15. No internal and external in the world

Reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s Human all too human

Read the introduction here

You can read the aphorism I discuss here in English an German below the main article.

Synopsis, quote from the translation by Helen Zimmern (1909) and my take on it

As Democritus¹ transferred applied² the concepts ” above ” and ” below ” to endless space where they have no sense, so philosophers in general have transferred Applied the concepts ” Internal ” and ” External ” to the essence and appearance of the world; Philosophers think that with deep internal feelings you can reach the “essence” of our nature. But these deep feelings are only deep if they are accompanied by hardly noticeable thoughts that we call “deep thoughts”, a feeling is deep because we think that the accompanying thought is deep. But these deep thoughts can be far from the truth for instance, every metaphysical one. If we take away the thoughts or words from the deep feeling we had, we are left with this deep feeling without any insight. as strong faith proves only its strength and not the truth of what is believed in.

In one sentence:

Deep feelings are empty without words that are often empty to.

¹Democritus was born in Abdera, Thrace, around 460 BC, although some thought it was 490 BC. His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus, as they are often mentioned together in texts. Their speculation on atoms, taken from Leucippus, bears a passing and partial resemblance to the 19th-century understanding of atomic structure that has led some to regard Democritus as more of a scientist than other Greek philosophers; however, their ideas rested on very different bases. Largely ignored in ancient Athens, Democritus is said to have been disliked so much by Plato that the latter wished all of his books burned. He was nevertheless well known to his fellow northern-born philosopher Aristotle. Many consider Democritus to be the “father of modern science”. None of his writings have survived; only fragments are known from his vast body of work. (Wikipedia)

²The German word “übertrug“ is in most translations translated as transferred but Handwerk translated it as extended and the Dutch version as “toepaste” that you translate in English as applied. It’s just a small difference between transferring, extending and applying and it has little influence on the whole aphorism. English is not my first languish, so I don’t know the full extent of the word transferred but it sounds like moved. In the second part of this first sentence: “transferred the concepts ” Internal ” and ” External ” to the essence and appearance of the world” I much rather use the word applied or extend.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

NO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL IN THE WORLD.—As Democritus transferred the concepts ” above ” and ” below ” to endless space where they have no sense, so philosophers in general have transferred the concepts ” Internal ” and ” External ” to the essence and appearance of the world ; they think that with deep feelings one can penetrate deeply into the internal and approach the heart of Nature. But these feelings are only deep in so far as along with them, barely noticeable, certain complicated groups of thoughts, which we call deep, are regularly excited ; a feeling is deep because we think that the accompanying thought is deep. But the ” deep ” thought can nevertheless be very far from the truth, as, for instance, every metaphysical one ; if one take away from the deep feeling the commingled elements of thought, then the strong feeling remains, and this guarantees nothing for knowledge but itself, just as strong faith proves only its strength and not the truth of what is believed in.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

Kein Innen und Aussen in der Welt. – Wie Demokrit die Begriffe Oben und Unten auf den unendlichen Raum übertrug, wo sie keinen Sinn haben, so die Philosophen überhaupt den Begriff “Innen und Aussen” auf Wesen und Erscheinung der Welt; sie meinen, mit tiefen Gefühlen komme man tief in’s Innere, nahe man sich dem Herzen der Natur. Aber diese Gefühle sind nur insofern tief, als mit ihnen, kaum bemerkbar, gewisse complicirte Gedankengruppen regelmässig erregt werden, welche wir tief nennen; ein Gefühl ist tief, weil wir den begleitenden Gedanken für tief halten. Aber der tiefe Gedanke kann dennoch der Wahrheit sehr fern sein, wie zum Beispiel jeder metaphysische; rechnet man vom tiefen Gefühle die beigemischten Gedankenelemente ab, so bleibt das starke Gefühl übrig, und dieses verbürgt Nichts für die Erkenntniss, als sich selbst, ebenso wie der starke Glaube nur seine Stärke, nicht die Wahrheit des Geglaubten beweist.

Sources:

I will read a Dutch translation that is based on the work of researchers Colli and Montinari. I also use a translation from R.J.Hollingdale and the Gary Handwerk translation from the Colli-Montinari edition. Both are more modern than the copyright free translation I use here. This is a translation from 1909 by Helen Zimmern, who knew Nietzsche personally, but there was no critical study of Nietzsche’s work done back then and this translation suffers from that. The same goes for the translation from Alexander Harvey. My German is not good enough to pretend that I can translate it better than the professionals do but I will use the original as a referee.

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

14. Co-echoing

Human all too human

Reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s Human all too human

Read the introduction here

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Note:

The German word Miterklingen, the title of this aphorism, is not a real German word as far as I can find out. In the English translation by Alexander Harvey he had a note: “Miterklingen: to sound simultaneously with” I agree with that, in one word it would be something like: withsounds. I don’t know why the translators didn’t took the freedom to invent a word like Nietzsche did.

For this aphorism I also included the other 3 translation that I use from Harvey (1909), Hollingdale (1986) and Handwerk (1997). For convenience, and the interested, I put every sentence side by side, so you can compare the different translations easier. There are no big surprises that influences the message of this aphorism, besides the last word “thing” but it is interesting to see the differences and the freedom the translators took.

Synopsis and my take on it:

Al strong moods bring ripples of similar moods with them, they mix up your memory. In the mix you recognize “similar conditions and their origin”, there are quick connections made of “feelings and thoughts” and are felt as one and not separate. “In this sense one speaks of the moral feeling, of the religious feeling, as if they were absolute unities: in reality they are streams with a hundred sources and tributaries.”. “Here also, as so often happens, the unity of the word is no security for the unity of the thing¹.” With this last sentence Nietzsche puts the aphorism a little bit on its head but I think he meant: The “word” is like the mood, also accompanied by other similar words and meanings, when describing an “thing” with words that also are blurred by their meaning the “thing” itself gets blurred.

