to
us
may be immediately impressed in a
hostile sense with any human being that
even
or
impartiality,
In the
same
dog which we approach is ready at once
to adopt the friendly or the hostile key, and changes
easily from barking and growling to wagging, and vice
strange
What lies
versa.
ing phenomenon
bottom, the great
all
at
the foundation
the
of
$dla
primal
for
form
Empedokles
known to
infinite
all
assuredly,
between the unity
in
being
themselves
him,
doctrine
the
recognized
false,
divisibility of bodies,
and
as
taught
of
at
of
and
which
individuationis.
the principiuui
penetrat
is
distinction in the phenomenon,
complete
its
their
this
of
veUos
opposition
natures, according to
their
nal
has
Similarly,
atoms,
already
the
contrary, the
Lucretius tells us ( lib. i. ,
as
on
etc.).
v., 747,
But above
his decided
nized
him
in the doctrines
things
all
pessimism
the misery
is
of our
existence,
He compares
"Arr}$ Xetpdiv.
dark cavern, in which we
existence
the
body
once
in
he
sees
is the
a state
infinite
world
immured.
In
banishment
and
are
of
the
a vale
the
of
like Plato
it, indeed,
of
prison
of
a state
and
for the true Christian
as much as
Empedokles,
fully recog
of
He has
noteworthy.
happiness,
sorrows,
later,
our
to
a
earthly
misery,
These
soul.
is for
souls
and
were
have through
and
their own fault and sins reached the present wretchedness
they, by sinful conduct, more and
themselves, getting involved in the circle
more entangle
wherein
chosis;
while,
on
rity, to
which
the
and
by
the
again
same
thought
abstinence
renunciation
they may
of
of
attain
primal
from
to their
wisdom
which
is
of
metempsy
and moral
animal
food
constitutes
Buddhism,
not
to
be
pu
belongs,
and
wishes,
previous condition.
which
and
virtue
enjoyments
earthly
Brahmanism
Christianity (by
by
the contrary,
the
Thus
basal
even of
true
understood
the
and
optimistic Jewish-Protestant
into
the
this
by
consciousness
the
larly
in the
verses, bear
to be found
to this
collected,
and purification
but
are
with
from
which
Hindoos
it
Siculus
Diodorus
above views of
["
Somn.
cate
Scip.,"
in these
belong,
but
is
also
we
p.
31,
to
The
448-458.
a condition of
are
released
With
by
ed.
Bip.])
witness
Cicero does
philosophical
of
of
to the
metemp-
fragmenta,"
to be remains
with
Christianity.
Wernsdorf de
"Cicero
what
would seem
*
by
shared
exception
in
bear
also
opinion
suffering
death, if
together
the
contained
(See
and
310, 319,
own
Empedokles, are
industry in Sturzzi,
Empedokles,
Cicero
and
passages
they
life
and
the ancients.
veterum,"
sychosi
pp.
Buddhists.
and
metempsychosis
his
with
soul-wandering, is
the
of
Egyptians, Pythagoreans,
the
great
a prison and
quit
metempsychosis,
the world.
The
conception of
Agrigentinus,"
body is
that the
of
of
view
which, together
ancients
witness
"Empedocles
doctrine
this
with
connected
passages
Empedokles,
Pythagorean,
a
Pythagoras. Empedokles declares his
of
distinctly to the
adherence most
is
That
completes
from Pythagoras is probable, particu
shared by Plato who was also
view
the influence
which
Greek,
who
bottom it is
at
as
under
brought
was also
throughout designated
ancients
this
received
rationalism),
ancient
the subject.
on
consensus gentium
whom
we
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
134
p.
not
school
299
indi
they
Pythagorean
wisdom.
In the remaining doctrines of these Pre-Sokratic phi
losophers there is also much that is true to be pointed
out,
of
which
According
I
to
will
give
the
cosmogony
which
has
in the
observations of
received
illustrations.
some
a practical
of
Kant
and
Laplace
confirmation,
posteriori,
and which Lord Ross is
Herschel,
concerned, to the consolation of English clericalism,
to render doubtful by means of his giant telescope
planetary
of
systems
form themselves
slowly coagulating
—
a
and
by
again
—
the
the condensation
then revolving
luminous
neb
ulae, and thus, after thousands of years, Anaximenes is
justified when he declared air and vapor for the primal
("Schol. in Arist.," p. 514). At
the same time, also, Empedokles and Demokritos
received
confirmation, for they, like Laplace, explained the origin
elements of
all
things
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
from
constitution of the world
and
Op."
Berol.,
ed.
p.
din) { "Arist.
a vortex
"Scholia,"
et
295,
p.
135
at
351),
which
Aristophanes ("Nubes," v. 820) mocks as blasphemy;
just as do the English priests to-day over the Laplacian
theory, they being anxious respecting their benefices, as
they always are when a new truth comes to light. Our
chemistry indeed
modern
gorean
philosophy
dptOpmv
r<5v
SmXdaiov,
by
pated
ixlrptrov,
rd
carries
numbers:
iv rot?
rutv
olai
rd
Kopernican
Pythagoreans is
the
Acad."
Questionibus
(<
Plutarch,
De
it,
of
Will
order
to
as
Fourier's
Even
ed.).
3d
"
his
the heat in the interior of the earth
the doctrines
Syjptoupytiidv
elvat
in
izep\
consequence
(atmosphere
whose
contact
annihilate
the
even
vol.
by
ancient
by
vii.,
fire.
seen
that crust,
the
also
under
the
deserving
(
of
"Metaph.,"
name
of
ed.
as
ii.,
;
p.
r^f
confirmations
yijS
the
p.
dvaddXnov
rd
And
504).
of
crust
the
metals
and
metalloids)
that
opinion
and which
in
is
would
which
shared
/dit. de 1819,
finally be consumed
e'difiantes,"
that the world
p. 114)
It is also
"World
Ilu#ay6peioi nop
conflagration
agree,
( "Lettres
ol
Arist.,"
confirming the
philosophers
from Aristotle
goreans,
hot fluid
a
Aris
place
thin layer between two
a
as
occasion
Hindoos
in
discoveries,
upon
and
would
Kivrpov
na\
Schol.
these
of
media
"
are
IXeyov
ancients:
piaov
(
to-day is looked
earth
all
rd
CoxHroiotJv
«<zl
yrjv
rijv
in the
in
13).
Cordier's discoveries
and
on
the
c.
by
rejected
whims
of
of
Cicero's
(lib. iii.,
below, § 5 (compare
ii., p. 342 of the 2d
see
which,
in
Philolaos
from
and
afterward
was
antici
was
Hiketas,
on
39),
might put
Presentment,"
and
390,
insight
that he
who
Philosophorum
placitis
This important
totle, in
(ii.
system
rd
p.
known; it was even
drew his chief ideas
well
known to Kopernicus himself,
from the well-known passage
"
na\
"
{
ffets
at
nal
nd#Tj
yap
i^ewv atria, olov
Schol. in Arist. , "
re
yptdXwv
back to the Pytha
us
rd
ita#u>v
That the
829).
et
543
of
Sixa
will
mention
i.,
5,
p.
that,
as
may be
986), the Pytha
dp^at, had
conceived
the
yn and yang of the Chinese.
That the
metaphysics
of
music,
as
explained
by
me
in
ii.,
39) must
my chief work (vol. i., § 52,
be regarded as an exposition of the Pythagorean philos
ophy of numbers, I have already shortly indicated, and
and vol.
chap.
will
here
the
same
melody
to.
expresses
all
Music
tirely
kind
In
etc.
the
of
the
with
first,
as
all
which
reality,
it is
are
affec
it has
runs
en
of quite another
although
so that while
character,
is,
will
second
a
above,
such
will
again, denotes the ladder
in the rest of nature.
; harmony,
in this sense,
parallel
and
the
of
the
with
the
with
accordance
at
presupposing,
—
acquaintance
an
movements
objectivation
is,
explain
reader
in human consciousness, that
tions, feelings,
the
in the
time,
known
made
further
somewhat
referred
passages
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
136
a complete anal
music, as such, existing
ogy it has no similarity with it
in
our
nerves
and
brain.
Outside these,
auditory
only
—
or
in itself
in
mere
in
quantity,
intervals
relation
in
its
tones
of
the
scales
other
element,
is,
so
rest
on
words,
is it
it
)
in
consists
respect of
quality, in the
respect of
which
vibrations; in
rhythmical
in
sense
that
directly,
and
rhythm,
of
of
in the Lockean
( understood
relations
the arithmetical
numerical
also
as
it is
in its harmonic
element.
The
the
nature
whole
microcosm
as
expressed
by
mere
reducible
to
these.
the world,
of
of
proper
Berol.)
of
gospel ascribed
on
on
the
to
of
of
numbers.
succession
time.
said
about
"
the
number-philos
Scholia to Aristotle
"
be led to the supposition,
X6yo$ in the introduction to the
one
might
word
John,
things in
Relations
?
the Pythagoreans in the
(p. 829, ed.,
ing
nature of
numbers
possibility is based
When one reads what is
that the use
well
relations, and is, therefore,
in this sense Pythagoras was
And
whose
of
as
numerical
right in placing the
But what now are
ophy
therefore,
macrocosm, may be certainly
the
so strange and mysterious and
verg
the absurd, as also the earlier and analogous pas
sages in Philo, originate in the Pythagorean
philosophy of
numbers, from the signification, that is, of the word X6yo?
in the arithmetical sense, as numerical
relation, ratio
numerica.
Such a relation constitutes, with the Pytha
goreans, the innermost and indestructible essence of
every
ciple
being;
aPXTj;
%v 6 Xdyos.
("De
in
It
Anima,"
of
should
i.
words, its first
other
whence
1)
:
everything
be
rd
noted
and
might
also
original
prin
be said, iv dpX7j
that
jrd&j Xdyot hoXoi elm,
Aristotle
et
mox:
says
6
ph
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Xdyot
ydp
One is
e7£oy rob npdyparos.
the X6yo<: arepparucoi
Stoics,
the
of
137
here
also reminded
to
I
which
shall
of
shortly
return.
According
latter
owed
Jamblichos'
to
his
Pythagoras,
Egypt, where
biography
education
the
of
to
chiefly
he
from his twenty-second to his fifty-sixth year,
and, indeed, to the Egyptian priests.
Returning in his
fifty-sixth year, he had conceived the project of found
remained
ing
kind
a
temple
priestly state, in imitation
of
hierarchies,
of
necessary to Greeks;
this in his fatherland,
in
course,
he
to a certain extent,
the cow, together with a hundred other things
of
("Herod.,"
ii.,
41), this
would
Pythagoras respecting
of
ment,
especially
(Jambl.,
the
for
c.
of
animals
the
discipline
sun
(c. 35,
important
most
inclination
of
had been
the
conclusion
the
"
which
even
§
and
the
of
civilization
of
the Greek
*It may be well to
ments as to the origin
do not by
borrowing
results
any
of
of
he had
the
be
mathe-
a
also
extended
from
to
this,
book
of
from
note
looks through the
by
collected
lib.
Stobaeos
i.,
c.
25),
that Schopenhauer's state
The
in
no
way borne
coincidences
mentioned
most
early civilizations, and
to the farfetched hypothesis of the
Egyptian
is undoubtedly
to
as
1st
Heeren's
civilization are
research.
give color
ancient
the
(especially
reader
Egyptian
recent
of
one
when
astronomy
remind
of
(Consult,
with
philosophers
might
means
the
principles
"
Stobaeos,
of
From the rest,
by
to
of
priestly
ceremonial, the worship
things.*
His
many other
chapter
24th
notions
Schopenhauer
con
symbolical
itself
the foundation
him in Egypt.
with
Diodorus.)
the
rise to
gave
extended
and
256),
astronomical
Eklogues
all
the
also
much
elementary
from
150),
as
Hence the priority of his doctrine of the
the ecliptic was disputed by CEnopides,
the Egyptians.
who
and
speech,
strict
caste,
oxen
slaughtering
which
theorems; yet, again,
mathical
regulation
animal nourish
is enjoined; similarly,
metempsychosis, his white robes,
all
also, his doctrine of
his eternal mystification,
modes
from
of
§
28,
the
explain
also
abstinence
prohibition
Puith.,"
"Vit.
sideration
by
in
succeed
Samos,
did,
Now, as Egyptian culture and religion,
doubt, came from India, as is proved by the
sanctity
out
modifications
not
Krotona.
without
of
did
though he
and
the Egyptian
of
the
with
culture
of greater
from India.
The Egyptian
antiquity than the Indian.
—
Tr.
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
138
one
that
the
single
a
as
they have
finds
with
invention, but
own
The
doubted.
the
of
from
comes
mere
is
this
is
Egypt,
prohibition
well-known
absurdities,
Pythagoreans,
That
correct.
quite
are
rule,
produced
exception
who,
not
their
be
to
not
Pythagoras
of
respecting beans is of purely Egyptian origin, and merely
a superstition derived from thence, since Herodotus (ii.,
that in Egypt the bean is considered unclean
37),
relates
and
abhorred,
that the
so
tolerate
not even
will
priests
the sight of it.
That the doctrine
ism is
proved
tained
in the
Pythagoras is
of
decided
a
panthe
briefly by a sentence of
the Pythagoreans, preserved by Clement of Alexandria, con
dpifl
"
as
conclusively
Hortatio
to
points
which
as
its
ad
"
gentes,
Ilo&ayopav, 01 fyaaiv 'Opev &eds
bnovooumv, iurd? ray Siaxoapyjaio'},
el?'
rdv
% ouroy
dXX'
rcvey
Doric dialect
the
Ook inoKpbnreov
genuineness:
iv
aura,
SXtov'
kukXiu, inisKono? Tzdea<s yeviaro?, Kpaai? ruiv
ipydras rmv abrob dvvdptwv na) ipymv dndvrmv iv
rm
itol
itdvrmv
narijp,
vobs
(See "Clem. Alex.
good, namely, to
that, properly
the
as
speaking,
what
p.
he
foreign
he
was
§u>aTr\p,
Ktvaais.
i.,
118, in "Sanctorum
Wirceburgi, 1778.) It is
p.
oneself
Theism
considerable
not
learned,
origin.
would
his thoughts
what
izdvrmv
nal
at
and
every opportunity
Judaism are ex
Apuleius, Pythagoras got as far as India,
by the Brahmins. (See Apuleius,
ed.
130,
Bip.) I believe, nevertheless, that
Herakleitos ("Diog.
wise
kvkXui,
3>v,
instructed
assuredly
in
iv.,
vol.
convince
Pythagoras consisted,
as of
torn,
oXm
del
obpdvio
ob%, <3y
iv SXto
to
even
"Florida,"
Opera,"
rw
de
o/loy
of
robs
terms.
According
and was
4>uxwoi$
Polem.,"
Patrum Oper.
changeable
na\
obSk
have
wisdom
so
was
much
in
Laert.,"
knowledge
what
not so much
This is
written
and
his own, that
confirmed
lib. viii., c.
it down in
by
is,
a
saying of
Other
1, §5).
order
to
from oblivion; while, on the other
learned from abroad was safe enough
fountain-head.
of
he thought,
rescue
hand,
at
the
Section
3.
sokrates.
The
wisdom
faith.
That
therefore
of
Sokrates is
poetical
is
there
be found.
not
Sokrates had
fat
a
mental
hence
his
recognize
and
not
of
belong
all
certain
his
to the few
action
gradually
humanity,
does
that he
shepherds
—
to the
But from
race.
this
limit his immediate
to
not
and
written,
toward
the
human
clear
to the high
must
conviction
but to
the
of
as
not
mind
position
to the
flock,
is,
have
great
to the
belong
not
doubtful
as
who
A
and
becomes
does
which
those
attain
the
to
obligation
and
belly,
calling
educators, that
the
very much wisdom to
Lukian (" Philo. Pseudes," 24),
to
Pythagoras.
consequently
and
Platonic
clear, but in the Xenophontic Soc
But it is just
of
powers
also
ideal
an
precisely
According
signs of genius.
philosophic
of
was
enunciated
who
person,
thoughts, is perfectly
rates
article
an
Sokrates
Platonic
the
brings into
chance
which
his neighborhood, but to extend it to humanity, in order
that it may reach the exceptions, the elect, in the latter.
But the only organ with which one speaks to humanity
is writing; verbally
dividuals,
as
and
the human
addresses
is concerned,
race
such
individuals
seed,
which
what
it
are
a
only
number of
either
must
bad
soil
generally
not influence them
does
degenerates.
rapidly
be preserved,
tradition,
a private
a
produces
therefore,
through
one
in
therefore anything so said, remains, as far
which
through writing, the
solely
Add to this, that
is
and
this
falsified
only true
at
For
matter.
for the best
at
The
all,
or
seed
cannot
every
preserver of
else
itself,
be done
step, but
thoughts.
every deep-thinking mind necessarily
has the impulse, for the sake of its own satisfaction, to
retain its thoughts and reduce them to the greatest pos
definition,
and consequently to em
But this is only perfectly attained
body
in writing, for the written delivery is essentially different
from the verbal, since it alone admits the highest pre-
sible
clearness
them in
and
words.
("9)
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
140
the
cision, concision,
and
becoming
ektypos
a pure
this, it
all
to
have
I
written.
not
have been mainly
their
character
"
the
"
the
of
by
than
of
who effected more
their brains.
of
the Vedas
The
by
majestic authors
"
"
the
may
prayers,
disposed to hold them to
heroes,
have written, though
Vedas, consisting as it does merely
have been only verbally
originally
Upanishads
Sanhita
of
in any thinker
invention of the
reason, it is hard for
intellect of those who
great
rather
am
thus
consequence
conceit
For this
practical
In
important
most
unutilized.
race
brevity,
pregnant
thought.
marvelous
to believe in the really
me
of
a
leave the
to
wish
human
be
would
most
of
propagated.
Sokrates
Between
drawn.
Both
ignorance in
plete
Kant
many parallels may be
dogmatism; both profess a com
and
reject all
matters
of metaphysic
and make
their
Both
speciality the clear consciousness of this ignorance.
maintain that the practical, that which man has to do and
to forbear, is, on the other hand, perfectly certain of itself
without
any further theoretical foundation.
fortune,
that their immediate
Both had the
declared dis
broke away from them precisely on these principles,
and, elaborating a metaphysic, established thoroughly
dogmatic systems ; and further, that these systems turned
successors
and
ciples
out
diverse,
very
they
the case
might
notify my
and
yet
all
be.
relation
As I
of
am myself
to him in
in maintaining that
Sokrates or Kant, as
agreed
from the doctrines
started
Kantian,
a
I
will
here
Kant teaches that
one word.
know anything beyond experience and its pos
this, but maintain that experience itself,
in its totality, is susceptible of an explanation which I
we
cannnot
I
sibility.
have
admit
endeavored
to
give
by deciphering
and
it like
a
writing,
not, as with all earlier philosophers,
to transcend it by means of its mere
by undertaking
forms, a method
Kant had
The
from
Plato,
sitions,
or
proved
the Sokratic
method, as we learn it
in that the foundation of the propo
intended to be proved by the collocutor
consists
which
opponent,
are
are
quences are seen.
in
to be invalid.
advantage of
continuous
admitted
singly
Since, however,
speech, consequences
before
in
a
and
their
didactic
grounds
conse
delivery
are
able
THE HISTORY OF
be
to
not
seen at
please
Plato
impose
upon us
the
among
is this
—
141
them if
attack
would
Meanwhile,
one.
would
one
once,
PHILOSOPHY
fools had in
innocence let
all
Sokrates
which
by
to wit, that
the application of this method, the Sophists
of
they did
things
means
and other
to
prove
them
they were such. This is incredible ; it is much more
likely that, at the last quarter of the way, or as soon as
they noticed what he was driving at, they would, by
that
denying
manoeuvres
tentional
dodges
as
desirous
of
planned
game
would
are
why
should
which
for the
else,
the
greatest
The
low
to
soon
the
to
equal
would
—
everyone
of
insult?
namely,
instinctive
an
inclination
detect intellectual
it begins to
For
method
himself to the level
eminence
feels
indeed
as
he
betimes.
skin
understood
they
or
net,
his
bring
intellectual
nature
and
artificially-
insulting,
himself
make
can
moment
his
that
and
save
the
spoiled
torn
and
the Sophists have
everyone
as
have
rude
advisable
not
and
so
tricks
other
such
instinctively by dishonesty
Sokrates
of
have become
to this
and
employed
justifying itself,
have found it
by
had previously been said, in
what
misunderstandings
supe
riority.
Section
4.
PLATO.
in Plato
Already
dianoialogy,
physical
doctrine
of
the
modern
finally
its
shortly
itself
philosophy,
is the
on
the
of
a
a
with
behoof
the
certain
secret
a
of
false
meta
rational
immortality depending
of
and
whole of
till
Kant,
head.
which
fundamentally
on
its
exist
ancient, mediaeval,
the
The
of the
purpose.
on
deceptive
a
as
again
dragging
vitality,
rationalism
follows: That
terial substance,
origin
forward
again
toughest
metaphysical
as
find the
put
throughout the
knocked it
ferred to
is
doctrine
a
proved
it has
ence as
with
and
we
namely, for
purpose,
psychology
It has
it.
and
which
all-destroyer,
doctrine here re
theory
of
knowledge
may be summed up
knows in us is an imma
It
distinct
from
the
body
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
i42
Soul;
called
Hence
body being
the
hindrance to knowledge.
senses is deceptive, the
a
knowledge through the
all
knowledge
certain
and
only true, accurate,
removed
from
which is free and
perception), in other words,
which functions
exclusively by
pure
all
methods, and consequently will
from the body, that is,
arated
such
that
of
that
or
abstract con
entirely by its own
best after it is sep
after we are
dead.
In
soul
work
therefore, dianoialogy
wise,
thought,
means
For this instructs the
ceptions.
being
sensibility {i.e. from
all
into the hands
plays
of
psychology to the benefit of its doctrine of im
This doctrine which I have here summed up, we
mortality.
rational
find
fully
differently
somewhat
clearly in the
S6£a
KuXierai
IlXaribv
iv
8k,
rob
abrm
tponijv,
rut
Spaais,
<py)0t, fiord?
dipa
-KeizX-fjypivov
de
ftempeTrat, ij
ij
nal
yivet
dvrtXapfiavoplvr),
%uXobs,
rmv
damparos
dam,
a
("
bdndum,
judicans,
speciem,
habens
no)
El
elvat
iart
de
pev
Uxor)
depoetdi)?
eirdhs
itdvrms
rrjv
ij
ydp
Qmroetdys, ij
ij
Mox:
yvmptarucd.
damparov
fwvrjv,
and
roiy <j>oo-tKOt?
drpoetdij?,
ipoyi] rdy dotopdrous
apcd-pdis
jcai
rdy
iv
ro?y
yiverai
mathematics)
et 119).
{Vetus
versatur
Mox:
ny
quce-
opinio, quod similia
in Tim&o, ad pro-
esse
visioj'
habens
cernitur
cognoscens
formam,
speciem ;
ut
irapd
is
from
116
vii.,
vocem, protinus
nempe
incorporeas,
est
—
odoratus autem
poris aliquant
roiy
pure
"
Plato,
incorpoream, usus est eodem genere
*
"-nam si
inquit, apprehendens lu
auditus
autem
a'erem percussum
luminosa,
animan
est
iv
probata,
cognoscantur.
statim
is,
Math.,"
Adv.
demonstrations:
moris
(that
physicis usque
similibus
rdy
na&ditep
oupdrwv
rob
iart
rr/v
dvayxrjv
It
x.
Timaeus,
rey
elvat
yvmpiZooaa
hot
chap.
"
Kixprjrat.
eb&bs
iart
Snsp
drpobs
oo$pr)ai<s
dpoimv
Tzapaaraatv
dnodetgems
riyy
Kpivooaa,
ld£a$ Xapfidvouoa,
rztpaai
cent
rmv
izpbs
XuXoetdy]s'
yebati
IlaXaid
words:
dpota
rd
Tipaim,
rib
"
it very precisely
expounds
following
Ttepl
Phaedo,
in the
conceived
Sextus Empiricus
which
"
clearly in the
and
et
ad aeris
vapores,
gustus,
est
qui
accedens
omnino
va-
humores,
hu-
anima, ideas suscipiens
in numeris et in finibus
corporum,
necessario et
qua sunt
incorporea. ")
Even Aristotle
admits
this argument, at least hypotheticof the "De Anima" (c.
in the first book
ally, where,
he says that the
thereby
separate
constituted
i.),
existence of the soul would
if any manifestation
in
which
be
the
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
had
body
festation
no
is
nation, it
robro aveo
the
not
possible
cannot
obtain
5)
Tty,
that
and
such
without
perception
without
the
But if
imagi
and
{el d( iart
body
tyavraaias,
Yet Aristotle does
which
conditions,
the
are
not
fuerit in
non prius
iv
even
(See,
sensibus.
to
as
nai
obde
admit
the
of
premises
argumentation, in so far, namely, as he teaches
later formulated in the proposition, nihil est in
quod
a mani
ook
aveo
pi)
awparo<s ehai).
above
it,
things to be Thought.
ivd£xotr'
fyavraaia
voe'iv
to
accrued
seemed above all
even this
rd
part
143
what was
intellectu,
"
this,
De
Anima,"
iii., 8.) Even he saw, therefore, that all that is
and
abstractly thought has first borrowed its en
purely
This also
tire material and content from the perceived.
disturbed the
Ages,
men
of
nitions
its
on
this
—
the
answer
main
a
The
priori,
in the
school
the
valuable original
Forge
for
one
as
are
not, like the
background
which
no
might
fear
master
betray
it.
about
as
extensa
hoc,
jam
ing
his
remained
doxy.
sub
great
una
Mo
by
himself,
attributo
finally
plunged
on
again
thoroughly healthy
order
the
to
and
veritates, had
matter
received
I have already
explained
his
of
a philosopher
disciples,
those
these
since
keep
to
sides of
his
in the
system
its weakness, inasmuch as they have
But Spinoza opposed to the whole
superiority.
But this
ceterncB
as
concerned
possible
eademque
exquisitely
In
to section six of my
morals, in which I have
words of the Cartesian De la
Cartesian dualism his doctrine
stantia
Pomponasius,
of
the clearest
much
as
in
finds the false doctrines
a rule expressed
draws
which
appended
adduced
—
cog
reference
the universalia
of,
which
the foundation
on
thought
from them.
conceived
elaborate observation
essay
pure
no
efforts and controversies
spoken
The development
having
collected
argument
through Descartes and his
prize
a
words,
requirement
cognitions
serve.
thoughts
found
to be
are
point
other
in the Middle
even
that there are
prove
is,
that
hence,
and
to
from itself.
material
derives his
who
to
reason
images; in
to any
all
the
Schoolmen,
endeavored
Leibnitz,
the
called
path of
out
of
qua
substantia,
comprehenditur,
endeavor
into the
cogitans
substantia
est
on
et
thereby
the
other
Descartes
sub
jam
sub
show
hand,
and ortho
the, for philosophy,
the
excellent
investigation
of
the
Locke,
so
who
origin
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
I44
after
ideas,
conceptions, and made the
he had carefully expounded it, the foundation of
The French, for whom his system
philosophy.
innate
phrase no
by Condillac,
out
worked
the
matter on
the
urged
and
absolutely, this
truth in
as
ingredient
material; in
by
by
brain,
and
it is
—
As the
of
sense,
in
does
than
not
just
purpose,
Taken
lies this
there
feeling
furnishes for it its
feeling
conditioned
namely, is
former
latter,
is the
so
condi
by
Yet
activity.
nervous
the
even
hold closely by this proposi
in this case a ma
a metaphysical
with
forward
put
sentir.
presupposes
which
no more
consist
school
tion, but only
but
false,
perception
organs.
both
the French
terialistic
the
part
c'est
thought in part
all
the nerves
tioned
is
farther in the
they
as
penser,
proposition,
of
corporeal
inasmuch
proposition
that
it,
much
proceeded
basis,
same
his
was
as
—
Platonic, Cartesian,
their
had only held the false proposi
tion that the only accurate knowledge of things consists
in pure thought, also with a metaphysical object, in order
Leibnitzian
thereby
to
opponents
the
prove
leads
immateriality
the
of
Kant
soul.
away from both these false paths, and
from a quarrel in which neither party, properly speak
ing, proceeds honestly to the truth. The two sides both
alone
us
to metaphysic,
says :
"
but their attention is really turned
hence they falsify dianoialogy.
Kant
there is a pure knowledge from reason,
dianoialogy,
profess
and
Certainly
that
is,
and
consequently
its
cognitions a
But
even
which
precede
all
experience,
Thought, which does
knowledge by means of the
a
to any
this knowledge
material
from
priori,
also
a
priori,
although
not
owe
senses."
not
drawn
has
only worth and validity for the
sake of experience; for it is
nothing else but the aware
ness of our own knowledge apparatus and
its modus
operandi (brain
function), or, as Kant expresses
the
form
its
experience,
it,
of
the
material
with which
ing,
knowing
consciousness
itself,
primarily through the empirical
it is connected by means of the
and without
which
it is empty
and
his philosophy is termed the "Critique
Therewith
which receives
all
the
the ground, and
above
with
metaphysical
it falls
all
knowledge,
sense
useless;
of pure
feel
whence
Reason."
psychology falls to
Plato's pure activity of
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
For
the soul.
ception
we
material,
of
the
thought is
a
about
that therefore the
and
is nothing but
sition
knowledge
that
see
is brought
which
a
even
mere
knowing
digestion is of the stomach.
If then, accordingly, Plato's doctrine
edge
the
body,
poseless,
regard
knowledge kept
as
analogue
reader
of
shown
to the third book
Section
pur
may,
not
my
the
will
perfection,
this I re
Respecting
of
with
the intuitive
therefore
same.
as
to be
with
community
and
all
knowl
communication
we
all
the
presuppo
isolating
impossible,
doctrine, that only
my
from
no
such,
the brain
of
even
the highest objectivity,
the true
fer the
pure
all
of
perception, is
and
and
mistaken,
from
pure
the senses,
withstanding,
attains
it
keeping
and
as
fact that
the
function
physiological
the
per
has
body
subject,
without
aside
setting
the
without
through the
empty form
mere
body,
145
chief work.
5.
aristotle.
The
main
have been
spection,
of
of
power
His
depth.
acutely
in ourselves;
acuteness,
out.
false.
were,
acuteness
the
on
For this
of
Depth
said
with
to
circum
is tame,
although
thought finds its
material
the
of
world
has to
receive
But
that
it is to have any data.
data
combined
observation, many-sidedness, and want
conception
worked
Aristotle may be
of
characteristic
pre-eminent
one
hand
the
reason
at
it from
the
time
few,
study
on
and
of
without
if
empirical
the
Aristotle
is
other
nowa
that of Plato remains
not very profitable, while
The want of depth complained
in the highest degree.
in his
apparent
most
in Aristotle is
naturally
days
so
of
"
Metaphysic,
"
where
mere
acuteness
will
as
not,
else
least satisfactory.
; hence, in the latter, he is
where,
"
is, for the most part, a conversation
His " Metaphysic
suffice
as
to the
cises
lated
and
philosophies
refutes
sayings,
somewhat
like
of
his predecessors,
from his
without
one who
standpoint,
penetrating
breaks
their
windows
which
mostly
he
meaning,
from the
criti
from iso
and
outside.
He
few
propounds
in
not
his
for
polemic
"
The
ideas
the
the
direct
the
is
His
use.
disposition
method
and
least
at
bent
empirical
to
has
to
as
age
to
continually
and
to
the
his
stand
the
him
to
scien
specially
and
was
may be.
in some
started
In zoology,
respects, of
in general gives him
dissipate
himself.
He
from the
almost
any line of thought for
end, in the capacity for which consists
following
of
pre
childhood,
is apt, accordingly, to spring so easily aside
line of thought which he had begun, as to be
capable
a
since
to-day, be directly very
cannot,
still,
Aristotle
adult
of
indirectly they
though
which
progress
such
characterized
which
he
hence
relation
the
by
advanced
attitude
by him,
however,
made
sciences
empirical
much
tific
has
most
right.
entirely
like
But inasmuch as,
bent.
in the
state
the
of
He is
again
sciences;
experience
its then
knowledge
service.
something
into his mouth; he is
their validity.
Acuteness suffices
admit
empirical
eminently
time,
to
not
return
indebted to
are
Plato is
where
least
at
or
own,
we
our
accidental
and
again
empirical
of
part
latter
the
of
his
of
That
manner.
great
a
digest
cannot
resolved
in
"
dogmas
or no
connected
a
older philosophies, is an
hostile to Plato precisely
he
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
I46
out
in
long
pre
On the contrary,
cisely the faculty of deep thought.
he is always starting problems, but
only touching them,
and
proceeding
at
once,
without
solving them
thoroughly discussing them, to something
his reader often thinks, "Now it's
;
and
hence it
a problem
and
followed it
come
has been
hanging
to something
not
keep
else
upon
and
often
his
appears,
out
a short
lips,
leaves
when
us
when
even
Hence
but it does
coming,"
not
or
else.
he has
stirred
way, that the truth
suddenly he is off
For he can
in doubt.
to anything, but springs from that which
he in
tended to something
different which occurs to him at the
moment, as a child lets a toy fall in order to seize an
other it has just seen.
This is the weak side of his in
tellect; it is the vivacity of superficiality. It is the
explanation of
tematic
and
head,
why,
since
although
classification of the
tion is throughout
Aristotle
was
a
from him proceeded the
highly
sys
separation
sciences, nevertheless his exposi
deficient in systematic
arrangement,
THE
and
we
miss
separation
lar.
therein
of
plan
a
methodical
the dissimilar
He deals
having
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
as
they
the
of
simi
to him without
occur
previously thought them out and
them ; he thinks with a pen in his
of
the
progress, namely,
and collocation
things
with
147
sketched a clear
hand,
a method
which, though it is a great facility for the writer, is a
great grievance for the reader.
Hence the planlessness
insufficiency
and
he
back
comes
of
his
; hence the reason why
exposition
hundred times to the
a
thing,
same
sim
ply because something foreign to it had come in between ;
hence the reason why he cannot keep to a subject, but
goes
from the hundredth to the thousandth; hence it is
leads, as above described, the reader, anxious for
that he
the solution of the problem mooted, about by the nose;
hence it is that, after having devoted several pages to a
subject, he begins his investigation suddenly from the
beginning
this
Xdj3u>pev
with
times in
six
hie tanto dignum promissor
the
word, he is
as, for
are
confused
an
exhibit
been the
model
of
original
radical
to
quid
so
symmetry
fcret
many
in
hence,
In
and unsatisfactory.
scientific
of
architectonic
and
m^eoij,
chapters;
he has certainly done
the three books of
a
-rijy
applies
and
instance,
throughout
The
hiatu,
books
often
so
cases
ceptional
his
of
exordiums
dpyi^v
aXXyv
vbv
work; hence the motto,
one
of
a
ex
things
"
differently,
"
Rhetoric, which
indeed
and
method,
which
well
may
have
the Kantian.
Aristotle,
of
antithesis
alike
in his
mode
in his exposition, is Plato.
The latter
of thought as
thought
as
if
with
an
iron
to
his
holds fast
leading
hand,
also
follows
out
ifications,
and
finds it
that he had
had
fore
its thread, be it
again
fully
he
and
to
started
work
of
all
after
a
time,
all
art,
and
the full
of
of
made
sense
ram
dialogues,
sees
from this
and
for its exposition, be
every dialogue is a
whose
frequent
whose
back, unexpectedly
idea, after it has been
One
its
all
parts
have
a
well
though it is often purposely hid
and
knew, in
Hence,
write.
thin, in
the longest
thought out his subject,
arrangement
thought-out connection,
den for
so
of
episodes.
ripely
planned an artistic
planned
never
through the labyrinths
of
episodes
themselves,
clear
by
the word,
to
Plato
them.
what
often
the
he
lead
leading
always
wanted and
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
I4g
intended;
through the
to
problems
decisive
a
he does
part
most
not
but is
issue,
We
thorough-going discussion.
their
with
for the
although
carry
satisfied
need not much
some accounts, especially in ^lian
wonder, therefore, if
("Var. Hist," iii., 19, iv. 9, etc.), state that between Plato
and
that Plato
displayed;
disparagingly of Aristotle,
and levity, though it was
also
was quite antipathetic
In
spite of
this
nevertheless,
he had to be
and
to
the
of
wants
to properly
latter
was
and
empiricist; hence
out
Verulam.
of
in
understand
opponent
attitude, Aristotle was,
driven
and
Breadth
between
antithesis
methodical
empiricism, Bacon
father
"
Schiller's poem,
empirical mental
overthrown
the
unsteadiness, flashiness,
with his
polymathy,
whose
applied
logical
no
was
then spoke somewhat
connected
to Plato.
Depth,"
may be
Aristotle and Plato.
and
now and
harmony
of
considerable personal want
Aristotle
of
conqueror
who
why the
Aristotle and
sense
what
the true
by
Anyone
and
his method, has only to read the books of Aristotle, " De
degeneratione et corruptione. "
Here he will find a true
a
priori treatment of
stand
a
explain
and
the
a
is
chemistry
hand,
other
processes
instance is
particularly bad
where
one
nature,
its
with
to under
seeks
mere
conceptions;
furnished in 1. ii., c. 4,
constructed
appeared
which
from
a
the
priori.
Bacon,
advice not
to
of
abstract, but the perceptual experience, the
The brilliant result
the knowledge of nature.
is
the
the
high
present
which
look
we
Aristotelian
that the
remarkable
disclose,
down,
vexations
quite
the
of
state
with
a
piteous
above
respect
books
mentioned
plainly even, the
origin
source
of
this
sciences, from
smile,
In this
spirit.
of
natural
on
make
of
on
these
it is very
Aristotle
of
scholasticism;
indeed the quibbling, word-juggling method of the latter
is already to be met with there.
For the same purpose
the books
worthy
sample
of
of
know the
"
De
ccelo
being
the
are
of
nature
obvious.
mere
not
also
very useful,
Even the first
method
essence of
viii., from
that there
are
read.
the failure is here
chap,
"
therefore
seeking to determine and to
from mere conceptions, and
It is there
conception and
several
and
chapters are a good
worlds,
and
proved to us in
locis communibus,
in chap. xii. it is
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
.49
It is
similarly speculated as to the course of the stars.
logical reasoning from false conceptions, a quite
a
nature-dialectic,
which
undertakes, from
which
to
certain
special
universal
is
reasona
axioms,
ble and proper, to decide a priori what nature is and
how it must act.
In seeing such a great, indeed stupen
dous, intellect such as, after all said and done, Aristotle
supposed
entangled
remains,
which
are
thickly in
so
ago, it is pre-eminently
manity
owes
Hook,
ert
the
hollow
the
earth
pass
might
better; but
form,
rise
will
can
he
much
attended
have
we
The
absurd
fast
to
planets
the
of
viii.
whole
cleave
stars
and
to
similar
xiii.
chap.
,
presents
the Pythagoreans
the earth in
of
fail to
arouse
our
to
order
polemic
Demokritos, how
and
on
to
the
reject
indignation.
from his frequent
see
we
in
of
views
motion
hardly
more
to
Rob
of
Empedokles, Herakleitos,
had
his
to us
sun
;
himself,
correct
when
and
chaps, vii.
hu
much
very
revolving produces light and
All
is expressly said, still.
if there had not already been something
and
place,
them, it
of
stands, it
when
the entirely
us
globe
ones; the friction
nearer
heat;
this
In
expounds
heavens:
the
of
revolving
sort,
years
to us how
plain
Newton.
and
arrangement
a
Kopernicus, Kepler, Galilei, Bacon,
to
book, Aristotle
second
this
few hundred
errors
their validity till
maintained
what
express
This
against
these
all
insight into nature, and had even
better, than the barren talker that
correct
experience
before
Empedokles
us.
had, indeed,
already
tangential force arising from revolution and act
taught
opposition
to gravity (ii. 1 and 13, also the " Scholia,"
ing in
a
p.
Far
491).
removed
of
views
vulgar
(iv.,
his
all
2
views
But
here
which
we
found
that was
the
but
opinion
).
not
able
even
takes
also
follows the
to estimate this at
admit
his
the correct
of
and
and
better,
Ptolemaic cosmology,
beginning of
advantage, doubtless,
which
the
of
above
on
the
appearance
mind
that these
circulation, superseding
so became, later on
and
Hipparchus,
with
of
stand
superficial
have further to bear in
recognition
earlier
foundation
itself till the
great
being
these ancients on the true significance
below,
and
from
Aristotle does
its true value,
and
afterward
mankind
sixteenth
had to
of
the
content
century, to the
the Jewish-Christian
reli-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
150
dogmas,
gious
which
are at
Kopernican
cosmology.
in
when
heaven
bottom incompatible
( For
there
is
how
no
be
should there
heaven?)
the
with
a
Theism
God
when
division of
seriously meant, necessarily presupposes the
the world into heaven and earth; on the latter men run
But
about, in the former sits the God who rules them.
if astronomy takes the heaven away, it has taken the God
with it also; it has, that is to say, so extended the world
But a personal being,
that there is no room left for God.
such
but
every God
as
but is
must
imagined,
not
extent,
nowhere,
and
to
accordingly,
necessarily
be,
has
who
no
place,
merely be spoken of,
To the
therefore not believed in.
everywhere and
can
physical
which
astronomy
is
popularized, theism must wane, however much it may
have been impressed upon men by an unceasing and
pompous preaching.
this
nized
pernican
at
once,
system
and shriek over
The Catholic Church rightly recog
accordingly persecuted the Ko
and
as regards which
;
the crushing
of
it is
Galilei,
Who knows
vult esse conservatrix sui.
least presentiment,
knowledge,
of Aristotle to the
doctrines of the
or
danger
knows
of
at
adoration
whether
the
olden
did
by him,
averted
weening
many
a
to
wonder
omnis natura
whether
of
a secret
this congeniality
Church,
and
to the
Middle Ages ?
stimulated
one,
astronomical
for
not contribute
him in the
of
childish
systems,
by
had
of
the
over
Who
his
accounts
not
secretly
long before Kopernicus, who,
after
many years of hesitation, and with the intention
of
separating himself from the world finally ventured to
penetrated
proclaim
these
truths
them ?
Section 6.
STOICS.
A
very beautiful and pregnant conception with the
is that of the X6yo<s (meppartKds, although more com
accounts respecting it than those which have come
Stoics,
plete
down to
us might
<(Plut. de
Plac.
be desired ("Diog.
Phil.,"
i.,
7;
«Stob.
Laert.,"
Ecl.,»
i.,
vii., 136;
p.
THE
Thus
151
is clear, however, that what was understood
that which in the successive individuals of
kind asserted and preserved its identical form, inas
much
thereby
a
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
much
was
it
as
passes
for
instance,
the
seed.
the
through
it is
maintaining it.
annihilates
which
makes
death.
the
magical
the
forma
qualities
is
we
formula
the
form
of
The
also.
ual, the
hand,
The
obviously
nations of
the forma
"
edition; in
scq.
,
and
"
compendium
should
chief
is
man
of
the
of
to the
lib.
iii.,
the very
by Stobaeus ("Eel.
complete
sect.
to the individ
on
"
and
of
seen
the
in
other
Expla
"
Scotus
Oxford
the
of
dial. 3,
p.
252
Disputationibus
1), that
wisdom,
rather
knowledge
presentation
Eth.,"
the
than
professors of
shallowness
our
15,
139
Cosa,"
in
that
to inorganic beings
to be
p.
scholastic
German
is,
procreat
to the Platonic idea.
length
whole
source of
the
all
his forma
and
kind; both,
acquaintance
all
as
into
through
of
just
directly
Bruno, della
at
this form
conceptions
living
substantialis
Suarez (disp.
soulless
quintessence
One
of
its
seek
of
of
substantialis are
Giordino
calls
complex
solely to
related
developed
Metaphsicis
placidity
soul
Nat.,"
de Divis.
spite
aitepfiariKO?
Schoolmen,
the
of
refers, moreover,
are
kind,
in
is thought; its antithesis
pure
matter, destitute of all
accrues
directly
touch the
present
being
but the forma
one
namely,
to it is the conception
the
of
What distinguishes both
other
Erigena
not
times
all
related
the
prima,
aizeppariKds
ing beings,
virtue
translate X6Xos
which at
natural
quality.
substantialis.
the X6yi«s
by
principle
that,
representing and
of which the death
species
might
Nearly
every
materia
and
a
substantialis
inner
the
which
individual,
the
of
in
in
accordingly the
the individual continuously
phenomenon.
the
of
is
other; as,
embodied
species
the individual does
Hence
of
in
one
It is that
which
of
the
to
one
the
spermaticus
element
which
the
conception
The Logos
destructible
from
over
genuine
where
in the
one
bald
philosophy, the
tediousness.
of
them
the Stoic ethics
preserved
for
is
us
vii.), in which one may
for
the most part, verbal
possesses,
flatter oneself
and
Chrysippus.
If this be correct, it
Zeno
extracts from
give
us
a
high
opinion
of the spirit of
to
is not calculated
that
1. 2,
c.
one
these philosophers, seeing that it is a pedantic, pedagogic,
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
1 52
sition
Stoic morality,
the
of
from
reality
divided into
dull
Prussian
a
school-exercises
energetic, powerful,
is
drawn
not
accordingly
and
vicious;
consequence
black
Assuredly
these
sentry-box.
bear
to
latter
everything good, to the
things appearing in
all
and
Everything
and
virtuous
life,
and
thoughts.
Mankind
<j>auXot,
attributed
bad,
white, like
and
and
force
conceptions,
experience.
and
axoodawt
former is
everything
mere
expo
spiritless
and
without
or noble
valuable, striking,
without
in it is deduced from
the
empty, flat
bald, incredibly
eminently
comparison
will
not
and
well-thought-out
the
with
paragraphs
of
Seneca.
The dissertations
tetus,
of
composed
Stoa,
the
true
spirit
some
the
and
years after
information
reliable
special
Firstly,
trace
of
orderly
method,
progression.
without
that
one
should
that
That,
from
This
any
being
our
own
colossal
this
at
is
world
for it.
For
maxims
be
should
is the
all, but the
this
of
repeated
regarded
Stoic drapaSia.
is
most
we
be
in the
of
itpds
deduced
not
extraordinary
find
phrases
consequences
expounded
of
any
ground
dec
endless
and
these
most complete
turns
of
wonderful
and
vivid
accordingly have described how the Stoics
something from nothing at all.
Meanwhile, every
manner,
make
are
even
one another
required of us without
Instead
the
to
untiringly
however,
lamations in ceaselessly recurring
expression.
on
in it every
and
ijpiv would also not
i<f
the
that therefore every
men
paradox,
principles
given
not
origin
to
to anything that is not
and
will,
moves
is
which
the
attention
interest;
without
namely,
opinion of
treatment,
tacked
otherwise
completely
ijpa.$.
pay
of
as
In
no
the
the Stoic ethics,
to form and con
systematic
chapters
Epic-
as
one misses
connection, it is
and
order
the expression
thing
of
form,
the
regards
as
of
principles
for the book is unsatisfactory both
tent.
of
the philosophy
on
four hundred
no
us
give
Arrian
of
one who
and we
thinks
and a
fool.
clear
and
differently
But
one
adequate
remarkable
mode
of
than
all
more
effect
whole
thick book.
is unceasingly abused as a slave
vain for the indication of
any
hopes in
ground
for the
thought,
the
As it
abuse
is, it
assumption
although such
is
a
and
true
declamations
this
of
would
have
of
the
Capuchin's sermon,
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
its hyperbolic descriptions
with
153
the Stoic apathy, its
of
incessantly repeated panegyrics of
holy fathers Kleanthes, Chrysippos, Zeno, Krates, Diogenese, Sokrates, and
the
its
abuse
of
certainly
whole
all
the
is only the
its
subject of
such a
desultory
heading of a chapter
book is
nature
and
planless
What the
contents.
To
differ from them.
who
suited
beginning;
first
the
at
the
of
indicates
oppor
tunity
jump is made, and, as far as the ?iexus idearu?n
is concerned, we pass from the hundredth to the thou
a
So
sandth.
As
much
at
it is the
same
even
and
;
if
we
the fact that the foundation is entirely wanting,
overlook
it is
to form.
as
the content,
regards
all
events
not
genuine
thoroughly Stoical,
and
strong foreign admixture, which smacks of
The most undeniable proof
Christian-Jewish source.
but has
a
this is the theism
is
also
act
the
here
they
star;
the
world
God
who
Not
alone
the
to
Stoa is
of
the Jewish
theism, destined
native
pass
For the
is
not
and
in
their
him,
all
guiding-
The
etc.
this; God
nothing is known of a
and provides for men.
but in
long
ere
there peers through the
to
is
side and
the Stoics
the heathen
most of
century, we see
to become a popular
Christianity, already peering through, just
in
pantheism
after
and
the first Christian
writers
to-day
every
foreign to
commands,
philosophic
creed
will
hope
him,
quite
Arrian, however,
on
; the Cynics
whose
there one,
are
thinks, wills,
in
ethics
God,
of
devoted
are
original
genuine,
and
behalf
on
is to be found
which
support of
to
India,
into the
over
above
reasons
purely Stoical.
a
of
is
which
popular
hence
mutually incompatible,
mon to it can be mentioned.
its
of
no
also
Ex
ethic
here
maxims
as
the
scholars
destined
belief.
given, the
Many
of
writings
here
oricnte
lux.
expounded
are,
indeed,
ground-principles
com
way Cynicism
the doctrine that the Cynic should
In the
same
is entirely falsified by
be such chiefly for the sake of others, namely, in order
to act upon them by his example as commissioned by
by mixing in their affairs to guide
"
In a city where there were
is
Hence
them.
said,
be
Cynic
would
no
and, in
only wise men,
be
he
should
that
the same way,
healthy, strong, and
God
and
in
order
it
necessary;"
cleanly, in
order
not
to
repel
people.
How far is this
i
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
S4
from the
is true Diogenes
the
of
self-satisfaction
Krates
and
friends
domestic
the
It
Cynics ?
genuine
old
were
but that was secondary
many families ;
purpose of Cynicism.
the
wise
no
in
and accidental, and
sight of the properly
lost
therefore
Arrian has
entirely
the Stoic ethics; in
of
as
Cynicism
of
fundamental idea
and advisers of
deed he does
He
them.
him,
opposed
and
cult
ii.,
they
as
of
no
one,
is throughout
descends to
and
and
Stoic.
the
reader
vol.
spirit
expounded.
in
he, with his countless
Stoic, always says:
times
Gods
men,
book
of
same
time
nor
his
"He
of
whole
scolding tone,
a
and
16,
which
often
abuse.
all
there
this,
to
be
here
are
met with
and
in the
there
gen
book,
which
ancient
Stoics;
similarly Cynicism is in some of its features tellingly
In places there is also much sound
vividly depicted.
of man
sense,
and
as
Arrian,
as
believe.
well
as
his doings.
but very bald.
Epictetus'
That
has
one
a
itself, indeed,
Epictetus had derived from the
or
common
the
in
refer
i., §
presents
neither
the
at
while
conceived
Stoic thoughts
Arrian
the
of
I
(vol.
systematically
Arrian
of
complains
Notwithstanding
uine
thinks,
for the
now
first time the true
for the
manner, in that
one,"
no
seek
not
one
different.
work
the Stoa is
description
repeated
blames
chief
where
inconsistency
a ridiculous
of
pleases
Christian ascetic, now again to
of both often concur, but the principles
to my
xvi.),
Cynicism
The
did
He
easy.
rest are quite
matter
chap,
scolds
a
maxims
which
on
in this
of
to
listening
For the
need
it only pleases him becuse it is diffi
to human nature, while in the mean
self-renunciation; hence
of
grounds
the
because it
self-renunciation
preaching is
time the
is
perhaps
and
felt
have
to
seem
even
not
preaches
"
A. Wolfe
It has
descriptions, drawn
The
Encheiridion "
assured us
much
more
is easy
is
also
in his
spirit
the
and
point,
meaning friend
the
moreover
no
from
and
by
I do
not
lectures,
with
words
sound
ostentation, is
in the tone
written
giving his advice; while,
dissertations speak mostly in a
life,
flowing,
composed
in fewer
is instinct throughout
dissertations,
no empty declamations,
hand,
style
on
than
sense,
concise
of a
to
well-
the other
scolding
and
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
The
execrating tone.
of
content
both books
155
is,
the
on
"
Encheiridion " has very
whole, the same ; only that the
little of the theism of the dissertations.
Perhaps the
"
Encheiridion " was
own compendium,
he dictated to his hearers, but the dissertations the
Epictetus'
script
copied
from the free discourse
by
his
which
manu
commentator
Arrian.
Section
7.
neoplatonists.
The
Neoplatonists
the
of
reading
requires
much
patience,
they fail entirely as regards form and
Far better than the others in this respect is Por
style.
since
He is the only
phyry.
so
nectedly,
The worst,
"
that
on
De Mysteriis
and
stition
He
and
bad
and
and
turgid
that
is
inclined to
extracts
teriis,
"
now
means
foreign,
more
of
denied
agree with
One
arisen
being
conceited.
on
this
concerning
he is
a
super
grossly
plainly that what
from his own reflec
sees
often
contradictions.
be
in his book
crass super
the whole,
strenuously
to
of
esoteric opinion
were
limited, distorted,
are
the
also, he is full
question
which
they
is full
statements
unclear.
con
repulsion.
Iamblichos,
On
and
clearly
besides
it
as
insignificant.
writer,
all
writes
without
which
demonology,
another
stitious, confused, and
he teaches has by no
hence,
"
theurgy, but his
only flat
stood, but
who
him
the contrary, is
crude
are
tion, but
one
reads
Egyptiorum,
it is true,
has,
magic
one
only half
asserted
under
dogmas;
But the book in
by Iamblichos,
and
this opinion when I read the
I
am
long
from his lost
works preserved
by Stobaeus, and
"
De Mys
incomparably better than the book
containing as they do many good thoughts of the
are
Neoplatonic
school.
again, is a dry, bald, insipid talker; his com
Plato's "Alkibiades, " one of the worst of the
to
mentary
Platonic dialogues, which, moreover, may be ungenuine,
Proklos,
is
the
world.
baldest,
most
Over every,
diffuse
even
piece
the most
of
insipidity in the
insignificant, word of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
156
Plato's there is
What
therein.
talk,
endless
Plato
by
dogmatism,
be
mythically
in
and
sense
good
bly
more
himself.
being twisted into the
It is, nevertheless,
theosophical.
dXX'
habent in
theories
standing high
the freedom
their
eyes
go
can
otherwise,
the
—
was
people
to the devil in God's
that,
as
good
narrow
will,
that
which
our
forever before
catechism
enough
present
day.
in
called
for those
aid
God-
ready, if it pleased God,
; but in our time refuge
were
name
only be taken in aseity
acknowledged
and
with
up to the
for their part, had
That
when
dull
individual
the
themselves
Luther,
grace.
times,
given
concepti~\
the
above
of
and
philosophy
and
by
election
thus
content
—
Augustine
to
do
of
professors
dtdZwpev
plurimam
This certainly has its root
Plato's doctrine of intelligible
of
always
can
approaches
and
character,
/cafl'ay
atpiaets,
vitam
rd
e£m$ev
TtXarropivot?
eligendas, nee extrinsecus fictis similes
sponte facimus electiones, secundum quas
transigimus).
vitas
-rdy
i<p£o-ets
al rmv ipo-/mv
ob
vitas
sed nostra
Plato,
tzlofidXXopev
[ante hanc
appetitus
Ka\
/Ji'ooy,
rob?
npds
kaormv
eft
{animorum
in
to
are to be met with, though they proba
strictly belong to the school than to Proklos
It is a highly important proposition that closes
aovreXobai
sumus,
deinde
not
ideas
iowapev,
vim
super
everything
the fasciculum primum partis prima:
piyiara
alle-
spirit of
a
that in the first half of this commentary some
denied,
very
the
and
stitious
sought
and
said
was
gorically is taken in its literal
rigid
meaning is
deep
and
the will,
of
Proklos has
it,
and
ob
it
must
be
e$o$ev
^Xarropivoi<s
ioinapev.
finally,
Plotinos,
and
unequal,
verse
value
sition and
bad
the
and
style
most
"
important
Enneads
"
of
all, is
very
extremely di
Expo
content; the fourth is excellent.
are, however, for the most part, very
him; his
with
the
various
thoughts
are
not
are of
ordered
nor
previ
ously considered, but he writes them down just as they
come.
