Are we fated to see the world as we do?
Nietzsche claims that to the most fundamental questions, every man already has the answer predetermined by his physiology and character.
Jack London's Martin Eden, a veritable Hercules with the head of Homer, joyfully accepts the theory of evolution: "I am an individualist. I believe the race is to the swiftest, the battle to the strongest." In such a worldview, he is blessed by nature, and the purpose of nature - a Noah picked by God. Nature has given him the physical and mental distrinction to be master, and in the joy of mastery, he isn't haunted by the cruelty and indifference of nature. He has seen the power of nature - as a sailor - and finds it beautiful.
But consider a man damned by nature with a weak and sickly body and a slow forgetful mind. For him to hold the evolutionary worldview, he would be the damned, the ill-begotten, mistake of nature. Ill-fit to the world, which his body and mind are tormented and confused by. Against his own kind he is constantly beaten from youth in contests of physical prowess, as well as argument. He is faced from childhood with the inferiority of his body - its weakness, obesity, sickliness - and rages at God for it. Still worse, his mind is slow to grasp, and forgetful, and he is ever the fool in an argument - forgetting the reasons why he holds the position he's just enounciated. He cannot win with them, the quick, the strong, and the sharp of mind.
He retreats to those among whom his inferiority is not so apparant, or where he actually holds the upper hand. Above all, he retreats from the struggles of men, in which he cannot hope to triumph, and with his resentment at the recent humiliations, he goes were his kind condemn the strong and the smart. One strong of body but a fool, he would go among the ruffians, who's angry condemnation of intelligent conversation gives away their insecurity. The fox who couldn't reach the grapes tells herself they were sour. The fool who couldn't reach the thoughts tells himselves they were nonesence. But these kind are usually satisfied by the sense of power they possess and the pleasures derived from physical well being, and are therefore good-natured.
If he was weak but clever, he would find those who see the strong as brutes and fools. Once after being thrown down and kicked by an angry man in the marketplace, Socrates was asked why he didn't defend himself, and answered "If an donkey kicked me, should I jump at it and beat it with my nuckles?" However, the strong man can always force a fight, while the clever man cannot force an argument.
So depending on one's natural gifts, one will believe in different ideals of man. Not unusually one finds foolish people who respect and hearken to the smart. When decisions need to be made, or plans drawn up, (whether in a football game, war, or street fight), the quick of mind are needed to see the situation clearly and confidently lead. Generals and quarterbacks need to have agile and able minds, else they show themselves up in the first few encounters.
Let me try to determine the laws within a man which compel him toward a given philosophy.
1. To see himself as a success.
Even if a man claims he is the greatest sinner, fool, coward. He will only claim all this if he believes the making of those claims makes him successful (as in Christianity), or believes it an act of courage to admit these things and overcome them. Or, there is some other ideal he can fall back on, as a child does into the role of a capricious innocent.
However, its not so simple as choosing the viewpoint from which one looks best. Since one already has a viewpoint from which the choosing itself is judged.
Why did Augustine convert to Christianity?
To be continued ...
Jack London's Martin Eden, a veritable Hercules with the head of Homer, joyfully accepts the theory of evolution: "I am an individualist. I believe the race is to the swiftest, the battle to the strongest." In such a worldview, he is blessed by nature, and the purpose of nature - a Noah picked by God. Nature has given him the physical and mental distrinction to be master, and in the joy of mastery, he isn't haunted by the cruelty and indifference of nature. He has seen the power of nature - as a sailor - and finds it beautiful.
But consider a man damned by nature with a weak and sickly body and a slow forgetful mind. For him to hold the evolutionary worldview, he would be the damned, the ill-begotten, mistake of nature. Ill-fit to the world, which his body and mind are tormented and confused by. Against his own kind he is constantly beaten from youth in contests of physical prowess, as well as argument. He is faced from childhood with the inferiority of his body - its weakness, obesity, sickliness - and rages at God for it. Still worse, his mind is slow to grasp, and forgetful, and he is ever the fool in an argument - forgetting the reasons why he holds the position he's just enounciated. He cannot win with them, the quick, the strong, and the sharp of mind.
He retreats to those among whom his inferiority is not so apparant, or where he actually holds the upper hand. Above all, he retreats from the struggles of men, in which he cannot hope to triumph, and with his resentment at the recent humiliations, he goes were his kind condemn the strong and the smart. One strong of body but a fool, he would go among the ruffians, who's angry condemnation of intelligent conversation gives away their insecurity. The fox who couldn't reach the grapes tells herself they were sour. The fool who couldn't reach the thoughts tells himselves they were nonesence. But these kind are usually satisfied by the sense of power they possess and the pleasures derived from physical well being, and are therefore good-natured.
If he was weak but clever, he would find those who see the strong as brutes and fools. Once after being thrown down and kicked by an angry man in the marketplace, Socrates was asked why he didn't defend himself, and answered "If an donkey kicked me, should I jump at it and beat it with my nuckles?" However, the strong man can always force a fight, while the clever man cannot force an argument.
So depending on one's natural gifts, one will believe in different ideals of man. Not unusually one finds foolish people who respect and hearken to the smart. When decisions need to be made, or plans drawn up, (whether in a football game, war, or street fight), the quick of mind are needed to see the situation clearly and confidently lead. Generals and quarterbacks need to have agile and able minds, else they show themselves up in the first few encounters.
Let me try to determine the laws within a man which compel him toward a given philosophy.
1. To see himself as a success.
Even if a man claims he is the greatest sinner, fool, coward. He will only claim all this if he believes the making of those claims makes him successful (as in Christianity), or believes it an act of courage to admit these things and overcome them. Or, there is some other ideal he can fall back on, as a child does into the role of a capricious innocent.
However, its not so simple as choosing the viewpoint from which one looks best. Since one already has a viewpoint from which the choosing itself is judged.
Why did Augustine convert to Christianity?
To be continued ...
posted by Dmitri D. Krasik at 7:25 AM
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