Philosophical Fragments
Sören Kierkegaard
The Absolute Paradox: A Metaphysical Crotchet
(The 3rd Chapter of Philosophical Fragments)
In spite of the fact that Socrates studied with all diligence to acquire a knowledge of
human nature and to understand himself, and in spite of the fame accorded him through
the centuries as one who beyond all other men had an insight into the human heart, he
has himself admitted that the reason for his shrinking from reflection upon the nature of
such beings as Pegasus and the Gorgons was that he, the life-long student of human
nature, had not yet been able to make up his mind whether he was a stranger monster
than Typhon, or a creature of a gentler and simpler sort, partaking of something divine
(Phaedrus, 229 E). This seems to be a paradox. However, one should not think
slightingly of the paradoxical; for the paradox is the source of the thinker’s passion,
and the thinker without a paradox is like a lover without feeling: a paltry mediocrity.
But the highest pitch of every passion is always to will its own downfall; and so it is
also the supreme passion of the Reason to seek a collision, though this collision must
in one way or another prove its undoing. The supreme paradox of all thought is the
attempt to discover something that thought cannot think. This passion is at bottom
present in all thinking, even in the thinking of the individual, in so far as in thinking he
participates in something transcending himself. But habit dulls our sensibilities, and
prevents us from perceiving it. So for example the scientists tell us that our walking is
a constant falling. But a sedate and proper gentleman who walks to his office in the
morning and back again at noon, probably thinks this to be an exaggeration, for his
progress is clearly a case of mediation; how should it occur to him that he is
constantly falling when he religiously follows his nose!
But in order to make a beginning, let us now assume a daring proposition; let us
assume that we know what man is.[1] Here we have that criterion of the Truth, which
in the whole course of Greek philosophy was either sought, or doubted, or postulated,
or made fruitful. Is it not remarkable that the Greeks should have borne us this
testimony? And is it not an epitome, as it were, of the significance of Greek culture, an
epigram of its own writing, with which it is also better served than with the frequently
voluminous disquisitions sometimes devoted to it? Thus the proposition is well worth
positing, and also for another reason, since we have already explained it in the two
preceding chapters; while anyone who attempts to explain Socrates differently may
well beware lest he fall into the snare of the earlier or later Greek skepticism. For
unless we hold fast to the Socratic doctrine of Recollection, and to his principle that
every individual man is Man, Sextus Empiricus stands ready to make the transition
involved in "teaching" not only difficult but impossible; and Protagoras will begin
where Sextus Empiricus leaves off, maintaining that man is the measure of all things,
in the sense that the individual man is the measure for others, but by no means in the
Socratic sense that each man is his own measure, neither more nor less.
So then we know what man is, and this wisdom, which I shall be the last to hold in
light esteem, may progressively become richer and more significant, and with it also
the Truth. But now the Reason stands still, just as Socrates did; for the paradoxical
passion of the Reason is aroused and seeks a collision; without rightly understanding
itself, it is bent upon its own downfall. This is like what happens in Connection with
the paradox of love. Man lives undisturbed a self-centered life, until there awakens
within him the paradox of self-love, in the form of love for another, the object of his
longing. (Self-love lies as the ground of all love or is the ground in which all love
perishes; there-fore if we conceive a religion of love, this religion need make but one
assumption, as epigrammatic as true, and take its actuality for granted, namely, the
condition that man loves himself, in order to command him to love his neighbor as
himself.) The lover is so completely transformed by the paradox of love that he
scarcely recognizes himself; so say the poets, who are the spokesmen of love, and so
say also the lovers themselves, since they permit the poets merely to take the words
from their lips, but not the passion from their hearts. In like manner the paradoxical
passion of the Reason, while as yet a mere presentiment, retroactively affects man and
his self-knowledge, so that he who thought to know himself is no longer certain
whether he is a more strangely composite animal than Typhon, or if perchance his
nature contains a gentler and diviner part. (o , , . Phaedrus,230 A)
But what is this unknown something with which the Reason collides when inspired by
its paradoxical passion, with the result of unsettling even man’s knowledge of
himself? It is the Unknown. It is not a human being, in so far as we know what man is;
nor is it any other known thing. So let us call this unknown something: the God. It is
nothing more than a name we assign to it. The idea of demonstrating that this unknown
something (the God) exists, could scarcely suggest itself to the Reason. For if the God
does not exist it would of course be impossible to prove it; and if he does exist it
would be folly to attempt it. For at the very outset, in beginning my proof, I would
have presupposed it, not as doubtful but as certain (a presupposition is never doubtful,
for the very reason that it is a presupposition), since otherwise I would not begin,
readily understanding that the whole would be impossible if he did not exist. But if
when I speak of proving the God’s existence I mean that I propose to prove that the
Unknown, which exists, is the God, then I express myself unfortunately. For in that
case I do not prove anything, least of all an existence, but merely develop the content
of a conception. Generally speaking, it is a difficult matter to prove that anything
exists; and what is still worse for the intrepid souls who undertake the venture, the
difficulty is such that fame scarcely awaits those who concern themselves with it. The
entire demonstration always turns into something very different and becomes an
additional development of the consequences that flow from my having assumed that
the object in question exists. Thus I always reason from existence, not toward
existence, whether I move in the sphere of palpable sensible fact or in the realm of
thought. I do not for example prove that a stone exists, but that some existing thing is a
stone. The procedure in a court of justice does not prove that a criminal exists, but that
the accused, whose existence is given, is a criminal. Whether we call existence an
accessorium or the eternal prius, it is never subject to demonstration. Let us take
ample time for consideration. We have no such reason for haste as have those who
from concern for themselves or for the God or for some other thing, must make haste to
get existence demonstrated. Under such circumstances there may indeed be need for
haste, especially if the prover sincerely seeks to appreciate the danger that he himself,
or the thing in question, may be non-existent unless the proof is finished and does not
surreptitiously entertain the thought that it exists whether he succeeds in proving it or
not.
If it were proposed to prove Napoleon’s existence from Napoleon’s deeds, would it
not be a most curious proceeding? His existence does indeed explain his deeds, but
the deeds do not prove his existence, unless I have already understood the word "his"
so as thereby to have assumed his existence. But Napoleon is only an individual, and
in so far there exists no absolute relationship between him and his deeds; some other
person might have performed the same deeds. Perhaps this is the reason why I cannot
pass from the deeds to existence. If I call these deeds the deeds of Napoleon the proof
becomes superfluous, since I have already named him; if I ignore this, I can never
prove from the deeds that they are Napoleon’s, but only in a purely ideal manner that
such deeds are the deeds of a great general, and so forth. But between the God and his
works there is an absolute relationship; God is not a name but a concept. Is this
perhaps the reason that his essentia involvit existentiam?[2] The works of God are
such that only the God can perform them. Just so, but where then are the works of the
God? The works from which I would deduce his existence are not directly and
immediately given. The wisdom in nature, the goodness, the wisdom in the governance
of the world -- are all these manifest, perhaps, upon the very face of things? Are we
not here confronted with the most terrible temptations to doubt, and is it not
impossible finally to dispose of all these doubts? But from such an order of things I
will surely not attempt to prove God’s existence; and even if I began I would never
finish, and would in addition have to live constantly in suspense, lest something so
terrible should suddenly happen that my bit of proof would be demolished. From what
works then do I propose to derive the proof? From the works as apprehended through
an ideal interpretation, i.e., such as they do not immediately reveal themselves. But in
that case it is not from the works that I make the proof; I merely develop the ideality I
have presupposed, and because of my confidence in this I make so bold as to defy all
objections, even those that have not yet been made. In beginning my proof I
presuppose the ideal interpretation, and also that I will be successful in carrying it
through; but what else is this but to presuppose that the God exists, so that I really
begin by virtue of confidence in him?