Porphyry in his biography tells us of the
loose,
careless
way in
which
tedious diffuseness
tience,
come
so
that
one
down to the
style of
a pulpit
and
he
set
to
work.
confusion
often
how
such
wonders
modern
preacher,
world.
and as
He
the
Hence
his bald
overcomes
stuff
all pa
could
have
usually has the
latter sets forth
THE
the
gospel,
the
same
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
he
so
doctrines.
forth the Platonic
sets
157
At
mythically or half
metaphorically, he drags down to intentional prosaic seri
time,
and
ousness,
Plato has
what
chews at
the
said
thought for
same
hours
with
out
In
adding anything to it from his own resources.
this he proceeds
authoritatively, and not demonstratively,
speaking throughout ex tripode; explains the matter as he
thinks it to be, without
attempting to lay any founda
tion for it.
And yet there are great, important, and
truths to be found in his
pregnant
certainly
out insight ; for
which
be read, and richly
The explanation
reason
these
of
to
necessary thereto.
characteristics
and
means with
no
he undoubtedly deserves
rewards the patience
find in the fact that he
are
by
these he
and
works,
for he is
himself,
understood
Plotinos I
of
the Neoplatonists generally
properly philosophers, are not original thinkers,
what they expound is an alien, traditional doc
notwithstanding that it has been well digested and
not
but that
trine,
by
assimilated
dom,
and
ophy,
as
sought
suitable
a
for this
menstruum
It
them.
they
which
—
namely, Indo-Egyptian
is,
tissue
connective
they
use
doctrine
dogmas, the All-One
directly and unmistakably,
Neoplatonic
presented
ter
of
in
in the fourth
the first book
brevity
great
losophy
of
the
into
sundered
of
the
4'ox7!,
by
many
of
shows
which
multiplicity
ingly,
by
-ep\
doctrines
means
the
a
sinful
that
of
4'o/j/?,
ob<xia<s
his
of
the
of
eighth
striving.
firstly,
of
the
Plotinos tes
we
how the 4'UX^ ^as
double guilt;
a
Egypt,
of
is originally one,
which
Particularly interesting is
nead,"
latter,
the
ground
conduit or
find it admirably
Even the first chap
as
Ennead. "
"
a
—
Platonic philosophy,
branch off into the
the
especially those parts of it which
To the Indian origin, through
mystical.
tifies
wis
to embody in the Greek philos
and
corporeal
book
of
reached
It
gives
whole
world.
"
this
this
carries,
phi
is only
En
state
accord
its descent into this
in the same;
world, and secondly, that of its sinful deeds
the former it expiates by its temporal existence generally,
latter,
the
(c.
5).
tian
of
which
is the less
important, by
This is obviously the
original
being
sin and
read
is the
same
particular sin.
ninth
book,
transmigration
thought
But
as
the Chris
above all
where, in
chap,
worthy
iii.,
el
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
158
Ttdaat
al
ipoxa\
soul, among
netism
from
p(a,
are
explained,
the
at
With
above
world
animal
mag
even
phenomenon
hears
though
distance,
of persons
of
wonders
somnambule
greatest
a chain
requires
the
of
unity
the
especially the
now observed, that the
word
the
things,
other
a
spoken
softly
this,
of
course,
her.
en rapport with
standing
moreover, there appears, probably for the
in Western philosophy, the Idealism already
Plotinos,
first
time
in the East, inasmuch as it is taught
1.
7, c. 10) that the soul has made the world
iii.,
in its process from eternity into time with the explana
tion: ob yap tec abroo robde rob ndvros t6ko$, J) 4,UX^1 {neque
long
current
("Enn.,"
ideality
riyy
^o/tyy Xapfidvetv
{oportet
ovroy
(here),
expressed
rdv
autem
That
teT
quam
in the
is
(hereafter)
rdv
extra
the
The
ideality
very
good
elucidation.
explanation, that we, in
ought
what
we
to be
the
fulfillment
arises
further
that
of
the future
position
rd
the
of
future,
sect.
of
and
is wanting
time
condition
Mysteriis,"
dnaXXayyj,
riyy
and
tained in
all
in English
tion
to
account
12)
final
there
an
rd
in
Indian
by
this
of
( C.
deapibv,
yevlo-em?
Ka\
Ka&apats,
on
Brahma sitting
on
rd
koi
Kdrm.
c.
4,
4
iv ra'y
other
Ka~l
are
not
that
we
look toward
to us,
et
5), in his
ij
where
the
of
dxd
rjjy
finite
and
yeviaems
duaiati izbp i/pas dnoXoet
the
words,
books,
which
is, lastly (a.
a.
o.,
symbol which
sect.
ex
also
birth
of
promise
rmv
con
is designated
In
emancipation or salvation.
the lotus ;
whence
(c. 2 et 3). A
is afforded us by
Metempsychosis,
reXeim<rt$,
religious
Egyptian
tive God sitting
which
avw,
may be found (sect. 5, c. 6), the doctrine
liberation and salvation from the bonds
death, 4'OX^
him,
be; hence,
might
which
the doctrine
of
ivddde
and Kdapo? ala-tyro?
the Indian origin
confirmation of
Iamblichos ("De
raib
acci-
of
temporal condition,
our
its
and
et;w
tempus
with
conception,
and
better things
always expect
iKet
almva
ega>#ev
receives, in chapters xi. and xii.r
Attached thereto is the beautiful
time
of
ook
opposite
nearly explains by Kdapos pot)rd<s
intelligibilis et sensibilis, also by
more
mundus
de~t de
animan
the
while
anima),
words :
obde
xpovov, maitep
nequaquam
very favorite
a
and
locus,
universi
time is
of
pere).
he
hujus
alter
est
7,
c.
represents
addi
2), the
a
crea
obviously the world-creating
the lotus-flower,
corresponding to the.
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Vishnu,
navel of
he is
as
Langles, "Monuments
in
Coleman's
This
frequently
represented, e.g., in
l'Hindoustan,"
"Mythology
i.,
vol.
Hindus,"
the
of
ad
p.
tab.
175;
5, etc.
is extremely important as a sure proof of
the Egyptian religion, as, in the same
symbol
the Hindu
de
159
origin of
"
respect, is the report also given by Porphyry De Abstilib. ii., that in Egypt the cow was holy, and
nentia,"
be
might not
by Porphyry
slaughtered.
Even the
circumstance related
in his life
Plotinos,
that the
of
he had been for many years the disciple
Saccas, had intended going with the army
Persia
intended,
were
last,
at
The
of
Indian origin,
to
acquire
them
same
purely from their
a complete
spirit, although impregnated
Psychology; it is given in the Stobasos
§
52,
the
Cabalistic
as
originators,
forefront,
and
Jews
are
the
of
duce, therefore, between
a series of
the
fault,
as
This
myth
nating
The
Gnostic.
of
point
Gnostics,
etc.
intermediate
thereby
the
to
attempts
construction
philosophies,
with
Christians, Monotheism
and
deficient
the
i.,
8.
Gnostic
and
between
isters.
1.
gnostics.
almighty, all-good,
contradiction
and
"Eclogues,"
54-
Section
The
theory
entirely in the
with
the Platonic
conceived
Indian
an
Gordian to
that Plotinos had
and
more
furnished
Porphyry
Metempsychosis, which is
source.
the
of
and
Ammonius
c
after
Ammonius
India, but was prevented by the overthrow
death of Gordian, indicates that the doctrines of
and
on
latter,
of
get
rid
production
the
same
world
beings, by
of
world
and
the sadly
world.
and
whose
in
flagrant
the
this
being,
all-wise
the
of
whose
stood
They
by
intro
the world-cause
fault
a
decline,
world, has arisen; hence they roll off
it were, from the sovereign on to his min
the
proceeding had
the
of
fall,
Judaism.
nXijpwpa,
series
which
was
the
already been indicated in
is in every way the culmi
These beings are, with the
aeons, the oXy, the demiurgos,
lengthened at pleasure by each
The
in
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
160
whole
order to modify the
immaterial
have
phers
action
reciprocal
of
as
material
a
in man, physiological philoso
interpose mediate essences, such
to
sought
Both
forth.
involved in the
substance
fluidity,
nervous
as
that whereby,
to
analogous
contradiction
and
connection
sumed
and
is
proceeding
nervous
hide
to
seek
vital
ether,
what
they
and
so
able
to
spirits,
are
not
abolish.
Section
scotus
This
tacle
remarkable man
the struggle
of
truth
local
and
or
means
can
remains
the
to
with
success
with
the
a
how
It
pains
return
and
and
of
evil
of
hell,
here
and
uncomfortable
out
be
sin, together with the
he comes to grief, more
of
when
which
is
a
consequence
of
in the fifth book
teaches
God, and the metaphysical
all humanity, and even of all
things
indivisibility
such
Humanity
all
of
The
cannot
pains,
strange
to
this method,
carry
Naturae,"
"De
Divisione
is a com
work,
until at last he has to make
his
account
up
particularly in the optimism
his Jewish Monotheism.
He
nature.
the endeavor proceeding
to harmony, by some
reduce
in
about
knows
origin
threatened
unity
early indoctrination and
or at least of all
doubt,
great
plete
the
by
all
and
go
Erigena
his
and
to
spec
where
necessary distorted, until
fit
into
the
recognized truth, which
they
dominating principle, but is, notwithstand
obliged
garb.
side
interesting
volentes
nolentes
ing,
fixed
of
the
us
recognized and apprehended
other, the dissonance which had thus arisen.
indeed only happen, in so far as the dogmas are
twisted,
turned,
affords
reach
direct attack, side by
from a noble nature
This
erigena.
between
dogmas,
beyond the
grown
9.
to
of
arises, where does sin remain ?
Where is hell, with its endless
question now
with
as
God.
have been
is saved,
and
promised
that in its
remains unconquerable.
through diffuse sophisms,
which
?
Who is to
entirety.
Erigena
writhes
turn in the
go
there ?
The dogma
miserably
end on
words,
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
is
and
the
since
inevitably
God
driven to
finally
pecially
crept
in the
nor
be the
would
in,
and
will
sin,
Oxford
the
insubstantiale
et
this stumbling-block
tion
humanity
of
is,
and
the
presupposes
to
origin
the
which
ful
act of
)
est
{Ibid.).
.
Brahma,
God
sees
penitus
.
.
true
the
of
Brahma,
for the Indian mythology is
the
again,
cause
).
xn-
of
emancipa
is obviously
this doctrine of the
had to be based
on
a
we ourselves
transparent.
everywhere
Christianity
world
1681
neither a
of
the Indian doctrine according
the world (this Sansara of the
of
which
lie in
he
point
have
The
which
world,
neither
princeps of
must
has
sin
is itself evil, proceeding, namely, from
the contrary, in
pation of
sin
of
otherwise
last
that the doctrine
Indian origin,
Buddhists
editio
incausale
est
can
since
which
absurdities :
cause nor a subject: malum
causale
by him,
of
es
absurdity,
origin
latter
the
yet
originator
to the
as
created
clearly (see p. 287 of
He is now driven to
and
contradiction
question
161
the Jewish
sin
are,
On
emanci
Theism,
the Lord not only made the world, but afterward
found it very good: izavra KaXd Xiav.
Hinc illce lacrimce:
hence arise those difficulties which Erigena fully recog
where
although
nized,
the
evil
by
mildness.
ment
he,
in his age, did not venture to attack
Meanwhile he has the Hindustanic
the root.
He
asserted
rejects
the
by
damnation
eternal
Christianity.
animal, vegetable, and lifeless
inner essence, in the necessary
All
and
punish
creatures
rational,
according to their
must,
course
of
nature,
attain
to
happiness, for they have proceeded from the eter
But only for the saints and righteous is the
good.
nally
For the rest, Erigena
complete unity with God, Dcificatio.
eternal
is sufficiently honest
in
which
the
as not
of
origin
clearly in the passage
of fact the origin of
to hide the
evil
quoted
evil
places
great embarrassment
him; he
in the fifth book.
is the
rock on
which
expounds
As
it
a matter
Theism,
no
Pantheism, splits, for both imply Optimism. But
evil and sin, both in their fearful magnitude, are not to be
explained away, while the threatened punishments for the
less than
latter only increase the former. Whence all this, now, in a
world which is either itself a God, or the well-intentioned
work of a
claim
God ?
against
If the theistic
it,
"
What !
all
opponents of
evil,
Pantheism
terrible,
ex
abominable
these evil,
duced
by
in the
us, viz,
Naturae,"
philosopher, but
himself miserably
plagues
their
founded
a
on
all
made
; thus
is
the
"
—
for it.
is to blame
created
it
it does
afterward.
so
and
otherwise
as
bad.
created
not
free,
For it
; it
consequently
has to be
If
actions
of
than the
For
any
not
be
consequences
at
not,
freewill
this, but
him
not what
could act
well good
is
is,
free
that
being
as
a
For
and
time
same
much
as
God
imparted
to say that he
he has not cre
esse, i.
e., the effects or
be anything else
its nature, which is only known
being, in order to be free in
what
essence
that
assumption
the same time
thing
of
Hence
without
else
it
operari sequitur
at once.
of,
forward
created
free, that
can
never
here required, must have
be nothing, or, in other words,
existence
Or
concerns
sense
must
got rid
put
therefore be just as
truth
will, is
and
possible
through them.
the
of
them,
them.
ated
has
and
two mutually destructive and therefore
are
to them freedom
created
and
sin
evil and sin are
indeed
contradictory qualities; hence the
has created beings, and has at the
has
to
devil!
it
was
might
Bravo! but the
being
has
God
them only
in all,
and
all
also
the
therefore
and
having
Christianity is
place
endeavors
necessitated
even
also
contradictions
fact that
most miserable word-juggles.
then nothing is
the
Here
consequence
Erigena finds himself
and
Di-
in
not
appears,
with
the
fixed,
This inevitable
evil."
has
which
Predestina-
De
theologian.
God is all,
light.
much
he
of
But his
Judaism.
clearer
still
in
ground
ultimate
«
Erigena
find
his
of
all
pro
is far inferior to the "De
character of
he
work
book,
the
where
and
We
cceur*
other
in
nevertheless
which
visione
in the
difficulty
down to
tione,"
de
de
God
been
have
entities
abominable
terrible,
a
same
come
the Pantheists may reply: "How!
God?"
entities are
in
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
1 62
is
no
must also
cannot
nature, that is,
both be and
must
even
be
something ; an
be thought.
If
a
being is created, it is created as it is created, and therefore
it is badly created if it is badly created, and badly created
if it acts badly, i. e., its effects are bad.
As a conse
quence
the
guilt
be
explained
on
its
of
away
originator,
the world,
its evil,
and
Scotus
as
which
always
is just
shifts
Erigena,
like
as
little to
itself back
Augustine
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
before
him
him,
If,
the other
on
have
must
been
be
an
hand,
and
the distinct
its
character
rests
it
must
be free.
If,
reason
the
the
being
a
accountable
—
im-
and
responsibility
it follows very
is free, but from this, again, that
itself,
declares,
hence,
and
that not merely
existence and essence
all
of man are
this I refer the reader to
it
will
For
be
this
of philosophy have
sought, by the
silence, to boycott this crowned prize essay
The guilt of sin and evil necessarily falls from
professors
complete
of mine.
nature
back
ifesting
on
its
itself in
back to the
the
all
neverthe
now,
my treatise on the freedom of the will, where
found completely and irrefutably expounded.
most
un
for
manifestations
if it is to be
—
own
which
once
is,
which
alone.
conscience
Respecting
work.
creation,
whose
itself
his
another.
from the
the action, but also the
own
of
being,
of
action
certainly that the will
it is the original thing
his
act
of
to
virtue
referable
time, exhibiting
all
Thus,
our
which
putability
own
upon
responsibility
is responsible for its
not
this
of
work, for
own
and
itself in
expands
must
thing existing by
original
completeness,
Its existence is then its
less,
relieve
is morally free, it can
have aseity, that is,
being
a
created, but
power and
folds
in endeavoring to
occupied
it.
of
not
is pitiably
163
origin
its phenomena,
right man ;
of
sin
But if the latter is Will
author.
all
and
if,
on
the
guilt
it is
the contrary,
man
has
come
a
God,
his divinity.
evil contradict
In reading Dionysius Areopagita, to whom Erigena so
often refers, I have found that the former is in every re
spect
as
his
The
prototype.
his theory
features
of
sin
and
pantheism
evil,
of
to
are
Erigena,
be
found,
as
well
in their
already in Dionysius, although
Dionysius only indicates what Erigena has developed, ex
Erigena
pressed with boldness, and expounded with fire.
main
had
infinitely
had
given
flections,
at
more
him the
and
Nominibus
"
what
was
probably lived in
Dionysius,
and
does
not
As
Alexandria,
affect
he,
his
way for
the
the author of
called.
but Dionysius
the direction of
prepared
ungenuine
it is indifferent
Divinis
time,
than
genius
material
consequently
That Dionysius is
since
least,
re
him.
the question,
the book
in
I believe
the
"
De
mean
that,
in
a
1
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
64
roundabout
to
unknown
way
he
us,
was
the
channel
through which a drop of Indian
may have reached
in his treatise
observed
Erigena, since, as Colebrooke has
"
Mis
Colebrooke's
(in
Hindus
on the philosophy of the
wisdom
Essays,"
cellaneous
«
Karika
.the
244), the
p.
proposition
III,
of
is to be found in Erigena.
"
Kapila
of
i.,
vol.
Section
10.
scholasticism.
properly distinctive character of
Scholasticism in that its chief criterion of truth is Scrip
I
to
ture,
one
which
of
clusion
reason.
tigation is soon
a polemical
its material, which
hidden ultimate
furnish
The
dry.
sists, however, in the
Revelation.
The
and
the
designate
it
this
of
following
would
of
red
way
all
qualities
soon
the
so
run
con
and
Nom
and
long
and
intel
rendered
way.
diverse
most
thereby
and
speciality
between Reason
antagonism
is
things
a mere
this phenomenon, no
same
without
root
thereby
possibility
fought-out quarrel, may be
Obviously
color.
nate
the
whose
controversy,
contra,
the
obstinately
ligible in the
call
a
et
justification between Realism
reciprocal
inalism,
I
pro
new
con
belongs, that its
character.
Every inves
into
transformed
generate
et contra
from every
may always appeal
To its specialities
has throughout
style
pro
the
place
should
red
name
if they have this
by
matter where
common
notions
are
which
it
I
desig
In
appears.
mere
names
appearing in diverse things.
to
These
on the contrary, are the actual and
real, so that
Nominalism is obviously right.
On the other hand, when we observe that all those
things,
things,
temporal,
actual
are
of
reality can be predicated,
consequently pass away, while the
which
and
alone
qualities, as red, hard, soft, life, plant, horse, man, which
these names signify, continue to exist irrespective of
this,
and
consequently
are
always
qualities which these names
there,
designate
we
by
find
that
means of
the
com-
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
mon
conceptions,
ible
existence,
are
be
to
consequently
ism is
have
to
attributed
to the particular
not
through their indestruct
conceived
therefore
and
being,
165
is
which
reality,
the
and
conceptions,
it follows that Real
whence
right.
Nominalism leads
removal
of
all
resort.
If
things
the
directly
qualities
conceptions
Real,
singular nature would
alone
mere
are
their
Materialism,
to
matter
for
remains
and
names,
after
the
in the last
the singular
partaking of their
There remains, there
qualities
as
be transient.
continues, which is real, only matter.
strictly speaking, the justification of realism above
given does not
belong to it, but to the Platonic doctrine
fore,
But,
of
that
as
ideas,
and
of
which
it is the
which
of
qualities
natural
extension.
The
things, etdr), it
is
eternal
which
forms
subsist
all change, and
to which therefore a reality of
higher kind is to be attributed than to the individuals
through
a
in
which
cannot
not
be
they display
as
conceptions
"
certain
"
totle, Augustine
certain
kind
of
or at
when
against
One
the Nominalists.
which
are
such
injury,
separation,
etc.?
relation,
tions is discernable
abstractions,
difference,
relation,
indeterminateness,
A
mere
for example, is the Real in
What,
perceivable.
On the contrary, this
themselves.
to the
conceded
least
one
Pelagius,
might
the
Realists
assert
even
repulsion
polar
parallelism, of apposi
Plato against Aris
a
places
of
against
that there is
thought
a
manifested
by a most extraordinary coincidence, ex
itself for the first time, and most decisively, in
two very great men, who happened to be contemporary,
here,
which,
pressed
and
to live
near
each
other.
Section
In
that
another
indicated,
Aristotle
was
and
the
ii.
bacon
of
more
specifically definite sense than
and intentional antithesis to
verulam.
express
Bacon
of
Verulam.
had for the first time systematically
The
former,
expounded
namely,
the
correct
method of
in
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
166
from
attaining
downward,
words, the way
other
to
universal
is the
On
syllogism, the organum Aristotelis.
hand, Bacon exhibited the way upward, in
the
the
expounded
deduction,
effect,
—
its
and
"It is
to
of attaining from
induction in contradistinction
to
in
truth
all
possessed
—
is the
different
of
far
so
gen
that
their axioms, to wit, in
organum,
Aristotle,
or
that
truth, namely, is
a priori
certain
the
rather
assumption
which
in
says
attacking the
manner of
Aristotle,
the
novum
to
opposition
a
error
other
he
Aristotelians, lay in
the
the
as
exposition
quite
The
subject."
is
chosen
expression,
same as
special
method
This
truths.
eral
truths,
particular
which
error of
they already
contained
in
propositions,
or
for such, and that, in order to
deduction
from the former is all that
truths,
An Aristotelian instance of this is given
propositions which count
gain particular
is
necessary.
in the books "De
that the
justice,
with
Ccelo."
Bacon
above
content, that the truth did
human knowledge
side
it,
it,
and
at
shows
axioms
not
lie
rich
universal
content
The
have
in the
at all
such a
system of
that time in vogue, but rather out
was not to be developed from
and
true
had first to be
Schoolmen,
the first
not
that therefore it
but had to be introduced into
quence
the contrary,
on
did
place
led
it,
and
propositions
won
that
of
through
a
conse
great
and
induction.
by Aristotle, thought,
establish the universal; the
flow therefrom, or may afterward find
it can. We will, therefore, first of all
as
a
we
in
will
particular will
a place
therein
establish what
as
ac
to the ens, to the thing in general.
The speciality
particular things may afterward be gradually added,
crues
of
through experience, but the latter can never
Bacon said, rather, we
anything in the universal.
in the first instance learn to know the individual
and of course
alter
will
possible, then we shall at last
know what the thing in general is.
Meanwhile, Bacon is inferior to Aristotle in so far as
things
as
completely
as
his method, leading upward, is never
and infallible as that of
Aristotle,
Indeed,
Bacon himself
set aside
the rules
Organon. "
of
has,
his
in his
method
so
accurate, certain,
leading downward.
physical investigations,
as
given
in the "New
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
167
Bacon's attention was chiefly turned to physical science.
What he did for this, to wit, beginning from the begin
ning, Descartes did immediately afterward for meta
physics.
Section
the
In the
arithmetic
is
example
of
the same, that
left.
wont
With the
All
similar.
they leave
ferred, an
but
rather
sis
quite
a correct
deposit.
to the
systems,
possessed
simply
laws,
their
is first presented,
of
sary,
lie
cases
of
as
unresolved
words
remainders, but
Individual
for long.
obliged
to be
been
wrong.
If,
harmony
accompanied
the
means
errors
in nature,
nor
all
the
same matter
overweening
physical
cannot
world
stand
deposit.
in
in the
not
evils
be brought
over as
a remain
It is true that in
where neces
to
order
will
not
balance,
cover
hold
reckoning
are
until
up
water
then
finally
that the starting point has
thorough -going consequence
propositions
every step
remainder.
and not more
will
confessed
in
and
the contrary,
devices
such
from
and
complete
this
which
phrases
again, the
of
at
and
the sum
since
it is
and
qualities
there is no lack of sophisms, or,
mere
for,
to
in
These, therefore,
an
such
sought
pre
that, if
arise
world
This then is their
on
pantheistic, the
the
the
neither
the moral obliquity of the
into harmony.
such
be
from their premises, the
world lying before us,
ends
agree.
With the theistic systems,
der,
in
consists
mechanical
consciousness
of
existence
or
balance;
not
simile
real
make
which
of
adaptability
with
do
is
it is
world
that many sides of it remain on the hypothe
inexplicable.
Thus, for example, with the
remarkable
and
remainder
the
of
chemical
This
conclusion
answer
with
so
a
balancing
the
no
which
sums
the solution of
of
by
riddle
the
of
are
accordance
the
moderns.
fact that
the
resolution
systems
not
materialistic
a matter
is, by
unresolved
do
results
the
books the accuracy
to be announced
remainder, or, if
a
draws
one
of
philosophy
an
12.
by
a
of
similar
a
system
be
thorough-going
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
1 68
dis
experience, without any
criterion
the
the two, this is
harmony with the world of
cord being audible between
its truth, the required balancing of the arithmetical
In the same way, if the starting point has been
sum.
of
it is
false,
has
matter
is
one
whether
nomena
in
many
other
seizes
it
resemble
many false
is
there
everything turns on
But the phe
end.
have to be
one
explained present
can
only
intricate tangle
an
hanging
may also compare it to
hundred entrances, opening
One
a
a
out
all
which,
lead
idol
after
out
long
with
the
really take
If
stands.
various
again,
windings
whose
But
whole.
offers
finally
with
finds
who
one
disentangles itself easily from the others,
this it may be known that it is the right
end.
of
He
from it.
disentangle the
be the right
thread,
of
which
from
and
end, whereby
for in philoso
right
to error,
right
of which
can
one
the
things,
the
by
end-threads
the right
out
beginning
error
which
world
to us,
ends
they
one;
the
of
countless
by
seized
led from
one
as
phy,
been
not
afterward
the
from the
to say that
much
as
one
us
has hit
and
labyrinth,
which
into corridors,
intricate windings,
exception of a
single
the centre,
where
to
this
upon
entrance
one
one,
the
will
fail to find the way, but one can never attain to the
I do not conceal my opinion
goal by any other way.
that only the Will in us is the right end of the threadnot
tangle,
the true
entrance
Now Descartes
physics of
Aristotle
therewith
we
stance, the
posed
which
all
assumed,
on one
proved
place, namely,
the
and
also
thinking
to act
soon
see
He
themselves.
to the labyrinth.
proceeded on
not
and
his
example
and
kinds
These
of sub
were
sup
through the influxus physicus,
itself to be his
merely
meta
accommodate
two
extended.
the
of
substance,
successors
however,
the
another
the
conception of
from
remainder.
without
inward,
It took
in the
the corporeal world, but also from within
outward, between the Will (which was unhesitatingly as
signed to thought)
and
the actions of the body.
The
presentment of
closer
were
relations
the
main
between these two
problem
on
account
kinds
of
substance
of which
such great
difficulties arose, and in consequence of which men were
driven to the system of causes occasionelles and of the
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
THE
harmonia prcestabilita,
had sufficed for the
longer
the
after
169
animates
spiritus
which
Descartes, would no
Malebranche, for instance, holds the in
serve.
with
matter
fluxus physicus for unthinkable; but in this he does not
take into consideration that the same thing is assumed
without
by
world
tout
Dieu
en
—
the
by
He
the
substance,
direction
of
also
a
He
here lies his
conception
thing.
a given
and
is
who
of
a
on
thinking
antitheses, for he
The latter
World.
"
It is
ists
its
by
own
instead
and
of
"
said :
The
world
have
from
proceeding
said
straight
positivity, though
he
occurred
his doctrines issue in
is
accustomed
cation
not
of
admit
grant
the
of
to
so
of
with
this
world.
to
him,
if
started
phrase served
appearance of
merely negative;
unexplained, in that
is because it is ; and
(With this phrase Fichte
his
students.)
in the
ethics,
the
to
an
»
world
is."
arisen
true
any
bottom
world
The
mystify
world,
contradiction
recklessness
"
:
it
it is because
as
was
at
are
they
ex
chose
had
he
Judaism,
leaves the
therefore
out:
but it
itself is God ;
This
itself.
straightforwardly from nature
at the same time to give his doctrines the
and
the
and
hence he
power;"
never
would
which
maintain
God
this world,
made
of
perfection
indirect phrase,
negative,
to have
offensive
true that God has
not
chiefly
was
have been too
would
For this
nevertheless, properly speaking,
teaching or form of presentation. It
of
mode
mere
a
of
the
and
avoided.
was
Descartes,
by
one
his identification to the
extended
also
were
the two great Cartesian
of
negation
was
also,
from
both kinds
extended, for
and
erected
antithesis
other
though it
as
declared
nevertheless
mere
just
substance
proceeded
re
voy-
Spinoza,
teacher,
the
nous
and
remainder.
his
of
same, whereby the old difficulty
reason, however, his philosophy
hinging
spirit.
the cause causiotielle
treading in the footsteps
the above
creation
God
a
it therefore
places
ons
in
question
corporeal
and
above
Here,
deifi
manner,
did
besides, in fla
was,
physical
The
and the moral
evils
then, is
Spinoza's
re
mainder.
The
conception
he regards,
deed,
as
defines
of
substance
from
which
Spinoza starts,
He, in
given.
already said, as something
it according to its ends, but
he does
not
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
170
trouble himself
shortly
after
to its
as
him,
For it
origin.
propounded
the
Locke, who,
doctrine that a
was
great
philosopher, who wishes to deduce or demonstrate any
thing from conceptions, has in the first place to investi
the
gate
follows
what
of
the
as
gin,
this
source
of
simply
content of
tial
and a
attributed
tion in
of
the
substance, he
matter,
is nothing
conception
by
Spinoza to his
and
the
fore,
when
substance
carried
out,
finds its
and
yet
materialist,
realizes
and
the
has
confirma
but
of
course,
there
is,
matter,
which,
confirms
empirically
conceptions, is not the falsely-assumed and
matter of Demokritos and of the
later French
ists,
essen
it is uncaused, that is,
unique, and its modifica
consciousness, the latter,
Spinoza
quality of the brain.
unconscious
an
than its
true
Indeed, everything
extension and
exclusive
last
at
the
only there;
causeless, eternal, singular,
as
origin of
that
other
priori assignable qualities.
matter,
tions are
therefore
and
ori
means
have found
must
and
its
by
by
But had Spinoza investigated the
conception
it is
content
is determined entirely
all knowledge attainable
therefrom
the same.
that
conception; for its
such
of
origin
his
atomistic
material
qualities, but a cor
rectly conceived matter, with all its inexplicable qualities
attached to it; for this distinction I refer the reader to
my
which
chief
357
seq.).
none
vol.
work,
This
ii.,
method
mechanical
chap,
of
p.
xxiv.,
315
assuming the
seq.
(3d ed.,
conception
p.
of
unnoticed, in order to make it the starting
point, we find already with the Eleatics, as may especially
be seen from the Aristotelean book "De Xenophane,"
etc.
For Xenophanes also proceeds from the
that
substance
Sv,
from substance,
and
its
qualities are
is,
demonstrated
with
its previously being questioned or its
being asked
he has his knowledge of such a thing.
If this
had been done it would clearly have appeared what he
out
whence
was really
speaking about, that is, what perception ulti
mately lies at the foundation of his conception and im
parts to it
reality, and in the end it would have been
seen
to be
In the
Spinoza
sion.
matter
following
extends
One
can
only,
of which
chapters on
itself
even
all
that he
Zeno the
to the
therefore scarcely
says
is true.
coincidence
style
refrain
and
with
the expres
from assuming
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
that Spinoza had known
Aristotle,
time,
this work,
used
and
though
even
171
since
his
at
by Bacon,
attacked
still
in high reputation, and good editions with Latin
version were to be had.
In this case Spinoza would be a
stood
mere
resuscitator
We
curus.
see
Eleatics
the
of
any department
of
new
original
and
The
wholly
above
Gassendi
as
was of
Epi
more, then, how extremely rare in
thought or knowledge is the really
once
procedure
Spinoza
of
on
the
conception
of
substance, moreover, rests, especially in its formal aspect,
on the false assumption which
he had taken over from
his teacher
from Anselm
of
proceed
Descartes, and he in his turn
Canterbury, to wit, that existentia could
essentia, i.e., that from mere conception
an
from
existence
be deduced
which would
accordingly be a neces
in
other
words, that by virtue of the na
sary one; or,
ture or definition of something merely thought, it should
be necessary that it should be no longer something
could
Des
merely thought, but something really existent.
the concep
assumption to
cartes had applied this false
tion
the
of
Ttpmrov
then
perfectissimum ; but Spinoza
(which latter
or causa sui
substantia
dictio in
ens
);
adjecto
4>ebdos
in
7
first
definition,
introduction
the
proposition
his
see
of
the first
tween the basal conceptions
of
of
which
is his
"Ethics,"
the
of
contra-
a
and
The difference be
book.
both
took that
expresses
philosophers
consists
but their employment as
almost entirely in expression,
that
is
as
given, is with the one as with
starting points,
the
founded
other
arise
of
out
on
based
therefore
calling his
word
was
another
and
stead
of
the
perceptual,
all
and
is
here, therefore,
with a special
for the
Deus,
difficulty by
for
since
designation
of
this
quite
continually to fight against
from it; the reader, in
assigned to it by Spinoza's first
arose
attaching to it that which it other
he had not employed the word he.
always
If
in truth
had
which
conception
signifies.
while
We have
substance
use
conception, he
explanations,
wise
himself
only
already in
misunderstandings
from the
xpdregov.
encumbered
one
presentment;
arises
the latter.
on
fundamental Zarepov
Spinoza
the mistake of making a perceptual
abstract
presentment
abstract
a
an
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
172
have been
would
of
relieved
long
he did
But
in the first book.
trines might find less opposition,
sense
his
pervades
a manner term
better,
sequently
an
exposition,
or
two
other
which
his
would
much
double
might
one
he
as
as
"
in
adopts
the
already
ob
and con
clearer,
so-called
he
which
certain
notions,
How
essay).
in
object
a
expositions
that his doc
order
consequence,
whole
one
(in the first
served
in
allegorical, especially
with
plan
same
In
failed.
nevertheless
tedious
and
so
Ethics
"
have
turned out if he had spoken straightforwardly what was
in his mind, and called things by their name; and if he
had presented his thoughts, together with their grounds,
in
an
upright
and
geometry,
as
soon
as
corollaries, in a garb
instead
of giving to
which,
the former, loses all signifi
geometry, with its construction of con
stand inside it, whence the motto here
to
ceases
ceptions,
of
applies, cucullus non facit monicum.
In the second book he expounds the two
one
substance
making
proposi
of
and
scholia,
philosophy the certainty
cance
of
in the Spanish boots
laced-up
tions, demonstrations,
borrowed from
manner, instead
natural
them appear
as
extension
and
his
modes of
{extensio
presentment
et
is obviously a false division, since ex
tension exists only for and in presentment, and ought
therefore to have been, not opposed, but subordinated,
which
cogitatio),
to the latter.
Spinoza
the
everywhere
praises
of
and
sign of
every praiseworthy
conditionally all tristitia
—
might
have told
for
the
by
glad"
(
to
istence
"Ecclesiastes
"
action,
as
he
while
although
rejects
his Old
countenance
vii.
3)
—
all
saute
Semper
marquis!
this
made
merely
it is an
own ex
nunquam
merry,
un
laughter,
the heart is
he does
and
Testament
of
—
sounds
condition
Sorrow is better than
the
"
emphatically
it up
sets
logicality, for if this world is a God,
itself, and must glorify and rejoice at its
for love
end
him,
sadness of
and
expressly
latitia,
sad!
This
Pantheism is essentially and necessarily optimism.
other false
optimism
forces
Spinoza
to
compulsory
many
consequences,
among
monstrous results of
which
his
the
moral
rank, rising indeed in the
absurd
and
philosophy
very
often
take the first
sixteenth chapter of
his
"
Trac-
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
tatus Theologico Politicus
hand,
er
where
they
stance
in his
as
pars
sight,
views, as for in
deliverances about
correct
false
as
unworthy
(" Eth.,"
oth
out of
consequences
have led to
would
On the
to true infamy.
times he leaves the
at
animals.
"
173
appendices, cap. 26, ete jusdem
IV.,
He speaks here, as a Jew
how, according to the first and ninth chapters of
Genesis, so that we, who are accustomed to purer and
worthier doctrines,
are overpowered by the foetor judaiprop.
partis,
knows
Dogs he
cus.
"Scholion.")
37,
seems
to have
not
known
ter referred to opens, prceter homines
tura novimus, cujus mente gaudere et
aut
aliquo
is
answer
ra,"
by
given
ha tenido
has
who
love
perro,
un
kept
never
a
The
rus, Spinoza for his
dog
of our
que es querer
does
cruelties
not
c.
as
the
with
also
all
withstanding
a
of
mixture
know
amid
we
part,
clear
que
no
(He
it is to
what
hearty
laugh
flies,
and
co
"
true,
"
is
without
the admirable
of
Not
to.
referred
Ethica
doubt
and
the
end, in the second half of the last
him in vain endeavoring to make himself
see
to himself.
But
great
mind
He
we
must
him, hardly
fore
Hobbes,
and
stance
fact that it
must
be
given
must
simple
hence
tension,
as
started
a
as
consider
more
inadequately
Leibnitz
do
than
Giordano Bruno.
were
conceptions
problems
cannot
it,
and
therefore
noth
for him but to become mystical, as happens
in order not to be unjust to this certainly
remains
here.
and
Genesis
this, Spinoza's
and
el
3^),
Lar-
Toward the
bad.
ing
chapters of
false
("
day
the propositions here attacked,
with
well
atnicitia,
ser querido
y
ter was accustomed to practice on spiders
incide only too
na-
Colewhich, according to
and
amusement
nobis
in
possumus, the best
"Doncel,"
in
lo
no sabe
beloved).
and
quod
Spanish literateur
a
"Figaro"
pseudonym
nihil singulare
genere jungere
consuetudinis
To the
at all.
the twenty-sixth chap
monstrous proposition with which
yet
that he had too little be
Descartes,
The basal
insufficiently
Malebranche,
philosophical
worked
similarly from the conception of sub
thing, but kept chiefly before him the
be
indestructible.
since
everything
For this
is
extended
destructible; it was, consequently,
and
out, the
ventilated.
therefore
immaterial.
There
purpose
it
divisible,
without ex
remains
then
no
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
174
for his
other predicates
of
ones
of
such
they
are
number
though
dation
them
of
as
the
simple,
the
the foundation
and
of
enon
the
of
the
that really perceive,
continuously
which
harmony,
duces entirely alone and
somewhat into the dark.
between the
connection
and
the really
all
say
justly
with
way
of
made
dead,
is
regarding matter,
laws.
forces,
and
Now Leibnitz
mechanical physics
in
cal, in
he
all
"Opera,"
of which
order
the formas
of
make
p.
which,
which
in its
to
the
absolutely
endowed with
mathematical
the
and
place
a
purely
dynami
the way for Kant.
( See
He
recalls
in
the
first
694.)
the schoolmen,
that
known
their
at
or
and attains
even
admitted, must have some
But he did not know
extremely unhappy fiction that
souls,
put
foundation.
this clear to himself
spiritual
how to
to
atoms
of
Newton had
the merely mechan
insight,
besides
at
that time scarcely
matter,
which,
others were
thing
the
a
one
to deal
order
and
subordinated
the
by
Here
matter exists as
substantialis of
accordingly to the
ical forces
in
get
prepared
Erdmann,
edit.
regulated
will-less, merely
only
pro
be,
the reader
Locke
which
the
of
substances
central monad.
remind
them
of
We here
these
of
the
those
monad
cost.
Meanwhile,
rejects
world,
on
virtue
central
thoughts
we must
and
the
most
by
about
extended, is
remainder.
Leibnitz,
few,
very
own
the
of
at
proper
{i.e.,
monads
however this may
current, whereby, namely,
mechanical
any
its
But,
mere
harmony
purely passive,
place
the
which
in itself
and
pre-established
might
notwithstanding,
of
are
at
lie
corporeal
is,
sleeping) brought
pre-established
the
merely accruing to the
The phenom
behind it.
such
perception
bestows
and
appearance without
mere
world
corporeal
the foun
at
substances,
of
a
al
; hence he defines
These, therefore,
remain within and
side, in the
other
simple
phenomenon
accordingly, a
immediate reality,
monads, that
extension
monads.
name
is,
which
lie
themselves unextended,
atoms and
spiritual
assumed
substances, which,
spiritual
phenomenon of
formal
them
upon
thought,
perception,
He
desire.
and
the
than
substance
were
although
unconsciousness,
at
the
otherwise
than
by
the
matter consisted of simple
same
existing for the
time
formal
most part
atoms, and
in a state of
nevertheless possessed an analogon of
the
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
perceptio
him,
foundation
first
the
to
therein
round.
spirit
deserves
but
" Monadology"
in
ing
be
itself,
trans
in the
mann,
"
hence that
and
some
such
as
impenetrability
Erdmann,
681-95.) There
of
collection
335-40
of
"
his
Kohler
But
we
of
makes
of
many
division
everything
error,
ever
else
common
yet
been,
in knowledge
ing
then,
save
which, the
the
is
occasional
a mere
of
all
of
Diitens,
Leibnitz
on
of
of
Jena,
whole
1740.
chain
of
strange
brought
continually being
as in practical life
At the bottom
into God
To this
ground
than in will, in
other
of
lie
one
it lies
world,
of
which
added
who
the
have
being
our
words, in
mak
the former the primary.
original errors against which nature
things
spirit us
and
be
must
of
and
last
philosophers
placing the final
the
pp.
writings, translated
matter, to the
counted.
as
etc., (Erd
found a well-
be
to
existence
and
force.
collected
edition of
to him and to all
were
the reality
are
letters,
this
what
expressed
in the
also
necessary.
spirit
rather
and
is
in the
passages
the latter the secondary,
These
not
positive
another, just
others
man
is
fiction
one
support of
into
and
Huth,"
throughout
see
"
is
which
philosophical
by
and revised
Descartes'
and
noth
French writings,
smaller
cognate
Smaller
dogmatic theories
to the
his
of
Journal des Savans
chosen
by
my
For his
extension, motion,
de la nature, etc.,
nouveau
edition
pp.
find
of
the idea that matter is
on
phenomenon,
clearly in
from the
as
nebulam vidit.
quality, but the manifestation of a
The opinion of Leibnitz we have praised
most
same
even
the Kantian
of
negative
the Systime
the
and
might
in the purely geometrical, that is in
sought
etc.,
quas velut
is based
belongs to the
figure,
well
one
One
but merely phenomenon, and that therefore
ground of even its mechanical action must
the ultimate
not
everything spiritual
which I have been
on
and matter
recognition.
a presentiment as
doctrines,
own
rest,
everything in philosophy being
In the meantime Leibnitz's en
vindicate,
deavor to base
principle
the
all
the priority due to
Will,
turned
thereby
This consequently misled
made
Knowledge the
appetitus.
like
he,
and conditio sine qua non of
than
rather
the
and
that
so
175
protested
at
every step,
and
to
animates, the materiality of animals,
causes, the seeing
all
things
in
God,
the
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
I76
the
things
where
thing fits in of itself, everything
and
light, no fictions are required,
Kant
had
is
substance
of
category, that
a
is,
proper
prob
substance
a mere
veri.
sigillum
With him the
beyond it.
got
the
end, every
in its
simplex
all
the
on
me,
right
appears
by
touched
directly
not
was
he
lem
With
the
by
seized
are
and
monads, optimism,
be invented.
had to
it,
of
rest
contrary,
the
harmony,
pre-established
conception
form
of
to
thought
in its necessary
in itself ; hence the
nothing is known as it is
bodies
no less than
of
being which is at the foundation
This
is his doc
same.
of souls is in itself one and the
a
application
By this,
priori.
sensible
perception,
It
trine.
paved
body is
brain, a
the way for
one's
only the
his
relation
bodies,
and
resulted
to the insight that
me
of
perception
which,
in the
his
the
of
resolution
to
afterward
extended
each
arising in
will
world
all
into Will
Presentment.
however, which Descartes,
the leading conception
Aristotle,
of his philosophy, and with whose definition, accordingly
(although in the fashion of the Eleatics), Spinoza also
starts, proclaims itself, when subjected to more rigorous
and honest
investigation, as a higher but unjustified
conception of matter, which, by the
abstractum of the
The
conception of
includes
also
way,
substance,
had
true to
constituted
the
supposititious
I have already
substance,
Philosophy,"
of the Kantian
as
(3d
of
ed.
528-31
substance
objective
alone
is invalid
it is
because
is,
is the
in
who
as
pp.
apart
immaterial
child,
in my
550 seq.
"
from this the
the starting
point of
for us,
more
than mediate; the
must
be
certainly
recognized
This
must
made the
it,
done
and
not
one.
be
ed.
philosophy,
an
immediate.
2d
conception
cases
objective
Criticisms
the
of
all
therefore, but
Descartes has
first
But
seq.).
explained
Nothing
subjective
passed
over,
absolute
this;
hence
starting point.
indeed, he was the
with
him
a new epoch
in philosophy opens.
But he does it merely preliminarily
at the
first starting off, after which he at once assumes
the absolute
of
objective
the veracity
ophizes
in
an
of
God,
reality of the world on the
and from this time forward
entirely
guilty, in addition,
of
a
objective manner.
noteworthy
credit
philos
In this he is
circulus vitiosus.
He
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
demonstrates
our
the
But the
us.
to have
him
of
par douter de
bly
Berkeley
was
being.
all-perfect
finit par tout
commence
says
one
of
him.
first
who
cessive
and
which
as
philosopher
it.
of
variations
jective,
Idealism,
of
retained
versally
showed
himself in true
ear
our
is the foundation
then
since
true
of all
least been
at
uni
starting point, although every
has made his own modifications
Locke
even
ascribed
sense
that his
which
has
a
Thus
in that he
bodies to
however,
a
great part
reduction of
and
from the
started
impression.
suc
the
of
sub
qualities
It is to be observed,
all qualitative
difference,
secondary qualities, to merely quantitative, to wit, to
size,
figure,
who
as
position, etc.,
tive qualities, is
similarly
the sole
bottom the
at
reduced
all
primary or objec
doctrine of Demokritos,
to the
qualities
sition, and position of atoms; as may
from Aristotle's " Metaphysics," book i.,
Theophrastus's
so
"//
croire,n
the subjective starting point, and who irrefuta
explained the indispensable
He is
necessity of it.
philosophy,
as
et
with
the father
of
tout,
of
presentment which we are supposed
the
as
countrymen
It
existence
from the innate
strates
nest
veracity does not admit of his de
of God himself he demon
whose
author,
ceiving
his
reality of the objects of all
from the existence of God as
objective
perpetual presentments
their
177
far,
"
De
Sensu,"
a resuscitator of
Spinoza
was
that
of
figure,
be
chap.
seen
and
4,
from
Locke was, in
61-65.
chap.
compo
clearly
the Demokritean philosophy,
He
the Eleatics.
also
the way for the succeeding French materialism.
as
paved
really
his
By
preliminary distinction between subjective and objective
elements in perception, he led directly up to Kant, who,
following
was
his direction
enabled
jective, by
to
sunder
and
track in
the
subjective
process
which
subjective, that the
indeed
objective
dark point,
something
thing in itself. I have now
not
a
which
we
discover in
I have therefore
of
knowledge.
already said, the
so much
not
objective
is
as
a
kind
only
farther
recognizable
reduced
this
returned
could
to the
accrued
remained
to
our self-consciousness
again
It
higher sense,
purely from the ob
a much
to the
being
Will, and
subjective
more
of
the
the
as
happen otherwise,
never
—
than
source
for,
the
as
sec-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
178
we
Hence, therefore,
namely, a presentment.
of
our
not seek the innermost kernel
being,
ondary,
must
thing in itself,
in the
be
must
without
subjective
that
added
because
these
and
altogether
are
have for their
aspects, for
form,
which
the
presupposes
the
with
objective
of
law
reason
can never
at
and
to,
and
falls
object
every
in its four
causation
of
requirements
presentments,
subordinated
essentially
the
we
ultimate and original point,
an
there in the domain
are
we
the
rest, to
tain to a point of
within us, in other words,
To this
only immediate.
us, but
as
side,
the
under
former.
the
of
and
For in
stance, an assumed objective absolute carries with it the
destructive questions, Whence ? and Why ? before which
it
must give
fall.
and
way
It is
otherwise when we sink
in the still, albeit obscure, depths of the sub
Here we are certainly threatened with the danger
ourselves
ject.
into mysticism,
falling
of
draw from this
ble
by
each
tigations
found
all,
and
and
en
appears
as
a
expounded
1-4
whole
is
inves
of
Kant,
naive
with
chaps.
The
heretic.
result
current until
was
only
compassa-
undeniable.
the
as
which,
Fantasia,"
"Delia
therefore
must
we
is actually true,
consequently
Descartes,
since
Muratori,
there
and
"Dianoialogy,"
The
and
source what
may be
in
clearness
and
13; Locke
a nest of
errors,
differently I have
conceived and presented it, after having had Kant and
The above entire Dianoialogy
Cabanis for predecessors.
and Psychology is based on the false Cartesian dualism.
Everything must now in the whole work, per fas et nefas,
be reduced to it, including many correct and interesting
by
it may be
which
facts
which
teresting
as
are
a
seen
how very
introduced.
The
Section
some
further
There is
able
as
written
a
a
reasonable
observations
passage
motto
about
whole
procedure
is in
type.
for
eighty
to doubt
on
in Pope
a
13.
the
which
kantian
would
philosophy.
be very
critique of pure reason.
years
most
earlier,
things,
and
we
says :
should
"
suit
It
was
Since it is
most
of
all
THE HISTORY
doubt that
things.
reason
spirit
to this
out
these
deep
and
one
more
is
to infuse my
various
are
in
on
Philosophy,
from
to
explain
its
object
There
in
so
which
on
these
a
the
contrary,
it proceeds,
has,
and which
Such
nothing for
these are not
concepts
them
as
then
must
perceptual
furnish
demonstrations,
and
from something
presentment
only
from
ceed
)
of
its
and
present
it
mere
the
con
footing
of
undertakes
concepts.
concepts.
universal
or
it
must
given.
concepts,
construction
Strictly
concepts,
purely empirical.
foundation of its
the
and
mere
the demonstrations
mere
but
it, then,
is accordingly a science from
ematics is a science from the
is
as
as
imparts
universal, not the particular, of things,
to lead beyond the empirically given.
the
as
doctrines
per
being
remains
far
seek
priori, its doctrines
are
perception, inasmuch
empirical
simple
I
its dem
on which
perceptions,
themselves; but because
its demonstrations necessity (apodeicticity),
For it cannot at once stand on the
to
mind, to
which
cepts.
it
of
into Kant's depth.
empirical, but
not
element
in
the
expressing
true
this nature,
of
attempt
support
are
the
leading
presented
and
of
modes
that
or
clearness
apodeictic.
given
all
understanding of
The follow
therefore difficult doctrines.
one
Mathematics is based
onstrations
ceptions
conceived
adapted, according to the variety
matter are
ing
Kantian philosophy, its
the
Such
ways.
many
of
true sense, may be
and
open
demonstrate
would
which
ours
179
"
The true
idea
of
OF PHILOSOPHY
start
from
Philosophy
while math
(perceptual
speaking,
however,
of
philosophy which pro
This cannot, like the mathe
matical, proceed from a perception, because such would
have to be either purely a priori or empirical; but the
latter
gives
no
and
apodeicticity,
the
former furnishes
If it intends, therefore, to support
only mathematics.
its doctrines by any sort of demonstration, this must
consist in the correct logical consequence from concepts
at
Things had
its foundation.
the
direction throughout
and
that
in the
even
we
see
At last it
new
Spinoza
occured
to
gone quite
long
epoch
period
founded
smoothly in this
Scholasticism,
by Descartes, so
of
Leibnitz pursuing this method.
Locke to investigate the origin of
and
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
180
arrived at
being that all universal
concepts, the result he
abstract they may be, are derived from
however
concepts,
from
is,
that
experience,
ceivable, empirically
than
there.
have
that
experience,
Locke went,
beyond
In
of
with
it
foregoing
inferred
been
that
can
the
principles
antithesis
some
space
of
doctrines,
is,
and
time,
our
understanding
in the
and
experience
at
receive
contentless,
sensibility, in
inasmuch
of
as
all
order
therefrom
apart
tion
course; in
they
are
regulates
always
the
partly
intuition
special
sake
of
func
their
itself according to
accordingly to possible
the medium, inasmuch
other words
material
to
neither
only
time
same
the
excep
spring from
not
to generate this in us, together
thereby
have
the
constitute
extends
is
they are only determined
regular
way
that
priori given
a
itself, for.
which
Their validity only
its
by
showed
and
Kant
do
which
are
partly
experience of which sense
as
but
goal;
derived from experience,
derived from the pure, that is
with
the
to
to
transcend
conceptions which make an
But that these
experience.
them.
lead
placed
strictness
to his predecessors,
tion to the above rule, that
use
has
never
can
furnish
never
in
ought
never
the Lockean
correction of
tions
can
experience
they
is,
is derived
content
experience.
elaborate
there are indeed
of
self-observation of each
whole
inner
or
through inward
else
consequently
outer
From the
world,
their
and
what
or
per
sensuously
existent,
empirical
that
offers, in short,
from these two,
more
the
such as
experience
the
real
and
produce
content
valid
perception
they,
content
solely from
but
experience
nor
under
themselves
the
—
significance,
pre-supposi-
on
resting
sense-feeling, and refer
It follows from the above that they
with clues to lead us beyond all possi
essentially to this.
cannot
bility
us
supply
of
that
is,
As
tions
that
beyond the possibility
now
the
one
universal, formal,
and
from
and
experience,
physics as the science of
therefore
of
our
rests
own
on
intellect,
particular, material,
again
that
meta
lies beyond nature,
experience, is impossible.
of
experience, namely, the
regulative, is knowable a priori,
the essential and regulative func
element
and
this
which
and
of
while
the other, namely, the
accidental,
arises
from
sense-
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
it
feeling,
Hence it
gether
follows
also
with
both
that
are
181
subjective
of
origin.
follows that experience, in its totality, to
the world presented therein,
is a mere
phenomenon, that is, something which, directly and im
mediately, is only existent for the subject knowing it.
But this phenomenon, nevertheless, points to a thing in
lying
itself
its
at
I
as
must
here
though
we
datum
but which,
foundation,
These
solutely unknowable.
the Kantian philosophy.
to the
attention
call
were
the
are
as
such, is
negative
fact,
that
Kant
only perceiving subjects,
ab
results
speaks
had
and
of
no
the
outside
presentment, while we certainly pos
sess another in the Will within us, which is toto genere
distinct from the former.
