Arquivo de philosophy | Page 99 of 124

The Provincial Letters, by Blaise Pascal

The courageous retaliation of a man to the tyranny of his time; the confirmation of a moving biography; the manifesto of one of the most brilliant minds of all times. How can one read and not get emotional, not be taken by revolt? The sincerity with which Pascal expresses himself reveals all the nobility of his character. Insubmission to the court of men, daring to resist at a disadvantage, courage to put everything to lose: to read The Provincial Letters is to verify the highest manifestation of dignity in the human spirit, is to allow oneself to be in contact with a noble, limpid and eternal soul.

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An Anti-Marketing Attitude

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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The Unique and Its Property, by Max Stirner

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 Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus

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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