And how does the God’s existence emerge from the proof? Does it follow
straightway, without any breach of continuity? Or have we not here an analogy to the
behavior of the little Cartesian dolls? As soon as I let go of the doll it stands on its
head. As soon as I let it go -- I must therefore let it go. So also with the proof. As long
as I keep my hold on the proof, i.e., continue to demonstrate, the existence does not
come out, if for no other reason than that I am engaged in proving it; but when I let the
proof go, the existence is there. But this act of letting go is surely also something; it is
indeed a contribution of mine. Must not this also be taken into the account, this little
moment, brief as it may be -- it need not be long, for it is a leap. However brief this
moment, if only an instantaneous now, this "now" must be included in the reckoning. If
anyone wishes to have it ignored, I will use it to tell a little anecdote, in order to show
that it nevertheless does exist. Chrysippus was experimenting with a sorties to see if
he could not bring about a break in its quality, either progressively or retrogressively.
But Carneades could not get it in his head when the new quality actually emerged.
Then Chrysippus told him to try making a little pause in the reckoning, and so -- so it
would be easier to understand. Carneades replied: With the greatest pleasure, please
do not hesitate on my account; you may not only pause, but even lie down to sleep, and
it will help you just as little; for when you awake we will begin again where you left
off. Just so; it boots as little to try to get rid of something by sleeping as to try to come
into the possession of something in the same manner.
Whoever therefore attempts to demonstrate the existence of God (except in the sense
of clarifying the concept, and without the reservatio finalis noted above, that the
existence emerges from the demonstration by a leap) proves in lieu thereof something
else, something which at times perhaps does not need a proof, and in any case needs
none better; for the fool says in his heart that there is no God, but whoever says in his
heart or to men: Wait just a little and I will prove it -- what a rare man of wisdom is
he![3] If in the moment of beginning his proof it is not absolutely undetermined
whether the God exists or not, he does not prove it; and if it is thus undetermined in the
beginning he will never come to begin, partly from fear of failure, since the God
perhaps does not exist, and partly because he has nothing with which to begin. -- A
project of this kind would scarcely have been undertaken by the ancients. Socrates at
least, who is credited with having put forth the physico-teleological proof for God’s
existence, did not go about it in any such manner. He always presupposes the God’s
existence, and under this presupposition seeks to interpenetrate nature with the idea of
purpose. Had he been asked why he pursued this method, he would doubtless have
explained that he lacked the courage to venture out upon so perilous a voyage of
discovery without having made sure of the God’s existence behind him. At the word of
the God he casts his net as if to catch the idea of purpose; for nature herself finds many
means of frightening the inquirer, and distracts him by many a digression.
The paradoxical passion of the Reason thus comes repeatedly into collision with this
Unknown, which does indeed exist, but is unknown, and in so far does not exist. The
Reason cannot advance beyond this point, and yet it cannot refrain in its
paradoxicalness from arriving at this limit and occupying itself therewith. It will not
serve to dismiss its relation to it simply by asserting that the Unknown does not exist,
since this itself involves a relationship. But what then is the Unknown, since the
designation of it as the God merely signifies for us that it is unknown? To say that it is
the Unknown because it cannot be known, and even if it were capable of being known,
it could not be expressed, does not satisfy the demands of passion, though it correctly
interprets the Unknown as a limit; but a limit is precisely a torment for passion, though
it also serves as an incitement. And yet the Reason can come no further, whether it
risks an issue via negationis or via eminentia.
What then is the Unknown? It is the limit to which the Reason repeatedly comes, and
in so far, substituting a static form of conception for the dynamic, it is the different, the
absolutely different. But because it is absolutely different, there is no mark by which it
could be distinguished. When qualified as absolutely different it seems on the verge of
disclosure, but this is not the case; for the Reason cannot even conceive an absolute
unlikeness. The Reason cannot negate itself absolutely, but uses itself for the purpose,
and thus conceives only such an unlikeness within itself as it can conceive by means of
itself; it Cannot absolutely transcend itself, and hence conceives only such a
superiority over itself as it can conceive by means of itself. Unless the Unknown (the
God) remains a mere limiting conception, the single idea of difference will be thrown
into a state of confusion, and become many ideas of many differences. The Unknown is
then in a condition of dispersion (), and the Reason may choose at pleasure from what
is at hand and the imagination may suggest (the monstrous, the ludicrous, etc.).
But it is impossible to hold fast to a difference of this nature. Every time this is done it
is essentially an arbitrary act, and deepest down in the heart of piety lurks the mad
caprice which knows that it has itself produced the God. If no specific determination
of difference can be held fast, because there is no distinguishing mark, like and unlike
finally become identified with one another, thus sharing the fate of all such dialectical
opposites. The unlikeness clings to the Reason and confounds it, so that the Reason no
longer knows itself and quite consistently confuses itself with the unlikeness. On this
point paganism has been sufficiently prolific in fantastic inventions. As for the last
named supposition, the self-irony of the Reason, I shall attempt to delineate it merely
by a stroke or two, without raising any question of its being historical. There exists an
individual whose appearance is precisely like that of other men; he grows up to
manhood like others, he marries, he has an occupation by which he earns his
livelihood, and he makes provision for the future as befits a man. For though it may be
beautiful to live like the birds of the air, it is not lawful, and may lead to the sorriest
of consequences: either starvation if one has enough persistence, or dependence on the
bounty of others. This man is also the God. How do I know? I cannot know it, for in
order to know it I would have to know the God, and the nature of the difference
between the God and man; and this I cannot know, because the Reason has reduced it
to likeness with that from which it was unlike. Thus the God becomes the most terrible
of deceivers, because the Reason has deceived itself. The Reason has brought the God
as near as possible, and yet he is as far away as ever.
******
Now perhaps someone will say: "You are certainly a crotcheteer, as I know very
well. But you surely do not believe that I would pay any attention to such a crotchet,
so strange or so ridiculous that it has doubtless never occurred to anyone, and above
all so absurd that I must exclude from my consciousness everything that I have in it in
order to hit upon it." -- And so indeed you must. But do you think yourself warranted
in retaining all the presuppositions you have in your consciousness, while pretending
to think about your consciousness without presuppositions? Will you deny the
consistency of our exposition: that the Reason, in attempting to determine the Unknown
as the unlike, at last goes astray, and confounds the unlike with the like? From this
there would seem to follow the further consequence, that if man is to receive any true
knowledge about the Unknown (the God) he must be made to know that it is unlike
him, absolutely unlike him. This knowledge the Reason cannot possibly obtain of
itself; we have already seen that this would be a self-contradiction. It will therefore
have to obtain this knowledge from the God. But even if it obtains such knowledge it
cannot understand it, and thus is quite unable to possess such knowledge. For how
should the Reason be able to understand what is absolutely different from itself? If this
is not immediately evident, it will become clearer in the light of the consequences; for
if the God is absolutely unlike man, then man is absolutely unlike the God; but how
could the Reason be expected to understand this? Here we seem to be confronted with
a paradox. Merely to obtain the knowledge that the God is unlike him, man needs the
help of the God; and now he learns that the God is absolutely different from himself.
