He is honest in spite of himself?, The Mechanics of Virtue, aphorism 228

228

He is honest in spite of himself?  This man is honest because appearing honest for the sake of honesty lends him a sense of dignity through his appeal to others’ religious and scientific sentiments.  He appears honest in spite of himself because he wants to flatter himself with what he imagines they are thinking.  He can even flatter himself with what he imagines the dead would have thought about his extreme honesty.


But this other man wanted to flatter himself with an identity superior to their sentiments. With his honesty he is not flattered by what they are thinking, but only by surpassing what they are capable of thinking.  It is the exposure of their ignorance that proves his superiority.  He is most honest when he shocks the living and rankles the dead.  Now he is honest in spite of himself and in spite of them too.



A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism



Popular posts from this blog

A valuable book, A Human Strategy, aphorism 387

387 A valuable book may be torn to pieces without diminishing the human spirit, just so long as the words have already been read and understood.  To feel the loss of the book — at its material destruction, even though one had already digested its contents fully and had aligned oneself toward its overall direction — is evidence that one values the non-human being over human becoming , the static thing over the dynamic process .  In response to the fear of our unknowable future we would rather freeze ourselves into a single stage of growth at the expense of the entire metamorphosis. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more
A benefactor's Moral Guide: what do you want that will not result in your ultimate dishonor?      ****    Meditation: "How do I get back to where I want to be?"
Read more

A theory of art

Interest is not in what you see. It’s in what you don’t see. It is sensed incompleteness completed reflexively by the spectator. It is a conflict in the otherwise imperceptible feeling that a sensory organ is “inadequate” … a mastery of scratching irritations, an “I” … “the” I. We love art the most when we scratch ourselves with what we view.  Art is valued at the interest that the passion from the incompletes in the work is instantly and successful satisfied by what the lover needs to sense … every time it senses the art.  A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more