In one sentence:

Complex moods feel like one, but are not, like words.

¹The German word “sache” is translated by all four as “thing” but I think it’s more a word between a “thing” and a “case”, maybe entity. In the Dutch translation it is translated as “zaak” and that can mean a thing, but also a case but also a cross between the two.

Download the word document here: CO-ECHOING

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

CO-ECHOING.—All stronger moods bring with them a co-echoing of kindred sensations and moods, they grub up the memory, so to speak. Along with them something within us remembers and becomes conscious of similar conditions and their origin. Thus there are formed quick habitual connections of feelings and thoughts, which eventually, when they follow each other with lightning speed, are no longer felt as complexes but as unities. In this sense one speaks of the moral feeling, of the religious feeling, as if they were absolute unities : in reality they are streams with a hundred sources and tributaries. Here also, as so often happens, the unity of the word is no security for the unity of the thing.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908

Association.—All strong feelings are associated with a variety of allied sentiments and emotions. They stir up the memory at the same time. When we are under their influence we are reminded of similar states and we feel a renewal of them within us. Thus are formed habitual successions of feelings and notions, which, at last, when they follow one another with lightning rapidity are no longer felt as complexities but as unities. In this sense we hear of moral feelings, of religious feelings, as if they were absolute unities. In reality they are streams with a hundred sources and tributaries. Here again, the unity of the word speaks nothing for the unity of the thing.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986

14 Sympathetic resonance. – All stronger moods bring with them a sympathetic resonance on the part of related sensations and moods: they as it were root up the memory. Something in us is provoked to recollection and becomes aware of similar states and their origins. Thus there come to be constructed habitual rapid connections between feelings and thoughts which, if they succeed one another with lightning speed, are in the end no longer experienced as complexes but as unities. It is in this sense that one speaks of the moral feelings, of the religious feelings, as though these were simple unities: in truth, however, they are rivers with a hundred tributaries and sources. Here too, as so often, the unity of the word is no guarantee of the unity of the thing.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary Handwerk 1997

Resonances, – All stronger moods bring along with them a resonance of related sensations and moods; they churn up our memory, as it were. They bring something to mind, making us conscious of similar states and their origins. In this way habitual, rapid associations of feelings and thoughts are formed, which finally, when they follow after one another with lightning speed, are no longer even sensed as complex, but rather as unities. In this sense, we speak of moral feelings, of religious feelings, as if these were nothing but unities: in truth, they are streams with a hundred sources and tributaries. Here, too, as so often, the unity of the word guarantees nothing about the unity of the thing.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

Miterklingen. – Alle stärkeren Stimmungen bringen ein Miterklingen verwandter Empfindungen und Stimmungen mit sich; sie wühlen gleichsam das Gedächtniss auf. Es erinnert sich bei ihnen Etwas in uns und wird sich ähnlicher Zustände und deren Herkunft bewusst. So bilden sich angewöhnte rasche Verbindungen von Gefühlen und Gedanken, welche zuletzt, wenn sie blitzschnell hinter einander erfolgen, nicht einmal mehr als Complexe, sondern als Einheiten empfunden werden. In diesem Sinne redet man vom moralischen Gefühle, vom religiösen Gefühle, wie als ob diess lauter Einheiten seien: in Wahrheit sind sie Ströme mit hundert Quellen und Zuflüssen. Auch hier, wie so oft, verbürgt die Einheit des Wortes Nichts für die Einheit der Sache.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

13. The logic of dreams

Human all too human

Reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s Human all too human

Read the introduction here

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

Nietzsche writes that many different “inner occurrences” brings to the dreamer “hundred occasions for the spirit to be surprised and to seek for the reasons of this excitation”. The dreamer will interpret the influences on his body in his dream. “A person who, for instance, binds his feet with two straps will perhaps dream that two serpents are coiling round his feet”. The sleeper thinks and imagines that “These serpents must be the causa of those sensations which I, the sleeper, experience,”—so decides the mind of the sleeper. The dreamer weaves external influences into his dreams. “But how does it happen that the mind of the dreamer is always so mistaken, while the same mind when awake is accustomed to be so temperate, careful, and skeptical with regard to its hypotheses?” “I hold, that as man now still reasons in dreams, so men reasoned also when awake through thousands of years” Humans treated unseen influences in the past as we still do in our dreams. “the first causa which occurred to the mind to explain anything that required an explanation, was sufficient and stood for truth.” We still develop on that dream thinking our higher reasoning. During our development this explaining thru what comes first into your mind like in the dream state ”dreaming is a recreation for the brain, which by day has to satisfy the stern demands of thought, as they are laid down by the higher culture”

Now Nietzsche explains what in his view the dreams are made of, from light and colors you collected during the day. “The actual accompanying process thereby is again a kind of conclusion from the effect to the cause: since the mind asks, ” Whence come these impressions of light and colour? ” it supposes those figures and forms as causes; it takes them for the origin of those colours and lights, because in the daytime, with open eyes, it is accustomed to find a producing cause for every colour, every effect of light. Here, therefore, the imagination constantly places pictures before the mind, since it supports itself on the visual impressions of the day in their production, and the dream-imagination does just the same thing, —that is, the supposed cause is deduced from the effect and represented after the effect” Because this al goes fast and “a sequence may look like something simultaneous, or even like a reversed sequence” you can understand why I took so long for “the strict discrimination of cause and effect” to develop “when our reasoning and understanding faculties still involuntarily hark back to those primitive forms of deduction, and when we pass about half our life in this condition. The poet, too, and the artist assign causes for their moods and conditions which are by no means the true ones; in this they recall an older humanity and can assist us to the understanding of it.”