It is true he also took this
into
in
yet
consideration,
the
quite
separated,
order
to
in
to
our
faith,
impossibility
antithesis
dental
The
familiar to the
vires
common
arithmetic
plete, as, for
than
Spinoza
De
uses
la
tion
of
out
the
the
Causa,"
transcendent
which
not
suffice
of
in
are
this
more
to com
a
num
functions
or
concepts
etc., dial,
and
do
quod
which
vice versa, and gen
only to be solved by a
But the schoolmen desig
categories
word
which
corporeal
such
of
was
are
to infinity.
ten
it
operations,
to find the trigonometric
problems
transcendent,
as
versal
all
carried
calculus
("
or
algebra
not
designate
to
all
to find the logarithm
instance,
versa,
is,
is
since
first introduced into
order
arc, purely arithmetically,
erally for
nate
and
origin,
was
that
transcendit,
algebrae
or vice
It
scholastics.
indeed in
transcen
"transcendent"
by Leibnitz, in
mathematics
moral
transcendental
accurately,
philosophical
of
a
follows therefrom.
which
expression
mathematical, but
an
found
to
in
signifi
theoretical ignorance and the
or more
philosophy,
solely
and moral
philosophy in contradistinction, and
to all others, is also designated as
idealism.
of
the pure
thereupon
our
theology
all
of
and
words, simply
of
and
action,
counterbalance
Kant's
ber,
other
the fact
establish
of
cance
in the theoretical, but only
which with him
it is
not
philosophy, from
practical
iv.),
of
as
sense.
calls
universal
incorporeal
were
Aristotle,
more
and
uni
even
Giordano Bruno
those
predicates
than the
substance
distinc
pertaining to
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
182
those common roots in
incorporeal,
the
he
Kant
the
in
formal
this
that
which
it
time bound
as such,
independent of
is
edge
stitutes
the
proceed
and
this,
transcendent
calls
above
the possibility
physical,
"before
of
use,
experience;
in
Pure Reason
to
opposition
our
which
this
is,
he
the misuse, of the
knowledge outside
he
also
therefore,
terms hyper-
means
in short,
transcendent, "beyond all ex
be seen only admits Metaphysic
experience,"
Kant it
of
or rather
element
transcendental,
all
perience."
as
the
purely formal
knowl
wit, because it con
and is, in
consequence,
In
accordingly, transcendental.
to
the same
at
to
our
origin.
of subjective
being
intellect,
Only Criticism
of
indeed
rule, according
insight
such
—
the insight that
experience;
unalterable
accomplishes
the form
i.e.,
the understanding why such
with
up
;
Now
transcendental, in the first place,
priori, and therefore the merely
prescribes
must
with
substance
original
that such must exist.
knowledge
our
him,
the a
of
knowledge is
such
is the true
a proof
by
understands
recognition
which
and which
in this
sees
even
concern, according to
the corporeal is one
They
generally.
substance
will
Transcendental Philosophy, that
the form
of
and
which
contained
in
limitation
the
the knowledge
ble for us,
since
things in themselves is impossi
of
experience
The
phenomena.
mere
is, as the doctrine of
knowing consciousness as such,
thereby disclosed, by virtue of
our
can
furnish
nothing but
is how
"metaphysical,"
word
"
"
ever, not synonymous with transcendental.
Everything
that is a priori certain, but which concerns experience,
is termed by him metaphysical, whereas the doctrine
it is only
that
as
purely
called
which
most
us
brings to
essential
passes
origin.
is
formal,
have their
son,
account of
and
alone
one's
laws
a priori.
beyond the
Hence,
as
a
subjective
priori
consciousness that the
of
in
root
its
origin, and
certain, is alone
Transcendental is the philosophy
that it is
transcendental.
be known
it
on
this
our
It is
world
brain,
called
whole
and
is
primary
for this
reason can
given phantasmagoria
especially the Critical
and
presented to
transcendental, because
already said, the
transcendental ;
which
criticism
to its
of pure
rea
{i.e., Kantian), philosophy,
metaphysical,
on
the other
hand
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
"foundations
the
are
The
centrate
and
a
in the
Will is
hence
a
of
thinking
all
no
world
—
all
this
and mere animal
it falls
But
away.
the Kantian
consciousness,
object,
Hence
it.
presupposes
all
arise
which
fundamental
nature
and
of
nature
those questions,
origin
rest
to
attributes
expression
—
"
"
by
questions
such
all
to
our
thing-in-
an
animal,
Such is the
world.
by
as
accordingly
the
this to be the
assumes
our
the world,
of
They
etc.
the
of
occasioned
presentments occasioned
consciousness,
and ultimate
our
the phenomena
and
boundary,
after death,
only
of
of subject and
and
and
end,
what are
form
all-essential
false assumption,
origi
sense
tran
are
merely subjectively, but
They are, indeed,
for themselves, that is objectively, susceptible of
For they are problems which wholly disappear
answer.
scendent.
in
self-conscious
it is in reality only the form
while
continuance
cerebral
of
the
of
which
separation
But from this
beginning,
nal
of
presenting
consciousness
the same.
itself
and
it for the
the world,
animal
a
that
original
is implied in the
count
on
in
an opposition exists
individual
our
the abolition
with
that fundamental and
which
own
indeed
or
then it is impossible for us to get rid in thought of
until
of
That the
manner.
immediately
given
separation,
consequence
existence,
we
following
our own existence and
mere
since
however,
is only given us, in a secondary manner, as
or image in our head, as brain phenomenon,
our own
and
between
is
philosophy,
a
somewhat
presentment
while
those of
also
etc.
deeper sense, if one undertakes to con
therein the innermost spirit of the Kantian philos
whole world
ness,
science,"
natural
conception of a transcendental
may be taken in
ophy,
of
Virtue,"
the "doctrine of
183
not
and
with
the
abolition
opposition
though
who
based
they
were
asks whether
in hypothcsi, his
withstanding,
and
individual
these
it,
he
to the
object,
and
consciousness
are, nevertheless,
of
it.
continues after
animal
existence of
as
it
the
and
stated
as
For example, he
his
death,
brain-consciousness,
space
continuance.
conditions
and
independent
this, inasmuch
supposes
subject
as
our cerebral
of
upon
sets
and
aside,
asks,
not
which pre
something
its form, namely,
rests on
and
time
—
limitations,
as
his
to wit, as to
Now philosophy,
which
brings
such, to distinct
all
con-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
,84
is
sciousness,'
,^ot-
SUBJECT,
THE
FOR
vindicates
OF
TERMINATIONS
ItwiU
Idealism.
dental
ground
universal
UNlVtK^A
thf
THE
be
gradually
it
de-
,„„„„„
TRANSCEN-
IS
IT
wu
WORLD,
,
rmTFCTIVE
OBJECTIVE
^„*.
THE
as
far
so
in
and,
transcendental,
that
seen
the
far insoluble, as
Metaphysics are only
problems of
questions
themselves.
the
contained in
contradiction is
so
m
a
Idealism, in
Transcendental
dispute the
empirical
it is
only that
says
not
brain-function, from
and
space,
an
of
themselves
and
percept-form
that
means of
sible,
we
reality,
in-themselves,
ance.
If
as
we
astonishment,
such a
does
could
withdraw
a single
and
perhaps even right
three
In
(i.)
the
The
is
belong
these forms
amid
world
all
and
with
this
clearly
made
has
grasped
How
the
great
rich
ideality
he has
the
before us,
apparent
met
with
and
change,
in its
time
there
fullness.
their
identity,
progress
spirit
space
expounded
alone
contained
of
and
our
the
of
no
it.
and
and
same.
intellect,
identical.
in philosophy, inasmuch
transcendental Idealism.
time, dryly
On the
and
contrary,
hence
and
less than their
indeed in consequences is Kant's
of
un-
determination,
opinion, the following
foreign to the things-in-themselves.
These three propositions are at bottom
has
knowledge,
have, to our
—
(2.)
fore, in every point of time, one
(3.) Time is the percept-form of
sees
appear
of
should
we
The true Real is independent
who
beings-
to the
themselves in that
may be stated:
form of reality is the actual; in it
immediately
completeness
means
down to its individual
accordance
sole
by
and
and
enduring
and
passing away
that only
only by
origination, is pos
process has
no absolute
propositions
real
always
plurality,
not
kaleidoscope,
transitory, unalterable,
identical.
space,
which manifest
from the
glass
of
it
that
e.,
is
know,
and we
that
recognize
i.
time,
a multitude of existences manifest
time, destruction
of
our
its condition, and that
reality itself is only the reality
of which one
is arising,
another
the
of
If
therein,
it has
since
the forms of perception,
not
but
arise, for
empirical
appearance.
the existing world,
unconditioned,
which
causality
this
therefore
meantime, does
the
of
reality
truth,
as
doctrine
tastelessly
nothing
He
he
of
as
results
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
185
from the pompous, pretentious and purposely incompre
hensible jargon of the three notorious sophists, who have
drawn
from Kant the
off
of a
attention
that
public
Before Kant, it may be said,
unworthy of him.
in time, now time is in us.
In the first case
Real,
are
we, like everything
and
lies
in
time
is
shows
thus
me
time,
of
than to
more
themselves,
belong
must
a
simply
wheel,
ready in my
to
analogous
work
long
this,
space
to a
us
that
If
undeterred
ary,
to us as
appear
own
being
being
remote
the
of
mation
and
us
of
other
which
as
we
that
a mere
which
another con
the
sense
ever
that
things-in-
the
only
one
past
really,
is
ever
resembles
a
down, but, being
I have
place.
al
compared, in a manner
glass cut into
facets, which
ago
singly in
a
the
received
an
does
reproduc
becoming
matter,
vivid
very
time
countless
of
might
presentation
immediate
not
vision
it
touch
of
confir
the
true
all
medium
would
again
perception, after the
be there; as also, on
of
hand, our true and living faculty of memory,
long past maintains an un withered exist
this
ence, bears
and
alter,
fact,
from its
deeper into
though, by
past,
stream
the danger
by
still
time
are
to
proposition
of
has
I
things, but is only interpolated between their
of
removal
exists
which
plunge
we
moves
one
which
since
chief
tion.
of
essence
seems to
never
shows
the
the
be,
still
which
stage-waterfall,
in
to
not
Again,
them.
which
my death.
future,
and
and
me
be this, that in
would
truly been,
our
to
another of
after
me,
present
past,
past, but that everything
not
deceptive illusion
may be drawn from the
which
time does not
case, time is
without
belong
similarly my product,
sequence
a
time proceeding
a
it,
Ideal,
respecting the future
For if I am not,
collapses.
It is only
All three divisions
any
second
is
time
within
question
once
at
more.
no
In the
The
us.
death
after
it.
by
consumed
but
falls
that
else
was
we were
witness
to something within us
consequently,
which
is
that does not
not within the
domain
time.
The
before
after
place
main
us
tendency
the
of
complete
the Kantian philsophy is to place
diversity
of
the
Ideal
and
Real
Locke had already broken ground.
In the first
one can say, the Ideal is the perceptual figure dis-
1
the qualities
playing itself spacially,
in it, while the Real is
with
independent
presented
its
or
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
86
to be
of
drawn,
in the head
it is precisely this
and yet
Locke had
turns.
question
being
perceivable
for
and
is
which
shown
difficult
the
which
upon
that everything in the
rough
color, sound, smoothness,
figure,
itself,
another
of
But the boundary between them is
own.
former
its
all
thing by, in,
the
(secondary qual
ness, hardness, softness, cold,
therefore do not belong to
and
are
ities),
merely Ideal,
the thing in itself, inasmuch as the being and nature of
the thing is not given therein, but only its action, and
heat,
indeed
the
on
a
etc.
definite action, an action, namely
our
specifically determined receptivity of
one-sided
very
quite
five sense-organs, by virtue of which, for instance, sound
The ac
does not act on the eye, nor light on the ear.
bodies
tion
of
sets
the latter in
in the
most
same
a mechanism
the
on
in
of sense
organs
as
way
activity
I pull
when
As the
play.
thing in itself, Locke left
Real,
standing,
that
these
even
qualities
the things
nature of
or
thread
turn, according
tion,
are
known ;
as
given us
and
much
as
tivity
of
have
said
brain in
the
Now
do
to their
all
whole
of our
senses.
In
that these
forms
are
each
perception
as
the
of
my
is
and
con
that these in
and
construc
and are
our eye which
matter).
sense and
with x-
by
blue,
the
are
to
which
its apparatus,
this I
of
Kant
is inde
which
he
it is
our
so
causality (whose objectivized abof a
body in space is the product
and
perception
brain function
with
taken
according
things
produces green, red, and
time, space,
My
of
part
sense-feelings
Even
sense-organs.*
which produces
stractum
order
accordance
the
specific
pendent of our presentment and
As it is
Kant demon
themselves,
they are
experience,
the purely objective, the nature
*
he
exactly
hence that they most reside in us preformed,
the specific kind of the receptivity and ac
respective
brain
the
im
which
number,
to the things in
before
al
which
therefore cannot be absolutely Real, since
ditioned by space, time and causality, and
their
them,
which sets
infinitely superior insight,
objective
not belong to the
with
subsequently,
to
belong to
extension, form,
penetrability, motion, or rest, and
therefore termed primary qualities.
strated,
a
in that it
consists
peculiar
of
a state
THE
the
calls
PHILOSOPHY
HISTORY OF
the properly Real in con
is,
that
thing-in-itself,
187
Ideal, is something totally distinct
from the figure which presents itself to us in perception
tradistinction to the
to which, inasmuch
and
time, properly speaking,
to be attributed,
ence to all that
has
noza
coroll.
2d
extension
also
prop.
The Lockean
"Eth.,"
from
seen
of exist
Spi
duration.
general
prop.
aspect,
the
with
16,
Schol.
18,
Real,
ii.,
p.
space and
duration is
power
and
in its
subject
of
nor
extension
it imparts the
although
possesses
comprehended the
may be
as
it is independent
as
neither
in
to
opposition
Ideal,
the
is
at
bottom matter, stripped indeed of all its qualities, which
he casts on one side as secondary, that is as conditioned
by
sense-organs, for it
our
of
which
existent,
flex or copy.
As
Root,"
"Fourfold
is,
per
an
se,
extended, etc.,
the presentment in us is the mere re
to
this, I may
2d
ed.,
less length in "The World
p.
77;
I (in the
that
recall
3d
82,
p.
ed.,
and
at
Will,"
etc., Presentment,
i.,p. 9, and vol. ii, p. 48; 3ded., vol. i. , p. 10; vol. ii.,
have explained that the nature of matter consists sim
as
2d
vol.
ed.,
p. 52
)
ply in its action, that
that
conceived as
kind
specific
of
matter
such
every
action, is
mains action or pure
is nothing but causality,
special
abstracted
quality, that
from
causality, deprived
nitions, causality in abstracto; to
of all
which
thorough understanding of the matter,
I
it,
so
the
is,
the
every
that it
other
place, for
ask
and
re
defi
a more
reader
to re
fer. But Kant had already taught, although it was I who
demonstration of it, that all caus
gave the first correct
our understanding, and therefore,
ality is only a form of
exists for the understanding and in the understand
only
We see then the supposed Real of Locke, matter,
ing.
in this way retreats entirely into the Ideal, and therewith
into the subject, that is, exists only in the presentment
and for the presentment.
Kant, by his presentment, cer
tainly deprived
ity,
I
but
have
with
at
last
thing-in-itself,
the
ent
of
us,
which
the Ideal.
the
Real,
him it
or
thing-in-itself,
remained
demonstrated
which
alone
presentment
has
and
had been hitherto
It
will
a
of
completely
the
true
its
material
unknown x-
Real,
a real existence
or
the
independ
its forms, to be the Will in
inconsiderately
be seen, therefore, that
reckoned
to
Locke, Kant,
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
188
and
I
in
stand
in
sent
the
development
gradual
David Hume may be
thought.
of
process
a connect
as
considered
the
years,
unified,
coherent,
a
of
repre
we
as
hundred
two
nearly
of
space
inasmuch
connection,
close
although
properly speaking, only
ing link in this chain,
In respect
concerned.
is
of
law
causality
the
so far as
influence I have to complete the above exposition
of
his
the following.
with
Locke,
no
in his
trod
feeling
the
of
ences
into
enters
which
of
cause
less than Condillac, and the disciples who
footsteps, have elaborated the fact that the
an
same outside of
such
organ
our
of
body,
sense
(sense-impression)
action
requires
a
that the differ
and
also
presuppose
differences in the cause, whatever these may be ; whence
the above indicated distinction between primary and
secondary
qualities proceeds.
objective
world
composed of
space
things in
ready
themselves, but
warm
they end,
which are
nor
numerical.
and an
for them,
made
cold,
colorless,
and
etc.,
figured, impenetrable,
axiom itself, by virtue
extended,
But the
nevertheless,
With this
stands
neither
soundless,
odorless,
and
in
movable
of which
the transition from the inner to the outer, and accordingly
the whole derivation and installation of the things-inthemselves
they, like
evident,
has taken place, namely, the law
all earlier
and
philosophers, have
requiring
its
no proof of
validity.
derived,
itself, but
connection
in time, in
but
never
can
are
states
self-
Upon this
sceptical
the validity of
from which, according to this philosophy,
placed
tions
causality,
to be
attack, inasmuch as he
this law in doubt.
For experience,
Hume directed his
point
of
assumed
with
a
only
other
mere
only
always be accidental,
supply
with
words,
all
our
with
the
mere
never with
sequence,
and
the
us
never
which,
a
causal
succession of
consequence,
as
necessary.
cogni
such,
This
must
argu
to common sense, yet not easily to be
Kant to investigate the true origin of
so antagonistic
ment,
refuted,
occasioned
causality, which he found to lie in the essential and innate
form of our understanding itself, that is, in the subject
and
from
not
in the object, since it was not first brought to
But by this the whole objective world
without.
Locke
and
Condillac
was
us
of
drawn back into the subject
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Kant had
since
tive as
the clue to it to be
shown
For the
origin.
is
rule
189
of
subjective
found to be just
now
as
subjec
the
sense-impression, according to which it is to
be conceived as the effect of a cause, which cause it alone
is,
that
subject
is,
perceived
merely
the
quence of
the
as
assumes an
objective
For the
world.
object without
itself in
conse
its
intellect,
which
peculiar characteristic of
to every change presupposes
a
and
therefore only
cause,
it were, out of itself in a space prepared for
this purpose, this in its turn being a product of its own
original construction, as well as of the specific impression
it,
projects
as
the sense-organs,
on
procedure
takes
the instance
at
The
place.
above
things-of-themselves, had
of
Kant into
a world of mere
of
the
which
Lockean
been
therefore
in
phenomena
whole
objective world
changed
by
our knowledge-
apparatus, and this the more completely, since the space
in which they present themselves, as also the time in
which they pass, was proved by him to be undeniably of
subjective origin.
But
with all
thing-in-itself
no
less than
i. e.,
admits
this, Kant,
to
Locke,
allowed
the
something to exist
independent of our presentments, which only furnish us
with
phenomena, and which lies at the foundation of
these
Here, then, lay the Achilles's heel of
had, by the demonstration of its
phenomena.
his philosophy,
in
being
as
obtained
which
to forfeit the
inconsequence,
but
exist,
the
last
of
recognition
unconditioned
resort
it
was,
it had already
validity
and
nevertheless,
truth;
unjustly
For certainly the assumption
respect.
the phenomena, of a real
in
itself
behind
thing
kernel under so many shells, is in no wise untrue. The
in this
treated
of
a
denial
of
in
which
to
unite
It is only the way
it would be indeed absurd.
Kant introduced this thing-in-itself, and sought
it with his principles, which was faulty; at
bottom it
its
was
only his
most comprehensive
matter
itself,
this
sense
tion
made
it
which
might
valid
exposition
sense)
of
succumbed
be
to
maintained
against
(this
word
taken
in
the matter, and not the
his
that
adversaries.
the
him was, strictly speaking,
dressed only ad hominem, not ad rem.
dian proverb finds an application here :
Assuredly
"
In
argumenta
No lotus
ad
the In
without
a
"
thorn.
Kant
behind every
it
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
190
phenomenon a
its subsistence;
receives
by the
being in
deeply-felt truth that
guided
was
in
itself
other
lies,
from
behind
that
words,
which
But he un
something presented lies.
dertook to deduce this from a given presentment itself by
the addition of certain laws known to us a priori, and
the
presentment
cannot be deduced from
which, because they are a priori,
from the phenome
and
distinct
something independent
non or presentment
another
out
strike
this
the
pounded
demus
"
against
I
truly
root of
of
essential
of
E.
set
p.
205),
vindication,
that haec potuisse
so
result;
forth
(vol. ii.,
Kant's
up
has its
refelli
here clearly
will
took
special
any
potuisse
G.
by
diffuse
Philosophy"
Reinhold
without
et non
pp.
Theoretical
of
and
manner, ex
"Aenesianonymously in
374-81), and subsequently in his
clumsy
at first
matter,
which
although
the
a
(especially
"Critique
dici,
in
who,
which
he had taken
path
demonstrated to him
were
respect,
Schultze,
the fallacious
by
purpose one must
inconsistencies in
The
way.
Kant involved himself
in
hence for this
and
;
application.
for
once
the matter,
that
all
which
in my way
lies at the
controversy independently of Schultze's
A strict deduction of the thingconceiving it.
the
whole
way
in-itself Kant has
given, but he has inherited it
never
from his predecessors, especially Locke, and has retained
it as something, the existence of which was not to be
doubted,
it
since
was
bound to do this to
discoveries
which
is
our
demonstrably
therefore
it to be
knowledge
empirical
element of which this
indeed, he was
According to Kant's
strictly self-evident;
a certain extent.
of
is
contains an element
subjective
origin, and
case; the latter
not the
objective, there
being
no
another
remains
for
ground
Kant's transcendental Idealism
subjective.
holding
denies,
accordingly, the objective nature of things or their reality
as independent of our
perception, in so far as the a priori
in our knowledge extends, but not farther, because the
ground for the denial does not reach farther.
What lies
outside
things
he
as
nature of
world
allows
cannot
the
is in
to remain, that
be
given
no
constructed a
is,
all
such
priori.
phenomena, namely,
wise
determinable by us
qualities of
For the
whole
of
the corporeal
a
priori, but is
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
191
merely the universal form of its phenomenon, and this
may be reduced to space, time, and causality, together
with the
totality of the laws of these three forms. On
the
hand,
other
throughout
words, that
content of the
phenomena,
empirical
its
special
other
than as a posteriori.
their common source)
as the manifestation
thing-in-itself,
This
posteriori,
a
determina
quality appearing in
rather
through the
nature
forms.
a priori
present
in
forms,
closer
e., every
otherwise
( or
qualities
therefore the
remain
/'.
physical
same, every
cannot be known
them,
residuum
existent
to
pertains
the
of
These
of
priori
a
chance, is precisely the
the thing-in-itself.
Now the empirical
which
manifestation of
tion
indeterminate
the
these
all
the
of
medium
above
in every
which
phe
appears, as it were, clothed in the a priori, but
yet imparting to every being its special and individual
character, is accordingly the matter of the phenomenal
nomenon
in
world
contradistinction
out
of
by
Kant
so
and
priority but
a
its
Now,
form.
certainly demonstrated
perfectly distinct element of the
nomenon, and a foreign addition to these
time,
same
caprice
of
the
to leave the
it
since
proceeds
—
in
subject, but
knowing
thereto
position
no
the
phenomenon
out,
on
a
we
or
Kant
as
posteriori,
from those
hand,
assumption
cannot
as
nor
they
such
conceive
which
that
expressed
isolate
are
always
forms;
it,
have
qualities
them as
certain
appear
a
known quantity,
an
x-
remains
from
not
to the
are
separated
enveloped
thing itself,
with
some
But
known only
and purified
on
the
in these
of
the
other
latter,
things
can
know
nature
therefore, for him,
of
the
in op
hesitate
some ground.
as
priori, but
For the form
phe
stands
Kant teaches that we can know the existence
in themselves, but nothing else about them ; we
The
that they are, but not what they are.
things in themselves
sign
and at
wholly from
it must come from
therefore to regard it as coming
where,
the
abstraction
wise
rather
and
as
the
sought
empirical
for these reasons, Kant did
matter of
the
by
the
after
this
of
from these, thereby proving itself
flowing
everything
remains
rather
a second
the
since
no
phenomenon
of
to
way deducible from the forms
inherent in the subject, so carefully
is in
matter
an
of
un
phenomenon
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
192
clothes
and
cases.
We
forms
hides
the
at most
say this
can
to
accrue
the
since
—
things as
all
the thing-in-itself in
of
nature
above
without
phenomena,
all
a prion
dis
intellect, but
the things at the same time show considerable diversity
the
that which determines this difference, that is,
tinction,
they do from
as
proceeding
our
—
specific
Looked
position
thing-in-itself.
in this way, Kant's assumption and presup
the things in themselves, notwithstanding the
at
of
subjectivity
of
well
and
be
to
shown
namely, the
forms
our
all
of
justified
perfectly
less,
things, is the
of
variety
untenable
when
in
content
empirical
knowledge,
all
is,
be
to
seems
It
grounded.
neverthe
its only argument,
phenomena, is nar
It is certain
rowly tested and traced back to its origin.
that in empirical knowledge and its source, perceptual
presentment, there is
its
form,
is, as
tion
to
a
matter
is known to
which
whether
this
is independent
which
The
priori.
us a
is
matter
of
of
next ques
objective
or sub
jective origin, since only in the first case can it insure
If we pursue it, therefore, to
for us the thing-in-itself.
its origin, we find this nowhere else but in our sense-
For it is
impression.
the eye, in the
fingers,
of
function
with
its
a
of
at
or
the
of
an
by
retina of
ends
the
of
presentment, and
apparatus of our forms
perceptual
in play the whole
lie ready a priori,
applied
sable
external
the result
means of
On the
object.
of
law
the
a
necessary
being
change
causality
and
is
indispen
the understanding a priori.
The above,
priori certainty and necessity, points to a
of
this
the arbitrary
thing
the ear,
felt in the sense-organ,
once
cause
of
occurring in the
which
perception
being
at
sets
knowledge,
the
nerves
change
induces the
which
thus first
a
change
power
of
This
external.
primarily by
the intellect itself
means
of
which,
since
the subject,
quality
a form
for
it does
appears
stand
as some
receives
its
of
which
space,
in
not
to it
significance
is
added
the
purpose, the necessarily
presupposed cause thereby appearing perceptually as an
object in space bearing the alterations effected by it in
by
our
sense-organs,
thing-in-itself.
adequately
and
as
though
This
they
whole
thoroughly
were
process
expounded
properties
may
be
of
the
found
in my treatise
on
THE
"Law
the
HISTORY
Cause,"
of
constitutes the
which
§
PHILOSOPHY
OF
But
21.
the
starting
sense-impression,
the
of
point
193
and
process
furnishes undeniably the whole matter of empirical
ception, is something altogether subjective, and as
knowledge-forms, by
entire
perceptual
of
demonstration,
are
that the matter,
knowledge
well
of
as
from the
arises
sentment,
less
no
as
accordance
this
with
form
Our
subject.
is
matter
and
Kant's
correct
clear
perceptual
of
the
objective
origin, it is
subjective
the
the
which
presentment arises out of
externally in
projected
means
per
pre
empirical
whole
is
the
accordingly resolved into two elements,
have their origin in ourselves, namely, in
sense-impression
and
in the forms given a priori,
that
is,
both
of which
in the forms
intellect
Kant had
other
functions
the
the
of
categories
standing, demonstrated by me, however, as
and inadmissible.
If the above be correct,
and
presentment
in truth furnish
themselves,
in
no
empirical
data for
Kant
and
philosophies, had
earlier
absolute,
and
ternal to
to the
and
objectively
justified
Lockean
to
the
of
the
and
under
perceptual
the
it,
in
principles
all
as
concluding from
of
This
us.
his
on
on
things
to
as
philosophy, like
law of causality
existence
is, however,
cause
from the internal
not
taken
independent
and
conclusions
our
which
superfluous
knowledge resting
thereby justified in
was
sense-impression
effect
was
The
such.
assuming
the
our
of
causality, to
and
space,
eleven
added
in
embedded
brain, time,
or
real
things
only
to
way
to the
given
subjectively
Kant therefore,
existent.
ex
from the
passage
attain
external
after
he had
causality for the knowledge-form
to him.
of the subject, found this way no longer open
He had himself, moreover, often enough warned us
vindicated
against
is,
use
a
use
of
the
extending beyond
category
of
experience and
possibility.
In
at
of
transcendent
a
making
causality, that
its
law
the
point
of
fact the thing-in-itself is
in this way,
knowledge,
nor
which
otherwise
always
by
that
remains
never
to
of pure
be
arrived
objective
presentment,
and
as
in the subject, and can never furnish
such
from the presentment.
distinct
But the
anything really
be arrived at by shifting the
can only
thing-in-itself
has its
root
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
194
from that
which
single
well
is
which
is
it
manner:
proclaims
Thereby is
all
of
standing
Will in
our
furnished the
key
its
as
actions
given
in
which,
objective
the
at
and
double
a
in
the
same
self-conscious
own
at once
to the under
by
produced
motions
and
within as
ex
(here motives), which without this internal
immediate insight into its essence, would remain just
ternal
and
causes
incomprehensible
as
by
from
one
m
possible
all
us
in space,
presentment
itself
starting from that
only
is thereby
body
own
our
as
exists
world,
ness.
and
starting
previously,
all
is
attainable
from without,
as
for
once
But this
presented.
thing
as
time
presents,
which
is
instead of,
is, by
that
standpoint,
inexplicable
and
as
the
changes
occurring according to natural laws and as manifestations
other
bodies which are only
of natural forces, in those
given
the
to us in
permanent
objective
these forces have root, to
mediate
knowledge
his
phenomenon,
own
and
perception;
substratum
which
wit
the
itself.
body
has
each one
given
hence to that
these actions, that
of
him like
all
This im
the nature
of
of
wherein
of
only in
others
perception, must thereupon be transferred an
alogically to the remaining phenomena, which are really
the only ones that can properly be said to be given, and
objective
becomes then
the
to
key
the
knowledge
inner
the
of
things, or, in other words, of the things-inOne could only attain to this by a way
themselves.
quite different from pure objective
knowledge, which re
of
nature
mains mere
of
to aid,
by
and
of
ness
other
This is
by taking
presentment,
the subject,
the
the self-consciousness
which always appears as animal
making it the
things,
way
i.e.,
exponent of
of
I have
which
the
individual,
the
concious-
intellect.
perceptive
followed,
it is
and
only right one, the narrow gate to truth.
But instead of men striking out this way, Kant's
sitition
and
it
was
was
inem,
were
in
for
with
that
the essence
with
the
reality were mere
believed accordingly to be
was
the
of
these
sophists
and
wind
the
expo-
subject,
ad
argumenta
ad rem.
attacks
The field
bags.
was
hom-
argumenta
Schultzian
declared untenable.
of
former the latter
in
consequence
philosophy
open
believed
what
refuted;
and
confounded
the
Kant's
was
The first to
now
set
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
up in this line was
itself had come into
construct
fore
our
a
system
Fichte, who, because
discredit, straightway
without
195
any thing-in-itself,
of
anything but
and
the assumption
rejected
thing-in-
the
to
proceeded
there
what
was
the
thing
simple, making
knowing
in all, or at least making it produce every
from its own resources.
For this purpose he did
away
at
presentment pure
subject
and
all
once
doctrines,
the
with
essential
and
the distinction between
—
valuable
a
priori
in Kant's
and
a
poste
thereby that between the phenomenon and the
thing-in-itself, inasmuch as he declared everything to be
riori,
a
—
and
priori,
a
being naturally without any proof of such
assumption, he offered us partly sophistical
while
monstrous
and partly
absurd
hid itself under the
demonstrations,
sham
garb
depth
of
and
of
futility
whose
the
assumed
Incomprehensibility arising therefrom. He laid claim,
moreover, openly and audaciously, to intellectual intui
in other words, to inspiration.
For a public desti
tion,
—
tute
all
of
power
this certainly
for excellence,
tion
be
a much
writers
who
there
are
us
on
that
seriously
Fichte had accomplished,
right
These
man.
public
declared Fichte to
than Kant.
not
wanting
At the
to
the
new
pres
philosophical
to foist the false fame of
traditional,
assure
quite
unworthy of Kant,
held self-assump
and
a
immediately
and
are anxious
become
now
Such
philosopher
greater
day, indeed,
ent
judgment,
of
sufficed.
Fichte,
and
generation,
Kant merely attempted
that he was properly the
what
and
by
gentlemen,
incapacity
to
their
Midas-judgment,
Kant, and,
palpably their deplorable ignorance,
that it is to be hoped the rising and finally disillusionized
their
expose
bare
indeed, lay
generation
time
and
and
other
tunity
seen
of
what
will
brains
the
1808
produced
a
on
an
"Cabinet
without
from
destroying
the countless histories
with
impression
made
themselves
guard
recalling
called
understand
so
writings
ways
in
entire
by
them.
their
of
philosophy
I take this oppor
little work, from which it may be
Fichte 's personal appearance and
unprejudiced
of
Berlin
indication
of
contemporary.
Characters,"
place
of
and
It
is
appeared
printing; it is
said
by Buchholz, but as to this I am not certain.
With it may be compared what the jurist Anselm Von
to
be
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
196
in the letters issued in
Feuerbach,
Fichte;
about
spondence,"
be formed
It
from
1847;
this
of
idea may
correct
a
philosopher.
his
of
Schelling, worthy
before
he
prede
nevertheless
which
cessor, trod in Fichte's footsteps,
forsook in order to proclaim his own invention, the
and subjective,
identity of the
would imply that all which
which
Real,
lute
objective
and
like Locke
Kant, had,
and
of acuteness
and
doctrines
the
the
of
suitably designated
of
Ideal
the
But
jective.
bility
of
in the
and
now
place
Real,
former
or
of
the
the
expenditure
be
again
identity.
For
absolute
be very
diversity
subjective and
further from
ob
confusion
to
introduced incomprehensi
having
having put
the appearance of depth
being
the seeds
one corruption after
all
of
great minds
thinkers may
of
went
in that total demoralization
philosophy,
absolute
said
those
thought,
of
to result in
were
two
things
and
speech,
his
of
as
Fichte
by
confusion,
incredible
with
abso
the Ideal
or
should
consideration, separated,
dissolved in the broth
says
Corre
Fichte's
and
which
of
all
sham
long
not
was
"Schiller's
also
as
his son,
by
1852
scattered which
another,
finally
and
philosophy, and, through
literature which has appeared in our
of
day.
After
Schelling
ministers, the
from above with
commonplace,
unparalleled
together
herents
tion
such
presumption,
it,
as
arose
tended
a political
which
immortal
as
a
philosophical
Hegel,
philosopher
repulsive,
a system
for
taken
followed
great
creature
but
miscalculated purpose,
ignorant charlatan, who,
and
conceit,
was
wisdom;
of
manufactured
a
flat,
with
absurdity, pasted
by his venal ad
trumpeted
and
by blockheads
whereby such a perfect
had never before been
really
chorus of admira
known.
The
ex
influence thus violently acquired by
had as its consequence the ruination of the
intellectual
a
man
learning
of
generation.
The admirer of this
has the mockery of posterity in store
mockery which is already preluded by the
audible laughter of neighbors.
For should it
a
whole
pseudo-philosophy
for
him, a
delightfully
not sound
learned
worth
delightful to my ears when the
caste
nothing
has for
and
thirty
years
nation,
spurned
less than nothing,
not
whose
my labors
even a
as
passing
THE HISTORY
of
have the
should
glance,
having
OF
PHILOSOPHY
197
among its neighbors
deified throughout these thirty
reputation
revered and even
years, as the highest and most unheard-of wisdom, what
is wholly bad, absurd, nonsensical, and subservient merely
to material ends ?
I ought, I suppose, as a good patriot,
to go my way in the
and
manism,
Cada
one
the Spanish
as
de la feria,
uno cuenta
the Germans
of
and
of
have belonged to them
to
But it is
?
no other nation
"
praise
rejoice
le
como
va en
Ger
and
to
proverb says:
"
ella
( Every
respecting the fair, according as it has fared
him there ).
Go to the Democolacs and get yourself
reports
with
Well-developed,
praised.
unwieldy,
minister-bepuffed,
intellect
without
charlatans,
nonsense-mongering
and
merit, such as these belong to the Germans, not
like myself!
Such is the testimony which I have to
without
men
give
239)
them in
calls
it
him;
It
also.
i-Kiyvmadpevov
"
il n'y
"
Letters to
Merck, p.
German; Burger,
a
have
would
the fact that
upon
or
ao$6v
rdv
others
and
rests
(
to be born
misfortune
Mozart, Beethoven,
I
Wieland
parting.
a
agreed
eo+dv
with
Set
elvai
l'
a
que
rdv
I'
esprit
qui
sent
es
prit.
To the
tian
Dialectic,"
theology
then
one
no
the
deed
are
the
even
often
all
intellect,
essential
twisted
is
receive
men
in
it ?
notions
and
Are
not
and
to
a
that
the
twist, in
consequence
of
which cripple
investigation,
the first
and
and
most
things
all
presupposition
and ordered
from without,
preconceived
purposes
individual
essence
period
whole
Kant,
respecting ourselves
if we start with the
therefore
essence,
the
to
distorted,
produced
fundamental
way the
thinking
for the human
blessing
a
presuppositions,
all
removed from
to
falsified,
according to the
and
raised speculative
throughout
greatest
are
dead
that everything
personal
far
sacred
convictions
and
so
sciences
completely
which
therefore
see,
the
of
these two absolutely
and
What
not
we
revival
thoughts of
he has
Transcen
psychology from their foundations, that since
has been able, even with the best intentions,
For do
mind!
incontestably
which
them up again.
set
from
and
by
"
the
Kan
the
and meritorious sides of
belongs
philosophy,
dental
to
brilliant
most
of
consist
being
man
is
of
two
?
In
the
assumed
wholly
of
a
same
to be
a
hetero-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
198
geneous
have
which
parts,
soldered together
to
themselves
commodate
together
come
knowing how,
without
ac
they
as
well
as
other
each
been
and
had to
and
forever severed,
critique of these fancies
Kant's
How powerfully
volentes ?
upon
all the sciences, is
acted
has
grounds
and of their
since
that
fact
the
from
then, at least in the
obvious
in
could,
higher German
in
only
fessors
Our
of
who
natural
works
presuppositions
appear
longer seriously
literature and for the pro
are
and
popular
philosophy,
on
these
sense,
left for
nolentes
again
literature,
figurative
a
being
made,
be
to
order
no
bread
their
earn
by
them.
themselves
keep
science
espe
cially free from them, while, on the contrary, the English,
by aiming at them in their modes of expression and
diatribes, or else by
eyes.
Immediately
quite
different
even
the
this
eminent
we
respect;
Lichtenberg,
estly
tithesis
He
soul
of
has
who
dental
with
it
fore,
I
selves
and
body,
estimated
Dialectic,
"
and
find it
lay
critique
critique
if
superfluous
*
Transcen
I here deal
In the first place, there
and interest them
know
who
reason, the
of
of rational
the
value of
in detail.
before those
in the
physiognomy, earn
adhering to this an
thereby injuring his cause.
on
the high
will not
somewhat more
instance,
education
early
conviction
evident
with
and
for
see,
whose
pre-Kantian, in his treatise
was
the
in
apologies, lower themselves in our
before Kant, indeed, things were
psychology,
following
as
it is
essay
on
presented
in
its entirety in the first edition
for in the following edi
tions it appears castrated.
The argument which is there
—
criticised,
p.
Personality,"
therefore
position
361, seq.,
ought
criticised.
is
not
object of
the
internal
fication,
indeed
as
For
the title "Paralogism
quite
also
be
sense, suddenly
object
of
the
and
certainly profound ex
difficult to be under
or
and
an
of
conceived
and
objected
self-consciousness,
the
otherwise
Kant's
only too subtle
stood, but it may
the
under
to be
to
it,
that it
in Kant's
without
alien
assumes
language,
of
further justi
consciousness,
or
perception, in order thereupon to
judge it according to the laws and analogies of the cor
poreal
of
an
Two distinct times are even allowed to be
(p. 363), the one in the consciousness of the
world.
assumed
external
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
judged,
do
the
in that
other
I
not coincide.
would
the
of
judging
199
which
subject,
the argument in question,
give
from
the personality, quite another turn, and
accordingly in the two following propositions :
1. One can establish a priori
respecting all
present
it
—
no matter of
general,
resting;
the comparison
it follows that the
whence
that is in
all
by
perceptible
primarily
kind it may
whatever
it,
could
something that has
be
not
no
perceived
in
part
with
course
it,
with
in
that it is
something
time,
of
it
were
and
motion
be,
with
for
not
whose
rest
we compare its motion.
It is quite true that we here
judge according to the analogy of motion in space; but
space
time must
and
For
each other.
time
under
always
this
the figure
of
hend it perceptually, to
therewith,
ance
our
flux
the
under
that
accomplished
change
183
the
of
the
commits
order
to
In
priori.
of
by
order
matter
accidents,
"
First
the
of
as
to this
time
which
the demonstration to the
p.
a
appre
accord
imagine that if everything in
together moved forward in
this forward movement would
past
the
it
and
something fixed,
For the perception
flows.
this is
line in
a straight
be perceptible, but in
assume
tent
we
cannot
we
time,
of
also
construct
consciousness at once
nevertheless
mutually to explain
have to imagine
serve
reason
with
we must
its
external
con
sense,
the enduring substance
as
Kant
also
Analogy
explains
in
"
Experience,
In this very place, however, he
1st edition.
insupportable blunder, already criticised by
of
and which contradicts, moreover, his own
saying that it is not time that flows, but
That this is fundamentally
only the phenomena in time.
false is proved by the fixed certainty implanted in us all,
me
elsewhere,
doctrine,
of
that
if
still
time
so
all
that if
the
things in heaven
would
continue
nature
question
as
were
to
and
its
later
on
length
the
on
earth
again
of
to
get
the
stood
suddenly
course undisturbed
thereby;
under
previous
way
pause
be capable in itself of a perfectly exact answer.
Were it otherwise, time would have to stand still with
the watch or when the latter got too fast, go along with
would
it.
But
tainty
time
a
precisely
priori
has
its
this
relation, together
respecting
course,
and
it,
proves
therefore
with
our
incontrovertibly
its
essence,
in
cer
that
our
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
2oo
head
intuition,
from the
argument
our
the
that of the
sense, in which
I said therefore, that if our
could
we
be
not
this
of
aware
is
on
the internal
of
taken up.
again
its
with
consciousness
forward uniformly in the
moved
content
is
with
matter;
argument
perception
external
external
of
realm
the
personality
hand respecting the
other
the
enduring is
said, the
have
I
as
In
us.
of
outside
not
and
entire
time,
this, then,
stream of
For
motion.
be something in the consciousness that is it
But this cannot be anything other than
immovable.
there
self
must
knowing
the
unaltered, the
and
itself
subject
course
Before its
content.
drama.
We
in this
course
if in
old age
and
pursues
the
change
its
course
how little
sensible
unmoved
contemplates,
of time
life
gaze
be
shall
which
we recall
its
of
like
a
it has itself
part
vividly to
ourselves
the scenes of youth and childhood.
2.
Internally
in
Kant,
through
the
self-consciousness,
to
or
speak
with
internal sense, I only know in time.
But objectively considered, nothing
mere time, since such implies a
permanent
in
this
exist
duration,
(The justification
a
simultaneity
and
this
be found in my treatise on " The Law
18, besides in "The World as Will and Pre
of
again
can
but this
§
2d
tum
of
10 and
myself
the
i., §
vol.
ed.,
pp.
3d
ed.,
this, I find
531;
11,
as
a
which
same,
remains, in spite of all
which
is related to the
its
not spacial
stance.
Since now,
question
mere
is
external sense
order
nent,
as
it
the
as
all
substra
endures, that is, which ever
change
in my presentments,
presentments
as
consequently
of
substance,
matter
no
is to
less than
and since
of
simple
it is
sub
already said, no permanency can
by itself alone, but the substance
on the
other hand, not
by the
consequently not in space, we must, in
the flux of time to think it as perma
as
ing
not.
end
fact
something lying outside time and say
lies in time, but the specially know
object
all
or
and p.
and
accordingly,
subject,
as
time
11,
perceived
against
assume
and
Notwithstanding
560.)
matter of
10
therefore unextended, that
and
take place in
pp.
4,
and
changing accidents, and
the latter deserves the name
tion
of
proposition will
Cause,"
sentment,"
in
space.
we
As
now outside
should
time there is no cessa
have in the
knowing
subject a
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
permanent, albeit neither spacial
fore indestructible, substance.
In
order
201
temporal,
nor
then to demonstrate the
an
empirical
act
to
that
the
knowing
posed
in
—
indeed
and
nowise
this
aid
—
to
that it
proves
can
same
apart
the
takes
may be op
other
continuance
exist
the
one should
is bound up
subject
waking, that its
with
this
which
from
argument
thus stated, to be a paralogism,
personality,
have to say that the second proposition of the
as
there
and
with
life,
during
both
from them.
For
permanence, during
state, is far removed, even toto genere distinct,
from the permanence of matter (the origin and sole real
actual
period
of
the
which
we
know in
con
scious
ization
the
of
perception,
its
conception
which
duration, but
impossibility of its
to the analogy
we
would
selves,
which
ance.
But
to
thinking
a
then be
and
mere
consists
in
substance
our
certain of an endless continu
would
be
(matter), the error
above demonstration,
phenomenon
the dialectical reason, in the
which
commits,
merely
indestructibility,
from the fact that this latter
a
with
priori not
a
annihilation.
assume
would
apart
analogy
discern
Yet it is according
this truly indestructible substance that
of
wish
substance),
we
its necessary
actual
the
an
in
and
in that it treats the
permanence of
the
subject, throughout the change of all its presentments
in time, like the permanence of the matter given to us
in
the
under
ter a
be
of
upon
of
priori, especially
although
all, let
tions
of
bility
is
Everything
to the
the
pretended
permanence
alone
in
all
perception, in
predicated
of
abolished, especially the
rests
(as has been
shown
of
time,
all
a
existing in
as
and
as
consequence
matter
predicate
through
the
although
mat
can
immaterial substance, and
of
the latter only rests
assumed
times,
under
it,
which
can
perception,
continuance
fact that it is
the
includes both
accordingly
substance.
condition
attributed
this
at
and
perception,
conception
a
of
priori,
spacial.
in the
which
are
But
above
no
the
result
time
condi
indestructi
here expressly
on
this precisely
quoted
passages
of my writings), the permanence of the same.
As to the demonstrations of the immortality of the soul,
from its
ity, by
assumed
which
simplicity
and
consequent
the only possible kind of
indissolubil
decay,
the disso-
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
202
lution
that
the parts, is excluded; it may be
of
said
generally
laws respecting origination, dissolution, change,
either a priori or a pos
etc., which we know
all
continuance,
teriori,
are
the
corporeal
by
conditioned
also
and
objectively,
of
valid
only
world
our
given
us
As
intellect.
depart from this, and talk of im
have no longer any justification
we
material
essences,
and rules in order to maintain
laws
those
for applying
as
soon, therefore,
the
whether
is
the
of
plicity
not, for here
thinking
clue
every
of
substance
such
fails
immortality
of
proofs
such
all
connection,
dissolution
and
origination
or
possible
we
In this
from the
invalid.
are
essences
us.
sim
For the
amphiboly lies in that an immaterial substance is spoken
of, and then the laws of material substance are inter
in
polated
In the
I have
our
lies
the
has its
included,
in
gives
that
and
Taken altogether, it
according to the rule,
rational
of
every error,
in the above.
root
as
argument the
something permanent must
in the second argument it
posteriori.
a
the personality,
of
in its first
truth which,
the foundation
at
even
thing
same
that
seem
will
it,
priori
a
to it.
paralogism
consciousness;
the
proves
applied
the
apprehended
demonstration
lie in
to be
order
meantime
psychology
This truth is, that
consciousness an eternal point can
our empirical
assuredly be shown, but only a point, and only shown to
be, without the material for any further demonstration
being
it.
from
derived
to
trines, according
I
knows all, but is
fixed
conceive it as the
not
which
presentments,
known in
subject.
body
whose
nomenon
of
is here the
that
is,
If
we
of
to
knowing
itself known.
point
past
to
of
point
subject
something
of
contact
own
my
We therefore
which
time,
time
of
the
with
only
I have
object with
with
its
being
permanent.
knowledge is
doc
subject
the
me, like the
brain-function it objectively presents, a phe
the will, which, as the only thing-in-itself,
substratum
the
subject
now turn
of
of
a
correlate
of
all
phenomena,
knowledge.
to rational
cosmology
we
find preg
expressions, in its antinomies, of the perplexity aris
from the law of cause, perplexities which have from
nant
ing
the
The
here
is the
the very course of
opposition
this
called
flows,
refer
that
which
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
immemorial forced
time
to
men
203
To
philosophize.
em
this in another, clearer, and less complex man
than has been done by Kant, is the object of the
phasize
ner
following exposition, which, unlike the Kantian, is not
dialectical, operating with abstract concepts, but
which applies itself
immediately to the perceptive con
merely
sciousness.
Time
Both
able, for
behind
it,
beginning
taken
not
be
the
world
petitio
But
not
The
ginning
further
higher,
the
lying
actual
by
tradicted
and
ing.
The
question
and
carried
the
long enough
to
it
reach
our
from
For if it
not
have taken
the
of
the
inconvenient
foregoing
fact that the
required
have to
place
al
con
present
is really there,
only datum for the reckon
first
beginning
implies no preceding cause,
and
such,
just as well have occurred trillions
might
it did
is
this
and
down to
have
will
But
chain
up higher
as
earlier.
we
difficulty.
fact that the
indeed
justification
arises
thereby
which
follow it up
will
whereby
present.
does
why this first be
"
accordingly
the
reached
the
constitutes
be
is
"
infinity.
have
we
—
push
this
after
chain,
time
itself a
time,
and us
can never
present,
yet
not
ways
between it
that it
so
place
had
which
we
to
beginning,
for
namely,
earlier ?
further through
and
of causes
mere
question,
take
not
causal
sense
beginning
back
pushed
first
a
find
ever-renewed
did
literal
not
and
also
the
off
immediately
shall
most
first
a
would
be now, but would
the first beginning we
would
last resort,
in the
cut
is
—
assume
we
us
arbitrarily
Pentateuch
the
of
time, however limited, but
beginning, in other words, if
infinity
if
assist
ever
for between it
the
to
even
the things therein have
could
some
assume
deny
present
one
first
On the contrary, if
real
presup
previous
a
this in the
and
a
How, then,
verse
principii,
been,
long past,
it back
and
(The first
?
the
we
it is.
undeni
therefore
have
be
can
therefore
and
must
cause
no
and
is in time,
cause
every
effect
of
and
priori certain,
a
whose
place
a
must
if
and
the term).
of
beginning,
no
are
beginning
all
time,
poses
seem
have
can
primal.
wait
no
cause
for any,
infinitely
and
sooner,
therefore
of
years
for its occurrence,
must
since
accordingly
there
existed
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
2o4
For as nothing need precede
nothing to prevent it.
pre
the first beginning as its cause, so nothing need
therefore, to wait for
cede it as its hindrance; it has,
It matters
enough.
soon
comes
never
and
nothing,
not in what
why it
not
therefore,
pushes
it
itself
have
can
the
time
always
elapsed
a
fixed
given
fails us,
therefore
and
but
it
from
If,
posit
we
we
always
on
present
the
other
we
never
itself in
hand,
be the
the
itself, in
faculty is
the
case
now
and
wearied,
and
can
of
our
hands
that
time.
present
which
one,
reach
one
there
proceed
indicated,
beginningless,
contemplation
a
our
from the really
start
effect of a previous
same
is therefore
world
we
attain, as already
For every cause to
first beginning.
must always
beginning
from it to the
attain
attache),
happens
also
and
comes
such
before
it
so
no
us
we never
d'
{point
assume
vanishes
And
first
a
never
have to
we
to
it
Hence
connection
of
arbitrarily,
backward into infinity.
when
being
world
it
that
that
so
the
of
from
in
an
moment,
time.
present
time
since
always
chain
consequence
point
This,
beginning
causal
every
endless,
never
for
is
present
can
sooner.
we
back,
there
beginning,
no
it,
much
existed
further
ever
proving too short, the
the
reach from it to
that
fix
we
have
up to the
backward
of the
throwing
finite
is
time
of
point
should
see
given
to
we
the
proceed
which
finds
The
end.
like infinite time
which
our
understanding
imaginative
receives
no
satisfaction.
These two
of which
one
opposite
end, it
may be
views
compared
to
But
always
at
be too
stick
not
grasped, while the other
infinity.
The essential of the matter may be
in the proposition that time, which is absolutely
must
a
which, may be easily
itself forever into
extends
matters
great
bottom the truth
for
of
a
world conceived
"
the
antithesis
"
of
resumed
infinite,
as
finite.
the Kan
tian antinomy is confirmed thereby, for if we proceed
from that which is alone certain and really given, the
beginninglessness
the first
which
of
beginning
cannot
is the only
be
time
is
united
certain
and
results.
merely
as
an
such,
real, the
On the
arbitrary
with
what
present.
other
hand,
assumption,
have
said
For the
rest
we
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
we
these
must regard
of
reality
main
time,
thesis
The
and
is
or
rather
to
as
of
the
since
that the
much
question
either
the
with
as
in infinite
to
infinitely
remaining
space.
such
of
during
less
space
heaven,
that
evinces
the
once
logic
tions.
itself
as
no
alternative,
antinomy, inas
other
assumption
A bounded
one
so
large,
what
is the
ever
asks
hand,
other
one
can
be the farthest in
"
Is there
predicament
a
not
or
fixed
?
"
obviously empirical.
the Kantian philosophy, I have
of
the
antinomies
that
shown
to be false
however,
and
phenomena
star
Here
and
everyone
will
cor
conceptions,
their a priori certain
should, when combined according to the laws of
into judgments and conclusions, lead to contradic
For if this
were
the case,
contradictions would
perceptually-given
regulative
connection
of
itself,
phenomenon
its
members,
which
have
or
is
in
an
For the perceptual, as such, knows
all; the latter term has in respect of
significance, since it exists merely in
assumption.
contradiction
at
meaning or
abstract knowledge
no
either
other
an
should
With due consideration,
recognize it as impossible
impossible
it
in this
assumption
to lie in the
the
cer
the
would certainly make a very uncanny
The foregoing question,
inhabitants.
stand
rectly drawn from
laws,
con
themselves.
thus expressed,
critique of
whole
illusory.
at
star
it to
demonstrably
vanishes, let it be
fixed
within
of
own physical
the
with
and
no
which
on
planets
In my
the
as
present
quantity,
there for ? On the
therefore, may be
it
one or
lies
reduction
It may be observed, by the way, that the planets
a star would only have a starry heaven at night
a half of their year, during the other half a star
impression
whose
no
resembles
really
one
here
small
space
conceive
not
for the
difficulties
world
an
always
experience, the
only forbidden us by our
question
considerable
transcendent, but
se
possible
tain argument,
is bounded in
world
not per
reality being
A priori there is
formation.
so
the
of
confirmations
as
the
whether
unbounded, is
empirical,
the realm
absolute
Kant.
of
question
space
consequently
the
of
assumption
the
disclosing
as
considerations
ensuing from the
absurdities
205
openly
or
or reflection.
covertly,
assume
One
can
perfectly well,
something
and at
the
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
206
time
same
self, but something
The
and
not be.
eleatic
as
the
refer
more
the
make
I
as
to
order
as
matter
in my way.
In the Christian religion the
his
the
I therefore
has already
it
theology
In
shortly
the
of
Zeno
well-known
the latter.
speculative
now
will
essential
same
antinomies.
of
critique
upon.
generally touched
been
still
to
service
his
time both be
foregoing,
with
prove
with
to my
reader
Kant's
to
the
the
of
one
contradict
words,
at
cannot
real
Kant
also
other
opposite
sought
certainly
sophisms,
in
it,
not assume
endeavor
to
comprehensible
as
be,
may
as
emphasize
possible
presupposed
natural, for it is
I
revelation.
upon
Rationalists
the
demonstrate
they
when
the
God
blunder
of
to
a
as
than from
otherwise
Philosophy,
amusement.
thing
in their dogmas
in their innocence do
They
dangerous is this
attempt
of
existence
the Scriptures.
and
it therefore
regard
a
This is only
is in this case based
discussion.
thereto,
essential
God is
existence of
raised above all
and
not
know how
on
the
other
of
faith.
arguments.