But if the God and man are absolutely different, this cannot be accounted for on the
basis of what man derives from the God, for in so far they are akin. Their unlikeness
must therefore be explained by what man derives from himself, or by what he has
brought upon his own head. But what can this unlikeness be? Aye, what can it be but
sin; since the unlikeness, the absolute unlikeness, is something that man has brought
upon himself. We have expressed this in the preceding by saying that man was in
Error, and had brought this upon his head ‘by his own guilt; and we came to the
conclusion, partly in jest and yet also in earnest, that it was too much to expect of man
that he should find this out for himself. Now we have again arrived at the same
conclusion. The connoisseur in self-knowledge was perplexed over himself to the
point of bewilderment when he came to grapple in thought with the unlike; he scarcely
knew any longer whether he was a stranger monster than Typhon, or if his nature
partook of something divine. What then did he lack? The consciousness of sin, which
he indeed could no more teach to another than another could teach it to him, but only
the God -- if the God consents to become a Teacher. But this was his purpose, as we
have imagined it. In order to be man’s Teacher, the God proposed to make himself
like the individual man, so that he might understand him fully. Thus our paradox is
rendered still more appalling, or the same paradox has the double aspect which
proclaims it as the Absolute Paradox; negatively by revealing the absolute unlikeness
of sin, positively by proposing to do away with the absolute unlikeness in absolute
likeness.
But can such a paradox be conceived? Let us not be over-hasty in replying; and since
we strive merely to find the answer to a question, and not as those who run a race, it
may be well to remember that success is to the accurate rather than to the swift. The
Reason will doubtless find it impossible to conceive it, could not of itself have
discovered it, and when it hears it announced will not be able to understand it, sensing
merely that its downfall is threatened. In so far the Reason will have much to urge
against it; and yet we have on the other hand seen that the Reason, in its paradoxical
passion, precisely desires its own downfall. But this is what the Paradox also desires,
and thus they are at bottom linked in understanding; but this understanding is present
only in the moment of passion. Consider the analogy presented by love, though it is not
a perfect one. Self-love lies as the ground of love; but the paradoxical passion of self-
love when at its highest pitch wills precisely its own downfall. This is also what love
desires, so that these two are linked in mutual understanding in the passion of the
moment, and this passion is love. Why should not the lover find this conceivable? But
he who in self-love shrinks from the touch of love can neither understand it nor
summon the courage to venture it, since it means his downfall. Such is then the passion
of love; self-love is indeed submerged but not annihilated; it is taken captive and
become love’s spolia opima, but may again come to life, and this is love’s temptation.
So also with the Paradox in its relation to the Reason, only that the passion in this case
has another name; or rather, we must seek to find a name for it.
APPENDIX
The Paradox and the Offended Consciousness
(An Acoustic Illusion)
If the Paradox and the Reason come together in a mutual understanding of their
unlikeness their encounter will be happy, like love’s understanding, happy in the
passion to which we have not yet assigned a name, and will postpone naming until
later. If the encounter is not in understanding the relationship becomes unhappy, and
this unhappy love of the Reason if I may so call it (which it should be noted is
analogous only to that particular form of unhappy love which has its root in
misunderstood self-love; no further stretching of the analogy is possible, since
accident can play no role in this realm), may be characterized more specifically as
Offense.
All offense is in its deepest root passive.[4] In this respect it is like that form of
unhappy love to which we have just alluded. Even when such a self-love (and does it
not already seem contradictory that love of sell should be passive?) announces itself
in deeds of audacious daring, in astounding achievements, it is passive and wounded.
It is the pain of its wound which gives it this illusory strength, expressing itself in
what looks like self-activity and may A easily deceive, since self-love is especially
bent on concealing its passivity. Even when it tramples on the object of affection, even
when it painfully schools itself to a hardened indifference and tortures itself to show
this indifference, even then, even when it abandons itself to a frivolous triumph over
its success (this form is the most deceptive of all), even then it is passive. Such is also
the case with the offended consciousness. Whatever be its mode of expression, even
when it exultantly celebrates the triumph of its unspirituality, it is always passive.
Whether the offended individual sits broken-hearted, staring almost like a beggar at
the Paradox, paralyzed by his suffering, or he sheathes himself in the armor of
derision, pointing the arrows of his wit as if from a distance -- he is still passive and
near at hand. Whether offense came and robbed the offended individual of his last bit
of comfort and joy, or made him strong -- the offended consciousness is nevertheless
passive. It has wrestled with the stronger, and its show of strength is like the peculiar
agility induced in the bodily sphere by a broken back.
However, it is quite possible to distinguish between an active and a passive form of
the offended consciousness, if we take care to remember that the passive form is so far
active as not to permit itself wholly to be annihilated (for offense is always an act,
never an event); and that the active form is always so weak that it cannot free itself
from the cross to which it is nailed, or tear the arrow from out its wound.[5]
But precisely because offense is thus passive, the discovery, if it be allowable to
speak thus, does not derive from the Reason, but from the Paradox; for as the Truth is
index sui et falsi, the Paradox is this also, and the offended consciousness does not
understand itself [6] but is understood by the Paradox. While therefore the expressions
in which offense proclaims itself, of whatever kind they may be, sound as if they came
from elsewhere, even from the opposite direction, they are nevertheless echoings of
the Paradox. This is what is called an acoustic illusion. But if the Paradox is index
and judex sui et falsi, the offended consciousness can be taken as an indirect proof of
the validity of the Paradox; offense is the mistaken reckoning, the invalid consequence,
with which the Paradox repels and thrusts aside. The offended individual does not
speak from his own resources, but borrows those of the Paradox; just as one who
mimics or parodies another does not invent, but merely copies perversely. The more
profound the passion with which the offended consciousness (active or passive)
expresses itself, the more apparent it is how much it owes to the Paradox. Offense was
not discovered by the Reason, far from it, for then the Reason must also have been
able to discover the Paradox. No, offense comes into existence with the Paradox; it
comes into existence. Here again we have the Moment, on which everything depends.
Let us recapitulate. If we do not posit the Moment we return to Socrates; but it was
precisely from him that we departed, in order to discover something. If we posit the
Moment the Paradox is there; for the Moment is the Paradox in its most abbreviated
form. Because of the Moment the learner is in Error; and man, who had before
possessed self-knowledge, now becomes bewildered with respect to himself; instead
of self-knowledge he receives the consciousness of sin, and so forth; for as soon as
we posit the Moment everything follows of itself.
From the psychological point of view the offended consciousness will display a great
variety of nuances within the more active and the more passive forms. To enter into a
detailed description of these would not further our present purpose; but it is important
to bear fixedly in mind that all offense is in its essence a misunderstanding of the
Moment, since it is directed against the Paradox, which again is the Moment.
The dialectic of the Moment is not difficult. From the Socratic point of view the
Moment is invisible and indistinguishable; it is not, it has not been, it will not come.
Hence the learner is himself the Truth, and the moment of occasion is but a jest, like a
bastard title that does not essentially belong to the book. From this point of view the
Moment of decision becomes folly; for if a decision in time is postulated, then (by the
preceding) the learner is in Error, which is precisely what makes a beginning in the
Moment necessary. The reaction of the offended consciousness is to assert that the
Moment is folly, and that the Paradox is folly, which is the contention of the Paradox
that the Reason is absurd now reflected back as in an echo from the offended
consciousness. Or the Moment is regarded as constantly about to come; it is so
regarded, and the Reason holds it as worthy of regard; but since the Paradox has made
the Reason absurd, the regard of the Reason is no reliable criterion.
The offended consciousness holds aloof from the Paradox, and the reason is: quia
absurdum. But it was not the Reason that made this discovery; on the contrary it was
the Paradox that made the discovery, and now receives this testimony from the
offended consciousness. The Reason says that the Paradox is absurd, but this is mere
mimicry, since the Paradox is the Paradox, quia absurdum. The offended
consciousness holds aloof from the Paradox and keeps to the probable, since the
Paradox is the most improbable of things. Again it is not the Reason that made this
discovery; it merely snatches the words from the mouth of the Paradox, strange as this
may seem; for the Paradox itself says: Comedies and romances and lies must needs be
probable, but why should I be probable? The offended consciousness holds aloof from
the Paradox, and what wonder, since the Paradox is the Miracle! This discovery was
not made by the Reason; it was the Paradox that placed the Reason on the stool of
wonderment and now replies: But why are you so astonished? It is precisely as you
say, and the only wonder is that you regard it as an objection; but the truth in the mouth
of a hypocrite is dearer to me than if it came from the lips of an angel or an apostle.