In one sentence:

The way we make a dream is the basis of our thinking

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

THE LOGIC OF DREAMS.—In sleep our nervous system is perpetually excited by numerous inner occurrences ; nearly all the organs are disjointed and in a state of activity, the blood runs its turbulent course, the position of the sleeper causes pressure on certain limbs, his coverings influence his sensations in various ways, the stomach digests and by its movements it disturbs other organs, the intestines writhe, the position of the head occasions unaccustomed play of muscles, the feet, unshod, not pressing upon the floor with the soles, occasion the feeling of the unaccustomed just as does the different clothing of the whole body: all this, according to its daily change and extent, excites by its extraordinariness the entire system to the very functions of the brain, and thus there are a hundred occasions for the spirit to be surprised and to seek for the reasons of this excitation ;—the dream, however, is the seeking and representing of the causes of those excited sensations,—that is, of the supposed causes. A person who, for instance, binds his feet with two straps will perhaps dream that two serpents are coiling round his feet; this is first hypothesis, then a belief, with an accompanying mental picture and interpretation—” These serpents must be the causa of those sensations which I, the sleeper, experience,”—so decides the mind of the sleeper. The immediate past, so disclosed, becomes to him the present through his excited imagination. Thus every one knows from experience how quickly the dreamer weaves into his dream a loud sound that he hears, such as the ringing of bells or the firing of cannon, that is to say, explains it from afterwards so that he first thinks he experiences the producing circumstances and then that sound. But how does it happen that the mind of the dreamer is always so mistaken, while the same mind when awake is accustomed to be so temperate, careful, and sceptical with regard to its hypotheses? so that the first random hypothesis for the explanation of a feeling suffices for him to believe immediately in its truth ? (For in dreaming we believe in the dream as if it were a reality, i.e. we think our hypothesis completely proved.) I hold, that as man now still reasons in dreams, so men reasoned also when awake through thousands of years ; the first causa which occurred to the mind to explain anything that required an explanation, was sufficient and stood for truth. (Thus, according to travellers’ tales, savages still do to this very day.) This ancient element in human nature still manifests itself in our dreams, for it is the foundation upon which the higher reason has developed and still develops in every individual ; the dream carries us back into remote conditions of human culture, and provides a ready means of understanding them better. Dream-thinking is now so easy to us because during immense periods of human development we have been so well drilled in this form of fantastic and cheap explanation, by means of the first agreeable notions. In so far, dreaming is a recreation for the brain, which by day has to satisfy the stern demands of thought, as they are laid down by the higher culture. We can at once discern an allied process even in our awakened state, as the door and ante-room of the dream. If we shut our eyes, the brain produces a number of impressions of light and colour, probably as a kind of after-play and echo of all those effects of light which crowd in upon it by day. Now, however, the understanding, together with the imagination, instantly works up this play of colour, shapeless in itself, into definite figures, forms, landscapes, and animated groups. The actual accompanying process thereby is again a kind of conclusion from the effect to the cause : since the mind asks, ” Whence come these impressions of light and colour ? ” it supposes those figures and forms as causes ; it takes them for the origin of those colours and lights, because in the daytime, with open eyes, it is accustomed to find a producing cause for every colour, every effect of light. Here, therefore, the imagination constantly places pictures before the mind, since it supports itself on the visual impressions of the day in their production, and the dream-imagination does just the same thing,—that is, the supposed cause is deduced from the effect and represented after the effect ; all this happens with extraordinary rapidity, so that here, as with the conjuror, a confusion of judgment may arise and a sequence may look like something simultaneous, or even like a reversed sequence. From these circumstances we may gather how lately the more acute logical thinking, the strict discrimination of cause and effect has been developed, when our reasoning and understanding faculties still involuntarily hark back to those primitive forms of deduction, and when we pass about half our life in this condition. The poet, too, and the artist assign causes for their moods and conditions which are by no means the true ones ; in this they recall an older humanity and can assist us to the understanding of it.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