The
a science, and as such has
In philosophy, therefore, nothing may be assumed as ex
istent, except either what is directly given in experience,
hand, is
or what
latter
the
no
certainly
possession
this point,
such
of
was
perfectly
when
to
justified,
for
a
everyone
then
once
no
impossibility
philosopher in Germany
what
for
all
he did
dogma
refuses
to
to
was
which
admit
be
Herein
them.
resuscitate
and
world on
demonstrated the
theoretical
who
rogue, deserves
believed themselves to be in
Kant disillusionized the
since
attempted
service,
by
long
decisively
proofs, that
again
stamp
of,
and so
has
est
indubitable
is demonstrated
people
articles
of
Kant
the high
to
presumes
its validity
seriously
as
to
put
a
the
test.
The
case
the
of
Inasmuch
as the
be
by
shown
empirical
properly be to
doing
which
But, instead
of
demonstration is
the
existence
reasoning, the
of
next
as
follows.
God
cannot
step
should
its possibility, in the course of
would
enough
encounter
difficulties.
establish
one
of
proved, i. e., it
necessary
assumed
reality
this, its
was
essence.
necessity
undertaken
to
was undertaken
demonstrate
to be
God
as
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Now necessity,
thing
more
cause, in
ingly
the
the choice
ciple
of
first
only
have
words, the
other
because
effect
I
as
between
lay
found
were
and
the ontological,
of
the
ground
of
of
the ground
of
the necessity
of
and
me,
Knowing.
referred
to
the
The first
as
the
arose
cosmological
derived from the
Becoming (cause),
prin
There
admissible.
first
the
of
these the two
of
demonstrations,
the
any
its
on
or positing of the
To this end accord
four forms
the
by
be
to
therefore two theological
never
consequence
a
given.
demonstrated
cause
of
appearance
is
cause
shown, is
often
than the dependence
207
principle
from that
other
to
seeks
establish
according to the law
physical
causality, inasmuch as the world is conceived as an
which
must have a cause.
To this cosmological
effect
demonstration the
The
powerfully
is as follows: "If any thing
"
absolutely necessary Being.
that
through
which
being
to
which
attains
to
physico-
of
version
is
it,
most
which
exists, there exists an
this is to be understood
By
the first
or
the
of
causes
The latter is then
existence.
This demonstration has obviously the weakness
from the consequence to the cause,
assumed.
of
it
the
of
argument
all
at
is itself given,
which
support
cosmological
in the Wolffian
expressed
either
and
assistance
theological is added.
a conclusion
form
of
logic
refuses
which
I have
conclusion
It ignores the fact
certainty.
out, that we can only think any
far as it is effect, not in so far
thing
as
as
it is
all
to
claim
often pointed
necessary in
cause
of
so
another
thing.
Besides, the law of causality when applied
For if it would carry us
in this way proves too much.
from the world back to its cause, it does not allow us to
given
by this,
remain
ward
We
in infinitum.
are
whose
off
again.
law
of
not
to
forms
by
in the
imp
all
before
leads
but
the cause,
of
cause
still
to
the
and
magician's apprentice,
command, but refused to leave
Add to this that the force and validity of the
their
matter.
at
extends
It
nothing more;
their coming
all
onward
Goethe's
position of
began indeed
causality only
and
back
further
us
remorselessly on
This is involved in its very nature.
so
and
and
experience,
and
the
to
is the
the
matter
going,
a
form
to
clue
of
things
the
and
change
of
remains untouched
fact
which
therefore know
we
with
discern
certainty.
the
Finally,
law
the
that
argument
the
by
upset
of
is
causality
therefore merely
and
origin,
subjective
demonstrably of
applicable by our
intellect to phenomena,
to
and not
things
THEMSELVES.*
As already said, the
is
demonstration is
cosmological
transcendental
IN
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
208
that it
a
as
given
confirmation, substantiation, plausi
form to the assumption introduced by
But it
can
first
in
come
only
it is.
which
Its
explanation
procedure
of
that it
the already presupposed cause
a
raises
knowing
and
tion from the
such
a
tion can,
at
Besides,
as
to
seeks
most,
be the
ture,
establish
physico-theology,
my philosophy, it is seen to
fundamentally false view of na
of a
carryihg-out
degrades the immediate
which
of
recognizing in
of
Looking at
the
to
will
a mere
world
and
maintains
phenomenon
mediate
natural
things realistically
noonday that the
ob-
thus,
the original,
objectively, it is as
itself.
and
one,
existences
or
clear
Organic beings
as
the
subsist and
inward
and original vital
Inorganic bodies bear in themselves the forces
of which physics
propagate
and
But induc
this cause.
of
instead
force.
by
explained
seriously into this favorite
and
jectivation
*
induc
by
as
may be
in
the world
of
afford
tests it in the light
and
which
and
consists
strong probability, certainty never.
already said, this whole demonstration is con
by the previous one. But if one goes more
ditioned
closely
effects
many
cause, it
inasmuch
being,
willing
the presup
with
the
demonstration,
amplification
to
order
afford
and
the
of
position
to the cosmological, in
aid
subsidiary
should
bility, color,
the former.
demonstration
physico-theological
themselves
by
of
virtue
their
own
chemistry are the mere description, and the planets proceed in their
from inward powers by virtue of their inertia and gravitation.
course
The world, therefore, requires no one outside itself for its subsistence,
for it is Vishnu; but to say that this world in time with all its indwell
ing forces has not always been, but has been produced from nothing
by a foreign power existing outside it, is a wholly superfluous supposi
tion which nothing can confirm, more particularly as all its forces are
bound up
with
matter,
cannot even so much as
That
back to Spinozism.
where conceived
course, in
order
beings
to
Romans, however,
its
own sphere
any
one of
by
the
origination
This
think.
appeal
control
to such,
were content
each
them had
divinity ;
made
in their
men
which
the
and
destruction
conception of
uttermost
the forces
is perfectly
never occurred
world and
of
which
world
need
we
reaches
have every
and their
Greeks and
of nature
natural.
to leave the matter
it
the
with
the control
of
to them to assert that
the forces of nature.
THE HISTORY
action
the
of
the
and
that
ceives
molded
act
is
and
"
we
by
sense
any
by
emerges
its
at
especially
one.
pp.
It
is
this
which
parent
the
is
medius,
there
analytical
ing
the
the
again,
14
or
vol.
work,
ii. ,
the ontological,
causality, but the
by
it is
of
to
deduce the
a mere
not
a
analyt
possible
proposition
such
making
This is
proposition.
"
as a
it
cannot
is
handle to be
is
in
of
fail that it is
by
to
in
denial
logically
nowise
through the
proved
in
a
employed
is intro
afterward
means
justification for
either excogitated
introduced
existence
exposed
But the
concept
the contrary, it is
manner,
God
predicate
and
judgment.
whole
of
denied, by
reality
duced into the subject,
found
ed.
a
" perfection " or "
as terminus
1st
heading
very obvious and only too trans
After having, by using the con
trick.
also
conjuror's
chief
the
the
as its clue,
whereby
God becomes here a
of
subject
the
subject of
correct, but is
under
of
that
wise
such
existence
the
of
43-62
here, namely,
sought
conception
this
contradict
a
and
knowledge
existence
conception
judgment, in
make
cept
the
law
the
ground of
of
from the
existence
pos
demonstration,
take
not
the
of
objects
all
once
only
knowledge,
26.
theological
necessity
appears
perfect
point
cap.
of
second
principle
ical
originality into
displays itself
in short, as a work of the highest wis
I refer the reader to my treatise
—
stated, does
logical
Will,
what
immeasurably
Nature,"
Will in
beginning
the
and
Presentment,
that
comprehends
which
As to this
The
bemodeled,
thing-in-
from
assume
con
within
as
(pp. 35-54 2d ed., pp. 37-58 3d ed.),
"
Comparative Anatomy, " and to my
as
it
from
produced
is something brought about in the
itself; in other words, in conse
an
of
their connection,
on
something
the light of knowl
knowledge, then, certainly, it
means
knowledge
dom.
infallibly
as
presentment
quence of
sible
been
objectivation
presentment
of
world
produced
in
not
its
of
Presentment,
in this
it
motives; and, accordingly,
has
which
which
in the
of
209
and, therefore,
explains
as
something becarpentered,
from the outside.
For if the
outward
itself,
clue
it
will,
merely secondary, only
edge
PHILOSOPHY
knowingless,
primarily powerful,
certain
OF
of
an
establish
thereby;
on
purely arbitrary
cosmological demon-
stration
to
according
this, for in his
seen
the
The
third
of
edition
Principle
the
of
made
estimated
and
my treatise
Adequate
in
Cause,"
the second
§
and
7,
of
found
and
the "Fourfold Root
on
of
to this I
theological
The two
demonstrations
takes
how it has
account
God,
ontological,
be
to
demonstration,
except as
come
hand,
its
by
to
seeks
and
the
talk of
sounding
demonstration
other
is
quite
conception of
Being
uphold
whose existence
existing,
ception, etc.
In the meantime,
we shall not
it
cannot
which
of
it
a
demon
probable.
unable
the
either
to
most
alleges
cosmological
by
imposing-
be thought
lies already in its
deny
that
that
conception
essences, and, in consequence,
innate or borrows it from the
all
of
the
the
on
physico-theological
this
make
on
how it has
prove
the
adjunct
to
seeks
stration
The
its
by
and
by
come
support
mutually
other, but cannot stand any the more
The cosmological has the advantage
account.
each
it
use
note
the reader.
refer
real
to have
expressly takes
demonstration will be
ontological
investigated
carefully
he has only
metaphysics
purely
on
indeed,
argument, and
cosmological
the fact.
everything turns
which
Christian Wolff seems,
physical necessity.
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
210
the merit of
of
con
acute
and
subtlety to the invention of the ontological
demonstration if we consider the following.
In order to
ness
explain
of
a
given
it
which
this
serves
existence,
then
as
its
we point
appears
and
can
respect
something necessary, and
But this way leads, as
explanation.
already sufficiently shown, to
which
to its cause, in
as
a
aregressus in
infinitum,'0
never, therefore, attain the something final
furnish a fundamental ground of explana
would
The
be otherwise if the existence of
be
any being
really deduced from its essence, that
mere concept or definition.
from
its
For then, indeed,
is,
it would be known as something necessary (by which
tion.
case
would
could
here,
as
from its
elsewhere, is only
meant
that
"which follows
thereby being bound to any
")
thing other than its own concept, in other words, with
out its
necessity being merely transitory and momentary
itself being again conditioned, and so on,
to an
cause
without
—
leading
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
infinite
is
series as
The
sity.
mere
transformed itself into
a
cause,
causal
with
case
knowledge
of
is, into
a ground of
hence certain,
final,
causal series, in
which
case
and
have
should
we
serve
as
for
attachment
of
point
neces
then have
would
reality, that
excellently qualifying itself to
thereby
the
the
always
ground
211
what
all
we
sought.
But
it
such
oba\a
seen
if
as
avoiding
obK
have
we
looks
a
obola
that
above
Aristotle
sophistication
ii.
post.
illusory,
he said,
when
and
desirous
ii
r<5
of
elvai
nullius rei essentiam pertinet
ad
obdivi,
istentia (Analyt.
this is
all
himself had been
ex-
7).
Without troubling himself about this, Descartes, follow
ing Anselm of Canterbury, who had already led the way
to
a
line
similar
God
however,
be
causa
on
the
in
order
logically
gether
A
laid.
more
detailed
of
ciple
Cause,
After Kant
by
the impression
ify
a
were,
Hume
soothing
was
irrefutable,
as
plains
joke,
to
an
us
*
his
Kant
must
produced
of
the
Natural
discovered,
be something
of
the
namely,
other
In the
practical
the
"
Prin
8.
seek
to
mod
to apply,
and
of
the
as
procedure
same
way Kant
for the
reason,
the
a
gave
existence
and
alarming truth that
than Jewish mythology.
it
of
his, as readable
»
ex
Religion,
thing has merely been
for the demonstration
postulate
concepts,
theology had
anodyne; the
on
logicum.
and
he had to
in the last
whole
7
on
speculative
*
by this,
or
who
§§
ed.,
blow,
Dialogues
that
exercitium
substitute
God
3rd
medicine
"
in my treatise
critique
analagous,
origin of
the critical philosophy was
exposition
of the
procedure of
and
his
the
of
contained
2nd
same
off
necessary, and which, to
deceptions, at last gave occasion
the latter its death
given
as
"
palm
real
the foundation
both dogmatists is
the
always
to
investigation into the
great
which
with
a
as
other similar
with
Spinoza,
existendum, conferring
God, honoris causa,
endeavors
which
necessary
to Locke's
of
title
But it is
everyone.
de passe-passe,
ad
the
so established
to satisfy
—
the only existing substance
sui, i. e., qua per se est et per se concipi-
quamobrem nulla alia re eget
tour
conception
world as
tur
world
the
posited
fulfilled the requirement,
the
that of
which could
thought,
of
which
one
as
of
moral
philosophy
212
SCHOPENHAUER'S
ESSAYS
which
without
therefrom
theology arising
objective
a
belief
His
as
have
should
the
conduct, or for
knowledge might
complete
validity in
than that the
God
just
a
of
assumption
nothing
else
rewarding
and
says
understood,
properly
exposition
hand.
have something in
should
people
whereby
that
reason,
founded— so
be
without
events
all
at
far
concerned,
theoretical
or
practical
of
respect
so
validity,
was
reason
to
claim
any
the
knowledge
useful and sufficient regulative
punishing after death is a
scheme for the explanation of the serious ethical signifi
felt to
cance
of
this
of
the
any
belong to our conduct,
truth,
place
objectively it
ity,
the
of
was
truth,
and
that has been injured
Kant's
injury.
indicated,
sense
by
us, in
remembering
himself
at
dare
not
the
real
state
a
reckoned
on
theological
which
every
we
being
be
must
taken
in the
the same time that he him
of
the
granum
salis
theosophical
part
Kant's
to
give
of
Theism, a new proof
by any means,
the
wiser
of
of
the
even
to
be
placed
of
recognized
the
in
conspicuous
speculative
it
as
with
endeavored
appearance
as
were
a
real
dogmatic
existence
of
God.
Yet it is
but is only
professors
satisfied
The
sort.
later time far
a
the
matter
sphere, merely for the assistance
a straw's breadth further.
critique
the
writers
theology
moral
not so
were
of
rewarding
express
and
most
though
Not
a
to
from the Kantian philosophy, have
removed
for the
selves
imme
more
to suffer the same
order
theology
moral
valid
greater
much
or
analogous
so plainly as is here done on
in
but
affairs,
setting up the monstros
theoretical doctrine of merely practical validity
self
ity of
An
according
in the form
time be reborn
some
at
has
might
theoretically
consequently
Brahminism of
of
allegory
alone
assumption
Metempsychosis,
punishing
must
of
regulation
an
which
though
even
tendency, but
plausibility,
for the
it were,
as
be justified.
to
not
diate worth, is the dogma
or
as also
up,
in this respect,
in the last resort, his
scheme of similar
stronger
set
that
so
significance
take the
He
itself.
conduct
of
valid
of
inside the
morality,
philosophy
this for
long,
allowed
they
by Kant's
theology, for they had from
to
not
them
although
embarrassment
their special calling
moral
and
of old
demonstrate
the
THE HISTORY OF
existence and attributes of
chief
subject
their
of
God,
I
must
in their
fect
also
God)
the proper subject
to
and
now
provide
paint
money for
and
of
philosophy,
it with their
the
imagination,
How
the
by
is
more
exercises
governments which
philosophizing desire to see good
Church-goers come out of the
must
the lucrative
concept
world
define this
to
for assuredly the
such
of
the
to
relation
and
zealous
gentlemen
its
and
philosophical class-rooms.
upset
in the
ravens
professors
of
before,
as
Christians
these
When, therefore,
add,
philosophy
Even nowadays, they assert with per
that the Absolute (well-known as the new
coolness
them
the
Him the
make
the
nourishes
and
213
chairs.
fangled title for
closely,
to
and
philosophizing.
Scripture teaches that God
field,
PHILOSOPHY
it then have
suited
when
Kant
philosophy
that
proof
demonstrations
all
theology are untenable, and that all cog
concerning their chosen theme were simply im
for our intellect ? At first they tried to help
possible
of
speculative
nitions
by
by
their
themselves
afterward
long
They
run.
tion that the
any
was
well-known
obvious, indeed
which
the
"
instruction
it,
beg
whence
the
this
on
it
of
to
Cause,"
also
my
"
had
the
"divine
a
organ
things,
Criticism
of
and
2d
immediately
of
the
3d
from
(I earnestly
ed.,
Ethics,"
Kantian
for
and our
respecting this my treatise
consult
of
any ; for it
fact of the
Reason!
called
my "Fundamental Problems
also
being
derived
the
finally
we
supernatural
"Principle
of
since
reason
being
point
therefore
was
reader
doubt
our
the asser
require
not
established
most
could not
we
upon
and
in the
answer
indeed incapable
was
that it did
within us,
the immediate knowledge
consciousness
God
of
ignoring,
of
not
themselves
threw
next
existence
demonstration, but
world,
method
contesting, but this did
pp.
§
34,
on
as
148-154,
Philosophy,
ed., pp. 584-584, 3d. ed., pp. 617-618.)
As regards the genesis of this divine consciousness
"
2d
have recently
to wit,
an
received
engraving
year-old child with
bed,
a
remarkable
displaying
a mother
folded hands
for the
pictorial
and
purpose
of
in
a
we
illustration,
placing her
kneeling
three-
position
praying, certainly a
the
genesis
of the divine
occurrence
frequent
constituting
For it is not doubtful that when the brain
consciousness.
against
the
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
214
in the
earliest stages
is
age
molded, the
so
it
firmly imbedded in
According to others
tions,
it
though
as
really inborn.
were
the reason merely furnishes
sugges
intellectual intuitions.
possess
again
others
while
its growth, and at the tenderest
divine consciousness " will grow as
of
"
There were, still further, those who invented Absolute
Thought, i. e. , a Thought by which man did not require
to look
him
around
at
things, but
the
in Divine Omniscience how
This is undoubtedly the
going inventions.
"
"
They
they
determined
which
to be
were
all
seized upon
is nothing but the
all.
the fore
most convenient of all
one and
for
once
the word
demon
in nuce, or rather so strongly compressed that it
has become microscopic and invisible, and thus is allowed
absolute
which
cosmological
stration
to pass unnoticed,
is
and as such
proclaimed as
something
requiring no explanation. For in its true form it dare no
longer show itself after the Kantian examen rigorosum
—
as
I have
edition
36
my treatise
of
(3d ed.,
p.
who
the trick
length in the
greater
absolute
"
p.
ed.,
fifty
who
under
years
this
but the dodge
incognito,
ago made use of
cosmological
was
well
failed in
his
which
the
to
in their
the
spite of
critique
professors
accounts
authentic
relation
up to this
true coin.
current as
passes
demonstrations,
the
eyes
of
hind
so
a
and
"
copper
scarcely
reason
or rather
a
sign
of
to
the word
reason
and
its
philosophy have never
the existence of God and
philosophy properly
for this
mountain,
that
the
day
dem
suited
of
this God requiring no explanation
foot;
of
in the detailed
world
the words of the proverb,
nor
p.
comprehensive word
exploded and proscribed
In short, in
2d
in my criticism of the Kantian
I do not
544 (3d ed., p. 574).
the capacities of the public, for
"
Cause,"
of
and also
smuggling in
Absolute the
at
"The Principle
on
the first
was
of
onstration,
37),
2d.
philosophy,
know
shown
already
exposition
money,
copper wares
theirs has
of
of
But in
consists.
neither
;
"
hand
they keep him hidden be
behind
him is
a
noisy
edifice of
visible.
If
words,
one
could
only compel them to explain themselves clearly as to what
is to be understood by the word God we should be able
to see whether
natura
naturans
it
required
(into
no
which
explanation.
Not
even a
their God often appears to
THE
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
requires no
pass)
explanation
Demokritos, Epikurus,
without
were
worth
cocks
But
any such;
a
whose
a
deal
great
a world
their
all
legion
a
of
errors,
weather
the
round with
wind.
is a long way from being God.
such
the truth is merely contained
naturans
conception of
behind
with
turns
Leukippus,
constructed
than
more
trade-philosophy
natura
In the
that
these men,
and
find
we
since
Lukretius
and
215
the
and
ever-fleeting
phenomena of the
natura
naturata
restlessly changing
imperishable and
an
untiring force must lie hidden by virtue of which the
former is continually renewing itself, since it remains un
touched by the dissolution of things.
As the natura
is the
naturata
rans
that
belong
ultimately
of
natura
the
than
and
from
naturans
our
upon
being,
which
as
that
we are
we possess
access
a
serious
have in this
an
and
the
as
immediate
in
be
can
discloses the Will
ourselves
we
—
indeed that
Now inasmuch
within.
natura natu
we ourselves
consequently, know less
and
natura
of
the clearest,
and
exact reflection
of
physics, so is the
This shows us that
the only specimen of it to
ourselves
core
of
to nature,
naturata
nearest
obtained
subject
of metaphysics.
revela
tion of the natura naturans, which we are accordingly
justified in transferring to all other beings which are only
We attain thereby to the great
one-sidedly known to us.
truth that the
the Will in
natura
our
own
is the
the phenomenon,
the
from this
apart
even
mere
naturata
ties
is
of
not
only
of
itself,
sential
addition
which
that
of
But
that
Theism, but is not
latter, if it is not to
clearly
conception
correlate
head.
obvious
our
a natura naturans and a natura
world, e.g., goodness, wisdom,
For the rest, Pantheism is a
for the
in
it is sufficiently
not
speaking, the
necessary,
thing-in-itself is
the natura naturata, or
presentment
to the
even
the
or
while
result
distinguishing
is
theism; for
manner
naturans,
heart,
a
of
a
of certain
do
not
God
world
be
a mere
moral
quali
to
accrue
blessedness,
conception
Pan
even
the
etc.
which
presupposes
destroys
as
its
distinct from him.
es
If,
his role, there
and hence Pan
remains an absolute world without God,
But this last
theism is only a euphemism for Atheism.
on
the
other
expression
hand,
the
in its turn
world
also
takes
contains a
over
subreption,
since
it
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
216
assumes at the
outset
that Theism
explana
requires no
incumbit
evades the
whereby it dexterously
that has
Atheism
probatio, while it is rather the so-called
be first
to
therefore
the just primi occupantis, and has
affirmanti
tion,
driven
the
the field
of
out
that
observation
cised,
tion
some
of
the world, but
the
of
cause
Theism
Theism.
world
not
requires
intelligent,
an
But
Jews.
a
God is
accordance
to
us
present
on
our
capable
a
dint
on
the contrary, that
that
we
are
origin
of nature
daring
familiar to
us
as
Hence
well
as
which
him
as
be
that
he
assume
herself
a
I
and
that the
second
self-
in
then
and of
which
and
me
justified in
are not even
being
of
to
as
was
(according
would startle
for the
also say
way, that
the
the genuineness of
"
Meyer")
sun.
be
might
him did
the
by
not
repetition
by
which
Letters
of
exhibited
But to
theological notion requires
natural
not seem
To
expected.
to
such a
all existence
if it had
nature, I
to
expounded
much
reason
Count
an
teach in
no
to
may
ex
phi
explanation,
is only the
comprehend the same and
proceeding.
but
continuous
accredited
reverence
losophy that this
a
may observe,
Stanhope to the Schoolmaster
traordinary
the
the statement that the so-called
was
enlighten
added
is,
and
not
only
conception
teaching
earliest
theology
knows,
independent,
heard it for the first time,
we
nothing has so
Casper Hauser
less
not
But to
so.
and
fixed idea.
and
first
which
separate and
doing
the
as
of
come
a
of
as
colossal
if
us
a
knowledge wills, is a phenomenon
solely from the animal nature which is
small
planet, and is so intimately con
this
with
thinking it
is
merely
the
with
known
kind,
cause
ad-
individuality
conscious
nected
all, but
at
a
a
The personality,
word.
such
;
misconception, a contradiction in
word,
shibboleth for professors of philosophy who, after
given up the thing, are anxious to smuggle in the
misapplied
jecto, a
having
God
no
willing, that
and
cause
not
distinct from
cause
a
An impersonal
the assump
even
knowing
a
here
uncircum-
world
distinct therefrom is
only
personal, in short, an individual
alone does the word God connote.
is
myself
allow
into the
came
men
therefore not as
and
I
Theism.
by
Not
capacity immediately to
recognize it as true, is a shame
only
has
philosophy
no
right
to
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
217
such a conception without the fullest demonstra
but
it is by no means essential even to religion.
tion,
This is attested by the religion which counts the largest
assume
number of adherents on
deed
three hundred
inasmuch
and
it
as
—
whose
does
not
admit
rather
it,
expressly stigmatizes
according to our notions,
—
of
such
a
is
and
in
number
now
a religion which also
body
numerous
highly moral,
adherents
seventy millions,
the most
maintains
earth, the ancient,
Buddhism,
ascetic
of
clergy
any
conception, but
thus
—
professo,
ex
atheistic*
According
to
the
foregoing, Anthropomorphism is an
of Theism,
and
it is expressed
characteristic
essential
merely in the human form nor even in human affec
and passions, but in the
fundamental phenomenon
not
tions
to wit, in the
itself,
one
will
furnished
with
an
intellect
for its guidance, which phenomenon, as already said, is
known to us only in animal nature and most perfectly in
human nature,
which
is only thinkable
it is
when
which
and
endowed
Individuality,
as
with
is
reason
called
*The Zaradobura, the high priest of the Buddhists in Ara, in a
treatise on his religion which he gave to a Catholic Bishop, reckons
among the six damnable heresies the doctrine that a Being exists
has
who
alone
the
created
worthy
Burmas,"
tioned
in
the
world and all
of worship.
in
the
"Asiatic
same
("
Researches," vol.
vol.
series,
dhists bow their heads before
Primal
Being
things in the world,
Francis Buchanan
interpenetrates
xv.,
no
all
p.
vi., p.
idol, giving
nature
and
as
that
their
who
Religion
268.)
viz,
148,
and
the
on
is
of
It is
men
the
Bud
reason
that the
consequently is
also
in
Similarly the learned Orientalist and member of the
St. Petersburg Academy, J. J. Schmidt, in his "Researches in the
Culture" (Peters
Domain of the Ancient History of Central Asiatic
system of Buddhism knows no eternal
«The
says:
p.
180,
burg, 1848),
uncreated single divine being existent before all time, and who created
This idea is quite foreign to it, and
all things visible and invisible.
their heads.
the
there is
not
Just
little is there
as
slightest
a
trace
of
it to be found in the Buddhist books.
Where, then, is the « divine con
creation."
of Kant and those professors of philosophy who pervert
How is it to be explained that the language of the Chinese,
constitute about two-fifths of the whole human race, has no expres
sciousness"
the truth ?
who
sions
for God
Pentateuch
of
the
and creation
could not
?
For this
reason
the
first
verse of
be translated into Chinese to the
great
Sir George Staunton tried to
assist
missionaries whom
the
perplexity
by
means
he entitled, "An inquiry into the proper mode of
< God > in
word
the
translating the Sacred Scriptures into the
rendering
»
London, 1848.
Chinese language.
of
a
book
which
truly
one
Much
he is
which
this
on
more
in the Book
sion
accordingly
the
The
that
notwithstanding
strike
really
to
endeavor
conceive
they
system
we
and
later Giordano Bruno
years
this
of
expres
Church,
the
by
system
to purify Theism from
attempts
shell,
hundred
governs.
the
of
the Kopernican
was
distrust
once
champion at
because
than
Joshua
with
a
he
enthroned and whence
account
of
received
once
find
as
that is,
; He is indeed a living being,
Hence a God requires a
knowledge.
with
willing
heaven in
"as
the expression,
by
confirmed
lives"
God
as
is
This
Personality.
at
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
218
Pantheism.
and of
Anthropomorphism,
only meant to touch the
In their
innermost core.
are
at
the
its
object
they
abstractly
sublimate
gradually disap
entirely in the effort to avoid the human figure ; so
that at last the whole childish idea becomes attenuated
it to
dim
a
outline
whose
cloud-shape
pears
to
logians,
be
But besides
nothing.
are
who
"
which
God
say,
of God
image
the jargon
of
God
other
revelation
who was
especially
created
the
he
him."
professors
theo
rationalistic
these attempts, may
God,
originally
off
Old
the
and
Jehovah,
Let
then away
us
of
From the God
Joshua.
after
stripped
coating
nothing but the word is left.
One might certainly, with Kant,
theologians
the other, until
call
no
Testament is his
philosophers and
one
with
There is
of philosophy!
especially the Book
have
of
created
than
—
fond
contradicting the Holy Scriptures,
man
in his own image ; in the
with
reproached
the
this
all
Theism
last
at
a practical
postulate, although in quite another sense to that which
Theism is indeed no product of the Under
he meant it.
standing but of the Will. If it were originally theoretical,
how could all its proofs be so untenable ? But it arises
from
the
need with
Will in the
which
oppressed,
now
following manner:
( Will ) of man
the heart
violently
perpetually in a state of
of which he hopes and fears
very
connection
them
only
intelligence
causes
him
of
being
—
are
chain
traceable
not
of
for
while
in his
causes
a
short
heavily
keeps
which
hope,
continual
now
him
the things
power
which
—
the
produce
distance
by
his
need, this constant fear and hope,
frame the hypothesis of personal beings
this
to
the
and
moved,
fear and
the
is
THE
on
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
219
It is assumed of such
everything depends.
susceptible to request
like
other
are
they,
persons,
whom
that
flattery,
and
are
ing,
service
and
gift
—
in
tractable than the iron
more
the unfeeling forces of
of the
world-order.
words, that
other
the
Necessity,
the
and
nature,
they
unbend
mysterious
first, as is natural, and
as was very
logically carried out by the ancients, these
Gods were many, according to diversity of circumstances.
Later on, owing to the necessity of bringing sequence,
order, and unity into knowledge, these Gods were sub
At
powers
to one, which, as Goethe once remarked to me,
is very undramatic, since with a solitary person one can do
nothing.
The essential, however, is the impulse of anxious
ordinated
to throw itself down
humanity
frequent, bitter,
for its
grace
( Will
hope,
own
Theism.
of
supports
his
on
Man
relies
without
intellectual
The
bitter distress the
to be
wanted
of
to them all,
hypostatized,
the theoretical
since
the descent of
proceeds
the head
implied
also
changed
new god
all
it is the
the
point
their
Will, from
intelligence,
Chlodowig,
religion,
better
the
and
much
support
which, preferring
was
that
in
war.
theology
do
and
help
common
which
everything
birthmark by which
heart,
is
reason
the
is
con
upon
the
as
not
number
theology is recognizable,
in that the true
also
thus
to,
the same time the
from the
or
as
at
has in its
and
side of
is very different as to the
their gods; but that they can
It is
Let
requirements, a
he requires no God
for almighty and conse
Hence, because a God is
to call
to he is
reason
pray.
and
being, and
heart, that is the Will,
are served and prayed
they
depends.
races
his heart
that
nations
character
Great,
need
prayed
For this
versely.
it
external
the chief
of
does he
God,
wishes,
supernatural assistance.
quently
when
needs,
a
will-less
none.
and makes
all
one
therefore
order
because his intellect has deduced
of
rather on
) may have the relief of prayer and the consolation of
his intellect must create a God ; and not conversely,
him be left
mere
and
This is
merit.
In
pray for help in its
also in its concern
and
distress
happiness.
eternal
than
and great
to wit, that
and not
pretended.
from
This is
why Constantine the
king
of
the
Franks,
they hoped from their
There
the minor to
are
some
the major,
few
instead
of
gods
doing
harm
by
duction
been
such
have in
ligion, like many
the true
this
to
belong
would
is
In
to have
seem
to
cacodaemonological re
From this
mixed with
the
same
source
the Cingha-
devil
the
way
by Layard,
Intimately connected with
Theism, as here expounded, and
visited
seem
category.
all
of
origin
of
intro
the
descendants
Mesopotamia,
of
worshippers
before
appear
which
Buddhism.
lese religion,
inhabitants
Buddhism,
other savage peoples.
the Kappuism
springs
But the final
original
similar
a
now
even
from
result
Ceylon,
and
their
and
races,
part
The
and
peninsula
Brahminism
of
prayer.
and
difference.
prevented
are
who
spirits,
sacrifice
great
Indian
the
mere
possess
shows no
to
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
220
equally proceeding from the nature of man, is the im
pulse to
bring sacrifices to his gods in order to purchase
their
favor,
sure
its
("
if
or
they have already
continuance
Fragmenta,"
Sanchoniathonis
This is the meaning
42.)
the
and
origin
truth
said with
buy
to
or
support of
the
gods
such, to en
from them.
shown
off
evils
Orelli, Lips.,
ed.
1826,
p.
hence
every sacrifice,
every god; so that it may be
live upon sacrifice.
For pre
of
and
cisely because the impulse to appeal to and to purchase the
assistance of supernatural beings as the child of need and
intellectual
tion and
limitation, is
natural
he
creates
requirement
the universality
diverse races,
of
ence
Samos,
cargo
its
and
circumstance
identity
of
and
God for himself.
all ages
amid
in
Tartessus,
had
the amount
of
worked
vase,
talents
which
greatest
relates
they
expended
ship from
a
advantageous
on a
the tenth
large brazen
presented
most
differ
development.
that
sale of
acquired an unprecedented
the Samians
six
the
Hence
the
and with
intellectual
through the exceptionally
whereupon
And
in
example, Herodotus
for
Thus,
sacrifice
of
to man, for its satisfac
part
its
fortune,
of
it to
and
artistically
in the Temple of Here.
Greeks, we see in our days the
Lapp, with figure shrunk to the
dwarf, hiding his spare money in various
as a counterpart
to these
miserable nomad reindeer
dimensions
of
a
secret recesses of
to
no one
even
never
to
except
the
rocks and
it be in his
him there is
reveals
—
that
one
glens,
which
dying
hiding
such
namely
he
makes
hour to his
wherein
place
he has
known
heir,
and
which
secreted
he
a
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
brought
treasure
tecting God
as
to the
a sacrifice
221
loci,
genius
the pro
his territory (S. Albrecht Pancritius
Hagringar, " Reise durch Schweden, Lappland, Norwegen,
und Danemark im Jahre
Konigsberg, 1852, p. 162).
The belief in gods thus has its root in egoism.
In Chris
of
1850,"
tianity
has the
alone
in the form
of
it is
cially
with
serve
as
the
to
carried
the
ceeding
not always
In
tinuance.
superlative
to that
reward
testimonials
little
respect
recalled:
fore,
be
as
sovereign
State
on
occasions
thereto
a
—
pro
does
also
which
gifts, but
sometimes with
maintaining its con
the great David Hume
what
deserves to be
general
and espe
honor, thereby
says
considered
even
suited
the
of
merit with
of
this
and
cloister, church,
For the rest,
thanksgiving have to
sacrifice, and hence they are
of
extremest
although
and
praise
outsider seem
analogous
of
there.
still
surrogate
to the
which
mere
for souls,
building,
Protestants,
chapel
disappeared,
sacrifice proper
masses
"Whether this god, there
their
peculiar
heaven,
of
his
or
patron,
will
votaries
the
as
endeavor
by every art to insinuate themselves into his favor; and
supposing him to be pleased, like themselves, with praise
be
will
as
fears
invent
his
his
is
divinity,
pompous
they
is
Treatises
Several
the
as
original
a
ular
limited
cause
or
perity
are
And
429.)
urged
refuse
"It
of
which
proportion
urgent,
and
they
he
even
adversity,
or
yet
"
London,
"
represent
when
him only
Will
more
esteem
you
Essays
1777,
vulgar
sickness, plenty
bounded in his
(
certain
them, they
assent.
infinity itself, beyond
progress.
consider
Thus they
of praise.
at
appears
the
and
health
upon
epithets
Subjects,"
again:
being,
their
more
adulation;
arrive
farther
no
notions
of
In
in swelling up the titles of
be
to
outdone by his successors in
proceed,
there
which
p.
exaggeration
to him.
predecessors
till at last
on
of
strains
sure
and more
or
eulogy
addresses
distresses become
or
new
who outdoes
newer
no
in their
spared
men's
will
is
there
flattery,
and
though
the
divinity
the partic
want,
magnificent
it
say that
ii.,
that,
as
or
and
vol.
pros
ideas
dangerous
your
deity
to
is
finite
perfection; may be overcome
is
subject
to human passions, pains,
greater
force;
by a
has
a
and infirmities;
beginning, and may have an end?
and
This
they dare
comply
AN
the
that
that
Their
the Deity.
language, is
{Ibid.,
432.)
In
p.
order
to
mitigate
the
theology, but
existence
be just
as
of
the
him,
Kant
of
"
his
of
to
ever."
as
Critique
of
thereto not only
added
that
though
even
unproven, it
remain
the opposite,
prove
conceiving
attribute
frivolous
assurance
God had to
impossible to
this we may
in this case,
notwithstanding their
heterodoxy
the
also
incapable
as poor and
Theology,"
Speculative
moral
still
INGRATIATE
they seemingly
of
by
endeavor,
is,
vulgar
are
they
idea
real
pompous
the
which
sublime qualities
DEVOTION,
to
safest
TO
a confirmation of
of
assent
and
merely verbal,
those
AND
As
him.
they
enconiums,
higher
with
thinking it
but
affirm,
RAVISHMENT
AFFECTED
observe
not
the
with
themselves
all
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
222
an
would
assurance
which many have consoled themselves, without ob
serving that he, with pretended simplicity, ignored the
ajfirmanti incumbit probatio, as
also that the number of
with
things
existence
whose
has naturally taken
the arguments
cannot
still
more
which might
counter-demonstration
be
proved
care
be
employed
once
when
is infinite.
to
not
bring
for
an
ceased
one
He
forward
apagogic
to
adopt
a
merely defensive attitude, and began to act on the aggres
The proceeding would be somewhat as follows:
sive.
—
In
1.
world
ing
in
each
has
that
first
the
which
place
living
other, the
the
life,
the
unhappy
beings
multitude
bitterness
its
with
Wisdom,
the
being
distress
and
case
with
There
the work of
said
is just
solid
a
mutually devour
and dread of all
colossal
magnitude
of
grief often
attaining
forward to
hurrying
honestly be reconciled
united All-Goodness, All-
a
To
as
raise
easy
as
an
outcry against
it is difficult to meet
reasons.
two
points which not only occupy every
man, but also which the adherents of every re
ligion have most at heart, and on which the strength and
2.
are
of
cannot
All-Power.
and
is here
what
death
of
by
subsist
consequent
evil, the variety and inevitability of
to horror, the burden of life itself
the
constitution
thinking
persistence of
moral
religion
is based;
significance of our
tinuance
after
death.
firstly,
conduct;
When once
and
a
the
transcendent
secondly,
religion
our con
has taken
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
these two
care
of
will
therefore
later
I
everything else is secondary.
Theism here in respect of the first,
points
test
in that
of
the
With the morality
of
our conduct
and
on
that
is,
second
parte
a
one
connection, viz,
gives
a
one
which
morality
indeed by
Theism has
and
causes
To take the last
our action.
point.
ante,
respect to the
with
223
and
the true
a
double
a
parte
post,
consequences of
Theism indeed
first;
point
albeit one of
support,
one
the roughest
kind,
and pure
morality of con
duct is fundamentally abolished, inasmuch as every dis
interested action is at once transformed into an interested
one by means of a very long dated but assured bill of
exchange which is received as payment for it.
The God,
the end
as
purely
their
strength
will
one
present no
for
of
to
appears
Regard for
or
significance
a
in
such
actions, but these
punishment,
the
rather
In the last
belief in
of
Creator,
virtuous
motive,
reducible
egoism.
sidered
the
fear
moral since
are
being
virtue
forth
call
certainly
reward
of
beginning
avenger aad paymaster.
an
an one can
are not
in the
was
who
viz,
wise
and
of
hope
such
well-con
it turns solely on the
things; if this is
resort
undemonstrable
stick
certainly
at
a short
accepting
joy,
eternity
really
guiding principle of morality will be "we can
But every one who seeks a reward for his deeds, either
If the hopedin this or in a future world, is an egoist.
period
of
sorrow
of
an
and
the
wait."
for
or
the
by
the
by
emptiness
the future
of
For these
one.
Again,
morality,
For
sponsibility.
and
essentia
rightly:
a
qui
infinie,
lui
p.
be
a
331).
see
le
qui a
et
rendre
"CEuvres
Like
it
every
whether
Kant's Moral Theol
morality.
is equally in contradic
freedom and re
abolishes
being
work
conceived.
donne";
ne saurait
Libert^,"
a
with
Un itre,
ite"
ce
since
alike, is the
can
nor merit
reasons
undermines
ante, Theism
parte
a
with
thing,
same
dominates this world,
the illusion which builds for him
which
chance
ogy, properly speaking,
tion
is the
it
him,
escape
reward
this happens
which
in its
existentia
another, neither fault
Vauvenargues says very
of
tout recu, ne peut, agir que par
tout la puissance divine qui est
indtpendant
completes,"
other
"
("
Paris,
thinkable
Discours
1823,
being
sur
torn,
it
la
ii.,
cannot
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
224
than according to
otherwise
operate
known this
in its
nature
it
here find it,
If
that it is
bad,
in
which
made
it.
The
his
who
operations;
this
badly
acts
case
its nature, and make
it is created as we
is
not
its
of
originator
from the fact
comes
the fault
its own, but
and
existence
in
may
it has been placed, is inevitably the originator of
its conduct and its deeds, which are as certainly deter
mined by the former as the triangle is
by two angles
its
nature
to
the
add
we
which
circumstances
which
The
line.
a
and
been very
by Kant,
tine, by Hume,
over and timidly ignored it,
in my
67,
p.
sq.
fearful
prize
essay
(2d ed.,
66,
p.
Will,
was therefore
but has
oughly
long
ago
perhaps never
refuted
utterly
discarded
been
in the
as
common
tion
that
herd
—
was
monstrous
by
this
elude
the
of
invented, a
fiction, and
thinking
all
minds,
themselves
content
the
what matters
is
being
given
a
to
systematically and thor
just quoted.
If, notwith
work
even
—
Will,"
so
herd
standing, the common
freedom of the Will
cal,
difficulty
indifferentioz,
an
contains
fully dealt
the
of
order
glossed
the freedom
and
which
"Freedom
In
have
I have
point
a
sq.).
exterminating
the liberum arbitrium
theory
others
while
the
on
by St. Augus
admitted
and
and
with
this argumentation has
of
correctness
recognized
well
literary,
the
The
that to us?
free, that
is,
with
philosophi
under
asser
given
otherwise, implies
that it has an existentia without any essentia, i e., that it
can be without being something, in short, that it at the
same time is and is not.
This, of course, is the acme of
can
circumstances
absurdity,
who
but
seek not
never allow
thus
act
none
the
and
less,
good
the truth but their
anything to
also
obtain
enough
fodder,
which
and
does
for
people
hence
will
suit
the
not
fable convenu, on which they live; ignoring
stuff,
suits their obtuseness better than refuting.
And ought
the
to
we
attach
in terram
also
in
any
weight
prona
et
something, has
accordance with
duct
itself (that
external
is,
occasions
manifestations.
to the
ventri
an
which
act
arise
Whence
opinions of such
obedientia
essence,
it must
a
?
All
nature,
operate.
a
It
according to motive),
which
it
gets
call
out
fioo-Krjpara,
that
its
is
is
character,
must con
when
the
particular
its actuality, its
exist-
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
there
entia,
the
since
are
not
it
also
two,
its construction, its essentia,
distinguishable in conception,
But that which has an
reality.
gets
although
in
separable
essentia, that
225
is,
a
a character,
a construction,
only act in accordance therewith, and never other
wise.
It is merely the precise moment, and special form
and
manner of
the individual actions which are deter
nature,
can
by
mined
the
incoming
he
free, that
man
essentia, in
That the
motive.
him
gave
an
creator made
existentia
without
an
words,
merely in abstracto,
inasmuch as he left it to him to be what he would, is
On this point I beg the
impossible proposition.
an
to
reader
tions
an
other
refer
to
"
my treatise on the Founda
Moral freedom and responsibility, or
section 20 of
Morality."
of
existence
presupposes
accountability, necessarily
are
based
always
from
necessity
ble
structure
ing
to the
the
a
of
being
measure
of
under
exist
its
the
work,
the true
its
creator of
unchangea
and accord
Hence, if it is to be
originally by virtue of its own
regards
and
therefore
motive.
responsible, it must
power.
It must, as
own
Actions
proceed with
the influence
and
peculiar,
Aseity.
is, they
character, that
on
its
existentia
creator
Or,
acts.
and
essentia, be
to be
itself, if it is
of
I have
as
expressed
it
in my two Prize Essays, its freedom cannot consist in its
Operari, but must reside in its esse, for there it certainly
is.
Since all this is not merely demonstrable a priori, but
is clearly taught us by daily experience, to wit, that every
one brings his moral character already complete into the
world
him,
with
the end,
certainly in
his
on
this
the
traits
being
so,
his
one
of
and
unchangeably true to it to
is presupposed tacitly but
life, inasmuch
misconfidence
character
of
teen hundred years,
asserted
remains
this truth
our practical
confidence or
all
and
and since
might
the
that
in
other
wonder
opposite
taught, namely, that
as everyone
how,
has
all
has
for
conduct
sity
and
character,
stances
15
and
arises
not
from
little from
for
manifested
about
six
been theoretically
men are in respect
the same, and that the great
morality originally
of their
bases
once
another,
innate
diver
disposition
and
just
as
causes,
but,
properly speaking, from nothing
accidental
circum
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
226
free^
which nothing at all receives
the name of
But this absurd doctrine is made necessary by an
other, in the same way, purely theoretical assumption
with which it
exactly hangs together, namely, that the
birth of man is the absolute beginning of his existence,
at
all,
will.
since
he is
now,
under
created out of
significance
in the
course
ing,
just
for
every
less,
connection
or
known,
another
second,
On the
freedom
of
another
has
which
act
to
variety of
for all ex
the
been
for
just
one
up
as
er
lie
against one
long
other so
If
Theism it does
of
That
will.
an
a
as noth
at
created
at
has been
which
of
existence.
infinite time has
to
be,
is
fare
not
death than
after
beginning
continue
probability that
Endless
each
continuance
had
assumption.
; but
stood
cards
Truths,
connection
other
a
neverthe
which,
innate
and
each
support
noth
condition,
preceding
mutual
two
or as
assumption
eternity
to
origin
them both.
our
with
in
stand
necessary
reciprocally
overturns
better
all
If
moral
from
originate
clearly points, remains once
Hence the absurd fiction of a free will.
also are
and
a
original
rors
all
with
timeless
requires a
hoc).
himself is from nothing;
immeasurable
well
that
man
a
it is
3.
ad
characters
cluded.
ing
indeed
and must
supposed
existence
the
moral
it,
of
the
as
previous
nothing {a terminus
this presupposition, life is to retain a
and tendency,
these must have their
not
an
my birth I have
been,
much
the
with
created
by
Now that
should
from
outrageously bold
from nothing
come
nothing, then it is the highest
death I shall again become nothing.
of
out
continuance
a
parte
post,
and
nothing,
a
parte
ante, do not go together.
Only that which is itself orig
("Arisinal, eternal, uncreated, can be indestructible.
Coelo,"
i. 12, 282, a, 25 fg., and Priestley, on
toteles de
"Matter
and
Spirit,"
Birmingham,
1782,
vol.
i.,
p.
234.)
Those, therefore, may certainly be anxious in death
who believe that before thirty or sixty years they were
a pure
as
the
nothing,
work
of
and
out
of
another, for
this nothing have proceeded
they have the difficult task
of
assuming that an existence so arisen, notwithstanding
its late beginning, which has come about after the lapse
of
an
infinite time, will, nevertheless, be
of
infinite
dur-
THE HISTORY OF
On the
ation.
who
hand,
other
himself
recognizes
the very source
of
all
why
the
as
PHILOSOPHY
he
should
et
prater
heart.
me
"
existence,
ha
who
knows that
all
—
death
being,
outside
he
who
the
saying
in totum ego sum,
his lips or even in his
of
omnes creatura
est*
ens aliud non
He alone,
fear
original and eternal
him nothing, properly speaking, exists at
closes his individual existence with the
Holy Upanishads,
227
on
logical consistency, die peace
already said, aseity is the condition of
can with
fully.
For, as
immortality as of accountability. In accordance with the
foregoing, contempt of death and the most complete
indifference to, or even joy in dying, is thoroughly at
home in India.
Judaism, on the contrary, originally the
sole
and only pure monotheistic
religion, teaching a real
God-creator of heaven and the earth, has with perfect
logicality
pense
no
after
doctrine
of
immortality,
hence
and
no recom
death, but
only temporal punishments and
distinguishes itself from all other
rewards, whereby it
The two
religions, though possibly not to its advantage.
religions sprung from Judaism, in so far as they took
up
the doctrine
from
them
the
in
time
same
doing
That,
immortality,
of
other
which
better
and
retained
the
had become known to
religious
teaching,
God-creator,
acted
and
at
illogically
so.
already said, Judaism is the only pure mono
i. e., one teaching that a God -creator is
of all things; is a service which for unknown
as
theistic religion,
the
origin
reasons
it has been
maintaining
God,
true
and
teaching
although
to
sought
that
under
by
conceal
all
other
continually
nations
reverence
the
names.
There is
not
merely much wanting in this procedure, but everything.
That Buddhism, that is, the religion which, by possess
ing
the
portant
placed
fied
greatest
number
adherents, is
of
documents.
testimonies and original
teach
the
most
im
earth, is throughout expressly atheistic, is
beyond a doubt by the agreement of all unfalsion
no
God-creator,
(neuter), of which
Vishnu, with the
but
a
world-soul
The Vedas
called
also
Brahm
the Brahma sprung from the navel of
four
faces,
and
forming
part
of
the
personification, in the very
trimurti, is merely
mythology.
It represents obviHindoo
of
lucid manner
a popular
21$
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
ously the generation, the arising of beings, as Vishnu
does their acme, and as Shiva does their destruction.
The generation of the world is moreover a sinful
act, like
the
world-incarnation
Zendavesta
has,
as
Brahm.
of
The Ormuzd
know, Ahriman
we
his
as
the
of
counter
part, and both have proceeded from the immeasurable
time Zervane Akeretu: (if the ordinary view of this be cor
Similarly, in the very beautiful cosmogony of the
Phoenicians, written by Sanchoniathon, and preserved for
us by Philo Byblius, which is perhaps the original of the
Mosaic Cosmogony, we find no trace of Theism or
We see here, also, as in
creation by a personal being.
the Mosaic Genesis, the original chaos sunk in night, but
rect).
world-
God
no
rd
commanding, "Let there be light! let
let there be that ! * Oh, no ! but ijpde&T)
appears
there be
jrveD/ia
this,
and
The
Idiav ipx&v.
t&v
itself in its
mass embodies
spirit
fermenting in
being,
own
ture of those original elements of the
arises
indeed,
in
which,
and
effectively
very
the
of
consequence
whereby
arises
world
significantly),
longing,
the
a mix
(and
from
as
jr<S&>s, which,
correctly observes, is the Eros of the
develops
itself from the primeval slime, and
it
Greeks,
out of this proceed, finally, plants, and last of all intelli
the
commentator
gent
beings,
that
is,
animals.
is expressly stated, everything
stand,
ds
aord
gence;
by Taaut,
follows
ook
lyiyvtooKS
the Egyptian.
correct
A
more
assumptions
of
Certain
our
animals
awake
into
the
earth
and
on
whom we have
Philo Byblius ("Praeparat.
justly
incontestably,
the world,
the
this
accuses
like
with
mythology
cosmogony
all
and
the
and
now
female."
fragment
1. ii., c. 10),
atheism, which it is,
of
every theory
Greeks
moves
this
Evangel.,"
the single exception
of
At
and
intelligent
which
sea, male
to thank for
and
suggest
thunder
comes
of
then
geology.
the
Eusebius,
of
really
"And there
existence.
in
Zoogony
which
it
written
atmospheric
modern
last, after heavy floods of rain,
lightning, startled by the crashing
does
Cosmogony
detailed
described
are
Thus
icrletv.
in the
his Cosmogony.
upon
terrestrial occurrences
the
iaorob
r^v
Sanchoniathon,
adds
For up to this time, as it
went on without intelli
and
of
Romans
of
the origin
of
the
Jewish.
In
we
find, indeed,
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
God
(
father
as
theus), but
to
ophers
and
God-creator.
no
father Zeus
; just as little
For that later
into such,
that
as
Domeneddio,
cruelty is
(for
requisition), the
North American
heaven
philos
to
wanted
the
affect
having
without scruple
unparalleled
whose
few
not
without
men
Prome
known,
does
Dante,
a
of
of
sought
in his hell
vengeance
and
{e. g., c. 14, 70; c. 31,
has been brought into
stigmatized and pictured
Finally
92).
also
potter's work
Judaism had become
his permission, identifies him
with
sometimes
rather the
were
whom
transform
matter
Gods,
of
these
although
229
and
everything
endlessly repeated
Indians worshiped
the
under
earth,
statement
God,
that
the
Creator
the Great
of
name
the
of
Spirit,
were pure Theists, is entirely incorrect.
This
has recently been refuted in a treatise on the North
American Indians, which John Scouler read before a sit
hence
and
error
ting
the
of
2,
Juillet,
told in
reports
It
Spirit,
says:
superstitions of
we
are
to
apt
"When
the
sect.
we are
Indians,
assume
and
1846,
Savantes,"
that it
about
desig
agreeing with that which we associate
their
belief is a simple natural Theism.
that
a conception
nates
with
it,
But
this
and
report
the
hood,
Indians
these
consists
which
The
is very far from correct.
is rather a pure Fetichism,
interpretation
of
religion
the
the
on
in
Society
Journal des Society's
gives an extract.
1847,
Great
the
London Ethnographical
"lTnstitut,
of which
of
in
Tanner,
facts
practices
magical
In
child
remarkable, albeit
and
trustworthy
are
Incantations
and
lived among them from
who
certain writers.
One
very different from the inventions of
of
Indians
religion
the
is
the
that
from
it
sees
namely,
only
with
a
Fetichism
similar
the
Finns,
among
tribes.
what, to
In
has
one
very
to
small
the
with
which
still
dwelling
simply
was
formerly
eastward of
of
and
the Moun
any object, it
matters
"
attributed, etc.
the opinion here in ques
this,
unimportant
nations,
belief
nevertheless
all
met
among the Siberian
way for its opposite, to wit, that only
make
contemporary
without
consists
is
which mysterious qualities are
accordance
tion
but
and
With the Indians
tains the Fetich
not
to that
in
and
nation, despised
living
a continued
selected
alone
by
all
among them
all
existence
after
for the purpose, has
death,
possessed
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
230
a pure
this,
and
through
value
what
knew
one
our estimate of
idea
an
the
must
no
only taught
one
other nation
has
accordingly
contribute
revelation.
Section
some
which
That
it?
without
ever conceived such
to
have
revelation
a
God;
true
philosophy, but only
indeed suitable; for what
was
as
revelation,
the
of
through
not
moreover,
would
the knowledge
or
monotheism,
14.
observations on my
There is scarcely any
own
philosophy.
philosophical
few
and constructed out of such
system
so
simple
elements as
my own; a
fact rendering it readily comprehensible at a glance.