When the Reason boasts of its splendors in comparison with the Paradox, which is
most wretched and despised, the discovery was not made by the Reason but by the
Paradox itself; it is content to leave to the Reason all its splendors, even the splendid
sins (vitia splendida). When the Reason takes pity on the Paradox, and wishes to help
it to an explanation, the Paradox does not indeed acquiesce, but nevertheless finds it
quite natural that the Reason should do this; for why do we have our philosophers, if
not to make supernatural things trivial and commonplace? When the Reason says that it
cannot get the Paradox into its head, it was not the Reason that made the discovery but
the Paradox, which is so paradoxical as to declare the Reason a blockhead and a
dunce, capable at the most of saying yes and no to the same thing, which is not good
divinity. And so always. All that the offended consciousness has to say about the
Paradox it has learned from the Paradox, though it would like to pose as the
discoverer, making use of an acoustic illusion.
******
But I think I hear someone say: "It is really becoming tiresome the way you go on, for
now we have the same story over again; not one of the expressions you have put into
the mouth of the Paradox belongs to you." -- "Why should they belong to me, when
they belong to the Paradox?" -- "You can spare us your sophistry, you know very well
what I mean. These expressions are not yours, nor by you put into the mouth of the
Paradox, but are familiar quotations, and everybody knows who the authors are." --
"My friend, your accusation does not grieve me, as you perhaps believe; what you say
rather makes me exceedingly glad. For I must admit that I could not repress a shudder
when I wrote them down; I scarcely recognized myself, that I who am usually so timid
and apprehensive dared say such things. But if the expressions are not by me, perhaps
you will explain to whom they belong ?" -- "Nothing is easier. The first is by
Tertullian, the second by Hamann, the third by Hamann, the fourth is by Lactantius and
is frequently quoted; the fifth is by Shakespeare, in a comedy called All’s Well that
Ends Well Act II, Scene iii; the sixth is by Luther, and the seventh is a remark by King
Lear. You see that I am well informed, and that I have caught you with the goods" --
"Indeed I do perceive it; but will you now tell me whether all these men have not
spoken of the relation between some paradox and an offended consciousness, and will
you now note that the individuals who spoke thus were not themselves offended, but
precisely persons who held to the paradox; and yet they speak as if they were
offended, and offense cannot find a more characteristic expression for itself. Is it not
strange that the Paradox should thus, as it were, take the bread from the mouth of the
offended consciousness, reducing it to the practice of an idle and unprofitable art? It
seems as curious as if an opponent at a disputation, instead of attacking the author’s
thesis, defended him in his distraction. Does it not seem so to you? However, one
merit unquestionably belongs to the offended consciousness in that it brings out the
unlikeness more clearly; for in that happy passion which we have not yet given a
name, the Unlike is on good terms with the Reason. There must be a difference if there
is to be a synthesis in some third entity. But here the difference consisted in the fact
that the Reason yielded itself while the Paradox bestowed itself (halb zog sie ihn, halb
sank er hin), and the understanding is consummated in that happy passion which will
doubtless soon find a name; and this is the smallest part of the matter, for even if my
happiness does not have a name -- when I am but happy, I ask for no more."
NOTES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] It may seem ridiculous to give this proposition a doubtful form by "assuming" it,
for in this theocentric age such matters are of course known to all. Aye, if it were only
so well with us! Democritus also knew what man is, for he defines man as follows:
"Man is what we all know," and then goes on to say: "for we all know what a dog, a
horse, a plant is, and so forth; but none of these is a man." We do not aspire to the
malice of Sextus Empiricus, nor have we his wit; for he concludes as we know, from
the above definition, and quite correctly, that man is a dog; for man is what we all
know, and we all know what a dog is, ergo -- but let us not be so malicious.
Nevertheless, has this question been so thoroughly cleared up in our own time that no
one need feel a little uneasy about himself when he is reminded of poor Socrates and
his predicament?
[2] So Spinoza, who probes the depths of the God-idea in order to bring being out of it
by way of thought, but not, it should be noted, as if being were an accidental
characteristic, but rather as if it constituted an essential determination of content. Here
lies Spinoza profundity, but let us examine his reasoning. In principia philosophiae
Cartesianae, pars I, propositio VII, lemma I, he says: "quo res sua natura perfectior
est, eo majorem existentiam et magis necessariam involvit; et contra, quo magis
necessariam existentiam res sua natura involvit, eo perfectior." The more perfect
therefore a thing is, the more being it has; the more being it has, the more perfect it is.
This is however a tautology, which becomes still more evident in a note, nota II:
"quod hic non loquimur de pulchritudine et aliis perfectionibus, quas homines ex
superstitione et ignorantia perfectiones vocare voluerunt. Sed per perfectionem
intelligo tantum realitatem sive esse." He explains perfectio by realitas, esse; so that
the more perfect a thing is, the more it is; but its perfection consists in having more
esse in itself; that is to say, the more a thing is, the more it is. So much for the
tautology, but now further. What is lacking here is a distinction between factual being
and ideal being. The terminology which permits us to speak of more or less of being,
and consequently of degrees of reality or being, is in itself lacking in clearness, and
becomes still more confusing when the above distinction is neglected -- in other
words, when Spinoza does indeed speak profoundly but fails first to consider the
difficulty. In the case of factual being it is meaningless to speak of more or less of
being. A fly, when it is, has as much being as the God; with respect to factual being the
stupid remark I here set down has as much being as Spinoza’s profundity, for factual
being is subject to the dialectic of Hamlet: to be or not to be. Factual being is wholly
indifferent to any and all variations in essence, and everything that exists participates
without petty jealousy in being and participates in the same degree. Ideally, to be sure,
the case is quite different. But the moment I speak of being in the ideal sense I no
longer speak of being, but of essence. Highest ideality has this necessity and therefore
it is. But this its being is identical with its essence; such being does not involve it
dialectically in the determinations of factual being, since it is; nor can it be said to
have more or less of being in relation to other things. In the old days this used to be
expressed, if somewhat imperfectly, by saying that if God is possible, he is eo ipso
necessary (Leibniz). Spinoza’s principle is thus quite correct and his tautology in
order; but it is also certain that he altogether evades the difficulty. For the difficulty is
to lay hold of God’s factual being and to introduce God’s ideal essence dialectically
into the sphere of factual being.
[3] What an excellent subject for a comedy of the higher lunacy!
[4] The Danish language correctly calls emotion (Dan. "Affekten") ‘Sindslidelse’
[compare Ger. "Leidenschaft"]. When we use the word "Affekt" we are likely to think
more immediately of the convulsive daring which astounds us, and makes us forget
that it is a form of passivity. So for example: pride, defiance, etc.
[5] The idiom of the language also supports the view that all offense is passive. We
say: "to be offended," which primarily expresses only the state or condition; but we
also say, as identical in meaning with the foregoing: "to take offense," which
expresses a synthesis of active and passive. The Greek word is . This word comes
from (offense or stumbling-block), and hence means to take offense, or to collide with
something. Here the movement of thought is clearly indicated; it is not that offense
provokes the collision, but that it meets with a collision, and hence passively, although
so far actively is itself to take offense. Hence the Reason is not the discoverer of
offense; for the paradoxical collision which the Reason develops in isolation
discovers neither the Paradox nor the reaction of offense.
[6] In this sense the Socratic principle that sin is ignorance ends justification. Sin does
not understand itself in the Truth, but it does not follow that it may not will itself in
Error.