Logik des Traumes. – Im Schlafe ist fortwährend unser Nervensystem durch mannichfache innere Anlässe in Erregung, fast alle Organe secerniren und sind in Thätigkeit, das Blut macht seinen ungestümen Kreislauf, die Lage des Schlafenden drückt einzelne Glieder, seine Decken beeinflussen die Empfindung verschiedenartig, der Magen verdaut und beunruhigt mit seinen Bewegungen andere Organe, die Gedärme winden sich, die Stellung des Kopfes bringt ungewöhnliche Muskellagen mit sich, die Füsse, unbeschuht, nicht mit den Sohlen den Boden drückend, verursachen das Gefühl des Ungewöhnlichen ebenso wie die andersartige Bekleidung des ganzen Körpers, – alles diess nach seinem täglichen Wechsel und Grade erregt durch seine Aussergewöhnlichkeit das gesammte System bis in die Gehirnfunction hinein: und so giebt es hundert Anlässe für den Geist, um sich zu verwundern und nach Gründen dieser Erregung zu suchen: der Traum aber ist das Suchen und Vorstellen der Ursachen für jene erregten Empfindungen, das heisst der vermeintlichen Ursachen. Wer zum Beispiel seine Füsse mit zwei Riemen umgürtet, träumt wohl, dass zwei Schlangen seine Füsse umringeln: diess ist zuerst eine Hypothese, sodann ein Glaube, mit einer begleitenden bildlichen Vorstellung und Ausdichtung: “diese Schlangen müssen die causa jener Empfindung sein, welche ich, der Schlafende, habe”, – so urtheilt der Geist des Schlafenden. Die so erschlossene nächste Vergangenheit wird durch die erregte Phantasie ihm zur Gegenwart. So weiss jeder aus Erfahrung, wie schnell der Träumende einen starken an ihn dringenden Ton, zum Beispiel Glockenläuten, Kanonenschüsse in seinen Traum verflicht, das heisst aus ihm hinterdrein erklärt, so dass er zuerst die veranlassenden Umstände, dann jenen Ton zu erleben meint. – Wie kommt es aber, dass der Geist des Träumenden immer so fehl greift, während der selbe Geist im Wachen so nüchtern, behutsam und in Bezug auf Hypothesen so skeptisch zu sein pflegt? so dass ihm die erste beste Hypothese zur Erklärung eines Gefühls genügt, um sofort an ihre Wahrheit zu glauben? (denn wir glauben im Traume an den Traum, als sei er Realität, das heisst wir halten unsre Hypothese für völlig erwiesen). – Ich meine: wie jetzt noch der Mensch im Traume schliesst, so schloss die Menschheit auch im Wachen viele Jahrtausende hindurch: die erste causa, die dem Geiste einfiel, um irgend Etwas, das der Erklärung bedurfte, zu erklären, genügte ihm und galt als Wahrheit. (So verfahren nach den Erzählungen der Reisenden die Wilden heute noch.) Im Traum übt sich dieses uralte Stück Menschenthum in uns fort, denn es ist die Grundlage, auf der die höhere Vernunft sich entwickelte und in jedem Menschen sich noch entwickelt: der Traum bringt uns in ferne Zustände der menschlichen Cultur wieder zurück und giebt ein Mittel an die Hand, sie besser zu verstehen. Das Traumdenken wird uns jetzt so leicht, weil wir in ungeheuren Entwickelungsstrecken der Menschheit gerade auf diese Form des phantastischen und wohlfeilen Erklärens aus dem ersten beliebigen Einfalle heraus so gut eingedrillt worden sind. Insofern ist der Traum eine Erholung für das Gehirn, welches am Tage den strengeren Anforderungen an das Denken zu genügen hat, wie sie von der höheren Cultur gestellt werden. – Einen verwandten Vorgang können wir geradezu als Pforte und Vorhalle des Traumes noch bei wachem Verstande in Augenschein nehmen. Schliessen wir die Augen, so producirt das Gehirn eine Menge von Lichteindrücken und Farben, wahrscheinlich als eine Art Nachspiel und Echo aller jener Lichtwirkungen, welche am Tage auf dasselbe eindringen. Nun verarbeitet aber der Verstand (mit der Phantasie im Bunde) diese an sich formlosen Farbenspiele sofort zu bestimmten Figuren, Gestalten, Landschaften, belebten Gruppen. Der eigentliche Vorgang dabei ist wiederum eine Art Schluss von der Wirkung auf die Ursache; indem der Geist fragt: woher diese Lichteindrücke und Farben, supponirt er als Ursachen jene Figuren, Gestalten: sie gelten ihm als die Veranlassungen jener Farben und Lichter, weil er, am Tage, bei offenen Augen, gewohnt ist, zu jeder Farbe, jedem Lichteindrucke eine veranlassende Ursache zu finden. Hier also schiebt ihm die Phantasie fortwährend Bilder vor, indem sie an die Gesichtseindrücke des Tages sich in ihrer Production anlehnt, und gerade so macht es die Traumphantasie: – das heisst die vermeintliche Ursache wird aus der Wirkung erschlossen und nach der Wirkung vorgestellt: alles diess mit ausserordentlicher Schnelligkeit, so dass hier wie beim Taschenspieler eine Verwirrung des Urtheils entstehen und ein Nacheinander sich wie etwas Gleichzeitiges, selbst wie ein umgedrehtes Nacheinander ausnehmen kann. – Wir können aus diesen Vorgängen entnehmen, wie spät das schärfere logische Denken, das Strengnehmen von Ursache und Wirkung, entwickelt worden ist, wenn unsere Vernunft- und Verstandesfunctionen jetzt noch unwillkürlich nach jenen primitiven Formen des Schliessens zurückgreifen und wir ziemlich die Hälfte unseres Lebens in diesem Zustande leben. – Auch der Dichter, der Künstler schiebt seinen Stimmungen und Zuständen Ursachen unter, welche durchaus nicht die wahren sind; er erinnert insofern an älteres Menschenthum und kann uns zum Verständnisse desselben verhelfen.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

12. Dream and culture

Human all too human

Reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s Human all too human

Read the introduction here

You can read the aphorism I discuss, below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

While dreaming our memory is “brought back to a condition of imperfection such as everyone may have experienced in pre-historic times, whether asleep or awake.” The dreams are “arbitrary and confused” like the mythologies they invented. People that visited “savage” people tell of their “short tension of memory, his mind begins to sway here and there from sheer weariness and gives forth lies and nonsense.” But in dreams we are all like the savage, we misinterpreted our dreams and are alarmed if we recollect the dream clearly. The clarity of the pictures in a dream make us believe that they are real and “recall the conditions that appertain relate to primitive man, in whom hallucination was extraordinarily frequent, and sometimes simultaneously seized entire communities, entire nations. Therefore, in sleep and in dreams we once more carry out the task¹ homework of early humanity.²

In one sentence:

Our dreams and myths are from the savages

¹Zimmern translated the German word pensum with task and Hollingdale with curriculum. I personally like the definition from Collinsdictionary.com the best: “1. a piece of work or a task to be completed, esp a school exercise2. a piece of extra school work set as a form of punishment” I like the added punishment in these definitions. In the Dutch version its translated as “huiswerk” or homework.