This results from the complete unity and consistency of
its fundamental positions, and is certainly a favorable
augury for its truth, truth being allied to
Simplex sigillum
dnXobt 6 riyy dXy&eias Idyoi e<j>v.
system might
its
doctrines,
given
world
latter
The
the
is
be
although
of
by
is,
signalized as immanent
do
My
dogmatism,
since
transcend
not
experience, but merely explain
analyzing it into its ultimate
dogmatism
old
dogmatic,
by
the three modern
air-bubbles of
transcendent
overturned
in that it
passes
simplicity
veri.
what
the
the
elements.
Kant (and
not
less
University-Sophists),
beyond the world, to
it by something foreign thereto: it makes the world
the consequence of a cause which is inferred from itself.
explain
My
philosophy,
trine that
the world,
are
of
there
cause
form
of
and
the
on
that only
causes
and
in its four
the
other
hand,
and effect possess
cause
under
effects;
modes
intellect,
and
began
the
through a
chain of
as
is merely the
doc
within
the
it
principle
most universal
this alone, as its true
locus mundi, the objective world exists.
In other philosophical systems, the
reached
the
presupposition of
inasmuch
that in
with
meaning solely
propositions.
consequence
But this
is
neces
sarily demands that the special content of the system be
in the very earliest of these propositions;
present
the rest,
whereby
as
derived from them,
can
scarcely
appear
other-
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
than
wise
simply
tained
in
the
sequence
original
Wolff; but
this method,
was
his
although
the
rest
visible
as
arrived
at
simply
the
natural
from
their
cognition,
other
sents
these
appeared
some
time; for
real
to the
as
consequence,
resulting
intuitive
the
one
from different sides, or
world, which in all its phe
consciousness
of
to
me
the
it
wherein
the consistency
never
fail.
a care as
not even
inconsistent,
as
pre
the
was
being
case
nothing
itself, which,
reality
This is analogous to when,
with
of
building for
the first time
on
case
one
side
of
for
itself
of
the doc
of
completeness
numerical
to the mu
when some
afterward
came
agreement
to the
proportion
had
never
my doctrines ;
trines; consistency in my
at a
the strict
and
contemplated
I have
reason
tual consistency
can
for them.
compensate
do not, for the most
syllogisms, but immediately on
hand,
itself.
For this
in
strictly followed
its drawbacks,
escape
in any other system, is, as a rule,
by a logical process, but is rather
words, on the
subject
con
unhappy con
most
felt in
of doctrines, necessarily
being based, in their entirety, on
i.e., on the sensible perception of
is
nomena
was
agreement
object, successively
in
of
what
is
who
entirely to
itself,
in my own,
not
Spinoza,
other
a chain
world
deduction
knew how to
the
on
on
sensible
even
of
This
premises.
unable
genius
My doctrines,
part,
repetition
demonstrative
of
Christian
and
tedious, being
and
monotonous, poor, empty,
development
a
231
more
of
than
course,
looking
on
only,
we
fail
its parts, yet feel per
to
symmetry
but will be visible to
sure that it is not wanting,
fectly
But the above con
our
view.
of
completion
us on the
understand
sistency is
nation,
of
and
a
the
of
perfectly
because it
experience;
while
one, because of its origi
the continual control
certain
stands
that
under
which
is deduced,
and
whose
derived from syllogisms, may easily be found
validity is
a member
some
particular; should, for instance,
false in
of
long
faulty
the
wise
chain
in
ingly, has a
immediately
resemble
be ungenuine,
its
wide
and,
construction.
basis,
on
loosely fitted,
My
which
therefore, firmly;
lofty towers,
where
if
one
or other
philosophy,
everything
while
accord
stands
other systems
support
breaks,
the
falls to the
whole edifice
summed
up
and
arisen,
I may
in the
is presented, in
may be
philosophy has
foregoing
that my
than
rather
analytic
an
that I
arrive at
not satisfied
am
a
philoso
my
foundation
the
I have found
till
This is in
reality.
given
ultimate
to
everywhere
seek
and
things,
characteristic of
special
a
as
adduce
phizing, that I
the
The
ground.
statement
manner.
synthetic
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
232
accordance with
my mind, which renders it well-nigh
impossible for me to rest in any more general and ab
stract and, therefore, undetermined knowledge, in mere
conceptions, least of all in mere words; but drives me
the
bent
natural
of
forward till I have the final basis
before me,
is
which
propositions
of all
conceptions and
intuitive one, exposed
I then must either leave as an ul
an
always
and which
phenomenon, or, if
possible, resolve it into its
out the essential nature
follow
way,
On this account, it will be
of the thing to its uttermost.
(though certainly not during my
recognized one day
timate
elements, but
lifetime
either
that the
)
handling
earlier philosopher
kind has learned
and
gotten,
Theism
a
Will
and
—
calls
and
from
much
my
the
also assumes
a
Will that
forth
places
it to
so
being
indeed
This
the
on
much
their surface.
original
of
calls
the name of
this
edge on
the
the
cognition
with
me
Universe,
the
on
things,
and
the
matter,
Will
works
them; they themselves
in
but its
visible
manifestation.
ever-active
the
by
subject.
Immediate
Will that is in things
by
absurdity frequently and strongly
me.
I have designated it the Will
an
live; because this
Morals.
production of
proves, however, that we cannot regard
things in any other light than as Will.
God;
enough exposed
to
as
of
be for
oblivion.
agreement
Pantheism
to
any
Man
in their orbits,
But theism, in
outside
indirectly
operate
things,
into
planets
this Will
naught else
by
will never
to be the
the
namely, through the medium
in a Human manner; while
not
that
me
world
guides
nature upon
allows
only
the same subject
of
as compared with mine.
writings will not pass
fashion,
childish
is tame
expresses
The
presents
The Theists
the
above
would
itself
have
finality
also
knowl
Mediate
of our
relation of
the
in the
sphere of
a reconciliation
between
THE HISTORY
does
one
what
But they
time,
on
same
in the
being
are
the
they
in
that
most
moral
extreme
As
The belief in these
is
daily
regard
It has
been
miserable
as
made
a reproach
theoretically, I have
philosophy, namely
life
equally di
as
everything
often
way to be
and no
desired;
be remembered, however, that practically, he
lays little store by his life is praised, nay admired,
he
and
is
who
My
the curiosity
awaken
priority
thought, it being
said, "Will is Being";
which could be adduced.
be
already
trine of
in
all,
nearer
Will;
in the
the light, it
a
to
point
then, if
equally
started
be
But, in
marked
that
from
general,
announced
by
brings
the
appears
It is
of
Kant,
or
as
a
kind
thing-in-itself
its
through
great
is
veil
show
as
appear
of
and
a
without
therefore
my doctrines.
may be re
point, it
truth before its
feeling,
at
who
traces of the same
foretaste
this
than
wondered
Schelling,
and
there
they
more
no
to be
development,
mere
regards
previous
not
Fichte
also
although
as
every
a
my
philosophy
my
connection,
regarded
that
once
I have expressly called attention
Philosophy,"
and have
the Kantian
of
idea;
consequence,
had
this
to this matter, it
of
root
Kant
always
philosophizings
fundamental
may
the
thinking-out.
the
regard
of
which
accordingly
complete
else
philosophy is
in
Kant's doc
Kantian, especially
intelligible character, but above
whenever
in my "Critique
said
and
empirical
that
preserva
fundamental
my
Schelling
anything
With
that
observed
present
that
represented
and
may
to
reference
to its
scarcely begun to
before the question
persons
some
of
as
had
writings
with
arose
troubled
and
careful
despised.
is
tion
its
The
sufferer.
the
I,
should
who
of
Avenger.
and
I.
of
me, but based on the reason
things ; while in Christianity they are
excellent.
and
represented
it
to
would
medium
I demonstrate the
since
the
and
fables.
mere
since
morality,
me
Judge
a
so
the
will, therefore, be forced to turn to my
The Pantheists can have no seriously-meant
philosophy.
to
through
with
present
by
and
suffers,
233
people
waning;
vine
actor
connection of
supported
of
Christianity
of
consequences
and
one
place
hand, immediately,
other
ceticism
what
this take
interposition
the
and
the
and
make
OF PHILOSOPHY
discovery
presentiment,
a
is
faint
SCHOPENHAUER'S
234
ESSAYS
in fog, and an unavailing attempt to grasp it;
the progress of the time has prepared it.
because
simply
But
It is, therefore, preluded by disjointed utterances.
has recognized a truth from its causes,
who
he
outline as
alone,
it
thought
and
whole
content,
domain,
its
expounded
other
times,
its consequences, developed its
the extent of its
over
eyes
this,
full
a
with
consciousness
of
importance, clearly
connectedly
When, on
it, he alone is its originator.
on
some
occasion
or other,
it
happens
hand,
have been
to
his
and
and
value
the
after
and
to
out
cast
expressed
either
in
ancient
or
modern
half consciousness, almost as an utterance
is hence to be found only if expressly looked for,
a
with
in sleep, and
it has little further significance, even though it stand there
totidem verbis, than if it were there merely totidem litteris.
Just
the finder
as
it up
it into his
and
picks
of a
keeps
thing is he,
it; and not
who
he
knowing
let it fall again; or,
Columbus is the discoverer of America, and
hand,
and
sailor the waves cast up there.
cisely the meaning of the Donatian pereant
Had my critics desired to
nostra dixerunt.
chance
when,
against
priority
not
AlexandrinUS (Strom.
{Velle
al
ergo
Opera,"
omnia
unius
prop.
57)
C.
This is
est,
p.
304);
as
cujusque
refertur,
quam
finally,
p.
.
.
anciens
nos
establish
of
also
an
such
enim
Appetitus,
iii. Defin.
I.,
explic).
n 'est
point de
//
justice,
C'est I'envie
toutes les
(p.
qui
seule
qui
facultates
Patrum
Opera
proinde
iii.,
prop. 9,
Helvetius
moyens
nous
que
p.
vientem
ad mentem
n'emploie pour
de"couvertes
rd
izeQuKaat
(" Eth.,"
sed cum
essentia
itdvrmv
1779; "Clementis Alex.
Spinoza: Cupiditas est
seu
vocatur
roivov
PobXea&at dtdnovoi
natura,
essentia,
before: Hie conatus, cum ad
I'apparence de la
.
izpo-qye'irai
rationales
ipsa hominis
justice :
great
pre
qui ante
strength
("Sanctorum
refertur, Voluntas appellatur;
simul
rob
Weissburghi,
v.
ii.,
and
17):
antecedit:
ministra
vol.
torn,
II.,
Xoymai dovdpets
ydp
voluntatis
Polemica,"
ipsa
the
on
more,
the first
sayings, they should have sought farther back
for instance, they might have adduced Clemens
fiobXeodat'
sunt
me
to take
once
shipwrecked
effective
its value,
who chances
iii.,
solam
et corpus
nihil aliud
schol.,
and
remarks with
Venvieux,
de"grader le
sous
me"rite.
fait trouver dans les
Une phrase vide de
modernes.
THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
sens,
du
ou
inintelligible
moins
is
one
of
having
the quotation
of
and
I
beg
must
suffit
There
7).
liberty
in question,
matter
the reader not to
lay
but simply to bear in
arrogance,
the thought
of
iv.
take the
shall
to the
reference
which
down to vanity
mind the justice
l'Esprit,"
in Helvetius I
more passage
recalling,
d/couvertes,
avant ces
pour faire crier au plagiat ("De
235
expressed and
consider
something in it will be found capable of
application
to myself.
Quiconque se plait a consid/rer
Vesprit humain voit, dans chaque siecle, cinq ou six hommes
d'esprit tourner autour de la dicouverte que fait I'homme de
whether or not
Si Vhonneur
ge"nie.
couverte
de tout
de
dernier,
ce
mains, plus ficonde
entre ses
est,
reste a
eu
ide"es
autre ; c'est qu'il rend ses
nettete"
;
et qu'enfin on voit
toujours
a
c'est que
la
l'Esprit,"
As
iv.
maniere
pidity
the
d'une
ou
dicou("
appartient
De-
the old, irreconcilable war, that has
and always
intellect
against
been
by incapacity and stu
understanding
by legions on
and
waged
—
individuals
against
side
one
dicouverte
et
diffirente,
1).
a consequence of
everywhere
cette
mains
de force
plus
dont les hommes tirent parti d'un principe
verte a qui ce principe au
dans les
que
avec
d4-
cette
on
the other
—
he
who
brings to light anything valuable and genuine has to fight
a hard battle with incompetence, dullness, depraved taste,
interests
private
respecting
les
sots contre
de
and
gens
d'esprit
valets pour e"carter
on
that worthy alliance,
en examinant
says :
croirait
In my
maitres.
whose
department,
a
were appointed and paid
have
the
to
remained
man
in the
them,
as
any
engage
unknown
It
system
participation
its
above
otherwise
moon.
standing, that a
of
The
measure.
the,
readers
case
there was, in
enemy engaged; the greater part of
business it was to guide public opinion in my
to
laud to the very skies that worst of
But this cannot succeed if
Hegelian.
that the good shall produce its effect,
only in
la ligne des
voir une conjuration
an unusual
addition,
those,
les
in
all
envy,
Chamfort
which
on
originator
the
one
—
to
the
is determined
even
explain
own
and
systems
though it be
to my future
unaccountable
to my
must
of
may
propagate
all
fact,
that I
contemporaries as
be acknowledged,
notwith
thought which, in the absence
part of
others, has been
throughout a
long
able
to
life unceasingly
SCHOPENHAUER'S
236
ESSAYS
on to unremitting and
cheerfully, and to spur him
possesses in itself a testimony to its
unrewarded labor
and
Destitute
its truth.
value and
of
any
encouragement
from
through the many
outside, the love of my work alone has
days of my life upheld my endeavors, and not allowed me
I have, therefore, looked with contempt on the
to tire.
For upon my entry
noisy celebrity of the worthless.
upon life my genius laid before me this choice, either to
acknowledge
truth, but
the
therewith to please no
one
; or,
like others, to teach falsehood with support and applause;
and the choice was not difficult for me.
Accordingly, the
fortune
of
my philosophy
Hegelian,
both
to
entirely so,
the
was
the
construction
alike
both
of
the
the most
may
same
that
of
of
regard
the
them
sheet, according
Hegelianism,
intelligence, nay, of
and
addition appearing in the
Gallimathias
that had ever
sickening
human understanding,
shape of
one
philosophies.
truth, clearness,
of
opposite
that
indeed,
the opposite sides of
as
devoid
so
in
and
been heard of, was a subsidized and privileged academ
ical philosophy, consequently a species of nonsense which
supported its author.
My philosophy appearing simultane
ously with it had, indeed, all the qualities which it lacked ;
but it was not cut out for any ulterior purposes, was not
at all
the
that time for the chair, and, therefore, as
is, there was nothing to be made out of it.
suited at
expression
It followed then,
was
the
neither
flag
purpose
and
where
ence
the
as
day
which
applause
uniform
nor
all
follows night, that Hegelianism
ran, while my philosophy found
adherents; but
completely
possible
ignored,
was
rather with
treated
with
a
silence,
smothered, because through its pres
have been spoiled, as
above miserable game would
shadows on
I
to
the
by the incoming daylight. Hence
Mask, or as the excellent Dorguth
wall are
became the Iron
says, the Kaspar-Hauser of the professors of philosophy:
shut out from air and light that no one might see
me,
and
that
my
Now, however,
the silence of
natural
the professors
from the
dead,
fessors
philosophy,
they
of
shall
claims
might
not
be
recognized.
the Man who should
to
assume.
the
of
great
who
do
have been killed by
philosophy is again risen
consternation
not
know
of
at all
the
what
pro
face
ON
The
in
the
greater,
on
which
all
rest, is the inexplicable.
back to this
as
basis
ultimate
sciences
METHOD.*
PHILOSOPHY AND ITS
by
the
it
where reach
but
depths,
bottom,
the
and
leads
stages ;
now
in
must nevertheless
every
This inexplicable falls to the share
last.
at
finds
plummet
in lesser
now
Every
cognitions
explanation
less intermediate
means of more or
sea
our
Metaphysics.
of
Almost
this
all
which
result
unceasingly think they
men
(n?
man
together
avft
pumas),
therefrom.
On
the
Man in general {6 Sv^pm-itot),
follow from this, scarcely ever
are
the
nevertheless
But the
philosophers.
fact that
the
the
except
tendency
they
never
and
particular
Only
versality.
the more
penetrates
the
everyday
objects;
than
other
coincident
the
may
objects of
reason
of
and
highly
which
I
which
of
have
on
the most
head these
called
the
of
itself,
presents
have
the
pure
postulated
Idea.
as
This is
the universal, the in
will-less, while,
the Will lie in
of
This grasp
always
and
far indeed
so
gifted
Platonic
the
directed
when
are
reducible
distinction inter
to the intuition
Knowledge,
remain
particular
on
the contrary,
things ; for which
of animals is strictly limited to
accordingly their intellect remains
the intelligence
these particulars,
*
that
correlate
because,
telligence
the
with
Subject
is
others
in the ordinary head.
subjective
proved
the
knowledge
hence in the
in the particular,
universal
will-less
more
pay
anything in the things
see
of
itself down
extends
of
important
faculty
whole
are
is
who
individual, and not their uni
highly gifted see more or less,
their intelligence, the universal
according to the degree of
This
in particular things.
that it
few
they
which
them, but is
to
occurs
The
point.
that
the corollaries
to the latter than to the former proposition
attention
to
main
and
corollaries
hand,
other
and
this
are
the
with
The following
and
essays are
Paralipomena,"
arranged thoughts on
and
are
from the
headed
many different
second volume of
"
Detached
yet
the
«
Parerga
systematically
subjects."
(237)
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
238
exclusively in the
tion
the
of
in the
achievements
For the intellect in the
practical
intellect
use, there
are
only
art
active
for its
own
salities,
whole
kinds,
for
the
is
which
even
that
is,
things;
Will,
the
science, in
and
sake, there
that
other
are
is,
in
For the
things.
particular
only
words,
univer
species, classes, Ideas, of things,
wishes to present the Idea,
artist
creative
Will is
This
directly
turned
comes
be
about
individual
merely to
these are, properly speaking, its objects, for these
have
alone
in philosophy, poetry,
the kind in the individual.
the
cause
direc
above
generally.
service of
pursues
which
The
is the indispensable
universal
sciences
and
arts
the
to
condition of genuine
and
their will.
service of
mind
Concepts,
reality.
empirical
classes, species,
the contrary, become objects only very indirectly.
can,
the
common man has no sense for universal truths.
Hence
on
But
and misses
overlooks
genius
the individual element.
The compulsory occupation with the particular, as such,
in so far as it constitutes the matter of practical life, is
an
irksome bondage.
The two first
firstly,
question
courage
; and, secondly, to
in itself to
clear
to
philosophizing are these:
set one's heart upon no
bring
consciousness
all
in
that
order
which
to
is
obvious
comprehend
in order, properly speaking, to
must be truly at leisure.
It must
Finally,
as problem.
the
losophize,
of
conditions
to have the
mind
be led
it
phi
pur
but
by
purposes,
itself over undividedly to the teaching which the
perceptive world and its own consciousness impart to it.
sue
and
no
thus
not
the
Will,
give
Now
professors of
personal use and
the serious
to
altogether
so much
point
as
see
once
philosophy
are
concerned
as
to their
leads thereto ; there
For this reason they fail
and what
advantage,
for them lies.
so
many
come
obvious
to reflection
things, indeed do
on
the
not
problems
of
philosophy.
The
poet
situations
brings
life, human character,
imagination, sets everything in
pictures of
before the
and
mo
tion, and leaves it to everyone to think into these pic
tures, as much as his intellectual power will find for him
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
239
therein.
On this account he can satisfy men of the most
diverse capacities, even fools and wise men at the same
time.
Now the philosopher does not bring in the same
life
way
itself, but the completed thoughts which he has
from
abstracted
it,
think just in the
his
and
demands
and
same
and
way,
that
just
is, in consequence,
public
his
reader
far
as
as
he
The
small.
very
should
himself,
poet
may therefore be compared to him who brings the flow
ers, the philosopher to him who brings the quintessence.
Another
have
great
but it
Asiatic
there
only be
can
only be
one
tems
are
of
each
sits
alone
let
in its web,
be caught
themselves
works
those
fight
against
their
own
the larva
and
like the
world
ons'
teeth,
minated
and
each
than
2,000
ever
result
In
have
other.
years.
philosopher
of
the
like
of
scorpions, spiders,
into the
come
seed of
Jason's
like these mutually
now
of
omnes
more
than
of
the
as
drag
exter
devotion
of
lutionize his
shall
whole
some
on
which
nature, this
polemical
the
difficult to
poet.
writings
the philosopher,
that he
the
other
They
from the
demands nothing further from the
and
while
each
born ravening beasts,
directed primarily
are
its essentially
of
contra
omnium
series
Thus,
This battle has already lasted more
Will a final victory and lasting peace
tems, it is infinitely
the
will
from it ?
consequence
bellum
till
Sys
which
are even
insects.
men
armed
of
approaches
only
next
species, like those
certain
of
the day.
how many flies
it.
as
there can
so
spiders,
but
it,
while
;
For
throne.
of
as
peacefully
philosophers
of
order
sees
in
their destructive impulses
and
as
and
to
order
pasture
poets
of
lambs,
in
spider
another
of
beehive,
a
side
into the world,
all its brothers,
come
a nature
unsociable
as
in
the
on
philosophy
by
other side
hardly
queen
achievements
all poetical works can
ascending the
on
one
poetical
destruction
the
sultan
each
has
system
contemplates
an
which
is this, that
hindrance to
stand without
a philosophical
like
advantage
over philosophical
The
philosophical
obtain
work
reader
amuse
sys
recognition
the
of
poet
than to enter into
or
elevate
him,
The
work
few hours to them.
the contrary, is intended to revo
mode
acknowledge
of
thought; it
all
requires
he has learned
and
of
him
believed
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
240
error, his time and trouble to
from the beginning.
It,
in this department to be
be
lost,
begin
and shall
again
rudiments of its predecessor stand
most, leaves some
ing in order to build its foundation upon them. To this
at
is
has
system, it
times
it
Again,
ical,
the
as
those
judge,
to be
It is indeed true,
plause
without
countries
philosopher; the
his
the
human
tory
a
is
and
a great
ing
The
must,
must
above
but
slow
the
of
years
the
kings,
for
deep
whole
the his
and
counts
Hence it
than the latter.
they
things, start
all
are
take his reader to
him, then,
can
grasp him
above
a
be
one's own name an endur
starts
from
common
as of
other
things.
hand,
to
seek
to
is
other
can
the
to
of
hand,
the
they
author
of
and
by
the
of us.
see
em
Let
how
step, along
He
proceeds.
one's own self
on
the
other
standpoint of an assumed
hyperphysical relations,
even of a reason which
reader
they have in
all
attain, step
how Kant
from the
is,
than that
common
his
together
experience, as well of
How mistaken it is,
start
intellectual intuition
and
arrive
standpoint which
no
This is
path.
to
together ; that
firmly by
the clouds he
mountain
esses,
that of
is the guide,
writer
If
wanderer.
or
thousands
names
pirical consciousness which
the
the
on which
philosophy
procure
philosophical
common; but this
high
rewards
therein.
place
is the
to
thing
to
entry.
and all
periods
which
of
account
goes with
hundred times fewer
able
his
that it is the ap
all
nation
of
since
proceeds,
of philosophers
on
of
of
be
will
makes
gradually learns to reverence
of
In accordance
authority.
strength
progress
race
elect
difference
foregoing,
the
effect of
one
hand,
other
the
of
multitude
the
on
name
with
the
on
thinkers
of
the
poet
to be taught to
want
and
philosopher
a
auspiciis
quibus
who
amused,
any
of
the
of
its
of
of
size
to that
proportioned
of people
number
want
who
is
public
philosophical
help
the success
that the
consider
must
that
system
the
by
and
prevents
resources
one
already existing
and
that some
a philosophical
its protection,
under
an
of
opponent,
takes
state
material
powerful
other.
professional
a
the
even
pleases
teacher
that, in every
added
perceives
the
or proc
supersensi-
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
ble,
241
absolute, self-thinking Reason. For all this
starting from the standpoint of not directly com
or of
means
an
municable
cognitions,
does not know
reader
therefore
when
starting the
his author, or
even at
he is
whether
near
distant from him.
miles
Conversation with another, and serious meditation and
inward contemplation of the things, is as a machine to a
living organism. For only in the latter case is everything
from
cut
one
true
coherence
pieces
certain
in
—
of
unity
fact,
perfectly;
unity.
It is only
others
community
lying
for
sophical
truths
thinking in dialogue.
their ventilation,
ling,
and
dialogues
the
are
took
school
written
admits
views
remain
lead to
a
suspended,
complete
raised.
must,
tions
two
and
idle
Neither
be
of
opinion
accordingly
issued from his
or
ideas
the
even
the
subject
opposite
reader
shall
together,
shall
refutation
chosen
of
the
of
ob
for this
in
dramatic;
genuinely
are
As
direction.
where
belongs the
worked
Without
pur
that
laid bare to their founda
must really be
is mostly the case,
There
out.
this, it
is,
as
play.
our
knowledge
cially increased
16
case
Plato's
understanding
The dialogue form
thoroughly
speaking.
mere
which,
control
and
taken
accurate
and
however,
the differences
testing,
the judgment of the
or
deep philo
by way of
philosophical
of
wholly different
which
to
point
problems, to
of
sceptical
more
serviceable
only
To the first
matter.
jections
sense,
and
attain
solution.
which
more
respecting
either
pose
is
two or
up
the
to
academies
communication
dialogue
of
light
this
more
on a
for the
form
third
and
Hence
proposed
in
composed
understands
most
to the perceptual
hunting
the
of
a
unex
Such, however, is very
afterward
and
criticising
second
to the
practice
as
serviceable
never
and
often
one
can at
brought to
common
are
which
that
one
never
together,
stuck
foundation.
their
at
played
forced,
oneself
concepts, but
of
are
is
half,
only
in one key,
intelligibility, and
Otherwise, heterogeneous
were
clearness,
origin
movement
stops.
pectedly
of view
can acquire
very different
of
it
as
or
piece,
it
alone
whereby
by
the
nor our
insight
comparison
and
will
be
ever spe
discussion
of what
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
242
has been said by others; for that is always like pouring
water from one vessel into another.
Only by the con
templation of things oneself, can insight and knowledge
be really increased; for it
ways
how
being
and seem
concerned
always
living
It is
hand.
forever
are
philosophers
would-be
the first method,
is the
alone
at
always
and
ready,
with what
this
to
occupied
to know the
not
source,
curious
one
with
other at
has
al
see
all,
said and
So that they are,
that one may have meant.
it were, perpetually turning old casks upside down in
order to see whether some drop may not have remained
with what
as
behind, while the living
Nothing so much
feet.
or gives
the lie
tance, depth,
Those
of
their
to
more
mien of
assumed
impor
and originality.
hope to become
who
history
the
wellspring lies neglected at their
as this betrays their incapacity,
of
philosophy
philosophers, like poets,
are
only
to
conclude
born,
the study
from it that
by
philosophers
ought
and
that, indeed,
more rarely.
much
and unworthy definition of philosophy which
Kant gives, is that it is a science of mere concepts.
For the whole property of concepts is only what has been
A
curious
even
in them
placed
from
of
source
it has been begged
after
perceptual
knowledge,
Hence
insight.
spun out of mere abstract
as
not
by
attempts
has been
sophists
worst
that any
and
of
form
by
ought
time,
good
will
be
must
the world.
to have the
and
and
borrowed
inexhaustible
philosophy cannot be
concepts, but must be founded
a
true
the
less than
no
outer.
of concepts such
combination
practiced, but especially by the
by Fichte and Schelling, and in its
Hegel (in
poetry, it
view of
at
often
so
our
real
experience, inner
on observation and
It is
the
"
Morals "
have its
Moreover,
upper hand,
also
in
achieved
Schleiermacher
by
source
in
however
it
Like
philosophy.
our
much
must not
)
art
perceptual
the
head
be treated
so
cold-bloodedly, but that at last the whole man with head
and heart should come into action, and be stirred through
out.
Philosophy
is right
when
is
no
he says :
"
algebraic
formula.
Les grandespense'es
Vauvenargues
du coeur.
viennent
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
Considered
be
as
a
whole, the philosophy
side
between
the
Rationalism
employment
and
the
of
times may
side to
of all
from
conceived as a pendulum which swings
tween
is, be
that
Illuminism,
objective
243
and
subjective
knowledge.
sources of
Rationalism,
has for its
which
organ
the
intellect,
origi
nally determined for the service of the Will, and there
fore directed outward, appears first as Dogmatism, as
which it maintains a
Then
completely objective attitude.
it
to
Scepticism, and becomes in consequence
finally Criticism, which undertakes to settle the dispute
by a consideration of the subject; in other words, it be
comes transcendental philosophy.
I understand by this,
changes
every philosophy which starts from the proposition that
its nearest and most immediate object is not the world
of
things, but only the human consciousness of the
things, and that this, therefore, can never be left out of
The French
consideration.
psychologique, in
me'thode
call
this
opposition
inexactly
rather
to the
me"thode
the
pure-
ment
logique, by which they understand, without more
ado, the philosophy proceeding from objects, or objec
tively thought concepts, in short, Dogmatism. Having
reached
this point,
that its
organon
does
Rationalism
apprehends
not reach the ultimate
attains
to the
knowledge
only the phenomenon, and
inner and original essence of
things.
its stages, but most of all here, Illuminism asserts
its antithesis.
Illuminism, which essentially
turned inward has as its organon internal illumination,
At
all
itself
as
intuition, higher consciousness, immediatelyReason, divine consciousness, etc., and which
intellectual
cognizing
contemns
Rationalism
"light
the
as
If
nature."
of
a
religion, it is Mysticism, its root-failing being that its
knowledge is not mediate ; partly because for the internal
there is
perception
objects
edge
the
would
latter,
faculty
of
of
its
different
of
own
internal
no
criterion
subjects
have to be
which
the
has
states
Intellect,
which
the
is
are
as
identity
; partly because
communicated
arisen
abstraction,
of
for the
directed
quite
of
of
the
outward
from
the
knowl
by language,
sake
unsuited
different
such a
but
knowing
by
means
to express those
it,
and
which
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
244
form the
fore,
the
language
a
knowledge
a
hand in hand
discoverable in
is
in
places
again enters
the
the field
Illuminism is already
Plato; but it appears
Scepticism.
certain
being medi
undemonstrable,
that Rationalism
with
Not
work.
kind
this
of
being
consequence
its own,
of
given, does not
reason above
ate
The latter must, there
which again, for
Illuminism.
of
material
construct
distinctly in the philosophy of the Neo-Platonists,
Gnostics, in that of Dionysius Areopagita, as also in
more
the
Scotus Erigena; among the Mohammedans in the doc
trines of the Sufi ; in India it is dominant in the Vedanta
Mimansa ; but
and
Rationalism has
it
Thus
losophy
Germans,
*
the
as
modern
in
Jacobi
opposition
end
Theology
times
always
"
of
Tauler,
in
also
be
And,
the
of
similarly,
Fichte's last
mediate
I have accordingly,
Rationalism.
philosophy, indicated the
phi
to the Kantian philosophy
as opposition
Schelling,
Philosophy, however, must
goal.
scholastic
and the author
others.
among
and
when
attaining its
the
of
Bcehme,
appears
thereto, especially among
the Mysticism
German
in
the
in Jacob
of all
It
course without
toward
in
and
Mystics.
its
run
came
distinctly
most
the Christian
and all
at
sphere of
period.
knowledge, hence,
the
close of
Illuminism
as
own
my
present,
but have taken special care not to place so much as a
foot upon it. On the contrary, I have not even attempted
to give the final clues to the existence of the world, but
went
only
far
as
to
as
was possible on
I have left the
alistic path.
solve all problems
in my way
ing
Meanwhile
at
looks
he
to
as
steers
objects
them
of
in its
having
own
to
his
fashion,
hidden Illuminism may
to
Rationalism,
course
by
the
objective
without
the
com
is,
enough
lie
philosopher
he only
stars, that
its
against me.
often
which
while
Ration
free for Illuminism
polemicize
hidden compass,
a
the
admits
the
that
external
lie clearly before him, and that he takes
into his reckoning.
This is admissible, since
which
alone
he does
not
knowledge,
tive
a
basis
the
or
ground
and
undertake
his
to
communicate
communications
rational.
Such may
Plato, Spinoza, Malebranche,
the
immediate
remaining purely objec
have been the case with
and
some
others;
it does
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
245
any one, for it is the secret of their own
But the noisy invocation of intellectual intuition,
the barren narration of its
content, with the claim
not
concern
breast.
and
for its
objective
is
Schelling,
in the
as
validity,
For the rest, Illuminism is a natural,
legitimate, attempt to fathom the truth.
directed outward,
the
Will,
assumes the
mere
as
is
which
true
had
also
it the
from
in
so
far
a
For the intellect
the
purposes
of
its knowledge merely
is there only for its own
and
into play
the
it,
the
as
and
and
world,
that
when
we
objectivity-knowing in
the
our whole
solution of all
just
than
natural
with
Thing-in-itself,
of
nature
within
help
to succeed
bring
we
and
for
organon
phenomenon,
can
be more
failed
tellect
and
consequently
which
What
have
Fichte
merely secondary, is never
entire human nature.
It be
and
theless only a part of our
longs to the phenomenon,
sake.
of
case
shameless and abominable.
as
being
remaining
such
—
to the
pertains
consequently must bear
in order to seek
problems
ancient
played
—
Germans, when they
finally staked their own
away everything else,
But the only correct and
objectively-
valid
way
carrying this out is that we apprehend the empirical
fact of a Will proclaiming itself in our inmost being, and
persons.
of
only nature, and apply it to the expla
objective, external knowledge, as I have
The way of Illuminism, on the other
accordingly done.
hand, for the reasons above explained, does not lead to
constituting
our
of our
nation
this goal.
Mere
cleverness
philosopher.
opposition
necessary.
phy is
the sceptic
scepticism
little
as
instinct
will
so
little
hurt it than
is
also
which
ever
itself in the
become
as
the fact
only
a
not
that
kind
capable
are also certain a
for the
philoso
as
Mathe
the tricks
of
priori.
Hence
every system, to
But its weight will at last
as against
scale.
against
the
the man is
be able,
other
but
is in philosophy what
as
beneficial as it is
not capable of evidence of such
of animal
which
for
scepticism
is in Parliament; it is
Is is always based on
matics; just
lay
suffices
Meanwhile
the other
arithmetical
that
it
quadrature
approximative.
will
of
no
the
more
circle,
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
246
That
time
same
one
from the
Every
Such
this
since
credit
declarations
reason.
of
himself seriously to
involve his calling them in ques
he
could
would
with
know
he holds
which
propositions
certain
tion for the nonce.
able
the
which
to
also
proposes
one
investigation,
without
propositions
test,
at
that
know.
not
forms
one
for true
to know
For thereby the former is free
to which one exposes it, if, like for
Schellingites,
does
what one
double value, if
a
not
know.
suspicion
instance the
oneself
admits
one
not
does
has
knows
one
which
bring
not
have
They
into this
come
him because
ever
unshake
he began to
since
to think he has heard them perpetually spoken
they have thereby become indoctrinated into
speak and
and
of,
him.
Hence his habit
habit
of
brain.
the
thinking
of
all;
What is here
thinking them is as old as his
they have grown up into his
is
said
superfluous,
hand,
desirability, to substantiate it
doubtful
and
apprehension
has
carried
been
logically
it is in the
Materialism,
complete
but
true,
truth is
only
they
it would,
the
from
arisen
and
Idealism,
absolute
are
equally
Every
relative.
so
—
such
etc.
They
system
its
one
lifts
oneself above
is true,
conception
truth.
of
of
view.
such
a
the relativity of its truth, that is,
Only the highest standpoint which
and
takes into
account
It is true, accordingly,
ceive myself as
and
standpoint
as a pic
recognizes
one-sidedness.
overlooks
the
are
consequently their
standpoint ; just
namely, only from
ture only displays a landscape from one point
one
an
which
can
out,
a particular
But if
of
other,
with examples.
things,
of
on
be entirely false;
only one-sided, as for instance
case
worst
on
the world which has
conception of
objective perceptual
all
that
true
so
be
one
No
at
destined to
a mere
natural
complete
all,
can
furnish
absolute
for example, con
product arisen in time,
when
destruction
I,
—
after
the manner
the Koheleth.
of
But it is equally true that everything that was or will
I am, and that nothing exists outside me.
It is just
be,
as
true,
when
I,
after
the
manner
of
Anakreon,
place
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
the highest
happiness in
the
enjoyment
time, but it is equally
true
someness of
and the
suffering,
juriousness,
of
all
I
when
the
of
present
recognize the
death
conceive
whole-
the in-
nothingness, nay,
and
pleasure,
247
the
as
object of
my existence.
All this has its reason in that
out is
only a perceptual and
each view
logically
objective
apprehension
carried
of
translated into concepts, and thereby fixated ; but
nature, i. e, the perceptual, never lies nor contradicts it
nature
its
self since
therefore,
which
have
excludes
and
Where,
thing.
such
any
lie
and
are, there
thoughts
are
e. g.,
sprung from objective apprehension
But an objective apprehension may be incom
not
optimism.
plete
essence
contradiction
—
it
one-sided;
then
requires
completion,
not
reproaching Metaphysics
with
refutation.
People
its
are
small
Physical
!
sique
tired
never
in
progress
of
view
the
of
Even Voltaire
sciences.
great
("
Mel. d.
phil.,"
"
exclaims :
nous sommes aussi avances que
Druides"
progress of
the
meta-phy-
du tems des
But
ch. 9).
O
premiers
what other science
had as a hindrance an antagonist, ex
fiscal prosecutor, a king's champion in full
It will
armor, to attack it defenseless and weaponless ?
never show its true
powers, never be able to make its
has like it
officio,
always
a paid
giant-strides,
that it shall
the
small
arms,
long
so
suit
capacity
and
then
it is
as
required
itself to dogmas
of
the
because
of
it
threats,
a view
first bind
They
we
with
with
out
great mass.
us
mock
cut
cannot
to
our
accomplish
anything.
Religions have
of
men,
ing
of
and
which
their
seized
they first
dogmas,
unprejudiced
the
upon
of all
respecting
expressions
metaphysical
lame
by
which
of
they
opinion,
important
faculties
the early instill
taboo
so
all
free
that free re
interesting of
itself, is in part
directly forbidden, in part indirectly hindered, being
rendered subjectively well-nigh impossible by mutilation,
search
respecting the
problems,
and
In
respecting
most
man's
and
existence
thus the most noble of man's faculties lies in fetters.
order
to
make
us
patient under
contradiction,
and
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
248
tolerant
more
than the
successively held
ject,
to
of views opposed
powerful
and
have
our
how
views
opposite
quite
is,
own, nothing
remembrance
often
the
on
perhaps,
we have
sub
same
them repeatedly, sometimes,
changed
indeed,
period, how we have rejected and
again taken up, now this opinion, now its opposite, ac
cording as the subject presented itself to us, now in one,
within a
how in
light.
way there is nothing
another
In the
procure
his
short
very
same
than the
own opinion
same
but,"
myself,
sprung from
or
special
whether
circumstances,
the truth is for
little light
without,
it.
For
comes
some one will
since
it has
any party, every
It
any time.
a
statue
which
statue, but
What
is
not
and
once
to
all
time,
to the
truth,
opin
an
the
though it
For
a while.
or a
little
in the
be its
magnet
which
absolutely definite
on
may
as soon
from
air
to defend
proclaim or
mind will
in the way
appearance
to error,
prejudice
false
interests
of
champion
at
always
and
part of
the
the
contrary, resembles
points with the hand toward another
removed from it loses all significance.
the understanding;
the
a
on
even
for
originated
doctrine,
stands most
the false
leading
not
resembles
compass; the false
founded
from within,
be found to
superior
everywhere points
to think the
used
intention, is only designed for
and
consequently for a certain
misunderstood or smothered
as a
to
of
bad
a
time; but
be
"I
phrase,
calculated
contradiction
more
our
etc.
A fallacious doctrine,
ion
for
with another
acceptance
nor even
directly
but it is the
the
of
truth
weakness
preconceived
a
then resembles
a
as a
discovery
proceeding from the things
bastard
which
and
the
of
priori,
of
opinion,
opposes
itself
wind which
contrary
drives the ship back from the direction in which the land
lies, so that rudder and sail work in vain.
I
comment as
follows
on
Goethe's
verse
in
"What thou hast inherited from thy fathers
Inherit it in order to possess it.»
"
Faust " ;
ON
That
PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
thinkers have
which
great service
and
means, independently
them, for one understands
own
oneself
and
much more
when
one
one
sors,
ing
for
recognized
dence
an
and
them,
of
than
finds
from
know
learned,
speak
independent
this
for
out
confirmation,
an
of
our
these predeces
with
one
way
to champion it
assurance
has
what one
it
by
we
has thought
unhoped-for
In
before
and
what one
its truth
authority.
to discover
ourselves
thoroughly
afterward
receives
strongly
discovered before us, it is
to
value
249
against
and
confi
gains
every op
ponent.
When,
first
by
of
the
on
in
all
one's own
and
merely been the
these
of
in
ence
the
and
in
echo
latter
case
makes a
to the
of
certainty
it may happen that
to
predecessors
one's
sprung
a
has
differ
For in
erred
preoccupation
result, the result
consequence
would
world
assert
was
of
it is from the
as
ceiving the
the
great
very
one
one's
speech,
with
with
ready-made course.
make
a
calculation
is certain, but
not
by
other.
It is
and
same
not
one's
the calculation has merely been looked through
when
the
the
reach
that
and
the matter.
owing
them, just as water readily takes to a
If two persons, each for themselves,
and
or
result
certain
oneself,
feelings,
one's
same
knows for
this out
But this
predecessors.
respect
the
attained
never
reasoned
has found something
one
then
one
reflection,
has thought
one
hand,
other
books,
definitely
that
construction of our
Will,
either as
that its
knowledge
the
that we
end
or as
it
is only
beings
Intellect,
help con
The first
means.
by its essence,
to its nonexistence.
But
existence was
preferable
cannot
justified
a
place
this
of
struggle
idea
for
dying
infinity of Time already passed does not admit
of its being conceived as means, for every end to be
From
obtained would long ago have been accomplished.
this it follows that the foregoing application of the nat
suffering
Again,
ural
and
renders
untenable.
the
presupposition
of
our
intellect
to
the
whole
of
world, is transcendent, that is, it is
things,
This is explic
valid in the world, but not of the world.
able from the fact that it arises from the nature of an
or
to
the
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
250
Intellect,
its objects,
ends
and
I have
as
which
has itself
shown
for the
Will, i.e.,
being exclusively
individual
of an
service
hence
and
knows
neither
means,
arisen
for the
attainment of
concerned
nor conceives of
with
anything
else.
When
the
of
look
we
to
themselves
outward,
the
and
world
up
to
the
immensity
seems
and
of
to
and
mass
immeasurableness
the
its beings
of
display
individual
mere
as
oneself
us,
nothing
where
countlessness
Carried away by
thinks further
vanish.
number,
shrinks
one
that only the philosophy directed outward, that is, the
objective
philosophy, can be the right way, and to
doubt
as
to
this
never
occurred
to
the
oldest
Greek
philosopher.
Let
look inward.
us now
that every individual takes
in himself, indeed that his
than
all
else
put
that he knows
If
beings
knowing
beings
that
mere mediate
which
adds
to
thinkable
are
and
this
that
its
that the
from the fact
else
conscious and
solely as individuals, and
have only a half, a
consciousness
existence, it follows that all
only in the individual.
object
is
conditioned
immeasurable
this
that, therefore,
first place,
but everything
existence obtains
considers
the
comes
immediately
one
without
find, in
immediate interest only
self he takes more to heart
together;
himself
mediately.
only
We
an
proper and
true
If, finally, one
by the subject,
outer
world
has
only in the consciousness of knowing be
ings and, consequently, is bound up with the existence
of individuals which are its bearers, so much so that in
existence
it may be looked upon as a mere equipment, an
the always individual consciousness; if one
I say, keeps all this in view one is driven to the opinion
that only the philosophy which is directed inward pro
a sense
accident of
ceeding from
other
words, that
the right
the main
tion
to
the
of
way,
points.
this,
subject
of
and
But
when
as
immediately
given
—
in
the modern, since Descartes
is on
that the Ancients have overlooked
—
one
first
turning
one's consciousness
the
receives the complete convic
within upon
feeling
of
one
brings
origination
which
oneself,
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
lies in every
the
even
simple
insignificant
and
recognizes
centre of the
ultimate
omnes
me ens aliud non
i., p. 122),
Illuminism,
the
result
directed
directed
contemplation
us
shows
the division
ego
sum,
feci
of
has
range, its
element,
philosophy
must
assuredly
be
have
for its subject, but
that definite experi
and
as
and
have
chief
work,
chap,
have
given
a short
sents
itself,
medium
For
together
reason
Finite
of
endless,
to
other
can
as
is the
with
infinitely
things it
these
must
in their
abuse
it has to
and construction.
short,
intellect.
must
begin
with
the
its forms
and
concepts.
of
knowledge,
concepts,
divisible.
such
qualities.
which
pre
This
knowledge, in
inasmuch
be to
my
and
contemplate
experience-in-general
its form
faculty
space,
of
IQ9 seq.),
Hence it follows
above.
which
which
with
infinite are
and
also
participate
great
on
and
time
it
volume
(3<led.,
every philosophy
investigation of the
•
in
is presentment,
this
respect
thing
medium
conceptions, I
of
of
further that the first
foundations,
empirical
xvii., pp. 180-185
accord
content, its
matter.
That
purely abstract
adequately explained in the second
out
spun
such,
essential
form
its
outer
be the
that
existence
follows:
as
experience
and
must
while
our
philosophy, which is of spe
to its exposition, it should,
of
view, be treated
point of
not
Upan
et praeter
("Oupnekh,"
"
inward;
the goal
as
regard
with
to its possibility, its
and
reality.
most pow
is certainly there the transition to
This is, therefore,
to Mysticism.
Philosophy, indeed,
inner
Its
words of the
in totum
not, like the other sciences, this or
ence, but experience itself generally
ing
all
indeed,
importance
from my
of
ashes.*
of
Respecting
cial
all
of
lie ?
et omnia ego creata
est,
outward
heap
a
—
source
consciousness
creaturae
which
or
of
ultimate
most real
in himself the true
is to be found in the
expression
ishad: "has
as the
necessarily
world, the
And does this
More than this, everyone,
being, finds in his
human
himself
self-consciousness
beings,
erful
being.
knowing
most
251
having
significance
as
both these
If
we
are
merely in
infinite,
/'. e.
,
apply these two concepts
things as fill space and time, and
From this it may be judged how
have in this century carried
philosophasters
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
252
Such an investi
its validity and limits.
Philosophia
prima.
It falls
be
a
gation will, therefore,
the
consideration
of
asunder into the
primary, i.e., per
part
which
ceptual presentments,
may be called Dianoi
its
laws,
doctrine
or
alogy,
also
as
doctrine
This
Reason
of
most
universal
eral,
and
as
and
essential
things
in
consequence
faculty
of
presentment
hended
by
common
them
to
all
all
the
color
The philosophy
nature
a
the
upon
word
to know that
us
its
in
conceived
certain
to
such
order
and
of
to be
appre
accord
the
qualities of
it
endeavors
objects
being
learn
partly the
experience
since
the
whole
and
connection, to
this
way it
by
compare
characters
attains
not
condi
itself,
This
closely, the means thereto
together of outer and inner
attainment of an
phenomenon
indecipherable
it
is actually present,
connection, but it
more
bringing
; partly the
seen
investigation is in
as a
to
to
compared
given, though in some way,
tioned phenomenon, in which a being distinct from
in other words, the thing-in-itself, displays itself.
it
apprehends
our
characteristics
Metaphysics,
which
to
accrues
themselves in
glass
the
of
nature
may be
This
following
narrower sense of
only teaches
of
and
held to be the
were
—
or
only
essences
present
in themselves.
things
attributing
through it.
the
since
must
therewith, whereby they bear
ance
the
the latter
—
form
the
of
conceives,
things in gen
of
what
as
or
the doctrine
qualities
inasmuch
such;
as
logic,
as
termed Ontol
formerly
forward
into the
presentments,
part
universal
which was
put
was
which
and
and
abstract
treatment
their
of
order
represents, that
rather
ogy,
the
with
i.e.,
the secondary,
consideration of
together
Understanding;
the
of
from
understanding
of
discovery
of
its meaning
the reading
of
the
a
of
the
an
unknown
appearance
hitherto
writing.
to
the
In
thing
appearing, to that which is hidden behind it, hence rd
perd rd ^oawd.
It may be divided in consequence into
three
parts:
"Metaphysic
of
Metaphysic
of
Metaphysic
of Morals."
Nature,
the Beautiful,
ON PHILOSOPHY AND ITS METHOD
253
The deduction of this division, however, presupposes
Metaphysics. For this points to the thing-in-itself, the
inner
and
Will.
ultimate
Hence,
essence
the
of
as
phenomenon,
after a consideration
it
of
our
as presented
in
Metaphysic investigates its quite dif
ferent and immediate manifestation in ourselves, whence
proceed the Metaphysic of Morals.
But, previously to
external
nature,
the
this,
completest
external
or
sideration
and
objective
which
purest
apprehension
is
phenomenon
give
the Metaphysic
us
its
of
into
taken
con
the Beau
of
tiful.
Rational
or doctrine of the
soul, there is
Kant has proved, the soul is a transcendent,
such, an undemonstrated and unjustified hypos
for,
not;
and
as
tasis,
Psychology,
as
that the
so
for the Philistines
of
the human
tion
with
the
world.
Socrates
being
d£im<: Xdyou
ipbatv
fbaewt; {Anima
cognosci posse
The
"
nature
essence
is left
in itself
only be understood in conjunc
in itself of all things, that is, of
can
Hence
the
spirit and
Hegelians.
and
the essence
put
"
antithesis of
in
Plato,
question
Karavorjaat
in
a
vero naturam absque
existimas
Phaedrus,
negative
dovardv
otei
"
the
sense:
tiveo
tivat
makes
VoxJjs
rij?
rob
nbv
oXou
totius natura sufficient er
The Microcosm
?)
"
and
the Macro
other, whereby they evince
themselves as essentially the same.
This consideration,
connected with the inner side of man, interpenetrates and
cosm
reciprocally
the
whole
of
such
being
the
suffuses
cannot,
Psychology.
anatomy
ogy, that
and
is,
the
rived from
is,
physic.
case,
has its
knowledge
and
the
on
of
observation.
and
up
What
remains
other
of
mere
the
parts
and
separately
hand,
but
as
as
an
it is partly
Psychol
empirical
moral
of
its
the
and
intellectual
human
race, as
individuals in this respect, de
The most important part of it
necessary
worked
all
appear
justification,
peculiarities
variation
nevertheless,
taken
again
physiology, partly
a
manifestations
of
Metaphysic in
Anthropology,
science
empirical
also
explain each
out
as
by
empirical
material
the three parts of
over requires
fine
to
be
Meta
observation and
intelligent apprehension, indeed, a contemplation from a
somewhat higher standpoint, I mean from that of a cer-
SCHOPENHAUER'S
254
tain
in
superiority,
the
writings
and
of
ESSAYS
is, therefore,
specially
only to
gifted
be
minds,
enjoyed
such
as
Theophrastus, Montaigne, Larochefoucauld, Labruyere,
Helvetius, Chamfort, Addison, Shaftesbury, Shenstone,
Lichtenberg, etc., but is not to be sought nor to
be
endured
and
therefore
phy.
in
the
compendiums
intelligence-hating,
of
unintelligent,
professors of
philoso
SOME
REFLECTIONS
ON
THING-IN-ITSELF
Thing-in-itself
PHENOMENON.
AND
the
signifies
OF
THE ANTITHESIS
independently
existent
of
This
perception, in short, that which properly is.
the
same
for
formed
mattei;.
It
was
at
Demokritus,
was,
x ; for me it is Will.
bottom for Locke ; for Kant it was
our
=
How entirely Demokritus took the matter in the above
sense, and hence belongs at the head of this exposition,
is
by
confirmed
piricus
fore
"
8rt
di
Xiyet
prjdiv
dXjj&e? de iv
ione ;
I
the
aoviepev-
ook
ob
eartv,
{eart)
ditdpat
iv
ytyvmoKetv
qua
occurs :
{vere
neutiquam
unumquodque,
iis,
quidem
kcv6v, etc.
tat
irejj
{vcrc
atomos
the
vuv
nos,
sensibus,
sed solum
sunt,
intelligitnus),
earf
elvat
qua apparent
over
:
aiadrjoeotv,
Kara
pdvov
d6£av
dXXd
apparere,
to look
reader
following
the
where also
in
esse
autem
verum
tollit,
ea quidem
be
na'
rats
drdpoot
rd
works
verbally from them
Qatvdpeva
dXtj&etav,
nihil ut vere est
recommend
cites
Em-
Sextus
135), who had his
rd
bndpxeiv
"
from
passage
part,
Kar
(jiaiveaftat
autem
Us dicit
ex
most
Hvatpet
pev
oootv
roiy
{Demokritus
et
for the
and
drjpoKptrdt
robrutv
following
Math. 1. vii., §
(Adv.
him,
the
passage
hao-rov eartv,
quale sit
vel
not
5)
sit
irejj
olov
?<o<rrov
quale
sit
unum
also:
scire
inane.)
et
whole
olov
opin-
ex
All this is as much as to say: "We
quodque, in dubio est).
the
things
as they may be in themselves,
know
do not
and opens up the series start
as
but only
they
appear,"
from
ing
Idealism,
the
which
phenomenon,
L.
I.,
alaftijrob
rd
decided
closes with
43,
peraftXyrdv
Koros
abrob,
e/etv,
etc.
the
Fragm.
elvat, etc.
rd
thing-in-itself
to
clear and
and
the
in the Kantian sense, we find in a pas
("Eclog.,"
which Stobaeos has preserved
3).
It
says,
ivbXoo dUjjtfcuy iart raOra,
koI
leading
A surprisingly
even
Porphyry
C.
Materialism but
me.
distinction between
definite
sage of
most
elvat
Too di
oVr<«y
rd
Td
ndvrr)
Karqyopobpeva
elvat
ovrof Ka\
del iv iaortb Idpopivov
rob
dtanefopijpivov,
abrd
waabrui? rd
b+eon)-
nard
(255)
railrd
As
only know the
we
great
solid
whatever
their
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
256
But that this
mere
the
is Physics
this
of
surface, but has
conclusions
To
physics.
its
to
as
cubic
a
to
attempt
The
surface.
in its
taken
presupposes
surface
and not
is,
content,
the
is
which
together
the subject
nature,
exact
widest sense.
interior
an
construct
the
know nothing
the world, but only
we
so
and
their
i.e.,
phenomenon,
knowlege
things
of
the earth,
interior,
the
of
mass
empirically
of
surface
not
with
Meta
of
things
nature of
in themselves, according to the laws of the mere phe
nomenon, is an undertaking which may be compared to
the
to
attempt
laws the
is
philosophy
from
construct
body.
stereometric
to
an attempt
according to the laws
similarly to that
dissimilar figures
of
mere
Every
the
with
one
miscarry, since, turn them
phenomenon
cover
another,
as one
and
their
the thing-in-itself
construct
attempting to
of
surfaces
transcendent dogmatic
will,
which
which
now
results
two absolutely
must
this,
always
now
that,
corner projects.
Inasmuch
a
as
naturata
and
being
every
phenomenon
in
is
nature
at the same time
thing-in-itself, that is, natura
naturans, it is capable of a double
a
and
natura
The phys
explanation, a physical and a metaphysical.
ical is always from the cause ; the metaphysical always
from
the
Will;
for this
consciousless nature
but
force,
in
as
animal
it is
natural
and
which
force,
man
displays itself in
higher up,
receives
the
as
name
vital
Will.
