Reason And Temperament
Thanksgiving day. This day has become a tradition, since President Lincoln’s speech in 1863. Lincoln invoked God, suggesting that the “day of feasting” along with a collective attitude of thanksgiving might nudge the divinity to hasten a conclusion to the slaughter, destruction, and deprivation of the War Between the States. Check it out for yourself. Americans are not unlike our ancestors, who with animal sacrifice and then a feast (consuming the leftover meat), invoked the gods for supernatural assistance. Many continue to ask for otherworldly extraction from calamity. Some things do not change, even if we’d rather not think about the provenance of our customs.
Here is an alternate viewpoint upon the origin of injustice, human mayhem, to contrast with a state of goodwill, kindness, a humane social habitat.
My thought: Do I want to place a bet on urgently evoking divine intervention? Or shall I wager upon an arduous practice of reason? Which is it going to be?
Injustice and instability
in the minds of certain men,
their disordered and immoderate manner,
are the ultimate consequences
of the innumerable logical inexactitudes,
superficialities,
and hasty conclusions
of which
their ancestors
have been guilty.
Men of a good temperament,
on the other hand,
are descended
from solid and meditative races
which have set a high value upon reason
—whether for praiseworthy
or evil purposes
is of no great importance.
The Dawn Of Day, by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by J. M. Kennedy, aphorism 247
2 thoughts on “Reason And Temperament”
Always thought provoking. It’s difficult not to think of the story you told me about Nietzsche’s decent into perceived madness near the end of his life. The image of him weeping while holding onto the neck of a horse that had been beaten remains a vivid picture in my mind. To me it was an indication of his empathy, his sensitivity, his frustrations, and his acute observations about life that drove him to lapse into an inability to cope. It’s very possible there were other circumstances to which I’m not aware but this is my own subjective take. I wish I could thank him personally but instead I will thank you for enlightening me about his work. There is a profound sadness I feel when reading his words. A sense that our species has missed the boat and has chosen its own form of madness to embrace. Of well!
Whether our species has missed the mark, is “lost”, will only be known at some future point. For now, each of us is tasked with a life, to live with as much self-possession as we can muster, to dedicate ourselves to what matters most to us. Or so it seems to me.