Of all the characteristics of the modern intellectual, as conceived by Paul Johnson, perhaps none causes more strangeness—or is it shame?—than this inordinate vanity, which is not limited to the high concept that the intellectual has of himself, but pretends to be an innate debt that others owe him. What is there to say? There are no words for this pretension, well illustrated by the amusing “begging letters”. There is nothing unusual about the affliction caused by the lack of means, which generates a feeling of injustice, as experienced by Raskólnikov. But at least he acts; even if recklessly, he seeks through his own actions what he thinks he deserves. A delirium, it is true, but the use of force denotes an awareness of the ineffectiveness of the argument, of the nonsense that would be trying to convince someone of a debt because of his superiority. This is such a detachment from reality that it can only go back to the most elementary questions of raising…
Tag: behavior
Despite Seeming Non-Existent Today…
Despite seeming non-existent today after decades of systematic and vehement relativization, common sense remains the most solid moral beacon for ordinary man. It is not the law that guides him, it is not the law that he thinks about when he acts or refrains from acting. If he does not kill, if he does not steal, it is because common sense prescribes it, whether or not there is a law. The effect of the law, moreover, thanks to the modern state, is to always make him more or less of an infringer. In other words: if the law does not correspond to common sense, it cannot be seen as fair, and its effect can never be educational, as it is theoretically intended to be. And the most curious thing about all this is that the day will come when someone will have to notice it, will have to notice the failure of modern law in the face of age-old common sense. And then, if it is to be legally transcribed, it will no longer be possible—unless religion is admitted once again.
The Impressive Thing About Habit…
The impressive thing about habit is that it accustoms the mind to difficult tasks, making them seem almost, almost easy; and even if it does not go that far, it trivializes doing them, something extraordinary in itself. Psychologically, getting used to doing something means doing it with less effort, like switching on an automatic execution mode. And it is only possible to see how beneficial, how powerful a habit is when one breaks it and then tries to do what one used to do naturally. Almost always, the effort needed to pick it up is less than the effort needed to give it up.
The 20th Century Does Not Seem…
The 20th century does not seem to have been enough to demonstrate the risk of politicizing philosophy, nor the disasters that result from interpreting the “act” as a political act, or “responsibility” as a principle that claims the individual as a collective agent. The effort to distort thought and use it as a pretext and resource in this modern factory of activism persists, even though it has been proven to produce nothing but destruction. It is unfortunate, but it does not seem to be with less activism that the current activism can be combated.