Taken strictly, in a given human being, the degree and
the direction of his intelligence, and the moral construc
tion
his character,
of
produced, the
and nervous
blood
which
combined
possibly be purely physically
from
the structure of his brain
viz,
first,
system, together with the circulation of the
affects it, the latter from the structure and
action
of
lungs, liver,
etc.,
but
closer
rapport
du physique
physical
his
heart, cellular
kidneys, intestines,
spleen,
for this would
acquaintance
possessed.
might
Both
with
blood,
genital
organs,
certainly be requisite a much
laws which regulate the
the
au moral
would
system,
than
then be
causes, to wit, the
even
Bichat
reducible
structure of
to
and
Cabanis
distant
more
his parents,
since
OF THING-IN-ITSELF
AND PHENOMENON
these could only furnish the
selves, but
not
ally, on the
be explained
free
and
of
higher
a
the
phenomenon
Will,
original
the
with
Hence
they
(
motive
his
being
perfectly
in him the
created
his
all
this
and
must
own
deeds, however
from his character, in
proceed
given
Metaphysic
one.
of
like them
being
a
has
which
corresponding intellect.
necessarily
of
better
the same human
hand,
other
as
germ
and
257
again
conflict
appears as
the
his corporization) , are nevertheless to be wholly
attributed to him.
Metaphysically, moreover, the dis
result of
tinction between him
his
and
is
parents
an
not
absolute
one.
All understanding is an act of presenting, and re
mains, therefore, essentially within the domain of pre
sentment; but since this only furnishes phenomena it is
limited
to
begins the
the
the
where
phenomenon,
thing-in-itself
leaves off, consequently
phenomenon
also
the
But its
presentment, and with this the understanding.
place is here taken by the existent itself, which is con
itself
of
scious
immediate
possible
rendered
and
by
and
recognizes
means
Will
as
ness
knowing
self-consciousness
of
the
same
intellect,
an
body,
and
finds
itself first through this, in self-conscious
it follows that this knowledge of the
is primarily
and a
by
conditioned
known,
and
from
then
the
by
the
cerebral
the separation
form
of
time,
self-conscious
that it is hence not completely exhausted and
and
ness,
this
completely adequate knowl
But because it is thereby
a
that the Will creates this organic
of part
inseparable
is
which
Were
have
—
thing-in-itself
of a
Will.
thing-in-itself.
the
of
edge
as
should
we
(Compare
adequate.
chap,
in
xviii.
vol.
2d
of
my
chief
work.)*
•The distinction between the thing-in-itself
may
be
of a
essence
but this is
essential
as
its
no object of
that between the
pure
and
what
the phenomenon
and
objective
essence
present
displays
in
a
knowing
itself there is
consciousness
the
objective
This is accordingly object of knowledge, but
presentment, and as it can only become so by means
the thing.
as such
it is
mere
presentment-apparatus
which
the laws resulting therefrom,
17
be
and
subjective
is the thing-in-itself,
For in order to be such it is
subjective
knowledge.
should always
presentment,
of
a
Its
thing.
that it
essence
of
as
expressed
it is
must
a
have its
mere
own
structure and
phenomenon
which
must
With this is
Essay
my
in
that
to the
for
action,
and
be
observe
we
the
3<1
7°;
to
does
in
before us, in
animal,
a
proc
it pertain
the thing-in-itself.
being,
life, and
natural
any
its
86):
p.
ed.,
which
with
contemplate
and
it
zootomy
not
and
an
teach
p.
clearness
instance
stands
under
ed.,
by me in
heading "Phy
presented
comprehended,
phenomenon
mere
When
the
to
may
(2d
86
p.
proportion
relation
or
ess
Nature,"
«Will in
on
Astronomy,"
truth
the
connected
sical
as
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
258
existence,
spite
of
all
that
it,
as
an
impenetrable
respecting
zoology
does nature, then, from mere
obstinacy
eternally dumb to our questioning ? Is it not like
But
mystery.
remain
everything great, open, communicative,
Can its answer, therefore, fail from
and even nai've?
other
any
reason
than because the question was
wrongly put, was one-sided,
from false assumptions, or perhaps, even con
For is it easy to think that a
proceeded
tained
a
contradiction?
connection of causes and consequences could obtain where
it
must
eternally and essentially remain undiscovered ?
That assuredly not.
But it is unfathomable, because we
search for causes and effects in a region to which this
form is
foreign,
and
and effects on an
the inner
hence
we
pursue
the
chain of causes
We
entirely wrong track.
seek
to
attain
essence of
nature, namely, which confronts us
in every phenomenon on the lines of the principle of
cause
whereas this is the mere form with which our
—
intellect
apprehends
itself
connect
the phenomenon,
the thing-in-itself.
with
This
i.e.,
the
surface of
obtains also where
there
is, a self-cognizing I. For this also
knows itself only in its intellect, /'. e., its apparatus of presentment,
and indeed through the external senses as organic form, by the inter
nal as Will whose acts it sees as simultaneously repeated
by that
form as the latter is by its shadow, whence it concludes as to the
exists
a
identity
self-consciousness,
of
both
and
that
terms the
result
I.
But
on account of
this double
proximity in which the
intellect here stands to its source or root, the Will, the knowledge of
objective being, that is, of the phenomenon, differs here much lesa
knowledge,
from the
means
opposition
the
to
as
well
subjective
of
sense alone
that
as
or
on account
sense
or
self-consciousness.
of space and
of subject and
it,
time
object
the
great
thing-in-itself than in the case
external
cognizes
of
is
the form
the
consciousness
For to this, in
of
time
alone
so
of
knowledge
of other
far
as
by
things in
the
internal
longer
cleaves, and no
together, time therefore and the separation
that divides it from the thing-in-itself.
all
OF THING-IN-ITSELF AND PHENOMENON
things,
and
we
it is
useful
and
may be
animal
This
the last
sequence
ultimately
fail
us
had
them
few
a
makes
hensible.
the phenomenon
of
For example, the actuality of
explained
from its generation.
is
resort
to get beyond the
means
range
more
no
we
should
this
The inner
The fact that in
chain
connection
of
difference
no
and
links in the
middle
All
phenomenon
still
is
because the
does
essence
essentially, for even if we
come back to the incompre
phenomenon
cause.
It
is
remains
become thing-in-itself.
not
things is foreign to the principle
of
It is the thing-in-itself, and that is
because it wills and it wills because it is.
of
than the
mysterious
the incomprehensible.
upon
generation
the
any other, even the simplest effect, from its
even in such a case the explanation abutts
of
since
cause,
this
within
sufficient.
a given
in
by
expect
But
phenomenon.
259
Real in every being.
The fundamental character
pure
Will.
It is the
simple
We
see
everything in
ism consuming
to the
metal
organ
its very
conflict with something else.
How
the maintaining of its form, and the
by
endure
nature
could
things is perishability.
all
destroying itself,
and
existence, partly
of
from the
nature
by
partly
renewing of its individuals, the countless repetition of its
life process throughout an endless time without tiring, if
its
innermost
own
completely
than
other
its
distinct from the
selves
We
and
in
all
physical
understanding the
and
so
above
that not
all,
hence
not
only is
that
even
our
of
since
nor
consciousness
further knowledge
But
this
own
our
that
we
live
which we
of existence
self
life short, but
as though a spiteful
rassment.
quite
quite
This is the Will in
?
the obscurity in
momentarily illumines
indeed,
all
our
kind
thing
metaphysical
thing
connection
exclusively limited to it,
ward beyond our birth,
and
a
—
hence
and
a
of
our
things.
of
complain
thing-in-itself
a
phenomena
timeless,
not
were
core
indestructible,
can
in
with the
our
the
but
a
he
complaint
look back
neither
flash
It
night.
demon had
whole;
knowledge is
forward beyond
is
without
the whole,
death,
lightning
our
of
would
closed
might
enjoy
is,
properly
seem,
up for
our
us
embar
speaking,
unjustified, for it
has
from
proceeded
illusion
an
is brought
which
that the
opinion
totality
things
of
existed
intellect, consequently,
before it became real; and that
it must be
arisen from knowledge,
an
presentment
mere
having
to knowledge, and penetrable and exhaust
But, in truth, the matter stands rather thus,
accordingly
also
accessible
ible
by
that
from
springs
the fallacious
by
about
as
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
s6o
it.
that
all
that
complain
we
which
do
we
not
know,
is
known to no one, is indeed in itself not knowable, i. e.,
For the presentment in the domain of
not presentable.
knowledge
all
which
lies,
a
therefore
which
side of
external
thing, something
added
secondary
is,
that
all
existence,
which
was
things generally, in
the world-whole, but merely to the main
necessary to the
not
to
and
knowledge refers, is only the
maintenance
words, of
of individual
other
tenance
things in
of
Hence the
beings.
animal
existence
only per
in knowledge and, therefore, in a very limited
manner; it only forms the background of the picture in
of
and
general
as
a
whole,
appears
accidens
the
animal
are
the essential,
by
now,
means
time,
and
consciousness
existence
that
of
is,
this accident, the
the
world
this kind
of
the
where
objects
occupy the first
and
as
outside
place.
whole
as
since,
sake
of
arises
in
space
world
presentment,
knowledge.
essence, on the other hand, that which is
self, is quite independent of this kind of
the Will
of
There
which
Its
maintenance
of each animal
its
no
internal
in it
existent
But
existence.
already said, knowledge is only there
the
has
for the
individual,
so
its
forms,
time, space, etc.,
merely there for the purposes of such an individual.
But the latter merely requires the knowledge of relations
between particular phenomena, and in no way those of
structure
whole
the
nature
Kant
which
direct,
the
of
has
all
thing
proved
disturb
problems
everyone more or
resort
in the forms
the
of
on
our
are
the world-whole.
and of
that
less,
are
of
metaphysics
capable
of
no
whatever, but are based
the fact that they have their origin
of no sufficient
in the last
as
solution
intellect, time,
space
and
causality,
intellect is merely designed to supply the mo
tives to the individual will, i. e., to show it the objects
while this
of
its
willing
together
with
the
ways
and
means
to
OF THING-IN-ITSELF AND PHENOMENON
turned to the
tality
nature
the
and
as, for
the world, the
of
things
Let
instance,
spite
consciousness
these
of
the
of
problems
it,
these
us conceive
birth to the
give
of origin
ning and end of the world,
destruction of the latter by
duration in
to
and
or
the freedom
of
forms
as
once
causa
and
begin
purpose,
of
self,
its
of
to
forms
metaphysical
and of one's own
death,
the
aforesaid
the coexistence succession
of
of all possible
problems
is abusively
things-in-themselves,
of
complex
pertaining to it
tion
this intellect
When, however,
them.
attain
261
the
of
continued
Will,
the
abolished,
etc.
and
things
a
as, nevertheless, present
then be not, indeed, solved, but
would
—
have entirely vanished, and their expression would
have no more meaning.
For they take their origin en
tirely from these forms, which are designed not for the
would
understanding of the
for an understanding
This
whole
of
only justified
by
of
imminent,
instead
the
Kantian
explanation
doctrines,
the understanding
of
and
which
subjective
are
merely
One might,
intellect is physical,
application.
also say the
i.
metaphysical,
e., as it has grown out
to
its
objectivation, it is there
pertaining
of
the
ends.
affords us an
transcendent,
not
existence, but merely
their founder from the
side, viz, that the forms
of
and of
our personal
consideration
justification
objective
were
world
above,
the
of
not
Will
only for
its service; that this merely obtains in nature, and not
in anything lying outside of it.
Every animal possesses
(as I have explained and substantiated in "Will in Na
as
also
its intellect obviously only for the purpose of find
obtaining its food, and its degree is determined
ture
")
ing
and
thereby.
Man it is
With
greater
difficulty
greater
number
higher degree
of
of
of
not otherwise, only that the
his maintenance, and the infinitely
his wants has here made a much
intellect
necessary.
It is only
when
this
is exceeded, through an abnormity, that the perfectly
free surplus remains, over which, if considerable, is called
genius.
In the first instance, such an intellect as this is
truly
objective
only;
but it
may become to a certain
at least endeavor to be so.
of
its objectivity,
nature
can
easily
extent
even
go
so
For precisely in
itself,
the
far that it
metaphysical,
or
consequence
totality
of
things,
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
262
For nature here first
becomes its object and its problem.
itself
as
perceive
to
begins properly
something which is
and yet
might
not
be,
or
which
might
be
otherwise,
in the ordinary, merely normal, intellect it does not
just as the miller does not hear
clearly perceive itself,
It seems to
his mill, nor the perfumer smell his shop.
in it.
involved
is
intellect
the
require no
explanation,
while
Only
in
becomes
How
certain
almost
much
clearer
moments
frightened
such normal
at
it,
heads
is it
aware
but this
are
ever
of
it,
and
soon passes off.
likely
to
achieve
in philosophy, however numerously they congregate, is
If, on the contrary, the intellect were origi
easy to see.
nally
and
by
constitution
philosophy like every
forces.
other
metaphysical, it
could
science, especially
further
with united
SOME WORDS
One
PANTHEISM.
illustrate allegorically
might
carried
controversy
ON
the
at
on
time
philosophy respecting Theism
dialogue which took place in the pit
professors of
by
a
Milan
during
convinced
director has
they
deed,
not
as with
still
be fallen
the
real
one
upon
with
who
one, in
are
order
to
give
Against Pantheism I have
explain
it,
same
thing
there
far
as
is
nothing.
God,
thing.
to
we
we
To
but only to
of
synonym
world
Dream."
the
of
the
"
or
word
"
the
If indeed
call
enrich
capable
to
in
is,
pipe of minis
of
pocketing
produce one
zest
the
world
language
"world."
and
opportunely
to their expositions.
chiefly this
objection
God is
only,
not
to
with a superfluous
Whether it
says
"the
is the world, " comes to the
start from God as the given
world
we
be explained, and say,
have to a certain extent
return
It
professors of
has done that satisfactorily, one may
from outside by those wild men-eaters
as a pocket-pulcinello
says
which
in this
my essay on "The
Bottom the
the bread
bread,
philosophers,
off
running
that it
in
philosophy
thing
attitude
One has first to dance to the
when
that the
which reminds one of
in "The Midsummer Night's
and
and
forbidden
Their
the heart to seize.
a sour piece of
and were con
—
professors of
a
I have already described
philosophy!
ters,
their
and guides
before them;
how the
see
University-Philosophy,"
weaver
the
art with which
"
Pantheism
with
respect
the
at
Marion
celebrated
marionettes
persons
It is delightful to
they have
theatre
interlocutor,
one
playing themselves,
associates were
poet was also playing.
coquet
Pantheism,
of a
"
really in the
cealed
and
other
were
his
and
admired
the
arranged
and
great
among the
Not at all ! That
says, on the contrary,
in the Theatro della Scala, that the director
The
play.
Girolamo,
of
The
performance.
that he is in the
Theatre
ette
the
the
dramatically
and
present
from the
"God is the
an
unknown
world,"
explanation, in
to
the
known;
(263)
so
still
SCHOPENHAUER'S
264
it is only
God,"
ing thereby,
as
clear
as
that
or
ignotius;
God,
therefore
intimate
with
him,
finally bring
one
can
tify him with the world, in order to
We have not
in a decent manner.
from the
God
do
as
world
the
it
a
as
world
God
less
who
each
negro
slaves,
blows
of
and
God!
into
had to take
who
on
to
his
over
first
a
role.
and
to
no
a
world
e.
daily
end, in the
for
g., in the
their bare
vegetate
That
such
this:
as
im
regard
into
a
a
shape of count
tormented
by
while
shape
of
on an average receive
European
feebly
such
anxious and
themselves
on
anyone
must
but
other:
who
as
For
there to endure misery, suffering,
order
living,
etc.
workshops,
impartially
illobviously be a very
better amusement than to
million
misery,
started
It
knew
the whip
three
of
after
world
without measure or
devouring
on one side
God.
maintain
only
to iden
oneself
him
put
occur
who
millions of
is
never
world, in
hungry
and death,
a
and
would
himself
transform
with
be explained, but from
we did not know what to
Pantheism.
origin of
partial view
advised
having
as
to
thing
the
former,
This is the
the
the
thing;
given
the
with
as
per
explained
Theism
presupposes
For only in so far as one starts
has him already in advance,
it.
and
ignotum is
least
at
hence Pantheism
preceded
from
start
we
world, and say "the world is
daylight that we have said noth
the
given, viz,
it is
if
But
explanation.
verbal
a
the really
ESSAYS
and
who,
six
million
sixty million
in the shape
amid
hunger
in
would
be
must
bodies,
weavers
beings,
mutually
stuffy attics or wretched
indeed be a pastime for a
accustomed
to
things very
different.
The
supposed great progress
if taken seriously
as above
and
not
from Theism to
merely
as
is accordingly,
suggested,
Pantheism,
a masked
a progress
negation,
from the
unproven, and hardly thinkable to the actually absurd.
For however unclear, vacillating, and confused may be
the
conception
two
predicates
the highest
being
which
are
one
at
power and
associates
events
armed with this should
position
above
our position
described, is
in the
with
the
word
God,
inseparable from it
the highest wisdom.
But that
all
world
have
—
placed
a
himself in the
an
actually absurd idea; for
is obviously such as no intelli-
SOME WORDS ON PANTHEISM
gent, let
alone
Theism,
an
if it is difficult to
be the
ing,
work
such
of
know the
time,
an
wherefore
animal
being
conceivable,
it.
of
it is
nature,
For that
all-wise
always
world should
individual be
and therefore
absurd.
exactly
is
world
that the infinite
conceive
personal,
only know from
not
the same
at
tormented
not
a
as we
nevertheless
and,
being, would place himself in.
hand, is merely unproven, and even
all-wise
the other
on
265
an
almighty
should create
although we
Hence,
if
even
a
may
we
at
him the quality of the highest goodness, the
incomprehensibility of his judgment is always the refuge
tribute to
by
such
which
ity.
On the
creating God is
this
this
small
of
his
escapes
dies
alone
free will,
own
the
correct
to
reproach of
absurd
the
Pantheism, however,
of
himself the endlessly
earth
more
much
doctrine
a
assumption
tormented,
and
on
in every second, and
is absurd.
It would be
once
which
identify
the
world
devil,
the
with
has been actually done by the venerable author of
"The German Theology," inasmuch as on p. 93 of his
immortal work (according to the restored text, Stuttgart,
as
185 1), he
and
one,
says:
"Therefore
when
nature
is
are
the
evil
not overcome
spirit and nature
there
is the
also
overcome."
evil one not
The Pantheists obviously give to the Sansara the
The Mystics, on the other hand, give the
Of this, however,
name to the Nirvana.
they
name
God.
than
more
and
they know,
Synagogue,
its
The
is
the
end
expression
to
itself,"
by
events
since
all
on
presents
tion that
the
only
the
is
Islam
and
use
do;
not
The
nothing.
the word God in
hears nowadays, "the world
it is to be ex
often
undecided whether
or
by
mere
a physical
assumption
itself
significance
one
a relative
sense.
leaves
Pantheism
plained
it
at
Church,
correct
proper and
do
the Buddhists
which
hence their Nirvana is but
same
relate
as means
world
has
the
most
Fatalism, but
and no moral
of
this
to
a
latter the
higher
end.
only a physical
hopeless error
sprung from the perversity
of
allows
significance,
world always
But this
and
that
the human mind.
no
has
no
moral
ever
ON
ETHICS.
Physical truths may have much external significance,
The latter
but they are wanting in internal significance.
is the privilege of intellectual and moral truths, which
have as their theme the highest stages of the objectiva-
Will, while the former have only the lowest.
instance, if we attain to certainty as to what is now
tion of the
For
much
Examples
high
this
of
observation
of
its
its
of
evil
of
are
its
the
internally
poor.
not
every good tragedy; also indeed
human conduct in the extreme
morality
of
these truths would
only furnished by
philosophizings, but also by the
spiritual
and
in
immorality,
in
For
and goodness.
stage
the equator
at
magnetism
significance, but
the
pears whose phenomenon
est
light,
polar
internal truths
of
truly
and
the
external
catastrophe
sions
again
sun
the
this
thermoelectricity,
and
earth,
be of
the
supposition, to wit, that
merely
produces
objectivation
this
all
world
is,
other
the
and
by
the
expres
words,
of
essence
at
ap
the high
brings to light its innermost
core.
That the world has merely a physical, and no moral
significance, is the greatest, the most pernicious, the fun
damental error, the true perversity of opinion, and is at
bottom that which faith has personified as Anti-Christ.
Nevertheless,
the
maintain
and
despite
contrary,
mythical
fashion,
ever
and
again
world
and
all
and
religions,
seek
to
which
explain
one
and all
it in their
this root-error never
quite dies
out, but
its head anew, till universal indig
nation compels it once more to hide it.
But certain as is the feeling of a moral significance of
the
of
the
world
me
to
raises
of
life,
contradiction
is,
nevertheless,
expound
therefore
(266)
the
everywhere
its
explication and
between
so
it
and
difficult,
true
and
only
at
that it
genuine
all
the
the
times
unraveling
course
of
was reserved
and
pure,
operative
the
for
and
foun-
ON ETHICS
dation
morality, together with
In this I have the reality
the
of
leads.
much
on
my
superseded and
As
267
of
side, that I need fear
displaced by another.
long, however,
as
"Ethics"
my
to
goal
moral
which
ever
again
it
too
progress
to be
remain unnoticed
by
the professors, the Kantian moral principle obtains at
the universities, and among its various forms that of the
"
Dignity
Man "
of
is
the
now
most
I have
accepted.
in my essay on the " Foun
already
dation of Morality," § 8, p. 169 (2d ed., 166).
For this
reason we say only thus much here on this point.
If one
its
exposed
to
were
the
ask on what
answer
would
this
dignity
rests
rested
rested,
on his
dignity,
the
on
But
of man
it
to saying that
the morality.
on
dignity
pretended
come
Thus the morality
morality.
the
emptiness
and
from this, the
apart
dignity seems to me to be only ironically
being so sinful in will, so limited in in
easily injured, and so feeble in body as man:
conception of
to
applicable
tellect,
so
a
"Quid
homo?
superbit
cujus conceptio
Nasci poena, labor vita,
I
therefore
would
sition
to the
ciple :
Do
you
not
in
come
worth
the badness
attempt
in the
an
contact
the
following
case of
objective
any
him
his
hatred
stead
of
with
him
him,
his
ideas,
of
his
for
under
the first
us.
prevent
not
The
and
we
him;
anx
continually feel
with him, and in
shall
sympathize
contempt, experience that sympathy
is the only dydm) to which the Gospel
The standpoint of sympathy is alone
hatred or contempt arising toward him,
certainly the
pretended dignity.
and
to
or
which
admonishes
to
to
related
ourselves
suited
In this way
pains.
as
take into consideration
can easily evoke hatred, the last contempt against
but bear in mind only his sufferings, his need, his
iety,
oppo
man with whom
limitation
of
in
moral prin
valuation of
not
the
nor
perversity
rule
Kantian
the
of
hence do
his will,
of
nor
standing,
form
dignity;
and
the
postulate
aforesaid
culpa,
mori!"
necesse
Buddhists, in
metaphysical
opposite one
consequence of
insights,
do
not
of
seeking
after
their deeper
start
from
his
ethical
cardinal
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
268
virtues, but
negations
from
Mongolians,"
p.
the
7,
lust, idleness,
are
ought
to
anger,
envy
Schmidt, its
Sufis,
ism
were
who
and
also
same
so
effectively, pairwise,
and
lust,
and
anger,
postulated
greed
cardinal
.as
de 1819,
edit,
there added as
the
of
strongly in favor.
that lust
and
vices,
of
the
Brahm-
For these
indeed very
appears related
"
For
highly deserving
the influence
cardinal
vi., p.
vol.
fifth.
a
doctrines
the
with
Mysticism,"
from Oriental
soms
of
(See Tholuck's
to pride.
anger
Buddhists
the
But probably pride
idleness, as given in the
under
speaks
the
or
appear.
the Eastern
of
of
vices
statement of
certainly
first
greed.
agreement
Buddhism,
postulate
being
the
of
correction
my
J. J.
place
antitheses
virtues
"History
Curieuses,"
et
hatred
or
and
the
as
vices,
cardinal
cardinal
in the
stand
"Lettres Edifiantes
372;
the
J. Schmidt's
J.
to
According
cardinal
which
of
to greed,
Collection
of
Blos
206.) We already find
in the "Bhagavat Gita" (xvi. 21),
vices,
p.
which
the
attests
great
"
age
"
Similarly in the Prabodha-Chandrodaya,
a philosophico-allegorical drama, extremely important for
the Vedanta-philosophy, these three cardinal vices also
appear as the three generals of
the King Passion in his
war against King Reason.
As the cardinal virtues op
the
of
posed
ity,
doctrine.
to the
together
If
we
above
with
compare
cardinal
mildness
vices, modesty
and
these
with
humility,
and generos
would result.
deeply-conceived
oriental
root-ideas of ethics the so-celebrated
and
sand-times-repeated cardinal virtues of
Plato, justice, brav
ery, moderation,
and
wisdom,
we
shall
so-many-thou
find them to be
guiding root-conception, and therefore
superficially chosen, and in part even clearly false. Virtues
must be qualities of the
Will, but wisdom belongs di
without
a
clear
The amfpoabv-q, which is translated
rectly to the intellect.
Cicero
and
in German Mdssigkeit (moder
by
Temperantia,
is
a
indeterminate
and ambiguous expression,
ation),
very
under which
many things may be
tion, abstinence, holding
from
o-S>ov
i'xetv
(Flor. tit. J.,
rijv
is
dperijv
no
rd
<j>pveiv,
§ 60,
omQpoabvrjv
virtue
at
all,
vol.
one's
or
i.,
imXeaav
as
p.
brought,
134,
Gaisf.)
amr-qpiav ooaav
although
such as reflec
head up ; it comes probably
Hierax says in "Stobaeus"
it may
.
.
fpovrjaim?.
sometimes
.
Tabryv
Bravery
be the
ON ETHICS
servant
tool
or
the
serve
of
cause
virtue;
albeit
the
greatest
of
a mere
properly speaking,
Geuliux (" Ethica, in
virtues
Plato
of
269
it is equally ready to
Praefatione, ")
and
being,
unworthiness,
characteristic
of
rejected
the
cardinal
diligentia,
these;
postulated
temperament.
ob-
edientia, justitia, humilitas; obviously a bad selection.
The Chinese name five cardinal virtues: sympathy, jus
tice, politeness, knowledge, and uprightness ("Journ.
Asiatique,"
don,
1
ix.,
vol.
841,
p.
p.
calls
197),
China"
"Sam.
62).
Kidd,
benevolence,
them
(Lon
righteous
ex
ness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, and gives an
haustive commentary on each. Christianity has
no
cardinal, but only theological virtues : faith, love, and hope.
The point at which the moral virtues and vices of men
first
is the
part
above
antithesis
tude toward others, which
of
envy
opposite
or
sympathy.
of
characteristics
they spring from
since
own state
that
with
takes
atti
on
the character
For these two
diametrically
himself,
every
the
fundamental
of our
either
bears
man
within
his
unavoidable comparison of
of
and
the
as
another;
accordingly,
his individual character, will the one or the
other quality become his fundamental
attitude of mind
and the source of his conduct.
builds
Envy
up the more
result affects
firmly
the
wall
thin
comes
between thou
and
and
transparent;
thrown down altogether, in which
tween I and not-I vanishes.
Bravery,
as
courage which
bravery
discussed in the
lies
in war)
at
I ; for sympathy it be
indeed, it is
sometimes,
case
foregoing,
its foundation
deserves
a
the
( for
closer
distinction be
or
the
rather
is only
investigation.
The
courage
among the virtues and coward
ice among the vices ; but the Christian moral sense, which
is directed toward well-wishing and suffering, and whose
ancients reckoned courage
all enmity, properly indeed all resistance,
involve this, and hence it has disappeared with
We must nevertheless admit that cowardice
the moderns.
doctrine forbids
does
is
not
not
easily
account of
compatible with
betrays itself therein.
that
one
a noble character
the excessive concern for
willingly
Courage is
encounters
reducible
evils
if only
on
one's person which
to
the
threatened
at
fact
the
moment, in
present
in the
future,
tience is
to
order
the former character,
of
that there
from
flying
fore be
so,
But
to
by
of
it
perhaps
One
that
natural
of
virtue
that he
concern
arose
the heroic
virtues
noble
and sublime.
of
otherwise
and personal
of
the
maintenance
For
immanent,
as
it
rest
one
cannot
that is purely
be
could
would
only
be insufficient.
Calderon
courage,
out of
pronounces
when
the
the
of
of
Que
No
Y
men,
—
empirical
—
should
of
not
the exist
put
the
An exclusively
explanation, inasmuch
else.
of courage,
on the utility
From this it may have arisen that
sceptical but significant view of
a
an
old
wise
aunque el natural
obra
and
does this indeed
minister as
against
his
temor,
igualmente,
mostrale es ser valiente,
esto es
lo
que
«
although natural
one
from any lower
is himself all
condition
all
ap
the contrary,
based
En todos
For
see
cowardice
on
—
"
"
This certainly
it is
why
who
he denies its reality,
mouth
young King:
world
himself before
of
things,
therefore
nevertheless
courage,
finite individual
a
all
which need
above;
is himself indeed the fundamental
ence
a want of
things, yes, in
all
from
explained
contemptible,
why
of contempla
death to
and
matter
pears
standpoint
every
certainty, accordingly,
consequently (as the reader
Ethics") from the same source
courage
the
seizing
easily to be
which
of
to virtue.
akin
mode
of
from my "
of justice and human love.
means
not
in
as much
remember
the
least
at
higher
person, the death
From this
him.
own
-conquest
there
merely felt metaphysic by
bears within himself the certainty
man
just
little
may
is
fear
all
violent
would
therefore
and
which
of a
reduce
self
and
courage
admits
might
exists
in his
it,
by
the
because it is this
and
privations
endure
than the
evils
on
pa
in the
consists
Courage
these.
off of
patience,
means of
tion
as
warding
form
a
enables us
kind,
or
it
greater
be brought
present ones which might
Now
opposite.
since
are
looming
greater ones
avoid
does the
while cowardice
clear consciousness
as
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
270
is brave in
fear is
so
far
hace
el valor. »
La Hija del
active
as one
Aire,"
in the
does
P. II. torn,
same
not
2.
way in
all
let it be seen.
ON ETHICS
and
the
this indeed
Air,"
Respecting
bravery."
constitutes
Part.
271
("The Daughter
of
A. 2.)
II.,
the
above-mentioned
between
differences
the estimation of courage among the ancients and among
the moderns it must, however, be taken into considera
tion that the
every
moral
whether
But
poreal.
the
understood
older
Latinists
range
dper-q,
itself,
the
earliest
Italian,
the
word
excel
moral
conception
in
sense
as
is
of
the
proved
by
Learners
virtuoso.
especially directed to this
Virtue among the
conception
it may easily give rise to a secret
To this end I particularly recom
as otherwise
ancients,
perplexity in them.
mend
the
attention
of
the
under
in the
of
meaning
to have their
extended
be moral,
to
of
find
we
and even
well-known
ought
life
of
thought
were
Meanwhile
virtue.
virtue, virtus,
intellectual, or, indeed, merely cor
that Christianity had demonstrated
or
after
alone
by
quality praiseworthy in
every
ground-tendency
lencies
the
ancients
excellence,
two
passages
preserved
for
us
by Stobaeus;
the
one
apparently emanating from the Pythagorean Metopos in
"
the first chap, of his " Florilegium,
§ 64 (Vol. i., p. 22,
Gaisf.),
the capacity of each member of our body
"
and the other in his
Eclog. Eth. "
where
for dperi) is explained,
I. II., cap. 7 (p. 272,
follows
Sptarov
quam
.
bicddijpa
probum
ancients
Just
and
find
dperrjv
{Sutoris
dbvarat.
novit
calceum
and vices
virtues
Heeren).
ed.
aKorordpoo
.
.
are
in
there
speaks
$)v
dicitur
virtus
parare.)
spoken of
no place
It
Xiyeo&at
This
in the
"
as
dnoreXetv
secundum
explains
Ethics
"
of
why
the
our own.
among the Virtues is
among the Vices.
Only
one must not confound it with the greed which is di
We will
rectly expressed by the Latin word avaritia.
as
doubtful
the
so
place
is that
therefore for the
brought forward
of
of
nonce
and
bravery
avarice
allow
heard,
so
the pro
and contra
that the
to be
final judgment
may be left to each reader.
A. Avarice is not a vice, but its opposite, extrava
gance, which arises from an animal limitation to the
present time against which the
merely in thought,
future, existing
can attain no
power,
and
as it does
is based on
the illusion
for
price
the
of
Future
pleasures.
empty, brainless
the
astonishment of
his
of
from him
from
as
discovered his
that
so
we
vice
either
to
of
not
to be
own
other when
it
rightly
very
one
reason
one
the
envious
to
ought
after we
fly
have
soon as possible
;
the consequences
have, later, when
help to bear them, or
Timon
of
Athens.
that he
fortune
who
leave
will
to play the role
same way it
has thoughtlessly run
In the
untouched
into his hands; but
comes
it,
put
para
in
and
those
and
stricken,
to break with him as
expected
through his
this
plague-
the
of
back,
and of
not
may
the friends
appear,
of
For
magnificence.
his
people
his
feeds
or
posturings
behind
him
common
these vacuous,
pleasures,
in the
sensuous
of
accordingly the
purchases
imaginary
at
value
are
suffering
spendthrift
conceit
laugh
who
sites
want and
often
and
real
and
positive
the
which
fleeting,
is
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
272
sui
profusus,
alieni
as
that
of an
Sallust has
(Catil.
appetens
merely to poverty but
through this to crime; the criminals from the well-to-do
classes have almost all become so in consequence of ex
Hence
c. 5).
Truly
travagance.
"
extravagance
Spendthrifts
leads
does the Koran say (Sure 17, v. 29):
"
of Satan.
Avarice, on the con
brothers
are
trary, has superfluity in its train,
able
But that
?
the
a
and
that
that hence
chimera,
and
in
order
so
that
ther
and
that
a
all
man, namely,
undesir
that has
good
proceeds
from
pleasures act
happiness
merely
the better
to
secure
its
sustine abstine are
himself
maxims.
knows how inexhaustible
nega
them
compounded of
the contrary
on
is this
and when
a good vice
pains are positive
Hence he denies for himself the
real.
very
surely be
avaricious
correct principle
tively
is
must
The
consequences.
not
against
And
the
are
former,
latter,
the
since
he fur
possibilities
of
misfortune, and how countless the paths of danger, he
takes his measures against them, in order, if possible, to
surround himself with a threefold wall of defense.
Who
could
say then
where
to be
excessive
?
fortune
attain
excessive, this
not
to
others.
he hoards
up?
precautions against accidents
Only
their
end.
mistake
Will he
In
he
at
who
knew
And
even
if
begin
tricks
precautions
of
are
brings harm to himself,
have need of the treasures
most
never
this
where the
case
they
will
accrue
at some
ON ETHICS
273
time to the benefit of others to whom nature has given
less forethought.
That until then money has been with
drawn from circulation is no harm, for money is not an
of
consumption; it is a mere representative of
Ducats are at bottom
real, useful goods, not such itself.
themselves mere reckoning counters ; it is not they which
have value, but that which they represent, and this can
article
be
not
from
withdrawn
money, the
in
by
is
circulation
so
Besides,
circulation.
retention of the
value
much
through his
that which
of
If,
raised.
as
is
remains
sometimes
maintained, many misers at last come to love money
for its own sake, so, on the other hand, and just
directly
certainly does many a spendthrift love the spending
But friendship,
wasting of money for its own sake.
as
and
relationship with the miser, is not only with
but desirable, since it may bring him the
For at all events those nearest to
advantages.
indeed,
or,
danger
out
greatest
him reap the fruits of his self-restraint after his death.
But even during his life there is, in cases of great need,
more at least than
something to be hoped from him
from the penniless spendthrift who is helpless and in
—
"
debt.
Mas da
hearted
duro,
el
In
el
than the
man gives more
proverb.
que
consequence
of
desnudo
naked
")
this,
all
*
(
"
The hard
says a
Spanish
is
avarice
no
vice.
B.
It
is
the
nature,
by
away
of
the
physical
sensuous
animal
and
excitement,
however,
he
stage
acts
bodily
through
a
of
the
vices!
man
the moment,
reached
If
from the right path, his
within
him, is to blame.
quintessence
seduce
pleasures
at
which
by
overpowered
Carried
the impression
When,
consideration.
without
or
weakness
the vices
old
which
he has
age
he
could never
forsake, finally forsake him, in
sual
enjoyments
survives
is the
which
world
stem
—
to
stracto.
love
a
the
has died
fleshly,
18
and
he turns to
representative
which
which
They
is their
his dead
considered
Out
and
of
all
abstractum
appetites
regenerate
of mammon.
well
that his capacity for sen
out, the intellectual appetite
of
the
—
the
things
now
the
is
cling,
themselves
of
the
withered
as egoism
in
ab-
henceforth in the
fleeting,
calculating
Money,
avarice.
good
sensuous appetite
appetite
for money has
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
274
developed
itself,
like it
nature,
and
necked
love
itself,
outliving
in
cus
the
as
related
is that
lust
of
to
it
which
to
concept
universal
accordingly, is the
Avarice,
stiff-
it
as
were
inconvertibility, the subli
of the flesh, the abstract fo
lusts centre,
all
which
It is the
perfected
spiritualized
and
mated
symbolical
of
the world,
of
enjoyments
the
is
object
is indestructible.
also
the
of
like its
which
of
vice
therefore
is,
things.
particular
extravagance
as
age,
youth.
The disputatio in
is
partem just heard
utramque
assur
edly suited to force as to the juste milieu morality of
Aristotle.
The following consideration is also favorable
thereto.
human
Every
it threatens to
akin
to
a
man
in
which
that
at
the
The
with
man
discourteous
head
endowed
He
who
the
tempted to the
spendthrift
we
or
confound
vice
assumption
that
incapacity are closely
directly from one root. But
in
shown
versd.
econom
liberal,
seems
the
badness
moral
anew
is
that this
intel
so, I have
not
volume
and
they spring
since
connected,
second
the
upright, the block
and
men
lectual
conclusively
respecting a
the fact
self-confidence, etc.
feels himself ever
a noble
among
is
upon
rests
acquaintance
our
straightforward
with
lives
mistake
which
fault
thus seems to us cowardly, the
avaricious;
man
fault into
a
kindred perfections,
their
prudent man
ical
of
the
landed,
often
beginning
to
conversely every
Hence
are
we
akin
and
over;
perfection.
his faults
is
perfection
pass
of
my
chief
The foregoing illusion, which
xix., No. 8.
merely arises from the fact that both are often found
together, is entirely to be explained from the very fre
chap,
work,
quent
the
appearance
same
roof.
they
tage,
play into
ance
which
as
of
in
both,
consequence
of
which
it
they have to dwell beneath
But it is not to be denied, however, that
happens to them that
often
it
whence
goes.
exposure
of
one
another's
is brought
hands
about
the
to
so
advan
reciprocal
unedifying
appear
only too many
Stupidity
falseness,
dence
understands
often,
on
the
men offer, and the world
is especially favorable to the
meanness
better how to
other
hand,
the
and
malice;
conceal
this.
perversity
of
while
goes
clear
pru
And how
the
heart
ON ETHICS
prevents
be
let
However,
the
even
from
man
would
standing
Each
race.
him,
and
prise
us
bears
one
human
within
and
the noblest character, will
individual traits
by
absurd
morally bad
perverted
something
best,
the
times
at
since every one,
unquestionably limited in
and thereby proclaims his rela
knowledge,
even
which
For
precisely owing to this bad within
principle, he was compelled to become a
this
same
true
mirror
In
the
reason
it has
of
however,
incalculably great,
spite
remain
of
all,
if he
shocked
Asmodeus
of
transparent
saw
him,
is exactly that
it to be.
and
a
which
one
my
men
would
many
he himself is.
as
evil
And for
differences between
the
another
occurs.
this
man.
world
shown
sur
in order,
human race
badness,
of
it were, to indicate its kinship with that
every degree of unworthiness and cruelty
as
in
under
be too proud,
one
the essentially
with
his
which
equal.
genius, is
greatest
some sphere of
tionship
no
to
truths
seeing
quite
275
O for
be
an
who not alone made roofs and walls
morality
his favored one, but the
to
veil
the Pre
of
falseness, hypocrisy, doubledeception, and who would let him see
facedness, lying
how little true honesty is to be found in the world, and
how often, even where one least expects it, behind all the
sentment
spread
over all
out
and
virtuous
sits
footed friendships
for
on
what
endless
not
look
many
deceit, falseness,
Our
One
But they
not!
mere
are
money-makers.
which
recess
the four-
come
the better kind
refresh
of
men,
from the
oneself
cunning of men if it were
faithful countenance one may
civilized world
is then only
a
knights,
parsons,
advocates, priests, philosophers,
and what
masquerade.
doctors,
innermost
Hence
and
distrust ?
without
of
one
whose
soldiers,
to
so
should
for the dogs into
great
they
the helm.
at
of
indeed
in the
and
secretly
outworks,
unrighteousness
are
not
meets
what
there
they
masks under which
One
will
assume
represent
are
themselves;
hidden,
the
mask
as
of
a
rule,
justice
he has borrowed from his advocate, merely in order
another; a second, with the same object, chooses
crush
the mark
and patriotism;
a third that of
faith
a
one
has
for a variety
;
purity,
many
religion,
donned the mask of philosophy, of philanof
purposes
of
of
public
weal
of
thropy,
the
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
276
Women have less
etc.
mask of
purity,
There
esty.
special
of
as
character,
they mostly employ
;
moreover,
it were the dominos that
To this
belong
character
and mod
disinterested
no
with
masks
universal
are,
with everywhere.
choice
bashfulness, domesticity,
meets
one
integ
strict
and
grinning
sympathy,
rity, politeness,
friendship.
Manufacturers, commercial men, and specu
behind all these
lators, only are, for the most part, hidden
In this
masks.
class, for they
honorable
are
they
what
low in
stand
early in
many
at; but one will
the longest he who cui
Titan.
lect
which
baseness
the
rarest
and
from the
their
merit even
own
finds,
the
the ignorance
capacities,
branch that
genuine
puzzled,
of
neg
suffers
the
truth,
the learned in
of
almost always
are
wares
the
greatest
its department, the detestation
men of
great
them
luto dedit prcecordia
ex meliori
Such is the favor
which
and of
before
stand
and come
and
therefore,
unmasked, and,
It is very important to be taught
For
that one is living in a masquerade.
understood
be
unable
to
will
be
things
rank.
youth
otherwise
they
;
to be
themselves
admit
alone
about
go
the only
merchants constitute
the
respect
The
after.
merely
masquerade
that
in
this
be
taught
should, therefore,
the apples are of wax, the flowers of silk, the fish of paste,
despised,
and
the
sought
apparent
youth
is trifling
and all
he
whom
one
gives
them
with
But
ward
and
and
jesting;
that
and
engaged
so
earnestly
nothing but false wares,
of
and
those
the
yonder
other, the
for
each
with
other pays
counters.
more
horrible
and
sees
things told.
creature.
tamed
considerations
serious
worse
by
to be brought for
are
Man is
at
bottom
We know him merely
what we
occasional
outbreaks
and when
the
of
padlock
call
his
and
civilization,
nature
chain
shock
of
legal
as
a
in
hence the
and
But
us.
wild,
broken
order
where
fall
off
anarchy enters, then he shows himself what he is.
He who in the meantime without this opportunity would
and
like to inform himself
viction
that
and
from hundreds
man yields
no
hyena.
is furnished
by
thereupon,
of ancient
can
and
acquire
modern
the
con
narratives,
in cruelty and pitilessness to no tiger
An important instance from modern times
the answer which the British
Anti-Slavery
ON ETHICS
Society
to its
received
year
the
United States
"Slavery
1840:
the
Anti-Slavery Society
internal
the
and
of
North American
of the
slaves
the
to the treatment
questions as
in the slave-holding states
Union from the North American
277
in
trade in
slave
North America, being replies to
by the British Anti-Slavery Society
Anti-Slavery Society in London,
of
questions transmitted
to the American
This Book
constitutes
against
human
horror,
few
heard
one
the
of
slaves
or
dreamt,
without
aside
the
what
may have
or
it
lay
will
For
tears.
without
state
one
indictments
heaviest
the
of
No
nature.
imagined
or
happy
1841."
has
reader
to
as
the
un
human harshness
of
and
cruelty in general, will seem insignificant to him when
he reads how those devils in human shape, those bigoted
church-going, strict sabbath-observing scoundrels, espe
cially the Anglican parsons among them, treat their in
black brethren
nocent
but
dry
of
all
human
hand
authentic
feeling
punishment of
This
book,
which
consists
accounts, inflames
with it in the
degree that
a
for
crusade
a
have
and violence
substantiated
such
preach
could
one
injustice
claws.
and
to
by
who
into their devil's
come
the slave-holding States
the
conquest
For they are a disgrace for all humanity.
for the past
from the present time
ample
and
North America.
of
—
Another
will
ex
not seem
is contained in Tschudi's
many any longer valid
In the description of the treat
"Travels in Peru," 1846.
But we
ment of the Peruvian soldiers by their
to
—
officers.*
do
require
not
that
reverse
to
for
seek
of
side
the
to light that in England
husband
poisoned
a
to death
by
hunger
from the burial
wife,
them in
child
*
A
case
of
most
recent
Africa"
culating,
zambique
and
a
a
or a wife
death,
a
new
year 1848
space
short
hundred
cases
for
London,
which
i860),
truly devilish cruelty
is
in
husband,
came
time,
which a
or
both
expenses guaranteed
purpose
many
as
they bought
twenty
instance may be found in Macleod's
treat their slaves
of
slowly tortured their children
bad treatment, merely to receive
sometimes as
(2 vols.,
world,
it
or
the funeral
clubs
into several,
Eastern
or
In the
within
there had been not one, but
together their children,
in the
examples
planet.
where
with which
narrated.
the
w
a
of such
Travels in
unheard-of
the
to
cold,
cal
Portuguese in Mo
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
278
See
clubs.
tember,
of
abolition
in the
charge
« Times,"
the
matter
which
1848,
for the
this
on
journal merely
burial clubs.
It
the
repeats
the
on
manner
strongest
20th, 22d, 23d Sep
this account presses
on
same
December,
12th
1853-
Reports
of
in the
pages
them,
source of
inner
the
this God
justice
and
small
scale,
Does there
egoism
the
with
There
not
history at
lie, indeed,
daily
as
ease,
page
every
in the
fession that
espied
do
a
daily
itself
malice
and
rancor,
breast,
and
again
the
egoism
store
of
like the
of our
necessity
of
con
it has
soon as
it ?
upon
a
And
there
nature
hatred,
or
present more
collected
on
scale.
the confirmation of this in a small
receive
yet
large
equilibrum, the
beast, which as
it, infallibly falls
But to the limitless
way ?
life teaches
on a
wild
a weaker one near
not we
allies
is
man
directly
recognized
the so anxiously-watched European
iSoxyv,
Kar
in every
the boundaries of
rests
overleaps
which
greatest
nevertheless
man, this
of
nature
the Pantheists.
of
the human race, but the
of
everything similar, is
inborn
blackest
to the
belong
certainly
annals
of
and
and
colossal
a
one
kind
this
criminal
poison
anger, envy,
less in every human
in the gland of the
opportunity to free
demon
to ramp and
itself,
If
no
great
for
rage.
it presents itself it will
opportunity
at last use the smallest, enlarging it by its imagination,
snake's
tooth and only awaiting
then like
and
"
an
Quantulacunque
the
unchained
adeo est
occasio, sufficit irae."
«
and
then carry things as far
will
this in
see
under
Juv.
the
life
daily
expression
where
"to
as
such
pour
Sat.» xiii. v. 183.
it
can
and
eruptions
out
one's
dare. We
are
gall
known
on
some
thing. "
met
It has been observed, moreover, that when it has
with
no resistance
the subject of it finds himself
much
better
Aristotle has
where
2),
declares
not
to
he
hatred,
disease.
also
anger
devote
it.
after
That
anger
is
not without pleasure
observed: rd opyiZeo-dat ijdb (" Rhet."
quotes
to be
oneself
which
is
the
sweeter
passage
than honey.
con amore
related
to it
I.,
from Homer
But
n,
II.,
which
one
does
merely to anger, but
also
as
the
chronic
to the acute
ON ETHICS
279
"Now hatred is by far the longest pleasure:
Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure."
Byron, aDon
("
Gobineau
Des
Races
Humaines
which
excellence,
has
")
I'
animal me'chant par
Juan," c. xiii.
people
6.
man
called
take
offense
because they feel it touches them.
But he is right,
for man is the only animal which causes others pain
The
without any further object than that of doing so.
at
other
do it
animals never
hunger
in the heat
or
the tiger that he kills
be
merely to
case
yeux
plus
sont
tortures for the
the
stitutes
devilish
a
than he eats, yet he
que
son
No
estomac.
torturing but
spoken
it is
the small
on
ever
this
is far
which
We have already
scale, but
has daily
animal
and
man,
in him
character
animal.
great
strangles
eating it so that it is a
by the French phrase ses
of
expressed
sake of
than the merely
matter on
more
grands
than to satisfy their
Although it is said of
otherwise
conflict.
the intention
with
everything
of
con
worse
the
of
no
less
clear, as everyone
opportunity of observing.
For instance, two young dogs are playing with one an
other
or
a peaceful and
—
four
inevitably
thereby
Even
sight
show
this
one's
and a
child of three
; the child
dislike
teasing
purposeless
For
source.
of
example,
unpleasantness,
bring
it
and
if
will
almost
mischief
people will
has
one
disturbing,
something
small
or
spring
expressed
some
be wanting
not
other
who will
for that very reason
animal me'chant par
This is indeed so certain, that one has to be
about
excellence!
of
as
—
scene
in violently with its whip or stick and
it is already V animal me'chant par excellence !
constant
careful
the
strike
from
forts;
pretty
years comes upon
—
one's
expressing
also
on
the
annoyance
other
hand,
at
small
discom
gratification
one's
at
For in the latter case they are likely to do
any trifle.
as the jailer who as soon as he discovered that his pris
oner
had
and
found
me'chant
completed
pleasure
par
fear the look
mal
me'chant
the difficult task
in
excellence
or
!
indeed
par
it,
once
at
Hence
even
all
of
animals
the trace
excellence.
here ; for only man hunts prey
him nor injures him.
taming
crushed
Instinct
which
is
a
spider
it: V animal
instinctively
man, the ani
does not deceive
of
neither useful
to
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
280
There really resides in the heart of each of us a
to rage and
wild beast which only waits the opportunity
and which if they pre
rave in order to injure others,
it,
vent
would
in
pleasure
like to
fighting
the understanding, its
do to
One
bounds.
live
whom
may be
planation
indeed
may
those for
which
to
enough
measure
radical
takes the
gives
which
always
some
it the
call
word
a
within
with
evil,
place
ex
of an
But I say it is the Will to
contented.
embittered
which,
keeper,
hold it in
the
arises all
it is this
and
war;
special
to
and
overcome
Hence
them.
destroy
the
more
by
more
and
to lighten its
the
constant
own
suffering
existence,
In this way it gradually
causing the same to others.
One may also ob
develops genuine malice and cruelty.
seeks
of
sorrows
by
in this
serve
ter
only
of
nature
once
by
force,
contractive
that
connection
obtains
hatred
it
probably
within
the
and
mock
human
society only
For the
fear.
make
not mingled with
to hold it
of
antagonism
or anger or
would
were
so
bounds,
and
one
every
in
mischief
this
again
if
child
is nearly
which
akin
indeed distinguishes itself therefrom only
and
practice,
the only true
man
in
love.
so
a
source
In
appears
generally
place, sympathy,
of all
as
Hence its
called
opportunity,
and
this.
at
and
through
ferocity
of our
of
would make
the
malicious
to cruelty,
as
by
and
theory from
where
sympathy
opposite,
opposed
forth
it
anger were not
being
righteousness and
is
at
fear
hu
to sympathv
the opposite
oc
to
sympathy rests directly
displays itself in feeling also as a
opposition
consequence of
be condemned, is
it is
envy
its
as
genuine
another sense
far, namely,
casion.
on
which
to find
ought
exists
the necessary dose
of
mat
expansive
a murderer
every
plaything
ready to hand, and keeping watch.
But the worst trait in human nature is
pleasure
Kant,
that as, according to
the
Hence
least
moreover
capable
of
envy,
although
to
an excuse and emi
nently human, while the mere pleasure in mischief is
diabolical and its mockery the laughter of hell.
It pre
itself,
already said, just where sympathy should
appear; envy, on the contrary, only there where no oc
casion for the latter
exists, but rather for its opposite,
and as this opposite it arises
in the human
and
sents
as
breast,
ON ETHICS
is therefore in
that
in
looking
feel his
should
upon
tred
own
the
against
a place
of
not
but
is,
with
envy it is exactly
it is
most
to
God's
of
say,
boldly
has been
that in
of
not
cases
its importance
moreover,
in
taining
women
help,
it
beauty,
venture
proudly
namely, envy
for,
is illumined
one
and
protec
enjoyment, assistance,
of
that at least
or
by
the
enjoy honor.
even
things
good
them derives
to
When,
world.
may
the hope
gifts
natural
with
unfortunately
personal advantages
understanding, and even
forgiveness of the world,
a position
the
and
always
these
is the
by riches, rank, or power, it is
egoism, inasmuch as the latter sees,
with
association
chance,
nature
merely
by
certain
To
advantage, etc., is to be hoped
tion,
by
excited
damped
often
are
despise
to
or of
of
But
grace.
opposite.
irreconcilable; hence
at first to beg for
they
wherever
that
where
genius, have
and
fortune,
the gifts of
others,
and
so
but precisely in this envy
But envy should least of all
since
basis,
physical
natural
everything inborn rests upon a meta
that is, has a justification of a higher kind,
them,
cause of
is
to excite his ha
not
ought
fortunate,
consists.
where,
the favor
For that
possession
bitterly
the more
want
more
properly-speaking
find
fear, indeed,
and
enjoyment
alien
indeed inevitable ; only it
and
or
human emotion; I
a
be found entirely free from it.
no one will
Man
far
so
281
at
sometime
On
oneself.
reflection
There is,
or other
the
excellences such
personal
at
hand
other
as,
with
intellect, the envy directed upon
consolation
of the one kind or hope of
with men
no
the other, so that nothing remains for it but to hate those
so
privileged, bitterly and irreconcilably.
is to take revenge on its object.
Hence its only
But in this it
wish
finds itself in the
fall
powerless
ceeded
sins
of
tricks,
as
and
and
is
wound
for example,
and
it
will
will
it
position
appears
object
mien, it
have
itself
all
its blows
they have
as
a
pro
as secret
devices,
to mask and conceal itself so
consume
never
show
that
that
carefully
inexhaustible inventor of
order
its
which
the most innocent
them,
an
dodges in
that it may
as
Hence it hides itself
from it.
lust,
unfortunate
soon
unseen.
its heart it
will
not
noticed
past
see
or
master
The excellences,
will ignore with
them
heard
in
nor
know
them,
dissimulation.
of
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
282
With the
it
entirely overlook the
his heart, seemingly as
though they were insignificant, it will be quite unaware of
But
them and have opportunely quite forgotten them.
brilliant
it
above
will
by
refinement
greatest
things be concerned carefully to remove
all
from the darkness
and
opportunity for these excellences
become known.