Sören Kierkegaard
The Absolute Paradox: A Metaphysical Crotchet
(The 3rd Chapter of Philosophical Fragments)
In spite of the fact that Socrates studied with all diligence to acquire a knowledge of
human nature and to understand himself, and in spite of the fame accorded him through
the centuries as one who beyond all other men had an insight into the human heart, he
has himself admitted that the reason for his shrinking from reflection upon the nature of
such beings as Pegasus and the Gorgons was that he, the life-long student of human
nature, had not yet been able to make up his mind whether he was a stranger monster
than Typhon, or a creature of a gentler and simpler sort, partaking of something divine
(Phaedrus, 229 E). This seems to be a paradox. However, one should not think
slightingly of the paradoxical; for the paradox is the source of the thinker’s passion,
and the thinker without a paradox is like a lover without feeling: a paltry mediocrity.
But the highest pitch of every passion is always to will its own downfall; and so it is
also the supreme passion of the Reason to seek a collision, though this collision must
in one way or another prove its undoing. The supreme paradox of all thought is the
attempt to discover something that thought cannot think. This passion is at bottom
present in all thinking, even in the thinking of the individual, in so far as in thinking he
participates in something transcending himself. But habit dulls our sensibilities, and
prevents us from perceiving it. So for example the scientists tell us that our walking is
a constant falling. But a sedate and proper gentleman who walks to his office in the
morning and back again at noon, probably thinks this to be an exaggeration, for his
progress is clearly a case of mediation; how should it occur to him that he is
constantly falling when he religiously follows his nose!
But in order to make a beginning, let us now assume a daring proposition; let us
assume that we know what man is.[1] Here we have that criterion of the Truth, which
in the whole course of Greek philosophy was either sought, or doubted, or postulated,
or made fruitful. Is it not remarkable that the Greeks should have borne us this
testimony? And is it not an epitome, as it were, of the significance of Greek culture, an
epigram of its own writing, with which it is also better served than with the frequently
voluminous disquisitions sometimes devoted to it? Thus the proposition is well worth
positing, and also for another reason, since we have already explained it in the two
preceding chapters; while anyone who attempts to explain Socrates differently may
well beware lest he fall into the snare of the earlier or later Greek skepticism. For
unless we hold fast to the Socratic doctrine of Recollection, and to his principle that
every individual man is Man, Sextus Empiricus stands ready to make the transition
involved in "teaching" not only difficult but impossible; and Protagoras will begin
where Sextus Empiricus leaves off, maintaining that man is the measure of all things,
in the sense that the individual man is the measure for others, but by no means in the
Socratic sense that each man is his own measure, neither more nor less.
So then we know what man is, and this wisdom, which I shall be the last to hold in
light esteem, may progressively become richer and more significant, and with it also
the Truth. But now the Reason stands still, just as Socrates did; for the paradoxical
passion of the Reason is aroused and seeks a collision; without rightly understanding
itself, it is bent upon its own downfall. This is like what happens in Connection with
the paradox of love. Man lives undisturbed a self-centered life, until there awakens
within him the paradox of self-love, in the form of love for another, the object of his
longing. (Self-love lies as the ground of all love or is the ground in which all love
perishes; there-fore if we conceive a religion of love, this religion need make but one
assumption, as epigrammatic as true, and take its actuality for granted, namely, the
condition that man loves himself, in order to command him to love his neighbor as
himself.) The lover is so completely transformed by the paradox of love that he
scarcely recognizes himself; so say the poets, who are the spokesmen of love, and so
say also the lovers themselves, since they permit the poets merely to take the words
from their lips, but not the passion from their hearts. In like manner the paradoxical
passion of the Reason, while as yet a mere presentiment, retroactively affects man and
his self-knowledge, so that he who thought to know himself is no longer certain
whether he is a more strangely composite animal than Typhon, or if perchance his
nature contains a gentler and diviner part. (o , , . Phaedrus,230 A)
But what is this unknown something with which the Reason collides when inspired by
its paradoxical passion, with the result of unsettling even man’s knowledge of
himself? It is the Unknown. It is not a human being, in so far as we know what man is;
nor is it any other known thing. So let us call this unknown something: the God. It is
nothing more than a name we assign to it. The idea of demonstrating that this unknown
something (the God) exists, could scarcely suggest itself to the Reason. For if the God
does not exist it would of course be impossible to prove it; and if he does exist it
would be folly to attempt it. For at the very outset, in beginning my proof, I would
have presupposed it, not as doubtful but as certain (a presupposition is never doubtful,
for the very reason that it is a presupposition), since otherwise I would not begin,
readily understanding that the whole would be impossible if he did not exist. But if
when I speak of proving the God’s existence I mean that I propose to prove that the
Unknown, which exists, is the God, then I express myself unfortunately. For in that
case I do not prove anything, least of all an existence, but merely develop the content
of a conception. Generally speaking, it is a difficult matter to prove that anything
exists; and what is still worse for the intrepid souls who undertake the venture, the
difficulty is such that fame scarcely awaits those who concern themselves with it. The
entire demonstration always turns into something very different and becomes an
additional development of the consequences that flow from my having assumed that
the object in question exists. Thus I always reason from existence, not toward
existence, whether I move in the sphere of palpable sensible fact or in the realm of
thought. I do not for example prove that a stone exists, but that some existing thing is a
stone. The procedure in a court of justice does not prove that a criminal exists, but that
the accused, whose existence is given, is a criminal. Whether we call existence an
accessorium or the eternal prius, it is never subject to demonstration. Let us take
ample time for consideration. We have no such reason for haste as have those who
from concern for themselves or for the God or for some other thing, must make haste to
get existence demonstrated. Under such circumstances there may indeed be need for
haste, especially if the prover sincerely seeks to appreciate the danger that he himself,
or the thing in question, may be non-existent unless the proof is finished and does not
surreptitiously entertain the thought that it exists whether he succeeds in proving it or
not.
If it were proposed to prove Napoleon’s existence from Napoleon’s deeds, would it
not be a most curious proceeding? His existence does indeed explain his deeds, but
the deeds do not prove his existence, unless I have already understood the word "his"
so as thereby to have assumed his existence. But Napoleon is only an individual, and
in so far there exists no absolute relationship between him and his deeds; some other
person might have performed the same deeds. Perhaps this is the reason why I cannot
pass from the deeds to existence. If I call these deeds the deeds of Napoleon the proof
becomes superfluous, since I have already named him; if I ignore this, I can never
prove from the deeds that they are Napoleon’s, but only in a purely ideal manner that
such deeds are the deeds of a great general, and so forth. But between the God and his
works there is an absolute relationship; God is not a name but a concept. Is this
perhaps the reason that his essentia involvit existentiam?[2] The works of God are
such that only the God can perform them. Just so, but where then are the works of the
God? The works from which I would deduce his existence are not directly and
immediately given. The wisdom in nature, the goodness, the wisdom in the governance
of the world -- are all these manifest, perhaps, upon the very face of things? Are we
not here confronted with the most terrible temptations to doubt, and is it not
impossible finally to dispose of all these doubts? But from such an order of things I
will surely not attempt to prove God’s existence; and even if I began I would never
finish, and would in addition have to live constantly in suspense, lest something so
terrible should suddenly happen that my bit of proof would be demolished. From what
works then do I propose to derive the proof? From the works as apprehended through
an ideal interpretation, i.e., such as they do not immediately reveal themselves. But in
that case it is not from the works that I make the proof; I merely develop the ideality I
have presupposed, and because of my confidence in this I make so bold as to defy all
objections, even those that have not yet been made. In beginning my proof I
presuppose the ideal interpretation, and also that I will be successful in carrying it
through; but what else is this but to presuppose that the God exists, so that I really
begin by virtue of confidence in him?