²Hollingdale has a note for this aphorism: In The Interpretation of Dreams, ch. VII (6), Freud writes: ‘We can guess how much to the point is Nietzsche’s assertion that in dreams “some primeval relic of humanity is at work which we can now scarcely reach any longer by a direct path”; and we may expect that the analysis of dreams will lead us to a knowledge of man’s archaic heritage, of what is psychologically innate in him.^‘

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

DREAM AND CULTURE.—The function of the brain which is most influenced by sleep is the memory ; not that it entirely ceases ; but it is brought back to a condition of imperfection, such as everyone may have experienced in pre-historic times, whether asleep or awake. Arbitrary and confused as it is, it constantly confounds things on the ground of the most fleeting resemblances; but with the same arbitrariness and confusion the ancients invented their mythologies, and even at the present day travellers are accustomed to remark how prone the savage is to forgetfulness, how, after a short tension of memory, his mind begins to sway here and there from sheer weariness and gives forth lies and nonsense. But in dreams we all resemble the savage ; bad recognition and erroneous comparisons are the reasons of the bad conclusions, of which we are guilty in dreams : so that, when we clearly recollect what we have dreamt, we are alarmed at ourselves at harbouring so much foolishness within us. The perfect distinctness of all dream-representations, which pre-suppose absolute faith in their reality, recall the conditions that appertain to primitive man, in whom hallucination was extraordinarily frequent, and sometimes simultaneously seized entire communities, entire nations. Therefore, in sleep and in dreams we once more carry out the task of early humanity.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

Traum und Cultur.- Die Gehirnfunction, welche durch den Schlaf am meisten beeinträchtigt wird, ist das Gedächtniss: nicht dass es ganz pausirte, – aber es ist auf einen Zustand der Unvollkommenheit zurückgebracht, wie es in Urzeiten der Menschheit bei jedermann am Tage und im Wachen gewesen sein mag. Willkürlich und verworren, wie es ist, verwechselt es fortwährend die Dinge auf Grund der flüchtigsten Aehnlichkeiten: aber mit der selben Willkür und Verworrenheit dichteten die Völker ihre Mythologien, und noch jetzt pflegen Reisende zu beobachten, wie sehr der Wilde zur Vergesslichkeit neigt, wie sein Geist nach kurzer Anspannung des Gedächtnisses hin und her zu taumeln beginnt und er, aus blosser Erschlaffung, Lügen und Unsinn hervorbringt. Aber wir Alle gleichen im Traume diesem Wilden; das schlechte Wiedererkennen und irrthümliche Gleichsetzen ist der Grund des schlechten Schliessens, dessen wir uns im Traume schuldig machen: so dass wir, bei deutlicher Vergegenwärtigung eines Traumes, vor uns erschrecken, weil wir so viel Narrheit in uns bergen. – Die vollkommene Deutlichkeit aller Traum-Vorstellungen, welche den unbedingten Glauben an ihre Realität zur Voraussetzung hat, erinnert uns wieder an Zustände früherer Menschheit, in der die Hallucination ausserordentlich häufig war und mitunter ganze Gemeinden, ganze Völker gleichzeitig ergriff. Also: im Schlaf und Traum machen wir das Pensum früheren Menschenthums noch einmal durch.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

11. Language as a presumptive science

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

“The importance of language for the development of culture lies in the fact that in language man has placed a world of his own beside the other, Languages describes the world, becomes its own world, but is not the real world a position which he deemed so fixed that he might therefrom lift the rest of the world off its hinges, and make himself master of it.” Man thought that the construction he made out of language was so stable that he could rule the world with it As far as people believed as “æternæ veritates” eternal truth “for a great length of time, he has acquired that pride by which he has raised himself above the animal; he really thought that in language he possessed the knowledge of the world. The maker of language was not modest enough to think that he only gave designations names to things, he believed rather that with his words he expressed the widest knowledge of the things;” Language is the first step towards science. From “which the mightiest sources of strength have flowed” From the belief that science came out of language a strong force came into the world “Much later—only now—it is dawning upon men that they have propagated a tremendous error¹ in their belief in language. Fortunately, it is now too late to reverse the development of reason, which is founded upon that belief. Reason is based on the falls belief that language can be used to name or rule the world Logic, also, is founded upon suppositions² to which nothing in the actual world corresponds,” As an example the “supposition² of the equality of things, and the identity of the same thing at different points of time” But science came out of the world where they thought such things existed In the world of languages things like circles and straight lines exist. “It is the same with mathematics, which would certainly not have arisen if it had been known from the beginning that in Nature there are no exactly straight lines, no real circle, no absolute standard of size.”

In one sentence:

Reason would not exist without our first wrong words.

¹In the translation by Hollingdale there is a note at this place that points to the following assay from Nietzsche: On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1973) This is a quote from that book: “Every word immediately becomes a concept, inasmuch as it is not intended to serve as a reminder of the unique and wholly individualized original experience to which it owes its birth, but must at the same time fit innumerable, more or less similar cases—which means, strictly speaking, never equal—in other words, a lot of unequal cases. Every concept originates through our equating what is unequal.” Read more here

²Zimern translates “Voraussetzung“ with supposition (a hypothesis beforehand) and Hollingdale translates it with presupposition (an assumption beforehand). In German the word Voraussetzung is defined as: eine feste Vorstellung, die das weitere Tun oder Denken leitet (a fixed idea that guides further action or thinking). Which correspond better with the English word Presupposition.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

LANGUAGE AS A PRESUMPTIVE SCIENCE.—The importance of language for the development of culture lies in the fact that in language man has placed a world of his own beside the other, a position which he deemed so fixed that he might therefrom lift the rest of the world off its hinges, and make himself master of it. Inasmuch as man has believed in the ideas and names of things as æternæ veritates for a great length of time, he has acquired that pride by which he has raised himself above the animal; he really thought that in language he possessed the knowledge of the world. The maker of language was not modest enough to think that he only gave designations to things, he believed rather that with his words he expressed the widest knowledge of the things ; in reality language is the first step in the endeavour after science. Here also it is belief in ascertained truth, from which the mightiest sources of strength have flowed. Much later—only now—it is dawning upon men that they have propagated a tremendous error in their belief in language. Fortunately it is now too late to reverse the development of reason, which is founded upon that belief. Logic, also, is founded upon suppositions to which nothing in the actual world corresponds,—for instance, on the supposition of the equality of things, and the identity of the same thing at different points of time,—but that particular science arose out of the contrary belief (that such things really existed in the actual world). It is the same with mathematics, which would certainly not have arisen if it had been known from the beginning that in Nature there are no exactly straight lines, no real circle, no absolute standard of size.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