It will then eject
blame,
like the toad that
None the less
to
order
In
Its fear
the
practiced
which
its
by
stands
brilliant it is.
female friends.
hate
Proteus in
a
stratagem
But what does
showing itself.
eye recognizes it notwithstanding.
fight before
and
object which
more
it becomes
short
wound without
The
?
avail
it enthusiastically praise insignificant
or the
bad, in the same class of
will
achievement.
in
mockery, contempt, and calumny,
forth its poison from its hole.
spits
the mediocre,
or
men,
a
will
at
secret machination all
to show themselves
it
gnaw
qualities which
For this
Its hate
breaks
the more alone,
reason
without
in the
out
already betrays
object
so much
any
pretty
have
no
betrays
it,
explosion
at
girls
occasion
most violent
it,
the
least,
indeed,
merely imaginary, occasion.
For the rest, however widespread its family may be, one
recognizes it in the universal praise of modesty, that sly
the
often
a
invented for the benefit
of flat commonplaceness,
necessity that displays itself
of
sparing mediocrity brings it rather into the light.
There can assuredly be nothing more flattering for our
virtue
which
conceit
and our
on
carrying
one
should
it,
panies
vier
of
pride
its
and one
to be
like the
indeed
motto
order
a
to
where
should guard
our safety.
be
found,
neither
sight
up
and
to
of
envy
in its
false friend.
poisonous
be:
than the
forget that
importance for
him in
the
machinations
never
to become
where
by
nevertheless
hiding
envy is,
and
place.
But
hate
accom
allowing the
discovery is therefore
en-
against
His
One should therefore study
his tricks, for he is every
always
goes
about
incognito,
toad, lurks in dark holes.
consideration
lurking
nor
sympathy,
—
(<No
mortal
envy can appease;
'Twere best to scorn her at your ease,
Thy fame and fortune are her pain;
Thus in her torment find
your
gain!"
or,
He deserves
but let the
ON ETHICS
If,
our
have here
as we
mind's
must
cast
again
at
glance
the
we
keep
former, if one
they keep each
become
that
the
begin to
alty
of
culpa.
From the
intellectual
frequently
miseria humana,
sion
equilibrium,
justice
we
when
keep
humana
pen
The
the
with
agreement
indignation
these in
But if
is illusion
merely the
of the
com
Buddhists,
we once on special occa
mind and sample
both the
exceed
humana
and stultitia
in this Sansara
then seems to
and
shall
of the
majority which so
in life becomes dissipated.
Hence
nequitia
of
in
and
incapacity
us
equal amount.
one
life,
same standpoint our
cover one another
are of
one
observe
then in death.
and
therefore
appears
disgusts
and
in
other
eternal
its existence, first in
malam
pletely
of
itself is the world-tribunal, and we
why all that lives must pay the
world
pane
the
it,
of
understand
malam
at
aware
at
human existence, and
We shall
is shocked at this.
the misery
at
then find that
shall
human badness before
feel inclined to be horrified
and
eye,
a
done,
283
it specially, it
in amount, but this
others
consequence
of
their
colossal
range.
Sansara, but more than any
in which, morally, badness and
baseness, intellectually, incapacity and stupidity, dominate
to a frightful degree.
Nevertheless, there appear in it,
Everything
thing
proclaims
human
the
this
world
sporadically perhaps, but
honesty,
phenomena of
of
yet
surprising
goodness,
of
us
ever, anew,
nobility,
understanding of the thinking intellect,
These never become quite extinct, they
genius.
as also of
and
great
even
of
glitter at
like isolated shining spots from out of the great dark
We must take them as a pledge that a good and
mass.
us
saving principle is hidden in this Sansara,
fest itself, and fill and free the whole.
The
morals
readers of
rests
expression
mystical
my
with
"
Ethics
in the Veda
formula
"
know that the foundation
finally
me
and
Tat tivatn
which can mani
on
Vedanta in
asi
(this
art
the
established
thou),
which
to every living thing, be it
is there termed the Maha-vakya.
pronounced with reference
or animal, and
One may, indeed,
with,
as
regard
for instance
of
the truth which has its
conduct
benevolence,
in
as
accordance
the
is
man
there
beginning
of
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
284
benevolent
mysticism.
Every
pure motive
proclaims
direct
disinterested
with
of
the
He
refuge
in
above
all
and
fictions.
all sorts of
from Theism
all
other
to
see
reducing them to
the possibility
The
of
as
in
a
means
egoism:
assumption.
am
referred
although
the
us, do
not
with
to,
of
inclined
Theism is
of
true
one's own
individuality manifesting
strange
he
best
theoretically
a
society
foundation.
other
any
the
afforded
classes of
recognition above
essence
by
support morals
like the lowest
After
supports
mysterious actions sim
it accordingly
admitted
For to
equivalent
English,
which
himself, and
Every quite
them.
unprovable, but for practical purposes valid
But that he was altogether serious in this I
to doubt.
in
world
merely left it this one, namely, that it
ilar to it.
a
in
is accordingly a mysterious action, a
hence in order to give an explanation of it
removed
explanation
it
from
separate
identical
from
stands
practiced
practices
phenomenal
entirely
as
have had to take
Kant had
action
who
service
mysterium; and
men
are
himself
recognizes
the
to
contradiction
individuals
other
that he
itself
especially clear and beautiful in those
cases where a human being
already hopelessly sacrificed,
concerns himself with anxious care and active zeal for
objectively
the
appears
and rescue of others.
There is a well-known
in
this
connection
of
a
servant
story
girl, who at night,
in the courtyard, being bitten by a mad
dog, giving her
self up for lost, seizes the
dog, drags it into the stable,
and locks it up there that no one else might become its
welfare
Similarly
victim.
bein has
Flying
incident in Naples
that
perpetuated
in
before the lava
one of
as
it
his
water
streams
which
drawings.
color
toward
Tisch-
the
sea, a
last only
a narrow strip of land divides the two destructive ele
ments, the father tells his son to lay him down in order
that he may save himself by running, since otherwise
son
carries
both
his
would
old
be
father
lost.
on
The
his back ; but
son
obeys,
as at
and
as
he
goes
last parting look at the father.
This is repre
sented in the picture.
Of this kind also is the historical
fact which Walter Scott depicts with masterly hand in
throws
"The
a
Heart
delinquents
of
Midlothian,"
condemned
to
chapter
death
the
ii.,
where
one
who
of
by
two
his
ON ETHICS
had been the
clumsiness
by
mon,
ing
it may
although
reprinted
be
to
the death ser
after
vigorously overpowering the watch without mak
for himself. We may reckon also in this
often
ing
the other,
capture of
church
attempt
any
connection,
the
the
cause of
successfully frees him in the
285
shot
of
a
driving
zealously
the
offend
engraving
occidental
reader,
already kneel
back his dog, who is
soldier
In all cases of
running toward him, with a handkerchief.
this kind we see an individual who is approaching his
immediate
thinking
his
more
care
whole
How
other.
destruction
personal
no
his
of
and
endeavor
the
could
own
complete
with
preservation
to the
certainty,
directing
and
preservation
consciousness
more
an
of
express
clearly
itself that this destruction is only that of a phenomenon,
and is therefore itself phenomenon, while the true essence
being
the perishing
of
the other, in
which
untouched, continues in
its action shows, it so
now,
For how, if this were not so,
remains
even
as
clearly recognizes itself!
but if we had a being before
could
annihilation,
of
its last
welfare
continuance
indeed two
are
of
conscious
rical intuition
a
among the thousand
run to and fro on this
earth
newing themselves every
one sinks oneself
of
being
as
in
a
braces
of
which
I,
as
for
thirty
a
itself
the
first
the
same
same
as
regards
time.
being
in
firstly,
and
empi
infinitely
space;
; secondly, in
becomes
as
which
time,
short
very
mode
re
so
far
conscious
knowledge
of
the
other
is
the thing-in-itself
the
can
through
mediated
an
—
is
em
the
immediate
doctrine
a
first part, have Kant with
The simple objection to the
me, but in both the Vedas.
latter mode of knowledge is that it
and
to be
which
human beings
years
phenomenon
individuationis, but
consciousness
in
in very deed the only real being,
in the other given it from without,
again
the
merely
of
real
interest in the
outside as an
within oneself and
and
Now
mirror.
principium
in
all
itself
sees
which
in
ways
existence:
millions
of
exertion
?
limitless in time
world
as
throes
supreme
intense
another
opposite
one
all
by
an
own
one's
the
the
displayed from the
as
in
being
small
of
in
us
one
a
show such
powers
and
There
come
such
be in
presupposes
different
But although, from the
that
places
empirical
at
one
the
standpoint,
SCHOPENHAUER'S
286
is
this
the
impossibility
palpable
most
ESSAYS
indeed,
and,
true of
absurdity, it remains, notwithstanding, perfectly
the thing-in-itself ; because this impossibility and absurdity
the forms
on
merely
rests
stitute
the principium
the
itself,
that
ever
and undivided as
whole
himself, Dum
to
con
thing-in-
least
the
even
completely
in
as
all
be, taken together. On
every being, even the least,
that
ego
which
For the
will
and
are,
were,
this is based the fact
says
phenomenon
Will-to-live, is in every being,
is present,
—
the
of
individuationis.
salvus sim
And
pereat mundus.
rother beings perished, in this one that
remained, the whole essence in itself of the world, un
injured and unlessened, would laugh at its destruction as
in truth
a
at
all
of
of
play
jugglery.
impossibile to
which
This is certainly a conclusion per
is equally justified in opposing
one
that if any being, even the least, were
destroyed
the whole world would perish with it.
wholly
In this sense the mystic Angelus Silesius says:
the
opposite
"I know that
If I to
But in
that
order
own
our
sciousness
seen
we
to
that this
self
is
nambules
may
extent
require
only
brought, His
separate
some
God live from
not one moment can
nothingness am
to
truth,
exist
least the possibility,
at
other
beings,
whose
con
distinct from ours, may be
from the empirical standpoint,
and
even
to
recall
mind
I
identical
whose
or
in
me apart
spirit must depart."
the
magnetized
they
after
are
som-
awakened
knows nothing of all that which a moment before they
The individual
have themselves said, done, and suffered.
consciousness therefore
that
the
even
one
in the
same
knows nothing
is
so
I,
two
Considerations, however,
our
Judaized
fatherland
the
human
of
may arise,
point,
which
other.
like the
foregoing,
strange appearance
west a
of
such
the
of
phenomenal a
entirely
race, in
; but
that
in
retain
not so
land
in the
where
an
entirely different faith
with which even
all
the
ments
people
and
chant the
"The
dominates, a faith in accordance
to-day, after the burial, the priests before
embodied
thousand eyes,
a
with
the
Veda Hymn
spirit
accompaniment
which
which
thousand
feet,
has
of
instru
begins:
a
has its
thousand
root
heads,
a
in the human
ON ETHICS
breast
interpenetrates
and
is the
being
that
which
immortality.
most noble
constitute
world
and
grows
by
part
does
is that
and
the
his
of
being
These
world
three
and
three
; but the one part has
(by transmigration)
which
cutta
p.
in
"
in his
also
edition,
Researches,"
"Asiatic
vol. v.
p.
are
parts
have
parts
enjoy the fruits of good and evil
See Colebrooke on " Religious Ceremonies
"
confers
which
and
It is
be.
will
raised
remained
enjoys and
deeds,"
not
doos,
This
whole earth.
and
was
nourishment
in heaven.
themselves from the
behind
once
that
Such is its greatness, and hence it is the
embodied spirit.
The elements of this world
one
immortality
at
all
287
the
of
345
etc.
Hin
Cal
of the
Miscellaneous Essays, "
vol.
i. ,
167.
If
longer be
no
sionaries
their
surd
"
and
emphatically
of
the Rev. Claudius
arguments
in favor
bad
"
business,
made
these
ago
and
with
impression
no
who would
years
enjoy the
English
an
himself to the
ab
gentlemen should
the Hindoos from the Asper
Buchanan,
of
the Anglican Mis
opposed
pretensions of
"The Vindication
sions of
such
maker
hymn-books it
our
that
He, however,
and shameless
read,
do
with
at
seeing how forty-one
of
boldly
officer
wondered
their
on
the Brahmin.
pleasure
hymns
such
the Ganges
on
sermons
upon
his
compares
one
will
an
with
a refutation of
ecclesiastical
establishment
in British India; the whole tending to evince the excel
lence of the moral system of the Hindoos; by a Bengal
Lond.
Officer.
independence the
rare
Hindoo faith
which
to be
would
translated, for it
fluences
very
other
fill
differently
about
expounds
known to
me
Brahminism, its
of
there
author
advantages of
explains
with
the doctrines of the
The little work,
five sheets, deserves still
better and more honestly
those of the European.
over
in German
than any
—
The
1808."
the benevolent
effect on
life
practical
and on
the
to the reports emanating from
in
people
clerical
deserve little credence,
but agreeing notwithstanding with what I have heard ver
bally from English officers who have spent half their life
pens
which
in India.
Anglican
ism,
one
for that very
In
order
reason
to know how jealous
and
furious is the
Church, trembling for its benefices, at Brahmin
should have heard the loud bellowing which some
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
288
years
for
as usual on
ing,
bishops
the
ago
months
together,
such
able
religion of
sion
of
the
its head
came
that
also
of
the country
cloth
and
unyield
all
e.g., that
—
the
was
a roll
furnished to
the
when
the
with
watch
saluted with
and
out
a red
by,
passed
gods
themselves
showed
again,
as
signs
some external
continued
merely because the
was only fair in
India, displayed
honor toward the ancient vener
and
up
English authorities,
Parliament,
the East Indian authorities,
as
occasions,
again
set
in
raised
and
the
of
at
drum;
Car
the
cover
proces
officer
of
The latter has really been done away
Juggernaut,
with together with the pilgrim dues which were raised
etc.
in
it in
connection with
In the
meantime
styling
right-reverend
things,
over
such
ner,
which
they
which
ance
which
the
holders
please
of
these gentlemen.
driveling
benefices
of
these
and
self-
surplices
together with the quite mediaeval man
sounds
nowadays
expressed
it
to
order
independent
caused
rough
so
in
brutal,
and
bitter annoy
themselves,
Lord
them that
Ellenborough, in
the
also
1845, brought back in a triumphal procession to Bengal
and gave up to the Brahmins the Gate of the Pagoda of
Sumenaut destroyed
by
Mahmud the
Gahznewid;
I say, let us suppose that it is not
how much the majority of Europeans
India
are predisposed
the
as at
off
like
social
scales
such a one
said
man, that very
about
to
live
of
shoulders
at
Europe.
"
has lived two
one
me on one
obliging
the
Europe,
religion
with
fiery
It is
nevertheless
as
of
I
was
the
a
country,
"
him
exclaimed
c'est
la
French
which
smiling self-sufficiency
German philosophasters, as also some
dried Orientalists, look down from the heights
rationalistic
such
an
Judaism,
mediocrities
upon
I
Brahminism
would
engagement with
the
seriously
and
apes'
at
see
!
"
the
certain
cut
of
and
their
Buddhism.
venture
comedy
Bay
respect
religion
the way, to
with
who
immediately
vrai
servile
pose
India,"
gentleman
with
speaking
falls
all
in
Even
cultivated
Monsieur,
extremely droll, by
enthusiasm,
in
the religion,
That
years
occasion.
and
comfortable
To
long
ten years accompanied the Dewardussi {vulgo
aderes) to
ing
prejudices,
after
who
this,
all
to them
in their hearts toward Brahminism
how they only shrug their
and
unknown
to
pro
the Frank-
ON ETHICS
fort
Fair, if indeed
the
successors
tolerate them among them.
I think that if the Emperor
Siam
and
other
the
power
lands
to
be
would
the
China
of
send
that
they
would
King
the
or
of
to the European
into
missionaries
justified
quite
condition
Hanuman
of
monarchs concede
permission
they
under
Asiatic
289
in
doing
their
so, only
exactly as
into the Euro
might
send
many Buddhist priests with equal rights
pean land in question, choosing for this purpose naturally
those who were previously well instructed in the partic
European
ular
We
language
have
then
should
competition, and see
Even the fantastic
it to-day,
as
ology
the root
images,
and
less
no
and
)
people
and
Muni,
it,
of
the
years
one
(
as
i.
e.
,
The
Upanishads,
the
of
the contrary,
was
to
the
and
alone
is
Sakya
the kernel
separate
his
a presentiment
the Buddha
of
in
suited
clearly understands; while
English reverend mocks
purpose
to
clad
to be
idolatry, in the belief that he
as
ago,
goes
measure
has
or
most.
myth
narrow-minded
right box.
on
to
feels,
either
education,
blasphemes it
in the
doctrine
according
of
allegorized
mythisized
the
Hindoo
if
is,
people,
the
Hindoo,
seeing through
coarse
achieved
thousands
than
do.
to
interesting
an
and sometimes quaint
and
of
eyes
them
of
so personified
every
powers
our
had
they
which
the matter, only the
of
to the capacity
which
or
which
up the religion of the
makes
of,
with
before
from
the shell, to free the high doctrine itself from all admix
ture with images and gods, and to make its pure content
even to
the people.
comprehensible
In
and
accessible
this he
most
succeeded
excellent,
and
of adherents upon
represented
earth.
tfcmf
pev
can
6
prjihi
k&v
'•
Keivunt
nkirotda
by
He
KaraxrijoaiT
Kparoc
hence his
and
wonderfully,
rovf
the
with
say
uk
iyi> ii
religion
greatest
is
number
Sophocles:
opov
Sixa
/coi
hritrrraoeiv
/cAiof.
«Ajax,>> 767-69.
Christian fanaticism,
world
(Rajah
a
to
of
portion
19
its faith, is
which
seeks
irresponsible.
to convert the
Sir James
whole
Brooke
Borneo), who colonized and, for a time, ruled
of Borneo, delivered an address in September,
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
290
sions
—
in
("Times,"
of
is,
that
"You have
said:
and
the
Society
the centre
made
Mis
no progress
the Hindoos
with
for the
of
have
you
all, but are precisely at the point
the first day on which you set foot in
on
were
you
India"
meeting
—
at
progress
made no
where
he
which
a
Gospel
the
of
Mahometans,
the
with
before
Liverpool,
at
1858,
Propagation
September,
29th
The
1858).
emissaries
the Christian faith have nevertheless shown themselves
of
useful
very
some
praiseworthy in
have furnished
and
them
of
complete
reports
true
careful
and
translations
have
could
only
I dedicate
amore.
us
Brahmanism
on
been
the
direction,
another
of
with
and
the
to
possible
following
since
excellent
and
Buddhism
and
holy
books
such
have been done
rhyme
as
con
to these worthy
persons :
"
As teachers
As
From the
Fell
We
when
hither,
hither,
ye went
pupils ye came
unveiled sense
what ye
took from
hence."
may, therefore, hope that there will be a time
Europe will be purified from Jewish mythology.
all
The century has perhaps come, in which the peoples of
Asia springing from the Japhetic stem will again receive
the
holy
ing
from the
religions
path
their
of
they
are
for
home,
again
after
ripe
long
wander
for them.
After my prize essay on "Moral Freedom" it can
main
doubtful to no thinking man that this is to
sought
It is
a
for
in nature, but only outside
metaphysical fact, but
in the physical
nowhere
impossibility.
sense
free.
Nevertheless
our
But the individual
his free
individual
acts
re
be
of nature.
world
in
are
character of each
an
no
is to be
He himself is such, because he
once for all wills to be such.
For the Will exists in
itself even in so far as it appears in an individual: it
regarded as
act.
constitutes, that is to say, the original and fundamental
Will of the same, independent of all
knowledge, because
From knowledge it receives
preceding it.
merely the
motives
and
itself
by
makes
as
which
itself
lying
exists at all.
it
successively develops its essence,
or becomes
visible; but it is
known,
outside
Hence
time,
each
unchangeable
one,
since
so
as such
long
he
as
it
exists
ON
only once,
and under the
which
their
entire
course
the
as
metaphysically free
consciousness is a preception
aforesaid
bility
form, by
that
of
of
and
the
necessity.
that
we
do
is
know
we
as
small,
is
ac
neces
At bottom
in
the
which
what
this; by
one, viz,
we
a
the
of
clue
this is termed
and
—
into
asunder
follow the
a moral
indivisi
and
unity
torn
as
which
result
man
into the cognizing
has time and space
in its four forms
cause
a
manner
which
which
events
But the
which
of
of
now.
act comes
displays itself
act
series of states
principle
means
he does
works of a clock.
from the fact that the
arises
for its
and
can
necessity,
what
the life
of
his time, but
of
strict
great
events,
predetermined
sarily
with
but precisely
else
its
all
291
circumstances
appear
empirical
cordingly, in
this
side
do anything
never
The
on
ETHICS
in the
are,
same
way that by that which we suffer we know what we deserve.
From this it follows further that the individuality
does
is
through
not
but that it has its
the
of
How
way
since
act,
his heart
and
Metempsychosis
Legib."
x. p.
106,
inborn
character
action
his skull, in
must
follow.
bones
of
the
consequence
skull
as
of
6difiantes,
"
Lettres
p.
135).
of
the Christian (even
grace.
insight
he
as
Plato in his
his
free
own
consequence
is, by
means
determination
in
that
of
which
of
of
appears
Pauline)
man
his
The
life
vi.
p.
to lie
course
the
of
the
of
say that
impressed
characters
notches
writing.
vol.
they
every
written
previous
1819,
those
"
to the
this
his
"
This
with
point
will
De
325 seq. vol. x. ed. Bip. ;
Even the Brahmins on their
generation
They
a
p.
suffering in
accordance
each
as
mythically,
his
and
of
unchangeable
Brahma has in the
his
Bip.).
ed.
the
express
side
(" Phasdr.,"
the
individual.
belongs to
that even
mind
such
character,
is
undertake; but it de
not
to be born in
him
makes
here
and
,
phenomenon,
character
individuality
the
he
his
I do
mere
thing-in-itself, in
penetrate
borne in
to be
presents
even
answer
whose
here
serves
in the
root
individual,
deeply its roots
questions
through
and
for
individuationis
the principio
on
alone
rest
not
hence
upon
life
of
sutures
of
it is
and
conduct
(see
149,
and
at
dogma
content
the
of
vol.
vii.
foundation
salvation
by
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
292
Another consequence of the above, which entirely con
firms it empirically, is that all genuine merits, moral as
well
intellectual, have
as
but
empirical,
ingly
a priori and not a
and not
the
no
as
natural
many
enjoyable
direction
can
For this
qualities
—
great
is,
accord
are
innate,
that
bottom already
is irrev
which at
nature
capacities,
indeed,
otherwise
require
direction in
products require
the
—
But
useful.
here
as
material, there also
original
merely acquired, learned, affected
words, qualities a posteriori, moral no
other
are, properly speaking, ungenuine,
—
without
Following
content.
this
as
metaphysic, it is taught by a deeper
into experience.
It is evidenced, indeed, by the
a correct
lay on physiognomy and the ex
is, the innateness of every man
distinguished
and hence by their eagerness
The superficial, indeed, and for good rea
weight
ternal
that
are
reason all
in
appearance
empty
does from
or
replace
less than intellectual
glance
—
in his innate
is,
that
Intellectual
to be
not.
—
fixed.
cultivation
order
accomplishes
only
nature
ocably
posteriori
or other
physical,
origin,
consequently have their root not in
Hence
phenomenon, but in the thing-in-itself.
one
his
in
a
merely
and
acquired,
mere
each
not
metaphysical
a
wise
which
appearance
in any way
to see him.
sons, the
opinion,
all
—
that
—
commonplace
in
natures
be
to
order
able
be
will
to
the
of
opposite
themselves
console
they lack that it will come in good time.
world is, therefore, not
merely a battle ground for
victories
defeats
and
prizes
each
brings
his merits;
with
him
Brahminism
and
the last judgment
reward
whose
be distributed in the fu
will
ture, but it is itself already
in
This
what
and
shame
Buddhism,
and
in
which
according to
in so far as
they teach Metempsychosis, do not know anything different.
The
has been
question
who
had
and
who
each
met
grown
each
Hobbes, Pufendorf,
opposite
senses.
each other
are
for the
Pufendorf
right
to
on
what
in the
first time
believed
would pass
and
as
alone
Rousseau have
lovingly; Hobbes,
Rousseau that they
All three
up
other
and
mooted
quite
they
wrong;
other
would
for here
by
men
would
answered
the contrary,
each
two
wilderness
do.
it in
meet
inimically;
in
silence.
precisely the
ON ETHICS
immeasurable
of
would
here
should
we
once excites a
being
most
men
hostile
with
"
itself
being
"
says
I
"
once
look
the
of
man
their inner
as
And
others
there
friendly interest;
excites
degrees.
numberless
and measure of
rule
I!
not
a
clear
inasmuch
feeling,
dispositions
light that
moral
so
whom
this look at once
their innermost
lie
itself in
it were, the
as
are
expresses
are with whom
there
the innate
of
show
have,
For there
them.
at
diversity
individuals
293
more
!
But that
"
In between
we
in this
are
fundamentally different is a great problem,
indeed a mystery.
Respecting this a priority of the moral
"
Historical
character, the book of the Dane, Bastholm,
chief point so
Contributions toward Knowledge
for a variety of
him that the intellectual culture
affords material
in
other
themselves
exhibit
nations
other.
shall
does
goodness
development
; but
culture
is innate
the
that
We
and
very
from certain
savage
habitants
island
the
of
it
whence
comes
it may be
qualities
and
of
itself
been
are
unmixed.
etc.
race
has
them.
they
arisen
same
are
although
exceptionally
seems to me
since
from
the
occasion of
unpleasant
of
state
this
often
debts,
is only true
above
family,
who hap
ancestor,
has maintained
and
descended from
the moral
one
good
a
repudiation
as
that
colony,
on
It
the
problem
that in the
hereditary,
man,
The English have
North Americans
such
bad.
are
the in
and
the
solve
hand,
excellent
Orotchyses,
to
attempts
nations
other
generally
from the fact that
isolated
to have
any improve
Tumguses,
the
therefore, sprung from the
pened
most
structure
most
particular races are so
the father
an
whose
of
the
on
from the
neighbors
explained
such
cases
that
their
all
while
itself,
has,
the
Sawu,
He then
Pelew Islanders.
good
as
the
moral
from reflection, the
upon
intellectual
arise
He
peoples
to report,
characteristics
of
each
dependent
Bastholm describes
bad.
of
fact that
the
is in itself incapable
culture.
vicious
sense
is
surprises
goodness
to be found without
from
from the Will
directly
and which
ment through
as
in any
which
moral
independent
quite
often
this
explain
not
of
is
one
as
It
reflections.
and
State,"
Savage
the
of
reminded
the
incidents,
robber
an
of
a
enterprises,
English criminal
small
portion of
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
294
is
It
how the
wonderful
individuality
of
man
every
{i. e., this determinate character with this determinate in
precisely determines like a penetrating die, all
tellect)
his
down to the
thoughts
and
actions
in
consequence
of
is,
the
and
external
the
which
internal
history
so totally different from that of the
knows the whole plant from one
the
structed
knowledge
of a man one
action
his
of
character
and
can
thus,
the
turns out
one
As
botanist
a
to
attain
to
Even if this
him from it.
construct
of
other.
leaf; as Cuvier con
from one bone; so from one
animal
whole
characteristic
insignificant;
of life, that
most
course
whole
a correct
a certain
action
extent,
concerns
a
it is possible, indeed it then often succeeds best,
for in more important things people take more care,
trifle
but in trifles they follow their
Hence
sideration.
"
Argumenta
If
52).
egoistic
foreign to his
in
show
heart,
believe that he
whose
property
boundless
of
small actions
one
meum
be
egoism
He
own
principle
is
other
in
great.
should
friends,
a malicious
or
avoid their
bad
also at
than among
do
not
one
from the
not called
the holes in
a ragged
matters of
impulse than that
He
things
small
who
leaves
of
will
small
character
the
once
great.
break,
in
question
On
the
to
same
even with
so-
if they betray, be it only in trifles,
low character, in order thereby to
or
bad turns
the opportunity to
to servants.
One
from
who will
has himself to thank if he
learns to know the
disadvantage
one
of
are
with a
that
out
he is
be honorable in
inconsiderate in
also
called good
The
will
of character unnoticed
afterward
his
shirt out
a one
who
For
unjust,
which
(Ep.
absolutely
him
to trust
daily
"
things
of
everywhere peeps
tuum without any
and
by
an
views
saying:
capere
matters which
other
ordinary life for
without scruple
traits
ought not
himself
dirty
Seneca's
licet
things
just
that
all
shows
—
Justice ?
without much con
of
adequate security.
in
who
to account, like a
that such
jacket
such
conduct
single groschen without
touch
nature
accuracy
morum ex minimis quoque
anyone
reckless
the
on
a
produce
should
larger scale, which only await
themselves.
The same applies
always
think, "better
alone
traitors."
foundation
and
propadeutic
of
all
knowledge
of
ON ETHICS
is
men
whole
the
dictates.
his
proceeds
is
character,
these
more
of
the
to it
crues
the
consequently
factors.
One may
two
to the
course
tangential
by
the
and
accordingly
compare
of
which
the
namely,
motion
tation
He
in
body
though
in
a man
honesty,
perfect
force
than
which
by
displaying
gravi
itself
this
a
of
to
as
al
affairs,
If, for
has, with
proposal
incurred the
willingly
of
occurrence
of
intention.
an
as
quite
even
and
that we, prop
a supposition
position
consequence
the
upon
obligation
metaphor,
from
it is limited
will also see
more
future
a
regard
often
we
example,
have
do in
shall
we
this
understood
never
erly speaking,
what
ac
question.
has
who
the
is the
which
a mere
taken metaphysically, the Will
is,
in the
than
tangential
the
force
centripetal
proceeds while
properly
planet
of
representing the character,
This is almost more
motives.
inasmuch,
a
by
product of
necessary
its sun, the former force
the latter the influence of
operation
as
detail determined
in
and
closely
is
and
conduct of men
result
a
as
be so, however strong it may be; but
from his innate and unchangeable
to
wish
action
motives,
man
of
conduct
essentially is not guided by his reason and its
Hence no one becomes this or that because he
and
has the
that the
conviction
295
certain
events
in
still
the future to do this or that, it is not by any means as
sured thereby that he will fulfill it unless he be of such
be
would
him, in
that
stances
it, by
him
this what he
promise
do
will
character and of
seen
bly
first
and
he has
him
the
in
same
occasion
non
movet
urn"
esse cognit
on
the
occurrence
forseen
and
exact
such,
his
But
apart
of
second
time,
for
as
I
secundum
(Suarez,
for
honor,
from
those circum
with
cer
perfect
knowledge
This is indeed very easy if
similar
position; for he
a
a
correct
as
motive
for
regard
compulsion.
of
one
has
will
his
op
ever
infalli
presupposing that on the
he had known the
completely,
finalis
foreign
and
sufficient
external circumstances under whose
come.
once
do the
a
a
his
nevertheless, be
may,
tainty solely from
eration
a
as
of
means
itself
of
given,
everywhere
and
always
upon
acted
his
that
a nature
have
suum
circumstances
often
esse
"disp. metaph.
accurately
"
Causa
remarked :
reale,
sed secundum
disp."
xxiii.,
sect.
7.
8),
et
what, namely, he has
first time
the action
stops, if
acter and
the necessity
inasmuch
firmness,
his wrong
regrets
that
occur
pare
before,
exactly
"World as Will and
as
ii.,
ed.
by
I
side.
case
in
though
true
in
would act
to his
great astonishment.
Presentment,"
By
it
which
without
stands
For he
artist never
order
here
starts
from
acts
(Com
et
226,
seq.;
expla
by it
eoncreto on
every
exemplify it in a
special
with
and
p.
It does
he
was penetrated
it in
speaks
out
intention
the
discussion is furnished
under
wisdom
ii.,
and
way the best
long
a
notwithstanding,
will,
"
differently!
thing happens,
here
by
honestly
and
same
Shakespeare's dramas.
his intuitive
and
I
seq.)
251,
truth
the
nation of
—
et
p.
in
thinks, perhaps, "If only
and
conduct
me again
as
demanded
he knows
who
he ought,
decision or
himself
failed
over
him
upon
clearness
perhaps
to him again, the
again
3d
to
occurred
an
as
intercepts
isolating body
not conducted
it is
after
Just
will.
or other qualities
courage,
Now
of
has
he
as
or
moment.
us
has
some occasion
the
or understood
The unchangeability of char
action proceeding from it im
uncommon
with
his
upon
some
of a conductor.
itself
presses
known
not
operate
not
could
electrical process
on
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
296
clearness, al
he as a
since
affectation,
conceptions except
to satisfy the Psychological truth
as
obviously
he appre
hended it perceptually and immediately, unconcerned that
would be by few rightly regarded and
understood, and
it
without
any
presentiment
persons were
that he had
explain
that in
destined to
written
his
the Earl
carried
through three
of
who
pieces
in
without
and stupid
elaborately
to illus
order
which
leading
read with
his
all
attention
long intervals
the
such
moral
identity, notwithstanding
the
poet
has kept it in
where enter
suited
with
thereto,
very beautiful
view.
knightly
has
even put
and
and even
character
He
noble
sublime
makes
see
as
which are
does
not
displayed be
may easily lose sight
the firmness with
tween
the
we
his appearing
personage, but only in a few scenes
distributed over fifteen acts, so that he who
a
to, is
refer
Northumberland
tragedies,
dull
would
What I here
trate moral common-places.
character of
Germany
appear
of
its
which
this Earl every
mien, use a language
into his mouth at times
passages,
since
he is
so
ON ETHICS
far
from
removed
doing
black,
painting the devil
disapproval
Goethe
with
one,
But
so
long
with
of
or
the
of
words
Shakespeare
he is
as
is fond
approval
who
moral
whose
and
him.
by
each
Schiller does
as
through the very
sounds
acters portrayed
297
char
and also
present and
speaks,
is perfectly right even if he be the devil himself.
Com
in
this
the
Duke
Goethe
and
of
Alva
with
pare,
respect,
Schiller. We make the acquaintance of the Earl of
Northumberland already in " Richard II." where he is the
with
first to
stir
Bolingbroke,
ii., scene 3),
suffers
a
simply
that it
said
In the
broken
has
he
before,
him
and
from
plaguest
sets
a
united,
In
the
new
else
;
considerably
most
of
and
after
am
abdica
unhappy
exclaims,
in hell."
King
that
"
the
same
In the fourth
Henry
way
we
act
he
the
of
adherents
for the
themselves
preparing
as
see
great
waiting impatiently for
There comes finally a letter
and
and
by
They
his absence,
taken,
are
men
courageously
to the attack.
weakened
trust his
could not
they should, however,
their leaders
of
act
new
foot in
King.
bravely
however,
following tragedy,
on
he
King,
that the
the
he
to capitulation.
patience
to
the
his army division.
he is himself ill
one
King
act
Soon
brevity.
already before I
me
following day
the
the
of
(act
also
following
of
contempt
reports
conspiracy
tinue and proceed
beaten,
the
loses
him;
to any
are
he
the
against
of
and
once
London.
rebels
battle
sake of
moves
in favor
he
the assurance,
gives
the decapitated heads of
former to
the
for
conclusion
In the
he treats him in the
act
hardness
such
monarch
sent
IV.,"
speech
King
whom
speaking
but
only done for the
"Devil! thou
At the
because,
"Richard,"
following
with
Henry IV.,
personally flatters.
correction
was
against the
conspiracy
afterwards
his cunning
ward
tion
a
up
do
it,
con
but
are
and
completely
his only son,
Hotspur, falls by the hand of the Crown
"
Prince.
Again, in the following piece, the Second Part
IV.,"
we
see him plunged
into the wildest
of Henry
son
and
rage by the death of this
madly breathing
the
heroic
out
revenge.
the
leaders
these, in
battle,
Hence he
of
the
and
it
fourth
only
stirs
assemble
act,
await
his
up
the
rebellion
themselves
have
to
joining
once
fight
the
himself
afresh;
As
more.
decisive
to
them,
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
298
there
comes
letter; he has
a
forces,
sufficient
his safety in
seek
they
agreement
So
rational choice
to do
more
before the
the
acter
which
Will,
course
the
its
life
of
movements
readers
will
accrue
life
appear
the
original
of
to
of a
and
processes
with
clock-work,
of
the
on
of
same
which
"
here,
which
the
originality
with
every
single
significance
by
the
above
and
a
natural
illu
in truth
alone
man, the
mere
which
of
character
intellect is his
course
of
to every particular action, and so
is for the empirical consciousness
attach
work
receives
in every
thereby
the
voori$T)o~ts, since all the bad sides
in this
the
all
to its true
reduced
repeated anew
apparently
course of life
work
Freedom
essay on
complete freedom of the
obtains
to the intelligible
apprehension
the
prize
explanation of
The freedom
sion.
being
thereby indicated the active cause of it,
only here add the final cause in the fol
teleological
lowing
an
perish.
occur
a
of
to my
The illusion
and
I
which
Upon
under
intellect has nothing
to hold up motives
itself,
shapes
considered
which nevertheless
its origin,
than
present,
heroic
their
King
they
and
character
conduct
correctly
Will."
kept
not
collect
success.
to the
reflection, the
action, I have there
to
best
the
But then it must, as mere onlooker and
how from its effect on the given char
will.
when
the
the
and
necessity as the
point I refer my
of
heart
themselves
is
with
observe
witness,
wishes
from
far, then,
therefore,
to
able
for
but
surrender
which
been
not
Scotland,
his
undertaking from
this
will
and
way first really
particular action.
Our
greatest possible moral
of
our
perceptible
to
character
us.
become
Conscience,
namely, accompanies every action with the commentary,
"thou mightest act differently," although its real mean
ing is, "thou mightest
the one hand, by the
the other by the strict
stances
in
course of
each
of
but notwithstanding
subjective as
happier,
if
one
well
nobler,
does
Now since,
man."
of
is
one
as
and
not
another
on
on
character,
unchangeability
necessity whereby all the circum
he is successively placed occur, the
which
life
be
precisely defined from A to Z;
life will in all its conditions,
objective, turn
worthier
wish
to
than the
eliminate
incomparably
This leads,
justice, to the
out
other.
all
ON ETHICS
in Brahminism
assumption axiomatic
less
no
the
objective
the
subjective
condition
moral
Macchiavelli,
of
a
"
i
medesimi
sime
the
given
world
not
seem
by
that
as
the
which,
one
is
born,
are
the
never
un
the
and
entire
same
pass
together, doing
(
"
"Clitia"
uomini,
If the
events
without
the
same
insieme,
volta
same
things
a
actions
it:
with
come
tornano
anni,
che
fare le
noi
mede-
men reappeared
finding
as we
hundred
a
reappear,
our
necessity
all
motives,
prologue
medesimi
altra
hora. "
che
as
characters
which
utterance
the
of
non passarebbono mai cento
casi,
to have
means
any
speculations, is by
his so unique intellect
acuteness of
begins
trovassimo
cose,
would
Buddhism,
philosophical
tornassino i
nel mondo
oi
each
intuitive knowledge
He
place.
non
does
with
penetrating
with
which,
Se
and
with
following truly deep-thinking
presupposes an
by
under which
who
himself
led to the
take
conditions
consequences of a previous existence.
concerned
virtue
299
ourselves
doing
are
in
years
again
now.
"
)
"
A reminiscence, however, of what Augustine says ( De
Civitate Dei," libr. xii. c. 13) seems to have led him on
to this.
The Fate (the elpappivr)) of the ancients is nothing else
assurance brought to consciousness, that all that
than the
happens is
happens
firmly
bound
strict
with
by
causal
a
necessity,
and
chain,
therefore
that
accordingly the
is determined certainly
and
future is already perfectly fixed,
and exactly, and that as little can be
in it
changed
It is only the foreknowledge of it that
looked upon as fabulous in the fatalistic myths
the
past.
ancients,
and
if
second
eliminate
we
sions,
Instead
sight.
damental verity
the possibility
of
one should rather
try
trying
of
fatalism
by
stupid
to
of
set
talk
as
can
of
in
be
the
clairvoyance
aside
and
the fun
empty
eva
to recognize and to understand
it clearly, for it is a demonstrable truth which furnishes
us with an important datum for the understanding of our
so
enigmatical
existence.
Predestination
tinct, but only in
mination
of
and
fatalism
are
not
in the
main
that the given character and the
human
action
proceed, the former from
In the
knowingless being.
which
a
comes
knowing,
result
they
the
are
dis
deter
from without,
latter from a
the same
:
that
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
300
happens
which
is,
freedom
The
happen.
must
on
conception of
inseparable
the
contrary,
For that a being is the
a moral
from
that
of
work of
another,
but in its willing and acting is free notwithstanding, may
be said with words, but not comprehended in thought.
He, namely, who called it into being from nothing has
origination.
thereby
its
all
ing
something
throughout,
ties
these
which
to
brought into play,
from without in order
a stimulation
and
falls back
always
by
must also
our
freedoms that,
Cosmology,
In
theology.
third
no
and
always
breaks down
is
so
also,
of
with
the
on
the
this
other
conversely.
would
for
will
Kant
have kept
to
assume
cause
morals
also
for
and
treats the
freedom.
of
hand,
our will
the
straightfor
of
actions
involves the
consciousless
beings,
that
otherwise
ward
of
which
this
of
if,
action,
as
renders
of
other
the
it necessary
be
were
this
and
any
the same doctrine
Will
would
namely, there
individual
necessitated
strictly
hand,
necessitation
obvious
of
necessitation
doctrine that, even in
manifests itself is Will,
tion to willing,
dom
of
recognition
strict
and
compelled
less than the fourth antimony
In my philosophy,
If
first-world
a
the human
accordance
as
The
again.
being.
which
asunder was
of
being
It has been
gravity.
original
namely,
that
responsi
the
the conception of the moral
dogmatism
these two predicaments
two
and
bridge between these two
a
nature
pre-Kantian
because
author of
centre of
be the
primary
the
upon
means of
man, for it
of
being
Even the
he act,
so must
incompatible,
are
to throw
attempted
incompatibilities
is free
is
man
to his individual acts, but
Hence Theism and the moral
it has its
place where
free
As
being.
bility
freedom
qualities
same
and merit cleave not
essence
vain
defects,
entire manifestations
of man
in
with
inasmuch
simply the
responsibility
the
afterward
and
themselves.
manifest
to his
its
precisely determined
But from these quali
being
a
qualities.
thereby determined flow
required
only
is,
all
is,
never create without creat
can
one
that
in
and
are
thus fault
—
are
which
necessity its
as
For
qualities.
determined its nature, that
and
created
also
placed
really
were
effect.
the
in
such
the
a
free
not rather as
On
the other
necessitation of
that
action
opposi
the
existence
act
and
ON ETHICS
nature of
man
his Will
of
On the
—
be itself the
that
and
opposite
his freedom
of
work
the
301
latter,
all
assumption,
—
is,
that
therefore, has
aseity.
as
responsibility would,
already shown, be done away with; and the moral, like
the physical, world would be a mere
machine, which its
to work for his amusement.
outside artificer made
thus
hang together,
all
while
other,
Of
on
itself
strikes
kind the
what
have
can
error
require each
against
influence is
conduct,
and
every
which
what
each
corner.
moral
its
are
Truths
complete
other,
teaching
limits, I have
sufficiently investigated in my treatise on the foundation
Morality.
Essentially analogous to this is the in
of
fluence
than
of
teaching,
of
is
which
example,
that
nevertheless
more
powerful
deserves
therefore
and
a
short
analysis.
Example
The
first,
he
what
not
directly,
either
hindering
it determines the
or
promoting.
to leave
man
undone
He sees, namely, that
willingly do.
do it, from which he infers in general that
would
do
others
it is
acts
when
not
in
advisable,
other
it
words, that
must
bring
danger to his person, or his property, or his honor; to
this he holds, and gladly sees himself relieved from inde
pendent
investigation.
done it has
the
terrifying
two
ways:
the
to do
fear
them
what
of
they
danger
men
what
them
showing
danger
has
This is
advantageously in
acts
to do
some
who
they
would
that its
omission
injure
them in
or
; or it acts so as to
encourage
them
willingly do, but hitherto from
disgrace have left undone; this is the
or
something
In this
from it.
sees
would
Lastly,
seductive example.
notice
by
into
of others
opinion
another
in moving
undone
bring
would
that
consequences
Example
example.
either
gladly leave
Or he
evil
suffered
example
may
bring
which would otherwise not
to
have
a man's
occurred
it obviously acts directly only on
on the Will is secondary, and is,
intellect;
when it occurs, brought about by an original act of judg
who
sets the example.
ment or by confidence in him
to him.
The
case
the
the
entire
very
fact that the
ment, often,
himself,
and
effect
powerful
man
as
also, too
effect
a rule
of
example
has too little
little knowledge to
hence he is
glad
rests on
faculty
explore
of
the
judg
his way
to tread in the footsteps
of
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
302
Every
others.
influence
the
two
one
they don't do
in small, is
on
their
the same time this bears
by
the
act upon
can
Certain
how
imitation:
mere
of
own
in
The
reflection,
and
At
judgment.
to the surprisingly strong
also to his relationship to the
witness
example
is deter
acts
; hence the same example
seductively and on the other repellently.
each
character of
one
is,
judgment.*
own
their
imitative tendency of man, as
ape.
But the mode in which the
mined
to
above
conduct
whole
every kind
of
mistrust of
well-grounded
their
reducible
thing
this is their horror
cause of
their
as
the least
lacks the
star of most men
and
others,
the more open to
he
more
The guiding
example of
things
great
the
example
of
qualifications.
ever, the
therefore, be
will,
mispractices which, not previously exist
ent, gradually force their way, readily give us the oppor
On first noticing something of
tunity of observing this.
social
kind,
istic, how
the
I
one
thinks, "Ah, how
I
inconsiderate!
will never
do any
he do it!
can
How
ego
certainly take care that
"
thing.
But twenty others will
such
will
think, "Aha! he does that, I may do it
In a moral respect, example, like teaching, though it
also."
indeed
a
promotes
civil
legal
or
does not,
improvement,
nevertheless, further the inner, which is properly
For it only acts as a personal
moral, improvement.
the
mo
consequently under the presupposition of recep
for
this
class of motive.
But it is precisely whether
tivity
a character is more receptive for this
or
that class of
tive,
and
which
motive
nevertheless
is decisive
for its
innate,
always
proper
advantageously for the bringing into
and bad characteristics, but it does
general
of good
hence Seneca's utterance, " velle
them,
holds good here also.
That the innateness
and
moral
trine
dhists,
qualities,
of
of
the
good as of
Metempsychosis,
according
actions of a man
of
the
bad,
which,
follow him from
good
one
acts
in
prominence
not
create
discitur,
non
"
of all genuine
suits
the Brahminists
"The
to
true, but
and
Example
morality.
and
the doc
and
Bud
the
existence
to
bad
an
like his shadow, " better than Judaism, which rather
requires that man should come into the world as a moral
other
*
Imitation
of men.
and
habit
are
the
impelling motives of most of the actions
ON ETHICS
in
zero
indifferentia,
tion,
by
order
to decide
devil,
or
know
well
virtue
that
is,
of
as
he
liberi
unthinkable
an
a consequence
whether
whatever else
303
to
wills
of
be
between
may lie
arbitri
rational
an
reflec
angel
them,
—
or
a
this
I
enough, but do not trouble myself about it,
for my standard is the truth.
I am no professor of phi
losophy, and, therefore, do not recognize my calling to
before
consist
in,
mental
ideas
of
all
way forever to all
Liberum arbitrium
"
Moral
ors
of
Freedom,
"
philosophy
deep-thinking,
other
Judaism
the
things, making
even
and
if these
every
philosophical
indifferentia,
is
sure the
should
under
the
funda
block the
cognition.
name
of
very favorite toy for the profess
which
we must leave
the
to them
a
—
honest,
and
the
upright 1
INDESTRUCTI
OF THE
DOCTRINE
ON THE
NATURE
OUR TRUE
BILITY OF
BY DEATH.
Although I have treated
in its
that a small
an
he has
it,
which
will not
exposition,
"
Selina * in
becomes the
order
victim of
to
see
the
how
absurd
conception, which he will not give up be
his heart upon it, but is all the same
ities
cause
on an
and
believe
nevertheless
many.
great mind
eminently
of a false
light
Jean Paul's
must read
thoroughly
subject
work, I
separate reflections upon
some
for
without value
One
this
chief
selection of
throw back
always
be
in my
connection
set
perpetually disturbed by absurdities which he cannot di
It is the conception of the individual continuance
gest.
of
fighting
cisely the
that
and
struggling
concepts compounded
such
of
death.
after
consciousness
personal
entire
our
of
Jean
Paul
Pre
proves
the false and true are
is alleged, wholesome errors, but are rather decid
not,
For not only is the true knowledge
edly noxious.
resting
distinction
between appearance and the thing in
on the
as
—
itself
—
the indestructibility of
by time, causality, and
of
untouched
ble
by
the false
opposition
of
our
proper
change,
soul and
nature as
made
body,
impossi
as also
by
personality to a thing in itself
which must eternally exist; but this false conception can
not even be firmly held as the representative of the truth,
the raising
the
since
the
of
whole
ever
reason
in
it,
absurdity
lying
the truth
which
is
can
only
run
truth
errors
it
crumbles
mica
fore
are
with
anew
and
rises
then has
amalgamated
subsist
in
indignant
to
with
against the
up therewith
For in the long
give
it.
in its purity;
mixed
with
up
their
fallibility as the granite
when its felspar is decayed, although quartz and
not subject to such decay.
It goes badly there
participates
surrogates of
When in
daily
many people
(304)
the truth.
intercouse
who
wish
to
it is
asked
by
one
of
those
know everything, but do
not
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
learn anything,
to
want
the most
death,
suitable
to
as
"
the most correct
answer
is :
what
before
your
your
were
has
beginning
a
After
in the first
death
your
birth."
shall
be
instance,
be
you will
For it implies
the demand that a
wrong-headedness of
ence which
existence after
continued
indeed,
and
305
species
of
the
exist
end, besides
without
containing the implication that there may be two kinds of
being and two kinds of nothing according with it. Simi
larly
one might
death,
have
will
you
at
Yes,
affords
the result, that
to
preferable
the
shall
us
little
end
of
him,
one
of
be,
non-existence
our
existence,
as far as
ought,
of
the
of
on
the contrary,
had
time
of a
or
when
procure
him
to
at
complete
therein,
for him
suited
most
alarm
of
confronts
his
clue
empirical
of
we
force
which
is
loss."
shortest
mode
of
always
em
by death
should
in the
demonstrated to him the distinction between
metaphysical
the
one
materialism,
destruction
turns to us,
satisfaction
we
when we were not.
the objective and
plausible
be
would
goes, to trouble
reason
on
who
the
pursued
trans
matter
Thus the thought
existence
full
now
which
complete
the thought of the time
as
the
pirical path
haps
after your
is essentially a personal
the personality is not to be regarded as a
since
and
be
will
consideration
mature
a
an existence such as ours.
longer
But
To
since
cessation
no
as
you
to fear the moment
most
ition.
of
Whatever
if it be nothing, will be just as natural and
to you as your individual organic existence is now,
even
suitable
thus
"
answer,
per
way and
thought, if we
matter and
temporarily
the
taking
it ; as, for example, in birds, where the homo
formless fluidity as soon as it attains the requisite
possession of
geneous
temperature,
mined
assumes
shape of
the
the
genus
complicated
and
exactly deter
its bird.
This is
and
species of
certain extent, a kind of generatio aquivoca,
a
is
and it
exceedingly probable that the hierarchical series
forms arose from the fact that once in primitive
animal
of
indeed, to
times
to
in
and
which
a
happy hour it overleaped the
belonged, to a higher one.
type
the egg
something
distinct from
matter
appears
here
At
of
animal
all events
most promi
in that by the least unfavorable circum
nently, especially
nothing.
In this way it becomes ex
to
comes
stance it
operation
an
that has been completed
after
that
plicable
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
3o6
subsequently prevented it can deviate from it without
a fact which points to a totally different permanence
or
injury,
than that
If
saw
the
of
of matter
persistence
of
conceive
we
the
everything,
being
a
question
whether
since
enduring and ceasing would have
be indistinguishable conceptions.
concept
of
destruction
have any application,
meantime
indeed,
matter
form
our
the
of
If
form
it this
deny
we
which vanishes when
transference
nomenon
is,
abstract
be
of
and
since
illusion
regard
our
it inheres
But
of
els
the phe
indestructibility
hardly form even
of an
can
we
forms
by
which
arising
of new
we
might
us.
constant
produced
by
(brain-functions), by
They
are
space
called
interpenetration
—
conditions
know the things
is
cannot
beings
is to be
apparatus
of
and
regarded
two
polished
and
time,
For
and
all
in their
that
reciprocal
we perceive under
phenomenon; but we do not
may be in themselves, that is in
This is properly the kernel
perception.
as
of our
the
existent
which alone we can see anything.
causality.
mere
they
the Kantian philosophy
one
the
all perception
lenses
dependently
we
nevertheless perdpaats
of
no continuance
idea,
it fails
are
the perishing of those already
tent,
it,
of
according to the schema
thing in itself.
to the
would
a
Both
In truth however the
of
continuance
the matter in which
S.XX0 yivos, that
these
In the
indestructibility
continuance
it.
an
a
annihilation
is taken away from
confirm
continuance, would
borrowed from time,
phenomenon.
the
of
phenomenon as
temporal end as an
which
of
are
properly speaking, only according to the schema of
which under all changes of its form maintains itself
in time.
as
and
after
significance, and would
And accordingly neither
these
only think
can
we
this core of
an
endure
no
that
nor
since
is merely the
which
of
we
would probably have no
meaning for such a one,
beyond our present temporal individual existence
death
the
in time.
knew, understood,
which
too
often
together
which,
call
to
mind
in
with
its
a period
con
when
charlatanry has by its stupefying process driven
philosophy from Germany with the willing assistance of
people for whom truth and intelligence
are the most in
venal
different things in the world,
most important.
and
wage
and
salary the
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
How
being
can we suppose on
that
its
is
end
without
thing-in-itself
immediate intuitive
an
have
men
the
in the
to
endeavored
of
utterance
give
a
human
That
phenomena, finds
being thereby
cognition
diverse forms
all
of
of
to nothing?
comes
in time, that form
a phenomenon
the death
beholding
thing-in-itself here
a
307
affected
man; hence
every
to it
at
all
times,
expressions, but these
derived from the phenomenon in its special sense
all
most
only have
and
Everyone feels that he is
thereto.
reference
are
and
something different from a being who has once been
created from nothing by another being.
In this way the
assurance
Man is
the
something
animal
to his
For
The
will
the
of
one's
regards
he
ago
be
own
an
his
can
and
nothing;
existence
is limited
as an animated
nothing.
thirty
and
nothing
make
existence.
years
nothing.
again
conscious
nature
clearly is one
inner nature.
foregoing
his
of
animated
himself
was
end
an
thinks
and
more
this is the
who
clearly one is
dreamlike
more
nothingness
much
life
years
than
else
death
although
cannot make
He
also.
present
thirty
hence he
him that
arises within
his life it
an end of
of
the
of
transience,
things, by so
all
conscious also of
For
structure
only in
things
of
the eternity
known,
the ship one is on, is only
looks toward the fixed shore and not
to
opposition
as
the
rapid motion of
perceived when
one
when
at
one
looks
the ship itself.
The
present
jective.
for its
this
The
form,
has two halves, an objective and a sub
alone has the perception of time
objective
hence
and
rolls
arises our vivid recollection
and
the
our
knowledge
consciousness
of
the
of
our
From
ceaselessly forward.
of what is very
long past,
imperishability, in
transience
of
Everyone thinks that his innermost
that the
ever
we
present contains and carries
spite
of
our existence.
is something
it. When
core
about with
may happen to live we always stand with our
in the centre of time, never at its termin
consciousness
ations;
and
bore
within
This
is,
with
we
might
assume
from
himself the immovable
moreover, at bottom what
which
he lives
on
without
gives
that
this
centre
of
him the
continual
everyone
infinite time.
fear
confidence
of
death.
