If virtue usually manifests itself in abstention, in the negative, in the annulment of natural dispositions, and if its aspect is generally rough, cold, and intransigent, one must conclude that it demands an active posture in favor of the depreciation of one’s own image, that is, an essentially anti-marketing attitude—on a personal level, it is true, but is it still possible to divide it?
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Brilliant work. Manifesto in favor of intelligence and dignity. Antidote against the tyranny of abstractions. What a pleasure! And there were those who wanted to paint Stirner pejoratively as “radical”. Well done! Radical against the submission of the individual to ideas, revolt against the repression of thought. And, moreover, very good-humored, which is not verified in all those who were indignant against the blasphemies of this great intellectual. The human being suffers from this terrible need to first associate, become part of a group, formulate and validate beliefs through consensus, and then impose them on the rest of the species, claiming universal validation. It is natural that the individual has always existed, in common sense, as submissive to any authority. The opposite is simply unthinkable! One must be a sheep and demand that all others be so too; so I think, so I do, and that is exactly how everyone must think and do! But there is what the flock animals will never understand: dignity begins with the consciousness of individuality and maturity with the acceptance of the world as it is. The species has already failed, but the laughter of Stirner will continue to echo through the centuries…
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The yesterday that repeats methodically, the daily effort and the time, long time… Then it bursts into the tired mind: “Why?”—Suddenly, the being perceives itself before a crossroads: either he immediately neutralizes the manifestation of astonishment and becomes to the usual lethargy, or he will have to face the question that runs over all the others. If life is not justifiable, if the daily effort is useless, if death is peremptory condemnation, reason demands suicide. Is there a way out? How to find a different solution? Absurd! The mind demands an answer from a mute entity, wants to assimilate the illogical by reason, refuses to admit its impotence. But it needs an answer to exist. And if it is not able to remain silent and simply accept the imposing reality, it is forced to face its fate actively. Suicide is indispensable? the immediate suppression of pain and effort is the most sensible decision? No, says Camus, there is the revolt.
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The understanding of human nature demands, over and over again, the detachment from reason. To deny the irrational manifestations of the human being and external phenomena implies, besides arrogance, the limitation of one’s understanding. The reason, the experimental method, both present themselves limited as tools of reality apprehension. To recognize it is simply to keep eyes open. Knowledge requires humility, recognition of weaknesses, and the courage to go into strange territory. Jung, aware of the possibilities of reason,—and above all, aware of its strength,—sought in the study of religions, mythology, and medieval magic the answers that his analytical method would never be able to deliver because they exceeded its scope. He became perhaps the most brilliant psychologist of all time. For many, however, he was a deserter. And the many remain in their prepotent and monumental stupidity.
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