And how does the God’s existence emerge from the proof? Does it follow
straightway, without any breach of continuity? Or have we not here an analogy to the
behavior of the little Cartesian dolls? As soon as I let go of the doll it stands on its
head. As soon as I let it go -- I must therefore let it go. So also with the proof. As long
as I keep my hold on the proof, i.e., continue to demonstrate, the existence does not
come out, if for no other reason than that I am engaged in proving it; but when I let the
proof go, the existence is there. But this act of letting go is surely also something; it is
indeed a contribution of mine. Must not this also be taken into the account, this little
moment, brief as it may be -- it need not be long, for it is a leap. However brief this
moment, if only an instantaneous now, this "now" must be included in the reckoning. If
anyone wishes to have it ignored, I will use it to tell a little anecdote, in order to show
that it nevertheless does exist. Chrysippus was experimenting with a sorties to see if
he could not bring about a break in its quality, either progressively or retrogressively.
But Carneades could not get it in his head when the new quality actually emerged.
Then Chrysippus told him to try making a little pause in the reckoning, and so -- so it
would be easier to understand. Carneades replied: With the greatest pleasure, please
do not hesitate on my account; you may not only pause, but even lie down to sleep, and
it will help you just as little; for when you awake we will begin again where you left
off. Just so; it boots as little to try to get rid of something by sleeping as to try to come
into the possession of something in the same manner.
Whoever therefore attempts to demonstrate the existence of God (except in the sense
of clarifying the concept, and without the reservatio finalis noted above, that the
existence emerges from the demonstration by a leap) proves in lieu thereof something
else, something which at times perhaps does not need a proof, and in any case needs
none better; for the fool says in his heart that there is no God, but whoever says in his
heart or to men: Wait just a little and I will prove it -- what a rare man of wisdom is
he![3] If in the moment of beginning his proof it is not absolutely undetermined
whether the God exists or not, he does not prove it; and if it is thus undetermined in the
beginning he will never come to begin, partly from fear of failure, since the God
perhaps does not exist, and partly because he has nothing with which to begin. -- A
project of this kind would scarcely have been undertaken by the ancients. Socrates at
least, who is credited with having put forth the physico-teleological proof for God’s
existence, did not go about it in any such manner. He always presupposes the God’s
existence, and under this presupposition seeks to interpenetrate nature with the idea of
purpose. Had he been asked why he pursued this method, he would doubtless have
explained that he lacked the courage to venture out upon so perilous a voyage of
discovery without having made sure of the God’s existence behind him. At the word of
the God he casts his net as if to catch the idea of purpose; for nature herself finds many
means of frightening the inquirer, and distracts him by many a digression.
The paradoxical passion of the Reason thus comes repeatedly into collision with this
Unknown, which does indeed exist, but is unknown, and in so far does not exist. The
Reason cannot advance beyond this point, and yet it cannot refrain in its
paradoxicalness from arriving at this limit and occupying itself therewith. It will not
serve to dismiss its relation to it simply by asserting that the Unknown does not exist,
since this itself involves a relationship. But what then is the Unknown, since the
designation of it as the God merely signifies for us that it is unknown? To say that it is
the Unknown because it cannot be known, and even if it were capable of being known,
it could not be expressed, does not satisfy the demands of passion, though it correctly
interprets the Unknown as a limit; but a limit is precisely a torment for passion, though
it also serves as an incitement. And yet the Reason can come no further, whether it
risks an issue via negationis or via eminentia.
What then is the Unknown? It is the limit to which the Reason repeatedly comes, and
in so far, substituting a static form of conception for the dynamic, it is the different, the
absolutely different. But because it is absolutely different, there is no mark by which it
could be distinguished. When qualified as absolutely different it seems on the verge of
disclosure, but this is not the case; for the Reason cannot even conceive an absolute
unlikeness. The Reason cannot negate itself absolutely, but uses itself for the purpose,
and thus conceives only such an unlikeness within itself as it can conceive by means of
itself; it Cannot absolutely transcend itself, and hence conceives only such a
superiority over itself as it can conceive by means of itself. Unless the Unknown (the
God) remains a mere limiting conception, the single idea of difference will be thrown
into a state of confusion, and become many ideas of many differences. The Unknown is
then in a condition of dispersion (), and the Reason may choose at pleasure from what
is at hand and the imagination may suggest (the monstrous, the ludicrous, etc.).
But it is impossible to hold fast to a difference of this nature. Every time this is done it
is essentially an arbitrary act, and deepest down in the heart of piety lurks the mad
caprice which knows that it has itself produced the God. If no specific determination
of difference can be held fast, because there is no distinguishing mark, like and unlike
finally become identified with one another, thus sharing the fate of all such dialectical
opposites. The unlikeness clings to the Reason and confounds it, so that the Reason no
longer knows itself and quite consistently confuses itself with the unlikeness. On this
point paganism has been sufficiently prolific in fantastic inventions. As for the last
named supposition, the self-irony of the Reason, I shall attempt to delineate it merely
by a stroke or two, without raising any question of its being historical. There exists an
individual whose appearance is precisely like that of other men; he grows up to
manhood like others, he marries, he has an occupation by which he earns his
livelihood, and he makes provision for the future as befits a man. For though it may be
beautiful to live like the birds of the air, it is not lawful, and may lead to the sorriest
of consequences: either starvation if one has enough persistence, or dependence on the
bounty of others. This man is also the God. How do I know? I cannot know it, for in
order to know it I would have to know the God, and the nature of the difference
between the God and man; and this I cannot know, because the Reason has reduced it
to likeness with that from which it was unlike. Thus the God becomes the most terrible
of deceivers, because the Reason has deceived itself. The Reason has brought the God
as near as possible, and yet he is as far away as ever.
******
Now perhaps someone will say: "You are certainly a crotcheteer, as I know very
well. But you surely do not believe that I would pay any attention to such a crotchet,
so strange or so ridiculous that it has doubtless never occurred to anyone, and above
all so absurd that I must exclude from my consciousness everything that I have in it in
order to hit upon it." -- And so indeed you must. But do you think yourself warranted
in retaining all the presuppositions you have in your consciousness, while pretending
to think about your consciousness without presuppositions? Will you deny the
consistency of our exposition: that the Reason, in attempting to determine the Unknown
as the unlike, at last goes astray, and confounds the unlike with the like? From this
there would seem to follow the further consequence, that if man is to receive any true
knowledge about the Unknown (the God) he must be made to know that it is unlike
him, absolutely unlike him. This knowledge the Reason cannot possibly obtain of
itself; we have already seen that this would be a self-contradiction. It will therefore
have to obtain this knowledge from the God. But even if it obtains such knowledge it
cannot understand it, and thus is quite unable to possess such knowledge. For how
should the Reason be able to understand what is absolutely different from itself? If this
is not immediately evident, it will become clearer in the light of the consequences; for
if the God is absolutely unlike man, then man is absolutely unlike the God; but how
could the Reason be expected to understand this? Here we seem to be confronted with
a paradox. Merely to obtain the knowledge that the God is unlike him, man needs the
help of the God; and now he learns that the God is absolutely different from himself.