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
308
But
his
of
by
whoever
the
others of
indeed,
But
life,
own
this
the
of
virtue
imagination
and
recall
will
become
is
proposition
more
of
his memory
is
now
By
mind.
essential
an
it
of
means
that
apprehend
we
the
the
of
requirement
Perhaps,
time.
at all events such a clearer consciousness of
of all
past
than
taken conversely.
correct
more
long
conscious
clearly
now in all
the
identity of
strength
the most vividly the
can
identity
philosophic
is
which
He
most
is
only
in this intuitive way aware that the present moment, which
is the only form of all reality in the narrowest sense,
has its source in us, and springs, that is, from within and
fleeting
the now
—
the
as
—
not
from without,
cannot
his
own nature.
He
death the
objective
persistent.
doubt
will
world,
understand
indeed,
within
as
Understanding:
iyd>
("Stob. Floril.
Tit."
He
who
does
not
elpt
Ttdv
rd
for
"
ii.
to
be
soon
It
goes
In
further
without
accordance
regarded as a
with
dream
must
iaopsvov
maintain
independently
quite
thousands of
and
more,
on
I
shall
others
also
contrary, is
the
objec
of me.
it, have only become
it, whereby I have
like
reality
now no
Time,
nothing.
Ka\
Time is something purely
exists
transient
a
me who are
much
complete
201).
this to be true
only accidentally thrown into
of
participant in a small portion
attained
Sv,
Kal
p.
as
was
with
say
its
but that this
him,
yeyovds,
am
before
medium of
there
will
vol.
44, 42;
admit
the opposite, and say :
tive and real, which
I
He
without.
the
with
presentment, the intellect, perishes
does not touch his existence, for
reality
indestructibility of
that by his
the
of
rather
who
very
the Real.
me."
all
and
life
this,
death
as
may
an
certainly
awakening.
be
But
then the personality, the individual, belongs to the dream
ing and not to the waking consciousness, for which reason
death
still,
presents
at
all
itself to the former
events
as
from this standpoint,
annihilation.
not
to be
It is
regarded
the transition to
a state entirely new and strange to
but
rather
the return to our original one, of
as
us,
only
which life was only a short episode.
If in the meantime a philosopher should, perhaps, think
as
that he
alone,
would
or at
find in
least
a
dying a
diversion,
consolation
and
that
peculiar
then
a
to him
problem
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
be
would
him,
resolved
for him
had
which
so
frequently
309
occupied
only say that it will probably fare with him
as with one, who as he is about to find what he is seek
ing, has his lantern blown out.
For in death the consciousness assuredly perishes, but
we
can
by any means that which till then had produced it.
The consciousness, namely, rests immediately on the intel
lect, but the latter on the physiological process. For it
not
is obviously the function
tioned
by
the
though
tem,
the
by
more
and
animated,
the
directly by
and
by
understand,
and
the trend
but
the
of
of
is
sys
is nourished,
the heart.
It is
brain
the
of
physiology does
which
thoughts
condi
cellular
construction
phenomenon
our
and
which
by
agitated
hence
and
nerve
brain,
the
mysterious
anatomy,
that
brain,
the
of
continuously
artistic
described
as
of
co-operation
the objective
brought
not
world
An
about.
consciousness, that is, a consciousness as such,
be conceived in an incorporeal being, since knowl
individual
cannot
the condition
edge,
brain-function
objectively
pears
the
life,
ess of
sition
my
The
but this
in
work
is,
which
But let
is this ?
in
Now
as
empirical
as a result
secondary,
intellect ap
or in
reality
the proc
of
psychologically secondary in oppo
is alone the primary and ever the
itself is really only the Will dis
and objectively in the
brain,
its forms
space
of
"
(vol.
ii. chap
Will
xx.).
and
time,
I have
as
in
Nature,
Since, then,
"
and
the
in
con
immediately dependent upon the Will,
is conditioned by the intellect, and this again by
is
not
there
extinguished
we
a
also
organism
the organism,
as
as
is
brain.
as
that
explained, especially in
chief
more
—
perceptually
therefore
sciousness
is
—
it
so
playing itself
often
itself
manifests
to the Will
original.
and
the
physiologically
phenomenon
every consciousness, is necessarily
simple
reason
that the intellect
of
for
—
us
be
by death,
consoled
A cerebral,
highly
remains
!
an
as
For
no
animal
as
consciousness
by
what
and
sleep
kind of a
of
the
regards all essentials
—
one a
beasts,
in
swoons.*
consciousness
consciousness
developed than that
have it
doubt that
also
in
common
little
so
far
with
It would certainly be very pleasant if the intellect did not perish
Greek which one had learned in
with death: one would then bring the
this world all ready with one into the other,
*
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
3io
the
in
whole series of animals
it
although
its
attains
summit
It is the same, as I have sufficiently demonstrated,
a mere y-i)xaH °f
respect to its purpose and origin
us.
with
—
nature,
ture
into
that
its
to
it is the
is,
The
requirements.
death throws
which
inal force displays itself
in the
nance of the
life that is
state of the
thing-in-itself
non.
nature,
in
It
opposition
such
primal state
state
the
orig
phenome
assistance
an
—
in short, the
is,
to
whose
and mainte
production
now ceasing.
na
contrary,
original
our
our
animal
the
on
state,
to
the
help
back is
us
peculiar
state
Now in this
how to
knowing
a means of
the
as
for
a cognition so extremely mediate,
this
merely supplying phenomena, is without doubt en
tirely superfluous; hence we lose it. Its disappearance is
the same as the cessation of the phenomenal world for
and
cerebral,
reason
of which
us,
the
of
it
the
was
animal
the lame
as
He therefore
and can
medium,
our
original
consciousness
it
should reject
crutch.
mere
If in this
else.
nothing
even
were
man
state
offered
is
who
we
us,
does the
cured
bemoans the loss in
who
for
serve
the retention
question
is merely phenome
nal and adapted to the phenomenal, is to be compared to
the converted Greenlanders who did not wish for heaven
of
this
cerebral
they heard
when
Moreover,
all
which
consciousness,
that there
were
that is here said
no
seals
there.
the assumption
rests on
that
we cannot even conceive of a now-conscious state ex
cept
as a
of
of a
this
knowing
knowledge
all
knowing
entire
one,
—
and
form
of
the
which
therefore bears the toot-form
separation
known.
But
knowing
and
a
of
we
subject
have to
and
known is
being
object,
consider
that
condi
by our animal, and hence very secondary
derived, nature, and is thus in no way the original
state of all being and all existence, which
may therefore
be quite different, and yet not without consciousness.
If
tioned merely
and
then
our own
present
trace it to its core, is
knowingless thing;
intellect,
we
consciousless
less, but
which
are
the
thereby
which
above
so
far
we
object
to
a
the
our original
simply
beyond this form
antithesis of subject and
able
sacrifice
we
transplanted into
not
are
this in itself is
death
is therefore
and
as
and
will;
through
when
only
state,
rather
nature,
mere
—
conscious-
a
state
disappears,
in
be-
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
here that
cause
immediately
mental
by
of
of
way
Presentment,"
ii,
vol.
mente,
lo
e
la
unita
intende,
che
e
Wagner,
vol.
The
310.)
i, p.
*
287):
com
Will
as
and
utterance
La divina
senza specie alcuna e ella medesimo
assoluta,
lo
ed.
be
may
World
The
273 (3d
p.
Giordano Bruno (ed.
of
"
elucidation
thus
Herewith
wanting.
be really and
the funda
would
and
(which is precisely this
knowing
all
be
would
knowing,
the
with
condition
opposition)
pared
is to be known
which
one
311
inteso.n
ch'
e
Perhaps every one is now and then aware in his inner
heart of a consciousness that would be suited to an
most
entirely different kind
of
gether with
might
If
in
now
a
alto
he thinks that death
one.
to this
opposition
directed
is
such
it is
occupied as
one,
on which occasions
misery;
lead him to
we
which
than this so unspeak
existence
beggarly, timely, individual
ably
inward,
mode
turn
again
of
contemplation
our
attention
out
displaying itself objectively,
appear to
us a
passage
into
ward and apprehend the world
death
then certainly
But birth also none the less
will
as a
proceeding out
like the other, however, cannot be
unconditionally true since it only has the reality of the
That in some sense we should survive death
phenomenon.
:
nothing
of
The
nothing.
one
is really
no
greater
we
daily
see
before
all
life
comes
Egyptians
from, its
Plutarch ("de. Is.
"
What dies
Atnanthus,
Osir,
and
goes
included.
own
Orchus
called
than that of generation
miracle
our eyes.
"
c.
29),
which
hence,
In this
where
the
sense
according
to
signifies 6 Xap^dvwv
«zl
which,
"
in order to express that
giver,
it is the same source into which everything returns and
From this point of view
from which everything proceeds.
dtdobis,
our
life
sleep
the
taker
might
would
announces
be
neither
new
over
into
regarded
then be the
itself
without
individual, but in
being.
and
as a
daily
any
loan
interest
from
The
which
existence
dying
proceeds
without
on
lies the
receive a
knowing
but
being
whence
the end of the
germ
dies, dies
perishes
a new
from death;
Death
this loan.
concealment as
this individual
Hence nothing of all that
does anything that is born
existence.
received
a
new
But
fundamentally
a germ
which
it
of
forever.
remains
now enters
comes and
why
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
312
it is exactly such as it is. This is the mystery
ingenesis for the explanation of which the 42d
the
volume
of my
from this that
2d
appears
tain the true
thus to
are
animal
"
me
pieces
and
Actors
I
had
the
be thousands
One
same
and
might
Palingenesis
entire
inasmuch
individual,
in
itself
all.
We
gleam
Similarly
every
of
together
sit
and
the same.
The
the
therefore,
of
talk
and
become
voices
thousands
sat
were
years ago
Just
arrangement
so
will
;
it
owing to
this, is time.
into
another
receives a new
a neutral
acid
difference between Metempsychosis
the
as
body
and reformation
his Will persists,
another
with
which
distinguish Metempsychosis
as
con
the world change, the
eyes
have
individual decomposes like
combines
stage of
so-called soul
being,
shape of a new
future,
However much,
the
the decomposition
as
It
living
to cry out to us :
the perishability of the living ?
hence.
well
very
the
live in the
already there.
"
they
aware
moment
those of my species which were
and
of years
this
at
will
of
perfection seems
so others
are not
passage of
on
other
the same,
we
all
died ?
the masks
remain
which
if
not
excite each
was
that
complain of
exist
louder ; exactly
it
all
certain extent
a
could
before
and
beings
existing in its full
dost thou
Why
How
germ of
all
chapter
may be consulted.
work
chief
the Pal
of
—
and
this
of
assuming the
intellect, Thus the
and
salt, the basis of
into a new salt.
which
Palingenesis
which
and
The
commentator of Virgil assumes, and which is
in " Wernsdorffii dissertat de Metempsyindicated
shortly
p. 48, is obviously fallacious and nugatory.
Servius the
chosi,"
394-96
with
in the
same
Empire
"
vi.
,
p.
hism
as
179,
an
Manual
well
as
exoteric
from the
ix. ,
ence
of
the
intellect,
of
with
Will,
and
IJaXiyyeveata
( pp.
and
"
Asiatic
of
occurs
"
vol.
p.
The former is Metempsychosis
comprehension,
my doctrine of
the
Researches,
256, it appears that in Budd
esoteric doctrine obtains
regarding
death.
after
difficult
agreement
"
may be compared pp. 429, 440, 445,
book), also from Sangermano's "Burmese
in Brahminism but the latter is
more
Buddhism
of
which
and vol.
continuance
as
"
Spencer Hardy's
From
the merely
a
Palingenesis
much
is very much in
the Metaphysical exist
which
physical
which
perishability
in the Old Testament.
structure
accords
of
with
the
it.
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
But if, in order to penetrate deeper into the mystery
Palingenesis we seek aid from the 43d chapter of the
of
2d
vol.
of
male
apuear
has been the bearer
sex
the Intellect
petual
the
lost,
we
the
of
account
the intellect
ism,
by
here, by
me,
is,
mortal
386,
also
with
manner
the
387,
seat
visible
and
;
the
their
lying
that it is
nature
not
may be
One can accordingly
far
and
death,
individuals
"
of
so
and
a
Will,
the
the
as
same
and
he,
preceded
Timasus
the
yet
soul,
that
have
Will
I
with
into diamet
"
( pp.
idea.
*
wonderfully
together
out of
dissolution,
agree
passions,
may strangely
and
otherwise,
so-called
who
of
organ
question.
truth, in
the
on
nature
the
also
Aristotle has the
its basis is
at
father,
in
so
from the
seen
procreation
the
immortal,
appetites
physical
subsequent
with
the
as
so
comes
philosophers
as
by
that I
decided
not
on
chapter
But he
part.
all
combination of
principle
of
the brain but
in the
me and
of
of
But though the
rule things
is
mother
trans-
that the
this,
all
whose
irrevocably
which
distinguishes in his
may be
395, ed. Bip.).
part
thus
physical
the way,
intellect
the
regards
that
the
of
of
me
immortal
and an
the
after
respect
shown
opposition
rical
gen
secondary
merely
its complete dependence
may mention
Plato in that he
mortal
forget in
and
only in
not
in
is
that it is really
feeling
that of the Will
as
a paternal
which
and
has been
as
the
of
per
united
death,
combination
Intellect
unconditioned
and
are
This individual it is
with
mere
must not
the
of
missability
a
in
separated
deplore
was
these
as
individual.
much
it
But
ceases.
also
the
we so
since
the
female
the
therefore, has
one,
and
element,
are
of
end
death
Every
subsistence.
they
Will,
the
of
con
the human race, whereby it receives
of
and a maternal
eration
work, the matter, more closely
to be that throughout all time
chief
my
will
sidered,
a
313
with
the
Intellect
and
metaphysical
entirely heterogeneous
affected
by it,
so
conceive
every
man
on
this point we
consoled.
*
In the "De
accidentally
mortal
and
part
soul
at
—
Anima"
the
which
love belong
not
(I. 4.
beginning
he
confirms
p.
408),
that
with
the
his
vovc
real
from two
opinion
is the
fallacious
true
assertions.
to the soul, but to their organ, the
oppo-
escapes
and
im
Hatred
perishable
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
3i4
from the one, he is
site points of view :
and
ginning
besides
ovap
being
nav
rd
say, like the
Bv,
kol\
yeyovds,
What is in
it,
But
is
which
To
<r/cia?
failings
with
strikes
world
and
of
Sais:
at
and
being
it
a
like
world
death.
die.
it,
lightning,
of
time
neither
be
will
flash
a
elpt
indeed
must end and
never
like
hy<!>
might
sorrow and of
out of
what
knows
and
a
itself in
manifest
all-powerful
upward,
Isis
of
Such
comes
it,
of
it,
through
unite
what
and
not
statue
iaopevov.
ko.\
do something better than
For this is the finite
this.
pierces
transitory,
the
such,
what
burdened
individual be
an
and
other, he is the indestructible original
objectivises itself in everything existent, and
which
as
fleeting
being heavily
From
pains.
may,
ending in time,
of
death.
nor
these antitheses is properly the theme of my
all
philosophy.
Short Concluding Dialogue.
To be
Thrasymachos
brief,
—
be
Philalethes
—
Everything
Thrasymachos
—
Philalethes
—
language
To
known to
suitable,
the
that is
by.
no
as
transcendent
What do
—
knowledge ?
from my
me
my death ?
the
solution of a
played
out.
in the
questions
knowledge may certainly
you
call
These
transcendent and what
expressions
which
indeed
are
but only
his philosophy,
professor
with
as
predicates
as was
only
If, namely, he remains
exclusively concerned.
world
he is immanent, but if he sits anywhere
was
it he
is transcendent.
!
comprehensible
But
your
human
being
any
German
science
Philalethes
Thrasymachos
Kantian
longer
modern
that is clear,
what one
understands.
world,
has to hold
language
artificial
from
the
The
time-
metropolis
—
{aside)
—
Only look,
One knows
old-fashioned
consciousness of the
of
have it!
The trick is
for immanent
Almighty God,
outside
after
contradictions.
immanent
in
I
and nothing.
we
answer
created
Thrasymachos
of
There
a contradiction.
problem,
lead to
what am
and precise.
clear
—
German
Through
a
philosophical windbaggery.
whole
succession
men, especially through the great Schleiermacher
giant intellect Hegel has been brought back from
of
great
and
all
the
that,
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
rather, has been brought
left it all behind and knows
or
do
you
—
that
has
it
So
it.
of
more
no
what
it?
by
mean
Philalethes
far forward
so
315
is
knowledge
Transcendent
that
which
proceeding beyond all possibility of experience, seeks to
determine the nature of things as they are in themselves.
Immanent knowledge on the other hand, is that which
keeps itself
ence,
individual
true
can
is
It
it.
of
phenomenon
which
end,
can
be
the limits
beginning
in the
Hence I
said
thing
and
more
correct
which,
of
nor
you
are
violence,
by
remain
your
all
death
things.
that you, after your death, would be every
Your question scarcely admits of a
in
answer
so
life is in time,
again
which
short a
an
it is
eternity.
indestructibility
in
results
a
without
contradiction.
But
has to be brought into
thereby
sustains
for that to
misused
than this one,
contradiction; because
immortality is in
your
knowledge, for it
since
compass
contains a
transcendent
the
when
immanent
and
nothing.
continuance,
it is
become
sense you
second
This may be termed therefore
so
Your true
end.
time,
beginning, nor
individuality, and hence it
individuality, but is there in
no
however, certainly
while your
manifest
a given
In the first
nothing;
a
merely
and
neither
from
excluded
each and all.
rather
as
your
Thing-in-itself, but only its
displays itself in the form of time,
nature
nor
You
the
not
accordingly has a
in itself knows
and
of experi
phenomena.
the individual is not
yet
nature, but
ultimate
of
speak
death,
end at your
and
ation
the bounds of the possibility
within
therefore
and
which
a
it
kind
was
of
not
born.
Thrasymachos
my
gether.
—
But
Granted I
individuality
but
awakening there
sleep
hear,
you
not
would
without
give
the
single
a
continuance of
heller for
all
immortality.
Philalethes
of
three
have
no
—
made
was
—
we
perhaps
may
guaranteed you
to
months
Thrasymachos
Philalethes
we
I
individuality,
your
Do
—
condition
a
be
a
perfectly
do business to
continuance of your
that
before its
re
consciousless death-
?
That
But
it
still
the
would
since
measurement
in
a
do.
perfectly consciousless state
it is quite the same to us
of time
316
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
whether while
we
ten thousand
It
In the last
—
But
—
and years you were
so
after
when
be
But
great.
And
it.
of
question
tains
if
on
accept
three
the
awakening.
you whether your
after
if
resort
indi
months or after
be denied.
cannot
the ten thous
of
forgotten to be awakened, I believe that
an existence you had become accus
the misfortune
a non-existence
it
would
is;
be
that
you
—
machinery which main
in motion had not ceased
those ten thousand
in
And
So?
the
secret
years
the
other phenomena of
Thrasymachos
would not
know nothing
could
consoled as regards
quite
knew that the
during
motion
that
the lapse
after
your present phenomenon
in
set
now
certain
you
you
one moment
must
faith,
and
short
long
tomed to so
you
three months or
we
years.
Thrasymachos
Philalethes
For
trust
on
other
back to
given
ten thousand
death-sleep
passed.
be indifferent to
must therefore
viduality is
had
years
like the
thing
one
in that
lay
to
this
produce and
kind.
same
think
you
way
to
my individuality by smooth talk, with
I am not to be taken in in that way.
out my noticing it ?
I have stipulated for the continuance of my individuality,
me
swindle
and
loss
out of
machinery and phenomena can console me for the
It lies closest to my heart, and I will not part
no
it.
of
from it.
Philalethes
pleasant,
could
—
You
excellent,
be nothing
like to
exchange
asserted
that it
regard
your
perfect
and
preferable
to
individuality
it,
and
hence
it for any other,
with
to
live
was
possible
then
as
so
incomparable that there
you would not
which
it
better
might
and
be
more
comfortably.
Thrasymachos
is,
—
But surely my
individuality,
whatever
it
is myself,
in the
"Nothing
world
For God is God
I, I,
I desire
existence
!
not an existence which
that it is
is
I
above
am
This it is
has first
me,
I.»
which concerns me and
of all
to be
proved
to
me
mine.
Philalethes
cries,
and
"I, I,
—
But
consider
I desire
the matter!
existence,"
that
is,
everything, simply everything, that has
a
What is it that
not you
trace
alone, but
of conscious-
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF NATURE BY DEATH
317
Consequently this wish in you is precisely that which
individual, but common to all without distinction.
does not spring from the individuality but from existence
ness.
is
It
not
generally, is
that
existence
the
it exists,
in
and
to
general
all
being
appearance of
fore
cleaves, but
to
cannot attain
to con
individual being, and there
to have reference to such.
But this is a
always seems
illusion,
accordingly be satisfied by
alone it refers, and not
because it
so
in
sciousness otherwise than
mere
will
which
For
any determinate individual existence.
directed to the latter, although it always has
by
exclusively
it is not at
to everything that exists, is indeed
essential
whereby
which
an
indeed the crudity
reflection
which
destroy
can
the individual
of
and
free
us
from.
That, namely,
madly desires existence is merely
individual!
mediately
the
Immediately, and properly
Will
to
live
in general, which is one and
it
is
the
speaking,
so
which
the
in
same
Now
all.
work, is indeed its
since
itself is its free
existence
mere reflection
—
it follows that
existence
but it is provisionally satisfied by exis
tence in general, so far that is to say, as it, the eternally
Individualities are the same
unsatisfied, can be satisfied.
to
it,
it,
escape
cannot
it does
not
really
to the individual
self, it
who
to do so.
seems
that the individual
individuality is
be
quit
therefore
altogether
oughly
to
live,
it is
of
an
pastime
to its
which
and
—
of
them,
although
thereby
Hence it
a
you
truly
knew
a
the
follows that the
and that
Do
to
not cherish
appear childish and
your
to wit,
with
secures
limitation,
rather a gain.
which would
if
own existence
and
as
own
the
nature
thor
universal
Will
are!
You
quite
an
be,
but
foundation,
you
yourself
ridiculous,
that a steid
a quarter
more
loss but
anxiety
Thrasymachos
childish
no
ridiculous
and
species.
perfection
no
his
over
watches
the
of
with
only perceives it in him
In this way it is brought about
care which would not otherwise
maintenance
itself
concern
immediately
hour
man
like
with
important things to
and
and
do,
philosophers
are
and
myself
this sort
all
it is only for fun
occupies
of
fools.
so good-bye!
himself for
I have
now
SUI CIDE
ON
As
I
as
far
This is the
it is only the monotheistic, that
see
Jewish religions,
more
surprising
is,
the
suicide as a crime.
regard
whose votaries
in the
as neither
Old,
nor
in
the New Testament is there to
be found any prohibition,
or even any decided disapproval of it.
Teachers of relig
have
to
base
their
condemnation
of suicide
ion, therefore,
philosophical
on
ever, it
so
goes
of
grounds
badly,
that
their own,
they
their arguments lacks strength,
disgust,
of
pressions
is, by
that
the
by
which, how
what in
with
to supply
seek
vigor of
their
We have to
abuse.
ex
hear,
accordingly, that suicide is the greatest cowardice, that it
is only possible in madness, and similar twaddle, or even
the
senseless
entirely
whereas
obviously
thing in
the
Suicide,
as
no
world
that
phrase
one
than
has
a
his
over
"
is
suicide
greater right
own
wrong,
over
person
and
"
any
life.
already remarked, is
even accounted a crime,
in
and with it
is allied, especially
brutal, bigoted Eng
land, a shameful burial, and the invalidation of the testa
for
ment,
impression
theft,
the
or
as a
us,
panies
a
friends,
world
as of
?
a
that
disgust,
with
the
a
will
moral
else allow
compare
acquaintance
a
cruelty,
the
of
energetic
demand for
excite
only
disapproval
his
in
punishment
sorrow and
an admiration
with
the
had
fraud,
a
report of
forth
calls
which
of
his
accom
bad
action.
Who has not had acquaintances,
relations, who have willingly departed from the
And are we to think with horror of each of these
or
criminal
?
Nego
ac
I
pernego.
opinion
that the clergy should,
once
to
an
right
give
brings in
always
and
an
murder,
mingled more often
than
matter
that
While the first
greatest
almost
before anything
with
for vengeance, the latter
sympathy,
courage
jury
us
report
such
upon
voluntary death.
dignation,
the
crime,
makes
the
Let
decide in the
to
which
committed a
a
insanity.
feeling
moral
reason
which
of
a verdict
(3i8)
account,
with
what
am
rather of
for all, be
they,
the
challenged
without
being
ON SUICIDE
to
able
any biblical authority,
stigmatize in the
show
sophical
writings an
action
us,
by
tarily leave
the
that
no
a
in
that
or
phrases
empty
place
burial
and
who volun
—
it
are
should,
required,
epithets
abusive
The fact that
them.
of
honored
those
reasons
philo
in their
and
men
refuse
honorable
an
understood
valid
any
pulpit
many
and
crime,
world
mere
accepted
by
committed
as
be clearly
however,
be
or
arguments,
beloved
and
319
will
criminal
jurisprudence
condemns suicide is no ecclesiastically valid
besides
reason,
being extremely ridiculous. For what pun
ishment can frighten him who seeks death ? If we punish
the attempt
failed that
at
we
it is the
suicide,
whereby it
clumsiness
punish.
The ancients, moreover, were a long way from regard
("
Histor. Nat. , * lib.
ing the matter in this light. Pliny
28, c.
iv.,
1; vol.
p.
non adeo expetendam
Quisquis
talis,
es
nullum
natura,
He
quidem
sciscere;
poenis,"
deed,
give
sibi
(lib. 2,
says
also
c.
quod
velit,
In
etc.
homini dedit
Massillia,
the hemlock
was
reasons
sufficient
i.,
vol.
7;
obscoenus
and
in
sit.
vixen's,
remediis
homini tribuit
quae
quisque
quidem
trahenda
idque in
morte:
ea
praestare
poterit.'*
"
Ne Deum
p.
125):
Namque nee sibi potest
posse omnia.
si
bonis,
tempestiva
esse
illam
Vitam
primum quisque
omnibus
melius
quod
optimum,
etiam cum
morier,
ex
"
says:
ut quoque modo
censemus,
aeque
habeat:
sui
Bip.),
Quapropter hoc
aut nefandus.
animi
Ed.
351
optimum
in tantis
in the island
con-
mortem
Chios,
of
publicly handed to him
for leaving life ("Val.
vitae
in
who could
Max.,"
1.
8).*
And how many heroes and wise
6, .§§ 7
their lives by a volun
men of antiquity have not ended
"
Nicom.,"
Aristotle
indeed
says
v.
death!
( Eth.
tary
although
suicide is a wrong against the state,
that
15)
ii.
and
c.
not
one's own
against
of
exposition
(Eel.
proposition
yiyvead-at
roiy
pev
eth.
Stobaeus, however, in
Peripatetics, quotes
person.
Ethics
the
II.,
dya&ots iv
of
the
C.
7,
p.
rati ayav
{Vitam
286):
4>eoicrdv de
drt^i'aij"
iv rait Syav
coro^t'at?.
in
miseriis, pravis vero in
And in a similar way, p. 312:
nimiis
secundis.)
*
voluntarily
of
put
Chios it
was
also
de
relinquendem
quidem
On the Island
should
autem
rots
the
themselves to death.
custom
piov
rdv
kokoTs
esse
nimium
Jto
his
the
«al
Kal
bonis
quoque
yapyaetv,
that the
aged
icai
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
320
ko.\
natdoizotrjo-eaftat,
do-Kobvra
Ka\
iv
pivetv
$im,
koI
diot
el
izdXtv,
ratprjs
ducturum,
liberos procreaturum, et
Atque omnino virtutem
et
etc.
surum,
iterum,
servaturum, turn
We find
Tzpovoyjaavra,
deed,
tracts,
the strongest
as
be
as might
is
well
UXOrem
et
acces-
ad civitatem
turn
colendo
the Stoics
vitam
a noble and
as
hundreds
by
confirmed
from Seneca.
being
known,
dvdyxas
necessitate, relictarum, etc.)
by
celebrated
suicide
heroic
Hindoo,
cogente
di
izore
{Ideoque
etc.
d-KaXXayrjaeaftat,
dperijv
riyx
Ka&oXoo
koX
etc.,
itoXtrebaeo&at,
rm
Again,
of
with
ex
the
suicide often occurs as a religious
action, especially as widow burning, also as immolation
beneath the wheels of the Car of Juggernaut, as self-sacri
fice to the
temple,
theatre, that mirror
of
the
and
(trad.
end
St.
p.
by
of
life,
Julien,
suicide
"
piece
its
being
all
the
Mahomet,
Mortimer in
the Countess Terzky.
tion
of
It
a crime?
Is Hamlet's
says
Maria
in
"
characters
indicated,
or
its
committed
otherwise,
a
e. g.
,
Stuart, Othello,
monologue
certainly that if
the
de la Chine
have
not
pond
at
example
noble
anywhere
holy
way,
for
see
we
occurring to the onlooker, that they
On our own stage, indeed, it is
crime.
Palmira in
same
L'Orphelin
almost
1834),
without
where
the
or of
In the
otherwise.
Chinese
celebrated
Ganges,
the
crocodiles of
the
we
the
were
medita
sure
to
be absolutely destroyed by death it would, considering the
"
structure of the world, be unconditionally to choose.
But
there lies [sic
suicide
tr.]
the
have been
which
monotheistic, that
is,
who accommodate
easy
of
of
refutation.
Morals,"
going
first
§
5.)
appeared
by
tyranny
of
man,
Suicide
Hume.
sold, secretly
But that
Basel,
a
are
the
philosophers
feeble
sophisms
Essay
on
Suicide,
"
which
his
England, for
the
"
them in his
of
this
reason
and at
a
and of another
Basel
Immortality
Sold by
the
of
1799.
purely
only a very few
high price, so that for
which
have to thank the
and
and
them,
death, and was immediately sup
shameful bigotry and scandalous priestly
the preservation
we
Jewish religion,
(See my " Treatise on the Foundation
Hume has furnished the most thorough
after
the
copies were
The reasons, however, against
forward by the clergy of the
put
themselves to
refutation of
pressed
rub."
treatise
philosophical
treatise
the great
on
the late David
Soul, by
Decker,
James
of
"Essays
reprint:
p.
124,
8vo."
coming from
one
ON
the first thinkers
of
smuggled
refuge
good
and
against
It
nation.
shows
the only
valid
moral
reason
against
in
suicide
It lies in that suicide is op
work, vol. i., § 69.
to the attainment of the highest moral goal, since it
posed
for the
substitutes
sorrow,
a
a
crime,
a
very
such
long
real
its
in
bears
innermost
is
Cross)
the
to
opposed
as
as
and
ascetic
one,
ethical
standpoint
have
reason
this,
against
it,
valid
KaXd
ndvra
is
basis.
of
life is
is
there
the
of
be
it
a
compliment
religions
atory optimism of these
in order not to be arraigned by it.
We
shall
life
end
of
theless
were
on
the
The
his life.
considerable;
before the
who
find
counterbalance
would
of
gate
not
something
existence.
But
resistance
they
that
on
voluntary
for him
would
which
of
stand
an
the
who
said
be the oblig
arraigns
suicide
death,
man makes
an
to these terrors is never
as
There is
made
nor
that as soon as the terrors
the terrors
exit.
have
whole
religions
seem, therefore,
Might
poor
phi
Bible
the
by
would
not
moral
descend from
we
monotheistic
neither
rest, it
an
higher
longer any valid
The extraordinarily
Once more, then, it
Xiav ?
much
no
suicide.
supported
must
if
an
however,
a
only
European
But
life;
honored.
and even
is,
truth
of
which
suicide,
which
occupied.
the clergy
of
reasons,
a concealed
that
standpoint
which
surrender
than
purpose
to
applies
for condemning
zeal
energetic
such
ever
high
very
moral
to
it, is
the
essence
true
tiquity, from a lower standpoint, approved
The foregoing reason against suicide
this
mistake
to stamp
seek
way.
suffering
it rejects,
losophers
this world of
But from this
one.
the Christian clergy
as
(the
hence
from
emancipation
apparent
merely
Christianity
that
of
of
I have
this question.
on
the
of
time the kind
same
chief
my
by
shame
greatest
the
at
the Church has
conscience
pointed out
the
to
redounds
abroad,
English
321
writers of England, refuting the
suicide, had in its native land to
through like a forbidden thing, until it found
current reasons
be
SUICIDE
end
it
were
no one
of
purely negative, a
there is something
as
living
warders
perhaps
his life if this
sudden
positive
end
cessation
in
it
—
of
the
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
322
destruction
because
This frightens
body.
of the
the
is
body
the
back simply
men
Will-to-
the
of
phenomenon
Live.
Meanwhile the
hard
in
as a rule
struggle
it may
as
the
of
consequence
sufferings.
corporeal
severely
to
all
trouble ;
other
us.
Just in the
us
unsusceptible
if
they
suicide
real pain associated with
tortured
eyes of one
above
to
is especially
—
by
in
we are
not so
we
suffer
indifferent
concerns
seriously
mental
we
our
sorrows
make
despise them.
is
mental
a
Even
welcome
It is
suffering.
easier, inasmuch as the corpo
it loses all importance in the
excessive
purely
It does
those who
morbid
not
cost
The
suffering.
mental
with
a
melancholy.
alone
severe
noticeable
through
suicide
intense
instance,
preponderance, this
pause
a
us,
which makes
for
recovery
way
is
warders
from afar, and indeed
between intellectual
continuously,
corporeal
the
acquire
diversion to
this
to
us
When,
and
our
same
to
antagonism
and corporeal
pain
these
with
seem
but
the less
none
such
driven
are
persons
any
self-conquest, they do not require to form any resolution,
but as soon as the keepers provided for them leave them
for two
minutes
they quickly
When in
make an
end
their
of
life.
horrible
disturbed,
dreams, anxiety has reached
its highest pitch, it brings us of itself to awakening, and
therewith all these horrors of a night vanish.
The same
thing happens in the dream of life, where also the highest
degree
of
anxiety
Suicide may
tion
which
compel
we
the
and
the
But
it is
also
be
put
to
answer, to
knowledge
a
clumsy
the consciousness
to break
compels us
of
regarded as an
nature,
wit,
and
what
man
one, for
to
it
experiment,
which
change
experiences
it
off.
the
a ques
wish
to
existence
through
abolishes the
which should receive
we
death.
identity
the answer.
of
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF
NEGATION
AND
AFFIRMATION
OF
DOCTRINE
THE
TO
THE
THE
WILL-TO-LIVE.
It
to
is
extent to
certain
a
is to say, it is obvious
duces the phenomenon
of not
in
doing
other
be
a
i.,
vol.
with
will
be
p.
the
the Will-to- Live
in
the Will-
the
of
substance, but the
hitherto has willed
Nirvana
of
observe
mere
wills
act
no
of
the
since
the
same with
"
As
that
"
against
the
cer
negation
destruction
not-Willing
more,
non-Will-to-
Oupnekhat,
Buddhists, also
way involves the
no
or,
—
phenomenon of
diarm/ty
phenomenon
I may
objections
rest
must also
Neo-Platonists.
tne
°f
at
pro
capable
there
be moreover, essentially the
of the Veda doctrine (in the
with
163),
be
also
must
Sakhepat
the iittx£lva
tain silly
will
now
which
remaining
present
If the first be the
other
This
magnum
of
priori, that
a
understood
that that
world
so, and therefore
aoaroXi).
Live.
the
of
words, that to the
to-Live the
be
itself,
of
that
—
of
of
a
which
know this Be
we
Will,
merely in and through the
ing,
act of willing, it is impossible for us to
say or to com
prehend what it is or does after having given up this act.
Hence the Negation is for us who are the phenomenon of
the
the
Will
as
a passage
Between the
is
thing-in-itself
into
sharp
Plato) has for its
object
beatant.
The
life,
vitam
tion
and emancipation
enunciated
and
the Hindoos there
The former (with the
opposition.
a
nothing.
the Greeks
ethics of
to facilitate the
latter,
from life
in the very first
on
exception of
leading
of a
happy
the contrary, the libera
altogether
proposition
—
as
is
directly
Sankhya
the
of
Karika.
A similar, and, owing to its operating by means of the
senses, a stronger contrast will be perceived on contem
plating the beautiful
of
the
Florence,
whose
ceremonies
of a
antique
reliefs
sarcophagus
represent
the
of
the
whole
wedding from the first
gallery
series
offer until
(323)
of
the
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
324
time
if
Hymen's torch lights the way to the Thorus,
same time calls to mind the Christian coffin
when
one
the
at
its black hangings in token
with
degree
significant.
in
opposite
an
the
signifies
The
top.
the
on
crucifix
Both
to
wish
the
with
is
in
the
console
in
death,
justice.
Will-to-Live
the
of
affirmation
and
grief,
with
each
and
way,
of
opposition
highest
each
The
one
life
which
undoubtedly remains, however rapidly
The other indicates by the symbols
its forms may change.
of sorrow and death the negation of the Will-to-Live, and
throughout all time
the
emancipation
that of
affirmation
ethics
ment to
Old,
the
this relation.
lead to
away from it
in the last
resort
of
denial
from
evil and
of
precisely the
to
the
all
does
Testament, on the
law insufficient, indeed breaks
It preaches,
is to be
3.
which
love
faith,
of one's neighbor, and
com
This is the way to emancipation
from the world, for assuredly, in spite of
oneself.
rationalistic-protestant
peculiarly the
as
the New Testa
which nevertheless
Romans vii., Galatians, ii.
the dominion of Grace
through
plete
—
is right.
relation
the contrary,
attained
between
Will-to-Live
The New
declares the
—
opposition
the
of
the Law
of
emancipation.
hand,
other
all
special
according to the ecclesiastical conception
The Old Testament, namely, places man
the domination
under
on
is the
philosophy stands in the same
of European philosophy as that
My
not
of
negation
and
Christianity
regards which
where sorrow and death
Graeco-Roman heathenism
world
spirit
Christianity
and
the
of
from the
Between the
reign.
soul
negation
misrepresentations, asceticism is
New Testament; but this is
the
of
the
of
Will-to-Live,
and
the above
transition from the Old Testament to the
dominion
tion
of
the law to the dominion
through
from
the
Christ,
merely
All the
works
dominion
signifies
to
salvation
of
sin
sensu
proprio,
virtues
to the
philosophical
Ethics
moral
retained the spirit of the
{i.
its
e.,
and
foundationless
moral
of
New, from the
faith, from justifica
through
death to
the
the
mediator,
life in
eternal
transition
negation of the
from
the
Will-to-Live.
which have preceded me have
Old Testament with its absolute
and
goalless)
moral
law,
and
commandments and prohibitions to which
the ruling Jehovah is added in
all
tacitly
thought, however diverse
THE
may be
It first
basis
forms
the
the
on
ethic,
DOCTRINE OF THE WILL-TO-LIVE
of
has
hand,
these,
At the
My
matter.
and
purpose,
goal.
It is therefore really
Testament,
Old,
the
Judaism
"
doctrines
naked
however
of
this
true
the
called
paradoxical
to the root
in the
conceived
accordingly
despotic theism. "
be
might
and
from the former.
emancipation
issue
and
—
straightforwardly the
indicates the negation of
but
by
entirety
theoretically in
In
this
Christian
seem
may
the matter,
New
the
of
spirit
the rest hold in their
while
finally
must
accomplished,
admits
the world,
of
undesirability
go
basis,
fully
when
time it
same
the Will as the way toward
of
the
of
demonstrates theoretically the metaphysical
and human love, and then points out the
all
to which
lead.
statements
Justice
of
goal
and
other
325
sense
my
Philosophy,
to those
remain
that
mere
do
who
standing
not
the
on
surface.
He
is
who
capable
human desires
dividual
directions,
from the
be
in their very
and
The horrors
accursed.
is full
then
are
in
characters
from
the
the
which
essence
misery
necessary result
the Will-to-Live
in their in
and
they
and
Will-to-Live
entire
and
sinful
that point
at
one
; but that, if this be so,
that consequently the
and
evil
soon see that
will
sinful
another
one
crossing
occasion
side
other
originally
first begin to be
fortuitously
they,
where
deeper thinking
of
cannot
the
itself
the world
sum
objectifies
be
accursed,
must
with which
of
malice
must
of
the
itself,
to
occurring in the unbroken chain
in other words, are the mere
of necessity supply motives
affirmation of the
the
on
Will-to-Live (com
commentary
which
the
circumstances
—
"
pare
German
implies
A
but
Theology,"*
fault is
a
That
p. 93).
our existence
itself
by death.
will not
readily complain of his fate,
Hamlet boasts of Horatio will be true of
character
noble
rather
proved
what
him:
"
For thou hast been
As one, in suffering all, that
And this is
nizing his
sharing in
about
explicable
own
their
being
suffers
from the fact that
also
in
fate, beholds
others,
nothing."
such a
and
almost
him harder fate than his own, for
•Deutsche Theologia, Edited
by
one, recog
therefore
invariably
which
reason
Franz Pfeiffer, Stuttgart,
as
round
he
1851.
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
326
himself to
cannot
bring
egoist,
on the
self,
interest in their
will take no
attention
to his own,
in
oneself
proved
which
leads
in
to
such
all
suffer
sarily
supposes
to the
can
the limitation of
person,
in life from the hand
thing-in-itself
its
kernel,
ation
as
its
departure; it is
proceeds
aforesaid
and
is
act
covert
and
the Will pre
of
of a
just
—
must neces
to one's own
favorable
career
fortune.
the
of
world
we
the first
as
from the
proceed
—
find
shall
we
concentration, the
itself
a
act
of
of
as
us
itself
an
of
which
present
creeps
only
the
individual
indeed,
—
its
one
For here
altogether
importance
subordinate
bye-concern
secret
world
phenomenon!
as
if
hand,
other
world, the
empirical
given
as
gener
the point of
thing,
the
on
contrast,
presents
one
special
continuance
affirmation
him
the punctum saliens of the world-egg,
from the
which
ment,
of
so
dis
so
extends
self-consciousness
greatest
What
mainspring.
itself is
lottery
a
from the Will-to-Live
presents
which
its
the possibility
our conception
—
will
of
directly proceed,
Will; for the
presents
tickets in
The
loss.
great
Will
longer
the
and reckons on
If in
com
the
of
suffering, that he who
no
all
love
surrender
this
which
takes
human
and
a position of
one who
as
frequent
great sensitiveness and
justice
finally
phenomenon
self
fate,
phantasms,
devote his whole
will
It is precisely this recognition
phenomenon from which, as I have
alien
an
often
tinctly in
and
wraiths
but
reality to him
all
the result.
being
plaints
mere
as
others
and regards
limits
who
An ignoble
latter.
the
complain of
hand,
other
as
a
in;
a
anomaly, affording frequent material for laugh
It might even strike us that the devil only wanted
paradoxical
ter.
to hide his
the
world
illico post
speak
coitum
seriously,
especially
when
concentrated
of
so
the
whole
The
sense,
so
share
more
by
For
on
the
fixation
rascality
this
infinitely,
has
not
a
of
remarked
Diaboli?
fact that the
of
passion
of
is his currency,
coition
who
auditur
cachinnus
rests
into the
unspeakably,
performs
thereby, for
game
his kingdom.
love,
noble
which, to
sexual
particular
is the
and
how
desire,
woman
it is
quintessence
world, for it promises
and
extravagantly much, and
little.
contemptibly
of the woman in
generation is, in a certain
innocent than that
of
the
man; in
so
far,
THE DOCTRINE
OF
WILL-TO-LIVE
THE
327
namely, as the latter gives the Will to the being about to
be procreated, the Will which is the primal sin, and hence
the source
the
gives
it
as
and
To the Will is
and
by
sense
woe
the
a
Lingam
is
pregnancy
tell
more
the
can
again
once
which, it
of
possibility
in
the
on
us,
itself
affirmed
Brahmanic
well-known
The
inas
World-focus,
the
Will-to-Live has
!
woman
the way to emanci
given
means of
thus
is
the
while
evil,
which opens
generation
"The
Woe,
Conception
lect,"
of
act
this
"
laments :
and
wickedness
says:
In
anew."
"
all
The
pation.
much
of
knowing faculty
light
hand,
other
Intel
the
of
find its
emancipation
saying
Yoni. "
the
out,
way
appears
once
more.
From this is to be
that
while
would
she
even
and
shame,
other case
will
an
coitus
completed
pregnancy
in that, as
it,
alone
at
it,
signified, so
which
the
while
sign
is
all
and
notwith
trace
a
in
of
every
regarded as equiva
here every other sign of the
in the highest degree ;
This is to be
so.
has been
the
the pregnancy
pure
generation
yet
woman
do
not
bears
coitus
remains
contracted
shame
which
innocent,
is
and
and
explained
sense
a
brings
purgation
in the
coitus.
disgrace in the
so nearly
indeed to
related
a
to
certain
honorable.
extent
The
of
said, pregnancy in a certain
least affords the prospect of,
guilt
Hence the
matter,
certain
shames
does
act
for shame,
above
or
from the
a
infallibly
lent to the thing
in the
ground
her pregnancy without
kind of pride.
Since
wear
with
the significant phenomenon,
surprised
any
like to sink into the
standing
with
explained
woman
coitus
wholly that
is chiefly the
of
the
of
the man, pregnancy
From the father the child re
affair
woman.
its Will, its character; from the mother its Intellect.
The latter is the emancipating principle, the former is the
ceives
binding
principle.
The
symbol of
Will-to-Live, in time, in
through the Intellect, is the
of the
light
gree
of
keeping
birth
of
nancy,
the understanding,
its
of
clearness, which
the Will-to-Live as
goes
about
continuous existence
all
increase
the
symbol
light
of
of
the
indeed in the highest de
ever anew allied
to this
Will,
emancipation, is the renewed
Man.
The sign of this is preg
of
up the possibility
which
coitus;
and
is
the
spite of
therefore in frankness and free-
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
328
dom,
indeed in pride,
and
the coitus slinks away like
while
a criminal.
Some
the
of
marital
have
fathers
church
only be
should
cohabitation
taught
that
allowed when
it
even
occurs
merely for the sake of the procreation of children, toil povrj
Tzaidoiziia
Clemens Alex. (Strom. 1, iii. c. n.) says.
as
(The
referring to
passages
in P. E. Lind. de
collected
Clemens
(Strom,
iii.
This
Pythagoreans.
For if the
rect.
sake, the
c.
be
and
senseless, inasmuch
blooded
purpose
merely in
such a
place
upon
themselves;
it
stood
in the
one
same
impulse
as
a
moral
even
might
say
lust
few
of
and
cold
in the
this
—
action that
attained.
the
and
being
be there
should
questionable
very
without
passion,
human
a
is already
purpose
deliberation,
sheer
with
to
its
as
that he
order
i).
the
strictly speaking, incor
longer desired for its own
no
subjective
any
it
sexual
of
propagation
pressure,
c.
to
view
the human race is then superfluous
the
physical
this
the Will-to-Live has already appeared,
negation of
and
without
found
Christianorum
attributes
3)
be
will
subject
is, however,
coitus
Besides,
the
coelibatu
world
be
would
would
take
it indeed that
to generation from the mere
relation
deliberate
cold-blooded
does
murder
to a death-stroke given in anger.
The
condemnation
based
on
the
impulse is
bility
is
the
was
rasty
A
recognized
cloister
embraced
of
the
explained
Christianity,
of
ance
is
an
to
that it
a
this state of
those
like
holding
similar manner
them, inasmuch
certain
severe
views
is
was not
deadly
assemblage
Will),
the
limits,
is
by
alone
of
possi
From
appear
that
human beings
who
pede
seek
existence
companionship
who
{i. e., the
of
human
have
surrender
through
itself,
since
surrendering
suited to
affirmed,
the
before the
renunciation,
and
is
the
sin.
obedience
and
these
maintained.
the
living
but
still
sight
of
themselves in a
strengthens their resolution
as
pleasures
tendency is asoetic,
whose
as
which
Will
the
of
sexual
though
Will-to-live is
the
lighten partly the
more
within
since
through
poverty, chastity,
individual
together
is,
eliminated
negation
this is to be
unnatural
all
ground;
satisfied, that
propagation
of
of
opposite
and
consoles
common
living,
nature and affords
THE DOCTRINE OF THE WILL-TO-LIVE
innocent
recreation
amid
the normal conception
such
a
of
a union
society
the
And
cloister.
fools
and
idiots,
according to any philosophy but mine ?
The inner spirit and meaning of the
life,
nized
oneself as
than
desires to
and
away from
the end
of
us
its
all
this
capable
as
existence
this
strengthen
by casting
by awaiting
worthless,
deprived
order
cloister
has recog
one
better
and
do
this world offers,
what
life
our
must
genuine
a
of
call
can
who
as one
That
maintain
pleasures
confidence, in
and
and
worthy
is,
by despising
ours
conviction
rest
generally, is this:
as of asceticism
This is
sacrifices.
severe
many
of
329
that
of
when
its empty bait in
at last the hour of
death
comes we may welcome it as that of emancipation.
Saniassism has entirely the same tendency and significance,
as also the monasticism of the Buddhists.
Certainly in no
case
does
seldom conform
so
practice
to
in that
as
theory
simply because its fundamental conception
A true monk is
is so exalted, and abusus optimi pessimus.
But in by far
a being in
the highest degree honorable.
of
Monasticism,
the
the majority of cases
which
at
a
there is
little
as
of
cowl
is
a
the real
mere
monk as
mask, behind
there is in one
masquerade.
The
notion
Will entirely
physical
Will,
devoting
of
and
therefore
and
reserve
facilitating
of
means
surrendering the individual
to that of another is a
and
without
the
suitable
a
negation
of
one's
own
of
the
indeed small,
yet
allegorical
vehicle
truth.
The
number
this
notwithstanding
half
the
Trappists.
unwilling
Trappists is
regular
of
Poverty,
of
mankind
obedience, lack
consists
of all
of
enjoy
ments, or even of the most necessary comforts, often com
bined with compulsory chastity, or one brought about
through
defect, is
the Trappists
methodically
other
class
aesthetic
and
are
her
lot.
the
without
to
chapters
debrepo? nXobs; to
taken
their
conduct
be
measures
hope
betterment,
of
reckoned
have
effect
The distinction is merely that
thing of their own free choice,
to
designated
the
by
while
which
the
the
I in my
expression
has already sufficiently
fundamental principles
which nature
through
that
ESSAYS
SCHOPENHAUER'S
33o
her order, particularly if one
springing from the latter those
of
and
malice
man produce
of
cisely this necessity
is
salvation
(Matth.
"
&e7v.
xix.
(
"
transire,
there
24)
dtsXOeTv,
paiftidos
in
expressed
"
:
3j
in
war and
that
izXobatov
suffering
of
pre
-
for
eternal
the
Savior
did
KdpyjXov
ftaatXeiav
rijv
els
But
peace.
saying
iart
eoKoitmrepdv
in
directly
the dissension
others which
involuntary
of
to the evils
reckons
rpomjparos
$eob
rob
elaeX-
Facilius est, funem ancorarium per foramen acus
divitem regnum divinum ingredi.*) Those
quam
are
have
who
taken
their
eternal
salvation
with
seriousness, have voluntarily chosen poverty when
fate had denied it to them, and when they had been born
great
in
Thus
wealth.
Sakya Muni who, born
Buddha,
a
prince,
willingly took to the beggar's staff ; and Francis of Assisi,
the founder of the mendicant orders, who as a young
where the daughters of
the notables
gallant at the ball
"
Now Mr. Francis, will
sitting together, when asked :
"
not soon find a choice among these beauties?
re
were
you
plied,
tiful ! "
"
I have
"
selected
Who?
"
"
for
left everything,
afterward
one
myself
La poverta!
"
wandered
and
beau
much more
Upon
which
he
soon
through the land
begging.
He
who
through such
necessary to
are; he will
much on
our
recognize
sorrow
that
their
of
account
has
considerations
salvation,
and
should
we
happiness
how
realized
suffering mostly
envy
as of
others not so
their
unhappi-
ness.
For the
same
reason
the
stoicism
defies fate is indeed
a
life,
for making the
and serviceable
borne; but it
suffering,
if,
How
covered
feel it ?
For the rest,
rare.
It may be
very
mine au
arises
requisite to a
ness of
of
to
by
a
present
the
shall
true
this
view
For
salvation.
latter be bettered
strong coating, it does
degree of stoicism is
and
of
better to be
certain
affected
which
the sorrows
turn
out
to be
not
not
bonne
jeu.
Where, however, it is genuine, it
feelinglessness, from a lack of
brightness, sensibility, and imagination, which are
mauvais
mostly from
energy,
a
the
of
armor against
stands opposed
it hardens the heart.
by
good
the
stoicism.
mere
heartfelt
Germans
sorrow.
are
The
phlegma
and
heavi
especially favorable to this kind
THE
Unjust
DOCTRINE OF THE WILL-TO-LIVE
or malicious
them,
perform
signs
Will-to-Live,
their
are, in
acts
of
and
the
salvation
its
in
negation, and therewith
world ; and hence of the
long
school
suffering which they have to
reach it.
But in respect of him
the above actions,
they are,
of
who
has to
then is
Here
the
suffering; for this must
thy
and
—
and
they
suffer through
an
physically
benefit,
measure
thou
in
the
understanding
through before
metaphysically a good, and at bottom a
help to lead him to his true salvation.
World-Spirit
from
pass
although
of
which
consists
which
emancipation
of
who
affirmation
distance
the
of
accordingly
them from the true
separates
the
of
those
of
respect
strength
331
exist
evil,
since
of
as
they
thy labor
all
other
things exist.
Man
But
—
thou
canst
what
have
I
pied
a
suffering
World-Spirit
reason
Man
and
—
for
me
—
And
thy
existence
am
so
it is
yet
labor
much
am occu
tedium; How
and
so
much
?
an
for
equivalent
it
and
sorrows;
If I
?
unoccupied
reward
miserable
all
its
of
I
if
trouble;
offer
such
troubles
have I from
is this
all
thy
precisely
by
emptiness.
That really
Indeed?
exceeds
powers
my
of com
prehension.
World-Spirit
—
that the
him
to
not
If now,
we
by
human
from
ment,"
also
"
( Compare
ed.,
indeed in
sorrows, caused
beings, but
3rd
considerations such as the above,
very high standpoint, see a justifi
of mankind, this does not extend to
a
sorrows
whose
considerable.
vol.
ii.,
p.
World
404,
this
as
seq.)
such
thousandfold shapes without the
pation
the
that
which
the
conditioned
by
and
Present
question
freedom
reflection?
of
there
Will
anxious
in
emanci
The suffering
is to be justified merely from the fact
Will-to-live, because out of itself in the phe
animal
nomenal
is
Will
The
tormented
arises:
wherefore
great measure
their co-operation, are
without
fore
of
Ought I to tell him
exactly in that it teaches
For this highest dedication life itself
can, through
for the
the animals,
{Aside.)
consists
him.
that is to say,
cation
life
for it?
wish
prepare
must
I know it.
of
value
world
world, finds
nothing
to
hand,
and
since
it is
a
SCHOPENHAUER'S ESSAYS
332
hungry
of
Will
must
its phenomena,
For the
another.
devour its
each
rest
tions to the Doctrine
which
will
be found
step
I
own
of
refer
of
the
flesh.
the
reader
Suffering
or
private
speculation of
even
at
to my
of
the
the
"
scale
cost
of
Contribu
World,"
in
capacity for
than in the man.
demonstrated that the
suffering in the animal is much less
What might be added further than this
thetical
Hence the
lives
which
mythical,
the
and
may
reader
might appear
thus be
himself.
hypo
left to
the
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....
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