From Brazil, it is hard to imagine the European literary environment of the 19th century, in which it was not only possible to make some money from literature, but also to make a living from fiction. Just imagining a payment, any payment, priced by the number of pages written, is something that makes the brain freeze. Less absurd than imagining a publisher paying something for literature is thinking about the act of creation invaded by thoughts such as: “I’ll charge so much per page”, “I’ll offer the work to this and that publisher”, “I need to finish the book to get paid”… And this as a rule! experienced by practically all authors! Then the thought flies to the economic aspects: this work was sold for so much, that one for so much, this author sold so many works a year, that one so many, and so on. And to think of the authors who made up Brazilian literature, financing their own work, publishing out of a mixture of duty and love, and never counting on the possibility of earning a living from literature. The contrast is brutal!
When We See Just Once a Child…
When we see just once a child losing its innocence, the concept we have of man cannot remain. Here, something unspeakable happens, with much effort symbolized, but which no words can specify. We remember Eden, we regret it, but the regret itself is dubious, because it is difficult to classify the experience as entirely bad. In the child, something is lost; but something is gained. The previous state certainly does not return, which is why there seems to be a kind of condemnation for the experience. But if it brings with it some sorrow and nostalgia, it opens up a new dimension. When the child loses its innocence, it begins to become consequential; and it is from this moment that merit can flourish.
The Fact That Orientalism Has Become…
The fact that orientalism has become fashionable in the West in the last century and, as is to be expected of fashions, has corrupted the virtues of its object, has not changed the fact that, for the Westerner, the Orient can be extremely instructive and even enchanting. Because, despite the fashions, the contrasts remain and, despite the fashions, the lessons remain. This positive side, more than ever, must be emphasized; perhaps it must even be admitted that, thanks to fashion, there are now a number of translations that would have been unthinkable two centuries ago. Ancient wisdom has the advantage of solidity: it can be distorted as much as one likes, but the texts remain as they are.
The Historian of Philosophy Can Very Well…
The historian of philosophy can very well trace the course of currents of thought over the decades, identifying trends here and there, and see them as shaping the results that he identifies. In doing so, one has a view perhaps not of the evolution of thought, but of the origin of ideas, of what kind of stimulus encourages them and what kind of stimulus they respond to. This is certainly beneficial; however, the historical panorama is insufficient for the intellectual to be able to claim to be the master of such developments. In order to do this, he needs to experience the process from the inside, take on the ideas put forward as his own and let them take the path they want within him. This may not be possible for all philosophical problems, but especially for the most current ones, this exercise usually leads to very different conclusions from those that spring up with an air of immediate consecration.