But if the God and man are absolutely different, this cannot be accounted for on the
basis of what man derives from the God, for in so far they are akin. Their unlikeness
must therefore be explained by what man derives from himself, or by what he has
brought upon his own head. But what can this unlikeness be? Aye, what can it be but
sin; since the unlikeness, the absolute unlikeness, is something that man has brought
upon himself. We have expressed this in the preceding by saying that man was in
Error, and had brought this upon his head ‘by his own guilt; and we came to the
conclusion, partly in jest and yet also in earnest, that it was too much to expect of man
that he should find this out for himself. Now we have again arrived at the same
conclusion. The connoisseur in self-knowledge was perplexed over himself to the
point of bewilderment when he came to grapple in thought with the unlike; he scarcely
knew any longer whether he was a stranger monster than Typhon, or if his nature
partook of something divine. What then did he lack? The consciousness of sin, which
he indeed could no more teach to another than another could teach it to him, but only
the God -- if the God consents to become a Teacher. But this was his purpose, as we
have imagined it. In order to be man’s Teacher, the God proposed to make himself
like the individual man, so that he might understand him fully. Thus our paradox is
rendered still more appalling, or the same paradox has the double aspect which
proclaims it as the Absolute Paradox; negatively by revealing the absolute unlikeness
of sin, positively by proposing to do away with the absolute unlikeness in absolute
likeness.
But can such a paradox be conceived? Let us not be over-hasty in replying; and since
we strive merely to find the answer to a question, and not as those who run a race, it
may be well to remember that success is to the accurate rather than to the swift. The
Reason will doubtless find it impossible to conceive it, could not of itself have
discovered it, and when it hears it announced will not be able to understand it, sensing
merely that its downfall is threatened. In so far the Reason will have much to urge
against it; and yet we have on the other hand seen that the Reason, in its paradoxical
passion, precisely desires its own downfall. But this is what the Paradox also desires,
and thus they are at bottom linked in understanding; but this understanding is present
only in the moment of passion. Consider the analogy presented by love, though it is not
a perfect one. Self-love lies as the ground of love; but the paradoxical passion of self-
love when at its highest pitch wills precisely its own downfall. This is also what love
desires, so that these two are linked in mutual understanding in the passion of the
moment, and this passion is love. Why should not the lover find this conceivable? But
he who in self-love shrinks from the touch of love can neither understand it nor
summon the courage to venture it, since it means his downfall. Such is then the passion
of love; self-love is indeed submerged but not annihilated; it is taken captive and
become love’s spolia opima, but may again come to life, and this is love’s temptation.
So also with the Paradox in its relation to the Reason, only that the passion in this case
has another name; or rather, we must seek to find a name for it.
APPENDIX
The Paradox and the Offended Consciousness
(An Acoustic Illusion)
If the Paradox and the Reason come together in a mutual understanding of their
unlikeness their encounter will be happy, like love’s understanding, happy in the
passion to which we have not yet assigned a name, and will postpone naming until
later. If the encounter is not in understanding the relationship becomes unhappy, and
this unhappy love of the Reason if I may so call it (which it should be noted is
analogous only to that particular form of unhappy love which has its root in
misunderstood self-love; no further stretching of the analogy is possible, since
accident can play no role in this realm), may be characterized more specifically as
Offense.
All offense is in its deepest root passive.[4] In this respect it is like that form of
unhappy love to which we have just alluded. Even when such a self-love (and does it
not already seem contradictory that love of sell should be passive?) announces itself
in deeds of audacious daring, in astounding achievements, it is passive and wounded.
It is the pain of its wound which gives it this illusory strength, expressing itself in
what looks like self-activity and may A easily deceive, since self-love is especially
bent on concealing its passivity. Even when it tramples on the object of affection, even
when it painfully schools itself to a hardened indifference and tortures itself to show
this indifference, even then, even when it abandons itself to a frivolous triumph over
its success (this form is the most deceptive of all), even then it is passive. Such is also
the case with the offended consciousness. Whatever be its mode of expression, even
when it exultantly celebrates the triumph of its unspirituality, it is always passive.
Whether the offended individual sits broken-hearted, staring almost like a beggar at
the Paradox, paralyzed by his suffering, or he sheathes himself in the armor of
derision, pointing the arrows of his wit as if from a distance -- he is still passive and
near at hand. Whether offense came and robbed the offended individual of his last bit
of comfort and joy, or made him strong -- the offended consciousness is nevertheless
passive. It has wrestled with the stronger, and its show of strength is like the peculiar
agility induced in the bodily sphere by a broken back.
However, it is quite possible to distinguish between an active and a passive form of
the offended consciousness, if we take care to remember that the passive form is so far
active as not to permit itself wholly to be annihilated (for offense is always an act,
never an event); and that the active form is always so weak that it cannot free itself
from the cross to which it is nailed, or tear the arrow from out its wound.[5]
But precisely because offense is thus passive, the discovery, if it be allowable to
speak thus, does not derive from the Reason, but from the Paradox; for as the Truth is
index sui et falsi, the Paradox is this also, and the offended consciousness does not
understand itself [6] but is understood by the Paradox. While therefore the expressions
in which offense proclaims itself, of whatever kind they may be, sound as if they came
from elsewhere, even from the opposite direction, they are nevertheless echoings of
the Paradox. This is what is called an acoustic illusion. But if the Paradox is index
and judex sui et falsi, the offended consciousness can be taken as an indirect proof of
the validity of the Paradox; offense is the mistaken reckoning, the invalid consequence,
with which the Paradox repels and thrusts aside. The offended individual does not
speak from his own resources, but borrows those of the Paradox; just as one who
mimics or parodies another does not invent, but merely copies perversely. The more
profound the passion with which the offended consciousness (active or passive)
expresses itself, the more apparent it is how much it owes to the Paradox. Offense was
not discovered by the Reason, far from it, for then the Reason must also have been
able to discover the Paradox. No, offense comes into existence with the Paradox; it
comes into existence. Here again we have the Moment, on which everything depends.
Let us recapitulate. If we do not posit the Moment we return to Socrates; but it was
precisely from him that we departed, in order to discover something. If we posit the
Moment the Paradox is there; for the Moment is the Paradox in its most abbreviated
form. Because of the Moment the learner is in Error; and man, who had before
possessed self-knowledge, now becomes bewildered with respect to himself; instead
of self-knowledge he receives the consciousness of sin, and so forth; for as soon as
we posit the Moment everything follows of itself.
From the psychological point of view the offended consciousness will display a great
variety of nuances within the more active and the more passive forms. To enter into a
detailed description of these would not further our present purpose; but it is important
to bear fixedly in mind that all offense is in its essence a misunderstanding of the
Moment, since it is directed against the Paradox, which again is the Moment.
The dialectic of the Moment is not difficult. From the Socratic point of view the
Moment is invisible and indistinguishable; it is not, it has not been, it will not come.
Hence the learner is himself the Truth, and the moment of occasion is but a jest, like a
bastard title that does not essentially belong to the book. From this point of view the
Moment of decision becomes folly; for if a decision in time is postulated, then (by the
preceding) the learner is in Error, which is precisely what makes a beginning in the
Moment necessary. The reaction of the offended consciousness is to assert that the
Moment is folly, and that the Paradox is folly, which is the contention of the Paradox
that the Reason is absurd now reflected back as in an echo from the offended
consciousness. Or the Moment is regarded as constantly about to come; it is so
regarded, and the Reason holds it as worthy of regard; but since the Paradox has made
the Reason absurd, the regard of the Reason is no reliable criterion.
The offended consciousness holds aloof from the Paradox, and the reason is: quia
absurdum. But it was not the Reason that made this discovery; on the contrary it was
the Paradox that made the discovery, and now receives this testimony from the
offended consciousness. The Reason says that the Paradox is absurd, but this is mere
mimicry, since the Paradox is the Paradox, quia absurdum. The offended
consciousness holds aloof from the Paradox and keeps to the probable, since the
Paradox is the most improbable of things. Again it is not the Reason that made this
discovery; it merely snatches the words from the mouth of the Paradox, strange as this
may seem; for the Paradox itself says: Comedies and romances and lies must needs be
probable, but why should I be probable? The offended consciousness holds aloof from
the Paradox, and what wonder, since the Paradox is the Miracle! This discovery was
not made by the Reason; it was the Paradox that placed the Reason on the stool of
wonderment and now replies: But why are you so astonished? It is precisely as you
say, and the only wonder is that you regard it as an objection; but the truth in the mouth
of a hypocrite is dearer to me than if it came from the lips of an angel or an apostle.