11. Die Sprache als vermeintliche Wissenschaft. – Die Bedeutung der Sprache für die Entwickelung der Cultur liegt darin, dass in ihr der Mensch eine eigene Welt neben die andere stellte, einen Ort, welchen er für so fest hielt, um von ihm aus die übrige Welt aus den Angeln zu heben und sich zum Herrn derselben zu machen. Insofern der Mensch an die Begriffe und Namen der Dinge als an aeternae veritates durch lange Zeitstrecken hindurch geglaubt hat, hat er sich jenen Stolz angeeignet, mit dem er sich über das Thier erhob: er meinte wirklich in der Sprache die Erkenntniss der Welt zu haben. Der Sprachbildner war nicht so bescheiden, zu glauben, dass er den Dingen eben nur Bezeichnungen gebe, er drückte vielmehr, wie er wähnte, das höchste Wissen über die Dinge mit den Worten aus; in der That ist die Sprache die erste Stufe der Bemühung um die Wissenschaft. Der Glaube an die gefundene Wahrheit ist es auch hier, aus dem die mächtigsten Kraftquellen geflossen sind. Sehr nachträglich -jetzt erst – dämmert es den Menschen auf, dass sie einen ungeheuren Irrthum in ihrem Glauben an die Sprache propagirt haben. Glücklicherweise ist es zu spät, als dass es die Entwickelung der Vernunft, die auf jenem Glauben beruht, wieder rückgängig machen könnte. – Auch die Logik beruht auf Voraussetzungen, denen Nichts in der wirklichen Welt entspricht, z.B. auf der Voraussetzung der Gleichheit von Dingen, der Identität des selben Dinges in verschiedenen Puncten der Zeit: aber jene Wissenschaft entstand durch den entgegengesetzten Glauben (dass es dergleichen in der wirklichen Welt allerdings gebe). Ebenso steht es mit der Mathematik, welche gewiss nicht entstanden wäre, wenn man von Anfang an gewusst hätte, dass es in der Natur keine exact gerade Linie, keinen wirklichen Kreis, kein absolutes Grössenmaass gebe.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

10. The harmlessness of metaphysics in the future

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

As soon as the origins of “religion, art, and morals” are understood without the use of metaphysical interference or without interference that goes beyond physical nature “at the beginning and in” their progress, the interest in “the ” thing-in-itself ” and the ” phenomenon ” ceases.” Because with the for mentioned “religion, art, and morals we do not touch the “essence of the world in itself we are in the domain of representation or vorstellung¹ in German and is translated by Hollingdale as Ideas and I think that’s better …”no ” intuition ” can carry us further.” Than Nietzsche states that the question “as to how our own conception of the world can differ so widely from the revealed essence of the world, to physiology² and the history of the evolution of organisms and ideas

In one sentence:

With knowledge the “thing in itself” will disappear.

¹ Vorstellung, a mental image or idea produced by prior perception of an object, as in memory or imagination, rather than by actual perception. (google)

²the branch of biology dealing with the functions and activities of living organisms and their parts, including all physical and chemical processes. (dictionary.com)

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

THE HARMLESSNESS OF METAPHYSICS IN THE FUTURE.—Directly the origins of religion, art, and morals have been so described that one can perfectly explain them without having recourse to metaphysical concepts at the beginning and in the course of the path, the strongest interest in the purely theoretical problem of the ” thing-in-itself ” and the ” phenomenon ” ceases. For however it may be here, with religion, art, and morals we do not touch the “essence of the world in itself” ; we are in the domain of representation, no ” intuition ” can carry us further. With the greatest calmness we shall leave the question as to how our own conception of the world can differ so widely from the revealed essence of the world, to physiology and the history of the evolution of organisms and ideas.

Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80

Harmlosigkeit der Metaphysik in der Zukunft. – Sobald die Religion, Kunst und Moral in ihrer Entstehung so beschrieben sind, dass man sie vollständig sich erklären kann, ohne zur Annahme metaphysischer Eingriffe am Beginn und im Verlaufe der Bahn seine Zuflucht zu nehmen, hört das stärkste Interesse an dem rein theoretischen Problem vom “Ding an sich” und der “Erscheinung” auf. Denn wie es hier auch stehe: mit Religion, Kunst und Moral rühren wir nicht an das “Wesen der Welt an sich”; wir sind im Bereiche der Vorstellung, keine “Ahnung” kann uns weitertragen. Mit voller Ruhe wird man die Frage, wie unser Weltbild so stark sich von dem erschlossenen Wesen der Welt unterscheiden könne, der Physiologie und der Entwickelungsgeschichte der Organismen und Begriffe überlassen.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

9. The metaphysical world

Human all too human

Synopsis and my take on it:

“It is true that there might be a metaphysical world; the absolute possibility of it is hardly (kaum or barely) to be disputed “I think that Nietzsche means the link between the outside world and the thing that perceives it in our “head”. The link is the “metaphysical world”, “we look at everything through the human head and cannot cut this head off” Would there be a world without our head. Is N. referring to the famous tree allegory?¹There is not a world as we perceive it outside our human perception, think about colors we see vs the “real” colors². But everything that makes metaphysical assumptions “valuable, terrible, delightful for man” is caused by “passion, error, and self-deception;” If people try to explain this link human failure causes the outcome. the worst method of getting knowledge, “not the best” If you find this at the basis of religion and metaphysics than “they (the metaphysical world) have been refuted. Then there still always remains that possibility N refers here to the possibility of a metaphysical world; but there is nothing to be done with it”. But is “it possible to let happiness, salvation, and life depend on the spider-thread of such a possibility.” This metaphysical world is “incomprehensible to us” It is impossible to envision the link between the real world and what we perceive, it’s like directly seeing gravity. If it would be proved it would be irrelevant knowledge. “more irrelevant than the knowledge of the chemical analysis of water to the sailor in danger in a storm.”

