|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
Adventures in Philosophy |
 |
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
by Johann Gottfried Herder
Every thing in nature is connected: one state pushes forward and prepares another. If then man be the last and highest link, closing the chain of terrestrial organization, he must begin the chain of a higher order of creatures as its lowest link, and is probably, therefore, the middle ring between two adjoining systems of the creation. He cannot pass into any other organization upon earth, without turning backwards, and wandering in a circle: for him to stand still is impossible; since no living power in the dominions of the most active goodness is at rest; thus there must be a step before him, close to him, yet as exalted above him, as he is preeminent over the brute, to whom he is at the same time nearly allied. This view of things, which is supported by all the laws of nature, alone gives us the key to the wonderful phenomenon of man, and at the same time to the only philosophy of his history. For thus, I. The singular inconsistency of man's condition becomes clear. As an animal he tends to the earth, and is attached to it as his habitation: as a man he has within him the seeds of immortality, which require to be planted in another soil. As an animal he can satisfy his wants; and men that are contented with this feel themselves sufficiently happy here below: but they who seek a nobler destination find every thing around them imperfect and incomplete; what is most noble is never accomplished upon earth, what is most pure is seldom firm and durable: this theater is but a place of exercise and trial for the powers of our hearts and minds. The history of the human species, with what it has attempted, and what has befallen it, the exertions it has made, and the revolutions it has undergone sufficiently proves this. Now and then a philosopher, a good man, arose, and scattered opinions, precepts, and actions on the flood of time: a few waves played in circles around them, but these the stream soon carried away and obliterated: the jewel of their noble purposes sunk to the bottom. Fools overpowered the councils of the wise; and spendthrifts inherited the treasures of wisdom collected by their forefathers. Far as the life of man here below is from being calculated for eternity, equally far is this incessantly revolving sphere from being a repository of permanent works of art, a garden of never-fading plants, a seat to be eternally inhabited. We come and go: every moment brings thousands into the world, and takes thousands out of it. The earth is an inn for travelers; a planet, on which birds of passage rest themselves, and from which they hasten away. The brute lives out his life; and, if his years be too few to attain higher ends, his inmost purpose is accomplished: his capacities exist, and he is what he was intended to be. Man alone is in contradiction with himself, and with the earth: for, being the most perfect of all creatures, his capacities are the farthest from being perfected, even when he attains the longest term of life before he quits the world. But the reason is evident: his state, being the last upon this earth, is the first in another sphere of existence, with respect to which he appears here as a child making his first essays. Thus he is the representative of two worlds at once; and hence the apparent duplicity of his essence. II. Thus it becomes clear, what part must predominate in most men here below. The greater part of man is of the animal kind: he has brought into the world only a capacity for humanity, which must be first formed in him by diligence and labor. In how few is it rightly formed! and how slender and delicate is the divine plant even in the best! Throughout life the brute prevails over the man, and most permit it to sway them at pleasure. This incessantly drags man down, while the spirit ascends, while the heart pants after a freer sphere: and as the present appears more lively to a sensual creature than the remote, as the visible operates upon him more powerfully than the invisible, it is not difficult to conjecture, which way the balance will incline. Of how little pure delight, of how little pure knowledge and virtue, is man capable! And were he capable of more, to how little is he accustomed! The noblest compositions here below are debased by inferior propensities, as the voyage of life is perplexed by contrary winds; and the creator, mercifully strict, has mixed the two causes of disorder together, that one might correct the other, and that the germ of immortality might be more effectually fostered by tempests, than by gentle gales. A man who has experienced much has learned much: the careless and indolent knows not what is within him; and still less does he feel with conscious satisfaction how far his powers extend. Thus life is a conflict, and the garland of pure immortal humanity is with difficulty obtained. The goal is before the runner: by him who fights for virtue, in death the palm will be obtained. III. Thus, if superior creatures look down upon us, they may view us in the same light as we do the middle species, with which nature makes a transition from one element to another. The ostrich flaps his feeble wings to assist himself in running, but they cannot enable him to fly: his heavy body confines him to the ground. Yet the organizing parent has taken care of him, as well as of every middle creature; for they are all perfect in themselves, and only appear defective to our eyes. It is the same with man here below: his defects are perplexing to an earthly mind; but a superior spirit, that inspects the internal structure, and sees more links of the chain, may indeed pity, but cannot despise him. He perceives why man must quit the world in so many different states, young and old, wise and foolish, grown gray in second childhood, or an embryo yet unborn. Omnipotent goodness embraces madness and deformity, all the degrees of cultivation, and all the errors of man, and wants not balsams to heal the wounds that death alone could mitigate. Since probably the future state springs out of the present, as our organization from inferior ones, its business is no doubt more closely connected with our existence here than we imagine. The garden above blooms only with plants, of which the seeds have been sown here, and put forth their first germs from a coarser husk. If, then, as we have seen, sociality, friendship, or active participation in the pains and pleasures of other, be the principal end, to which humanity is directed; this finest flower of human life must necessarily there attain the vivifying form, the overshadowing height, for which our heart thirsts in vain in any earthly situation. Our brethren above, therefore, assuredly love us with more warmth and purity of affection, than we can bear to them: for they see our state more clearly, to them the moment of time is no more, all discrepancies are harmonized, and in us they are probably educating, unseen, partners of their happiness and companions of their labors. But one step father, and the oppressed spirit can breathe more freely, the wounded heart recovers: they see the passenger approach and stay his sliding feet with a powerful hand.
Excerpted from Outlines of a Philosophy of Humanity, by Johann Gottfried Herder |
|
|||||||
|
Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Book... Enrich Your Life With a Philosophy Magazine...
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||
|
|
||
[Homepage] [Newsletter] [Search] [Support the Academy] [Link to Us] [Contact the Academy] [Citing Articles from Our Website] [Privacy Policy & Disclaimer]
Copyright 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, & 2004-05 by The Radical Academy. All Rights Reserved.