When the Reason boasts of its splendors in comparison with the Paradox, which is
most wretched and despised, the discovery was not made by the Reason but by the
Paradox itself; it is content to leave to the Reason all its splendors, even the splendid
sins (vitia splendida). When the Reason takes pity on the Paradox, and wishes to help
it to an explanation, the Paradox does not indeed acquiesce, but nevertheless finds it
quite natural that the Reason should do this; for why do we have our philosophers, if
not to make supernatural things trivial and commonplace? When the Reason says that it
cannot get the Paradox into its head, it was not the Reason that made the discovery but
the Paradox, which is so paradoxical as to declare the Reason a blockhead and a
dunce, capable at the most of saying yes and no to the same thing, which is not good
divinity. And so always. All that the offended consciousness has to say about the
Paradox it has learned from the Paradox, though it would like to pose as the
discoverer, making use of an acoustic illusion.
******
But I think I hear someone say: "It is really becoming tiresome the way you go on, for
now we have the same story over again; not one of the expressions you have put into
the mouth of the Paradox belongs to you." -- "Why should they belong to me, when
they belong to the Paradox?" -- "You can spare us your sophistry, you know very well
what I mean. These expressions are not yours, nor by you put into the mouth of the
Paradox, but are familiar quotations, and everybody knows who the authors are." --
"My friend, your accusation does not grieve me, as you perhaps believe; what you say
rather makes me exceedingly glad. For I must admit that I could not repress a shudder
when I wrote them down; I scarcely recognized myself, that I who am usually so timid
and apprehensive dared say such things. But if the expressions are not by me, perhaps
you will explain to whom they belong ?" -- "Nothing is easier. The first is by
Tertullian, the second by Hamann, the third by Hamann, the fourth is by Lactantius and
is frequently quoted; the fifth is by Shakespeare, in a comedy called All’s Well that
Ends Well Act II, Scene iii; the sixth is by Luther, and the seventh is a remark by King
Lear. You see that I am well informed, and that I have caught you with the goods" --
"Indeed I do perceive it; but will you now tell me whether all these men have not
spoken of the relation between some paradox and an offended consciousness, and will
you now note that the individuals who spoke thus were not themselves offended, but
precisely persons who held to the paradox; and yet they speak as if they were
offended, and offense cannot find a more characteristic expression for itself. Is it not
strange that the Paradox should thus, as it were, take the bread from the mouth of the
offended consciousness, reducing it to the practice of an idle and unprofitable art? It
seems as curious as if an opponent at a disputation, instead of attacking the author’s
thesis, defended him in his distraction. Does it not seem so to you? However, one
merit unquestionably belongs to the offended consciousness in that it brings out the
unlikeness more clearly; for in that happy passion which we have not yet given a
name, the Unlike is on good terms with the Reason. There must be a difference if there
is to be a synthesis in some third entity. But here the difference consisted in the fact
that the Reason yielded itself while the Paradox bestowed itself (halb zog sie ihn, halb
sank er hin), and the understanding is consummated in that happy passion which will
doubtless soon find a name; and this is the smallest part of the matter, for even if my
happiness does not have a name -- when I am but happy, I ask for no more."
NOTES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] It may seem ridiculous to give this proposition a doubtful form by "assuming" it,
for in this theocentric age such matters are of course known to all. Aye, if it were only
so well with us! Democritus also knew what man is, for he defines man as follows:
"Man is what we all know," and then goes on to say: "for we all know what a dog, a
horse, a plant is, and so forth; but none of these is a man." We do not aspire to the
malice of Sextus Empiricus, nor have we his wit; for he concludes as we know, from
the above definition, and quite correctly, that man is a dog; for man is what we all
know, and we all know what a dog is, ergo -- but let us not be so malicious.
Nevertheless, has this question been so thoroughly cleared up in our own time that no
one need feel a little uneasy about himself when he is reminded of poor Socrates and
his predicament?
[2] So Spinoza, who probes the depths of the God-idea in order to bring being out of it
by way of thought, but not, it should be noted, as if being were an accidental
characteristic, but rather as if it constituted an essential determination of content. Here
lies Spinoza profundity, but let us examine his reasoning. In principia philosophiae
Cartesianae, pars I, propositio VII, lemma I, he says: "quo res sua natura perfectior
est, eo majorem existentiam et magis necessariam involvit; et contra, quo magis
necessariam existentiam res sua natura involvit, eo perfectior." The more perfect
therefore a thing is, the more being it has; the more being it has, the more perfect it is.
This is however a tautology, which becomes still more evident in a note, nota II:
"quod hic non loquimur de pulchritudine et aliis perfectionibus, quas homines ex
superstitione et ignorantia perfectiones vocare voluerunt. Sed per perfectionem
intelligo tantum realitatem sive esse." He explains perfectio by realitas, esse; so that
the more perfect a thing is, the more it is; but its perfection consists in having more
esse in itself; that is to say, the more a thing is, the more it is. So much for the
tautology, but now further. What is lacking here is a distinction between factual being
and ideal being. The terminology which permits us to speak of more or less of being,
and consequently of degrees of reality or being, is in itself lacking in clearness, and
becomes still more confusing when the above distinction is neglected -- in other
words, when Spinoza does indeed speak profoundly but fails first to consider the
difficulty. In the case of factual being it is meaningless to speak of more or less of
being. A fly, when it is, has as much being as the God; with respect to factual being the
stupid remark I here set down has as much being as Spinoza’s profundity, for factual
being is subject to the dialectic of Hamlet: to be or not to be. Factual being is wholly
indifferent to any and all variations in essence, and everything that exists participates
without petty jealousy in being and participates in the same degree. Ideally, to be sure,
the case is quite different. But the moment I speak of being in the ideal sense I no
longer speak of being, but of essence. Highest ideality has this necessity and therefore
it is. But this its being is identical with its essence; such being does not involve it
dialectically in the determinations of factual being, since it is; nor can it be said to
have more or less of being in relation to other things. In the old days this used to be
expressed, if somewhat imperfectly, by saying that if God is possible, he is eo ipso
necessary (Leibniz). Spinoza’s principle is thus quite correct and his tautology in
order; but it is also certain that he altogether evades the difficulty. For the difficulty is
to lay hold of God’s factual being and to introduce God’s ideal essence dialectically
into the sphere of factual being.
[3] What an excellent subject for a comedy of the higher lunacy!
[4] The Danish language correctly calls emotion (Dan. "Affekten") ‘Sindslidelse’
[compare Ger. "Leidenschaft"]. When we use the word "Affekt" we are likely to think
more immediately of the convulsive daring which astounds us, and makes us forget
that it is a form of passivity. So for example: pride, defiance, etc.
[5] The idiom of the language also supports the view that all offense is passive. We
say: "to be offended," which primarily expresses only the state or condition; but we
also say, as identical in meaning with the foregoing: "to take offense," which
expresses a synthesis of active and passive. The Greek word is . This word comes
from (offense or stumbling-block), and hence means to take offense, or to collide with
something. Here the movement of thought is clearly indicated; it is not that offense
provokes the collision, but that it meets with a collision, and hence passively, although
so far actively is itself to take offense. Hence the Reason is not the discoverer of
offense; for the paradoxical collision which the Reason develops in isolation
discovers neither the Paradox nor the reaction of offense.
[6] In this sense the Socratic principle that sin is ignorance ends justification. Sin does
not understand itself in the Truth, but it does not follow that it may not will itself in
Error.