In one sentence:

The road to the real world can’t be explained

¹ Philosopher George Berkeley, in his work, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710), proposes, “But, say you, surely there is nothing easier than for me to imagine trees, for instance, in a park […] and nobody by to perceive them […] The objects of sense exist only when they are perceived; the trees therefore are in the garden […] no longer than while there is somebody by to perceive them^. (Wikipedia)

²As we go about our daily lives, we tend to assume that our perceptions—sights, sounds, textures, tastes—are an accurate portrayal of the real world. Sure, when we stop and think about it—or when we find ourselves fooled by a perceptual illusion—we realize with a jolt that what we perceive is never the world directly, but rather our brain’s best guess at what that world is like, a kind of internal simulation of an external reality. (Read more)

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

THE METAPHYSICAL WORLD.—It is true that there might be a metaphysical world ; the absolute possibility of it is hardly to be disputed. We look at everything through the human head and cannot cut this head off; while the question remains, What would be left of the world if it had been cut off ? This is a purely scientific problem, and one not very likely to trouble mankind ; but everything which has hitherto made metaphysical suppositions valuable, terrible, delightful for man, what has produced them, is passion, error, and self-deception ; the very worst methods of knowledge, not the best, have taught belief therein. When these methods have been discovered as the foundation of all existing religions and metaphysics, they have been refuted. Then there still always remains that possibility ; but there is nothing to be done with it, much less is it possible to let happiness, salvation, and life depend on the spider-thread of such a possibility. For nothing could be said of the metaphysical world but that it would be a different condition, a condition inaccessible and incomprehensible to us; it would be a thing of negative qualities. Were the existence of such a world ever so well proved, the fact would nevertheless remain that it would be precisely the most irrelevant of all forms of knowledge: more irrelevant than the knowledge of the chemical analysis of water to the sailor in danger in a storm.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

Metaphysische Welt. – Es ist wahr, es könnte eine metaphysische Welt geben; die absolute Möglichkeit davon ist kaum zu bekämpfen. Wir sehen alle Dinge durch den Menschenkopf an und können diesen Kopf nicht abschneiden; während doch die Frage übrig bleibt, was von der Welt noch da wäre, wenn man ihn doch abgeschnitten hätte. Diess ist ein rein wissenschaftliches Problem und nicht sehr geeignet, den Menschen Sorgen zu machen; aber Alles, was ihnen bisher metaphysische Annahmen werthvoll, schreckenvoll, lustvoll gemacht, was sie erzeugt hat, ist Leidenschaft, Irrthum und Selbstbetrug; die allerschlechtesten Methoden der Erkenntniss, nicht die allerbesten, haben daran glauben lehren. Wenn man diese Methoden, als das Fundament aller vorhandenen Religionen und Metaphysiken, aufgedeckt hat, hat man sie widerlegt. Dann bleibt immer noch jene Möglichkeit übrig; aber mit ihr kann man gar Nichts anfangen, geschweige denn, dass man Glück, Heil und Leben von den Spinnenfäden einer solchen Möglichkeit abhängen lassen dürfte. – Denn man könnte von der metaphysischen Welt gar Nichts aussagen, als ein Anderssein, ein uns unzugängliches, unbegreifliches Anderssein; es wäre ein Ding mit negativen Eigenschaften. – Wäre die Existenz einer solchen Welt noch so gut bewiesen, so stünde doch fest, dass die gleichgültigste aller Erkenntnisse eben ihre Erkenntniss wäre: noch gleichgültiger als dem Schiffer in Sturmesgefahr die Erkenntniss von der chemischen Analysis des Wassers sein muss.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

8. Pneumatic explanation of nature

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

Pneumatic ¹ explanation of nature. “Metaphysics” ² In this case Nietzsche means, in my opinion, the study of the relation between mind and matter “explains the writing of Nature” (The natural science) Mystically “as the Church and her learned men formerly did with the Bible.” It requires the skill of a philologists ³ to understand the true meaning of a text. But bad interpretation “with regard to books” is not overcome and “one still constantly comes across in developed societies the remains of allegorical ⁴ and mystic interpretation” And in the study of nature there is even worse interpretation and mystical thinking

In one sentence:

Nature mistakenly seen by former bible scholars

¹Pneumatology is the study of spiritual beings and phenomena, especially the spiritual aspect of human beings and the interactions between humans and God. (Wikipedia)

² Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: It is not easy to say what metaphysics is. Ancient and Medieval philosophers might have said that metaphysics was, like chemistry or astrology, to be defined by its subject-matter: metaphysics was the “science” that studied “being as such” or “the first causes of things” or “things that do not change”. It is no longer possible to define metaphysics that way, for two reasons. (Read more)

³Philology is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is a combination of literary criticism, history, and linguistics. It is more commonly defined as the study of literary texts as well as oral and written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. A person who pursues this kind of study is known as a philologist. (Wikipedia)

⁴ As a literary device, an allegory is a metaphor whose vehicle may be a character, place or event, representing real-world issues and occurrences. Allegory (in the sense of the practice and use of allegorical devices and works) has occurred widely throughout history in all forms of art, largely because it can readily illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners. (Wikipedia)

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

PNEUMATIC EXPLANATION OF NATURE.—Metaphysics explains the writing of Nature, so to speak, pneumatically, as the Church and her learned men formerly did with the Bible. A great deal of understanding is required to apply to Nature the same method of strict interpretation as the philologists have now established for all books with the intention of clearly understanding what the text means, but not suspecting a double sense or even taking it for granted. Just, however, as with regard to books, the bad art of interpretation is by no means overcome, and in the most cultivated society one still constantly comes across the remains of allegorical and mystic interpretation, so it is also with regard to Nature, indeed it is even much worse.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

Pneumatische Erklärung der Natur. – Die Metaphysik erklärt die Schrift der Natur gleichsam pneumatisch, wie die Kirche und ihre Gelehrten es ehemals mit der Bibel thaten. Es gehört sehr viel Verstand dazu, um auf die Natur die selbe Art der strengeren Erklärungskunst anzuwenden, wie jetzt die -Philologen sie für alle Bücher geschaffen haben: mit der Absicht, schlicht zu verstehen, was die Schrift sagen will, aber nicht einen doppelten Sinn zu wittern, ja vorauszusetzen. Wie aber selbst in Betreff der Bücher die schlechte Erklärungskunst keineswegs völlig überwunden ist und man in der besten gebildeten Gesellschaft noch fortwährend auf Ueberreste allegorischer und mystischer Ausdeutung stösst: so steht es auch in Betreff der Natur – ja noch viel schlimmer

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

7. The kill-joy in science

Human all too human

In one sentence:

Socratic search for happiness binds science

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1914

THE KILL-JOY IN SCIENCE.—Philosophy separated from science when it asked the question, “Which is the knowledge of the world and of life which enables man to live most happily?” This happened in the Socratic schools ; the veins of scientific investigation were bound up by the point of view of happiness,—and are so still.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

Der Störenfried in der Wissenschaft. Die Philosophie schied sich von der Wissenschaft, als sie die Frage stellte: welches ist diejenige Erkenntnis der Welt und des Lebens, bei welcher der Mensch am glücklichsten lebt? Dies geschah in den sokratischen Schulen: durch den Gesichtspunkt des Glücks unterband man die Blutadern der wissenschaftlichen Forschung – und tut es heute noch.

Sources:

I will read a Dutch translation that is based on the work of researchers Colli and Montinari. I also use a translation from R.J.Hollingdale that is more modern than the copyright free translation I use here. This is a translation from 1909 by Helen Zimmern, who knew Nietzsche personally, but there was no critical study of Nietzsche’s work done back then and this translation suffers from that. The same goes for the translation from Alexander Harvey. My German is not good enough to pretend that I can translate it better than the professionals do but I will use the original as a referee.

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1996
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

6. The scientific spirit partially but not wholly powerful

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

“The smallest subdivisions of science” are treated objectively but science “as a whole” is not.¹ Science as an entity is treated more personally, People take questions about science more personal than question about specific aspects of science like the functioning of a telescope, we can find use in that, compared to the conclusion taken from its observations, what can we do with that kind of knowledge? In philosophy, “as the apex of the entire pyramid of science” there is the involuntarily questioning of the usefulness of knowledge and as an unconscious intention of the philosophy they give it (knowledge) the highest usefulness. Knowledge is questioned because that’s what philosophers do, but to do this they need knowledge. Nietzsche sees this unconscious reaction to give knowledge the highest usefulness as a reason for the dominance of metaphysics (thoughts²) over physics in philosophy. Because the questioning of knowledge is a thought process, philosophers see little value in solving real world problems. Philosophy “desires, what art does, to give the greatest possible depth and meaning to life” and science seeks knowledge. “So far there has been no philosopher in whose hands philosophy has not grown into an” defense for knowledge. Both science and philosophy value knowledge because logic dictates it. “They are all tyrannized over by logic, and this is optimism—in its essence.” And Nietzsche throws in at the end the concept of logic and optimism that are both hard to place in the rest of this aphorism “and logic is by its nature optimism” (Hollingdale) Maybe it’s logical to search for knowledge and by doing so you assume you find an answer, hence the optimism.

In one sentence:

Philosophers think knowledge, scientist see knowledge.

¹The translation by Zimmern translate “…werden rein sachlich behandelt” with “…are dealt with purely in relation to themselves” while the Dutch translation, Hollingdale and I translate it more like “are treated purely objectively”. It might not be of much significance, but it got my attention.

² …The modern view assumes that the objects studied by metaphysics exist inside the mind of an observer, so the subject becomes a form of introspection and conceptual analysis^.… (Wikipedia)

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

THE SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT PARTIALLY BUT NOT WHOLLY POWERFUL.—The smallest subdivisions of science taken separately are dealt with purely in relation to themselves,—the general, great sciences, on the contrary, regarded as a whole, call up the question—certainly a very non-objective one—”Wherefore? To what end?” It is this utilitarian consideration which causes them to be dealt with less impersonally when taken as a whole than when considered in their various parts. In philosophy, above all, as the apex of the entire pyramid of science, the question as to the utility of knowledge is involuntarily brought forward, and every philosophy has the unconscious intention of ascribing to it the greatest usefulness. For this reason there is so much high-flying metaphysics in all philosophies and such a shyness of the apparently unimportant solutions of physics ; for the importance of knowledge for life must appear as great as possible. Here is the antagonism between the separate provinces of science and philosophy. The latter desires, what art does, to give the greatest possible depth and meaning to life and actions ; in the former one seeks knowledge and nothing further, whatever may emerge thereby. So far there has been no philosopher in whose hands philosophy has not grown into an apology for knowledge ; on this point, at least, every one is an optimist, that the greatest usefulness must be ascribed to knowledge. They are all tyrannised over by logic, and this is optimism—in its essence.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

Der Geist der Wissenschaft im Theil, nicht im Ganzen mächtig. – Die abgetrennten kleinsten Gebiete der Wissenschaft werden rein sachlich behandelt: die allgemeinen grossen Wissenschaften dagegen legen, als Ganzes betrachtet, die Frage – eine recht unsachliche Frage freilich – auf die Lippen: wozu? zu welchem Nutzen? Wegen dieser Rücksicht auf den Nutzen werden sie, als Ganzes, weniger unpersönlich, als in ihren Theilen behandelt. Bei der Philosophie nun gar, als bei der Spitze der gesammten Wissenspyramide, wird unwillkürlich die Frage nach dem Nutzen der Erkenntniss überhaupt aufgeworfen, und jede Philosophie hat unbewusst die Absicht, ihr den höchsten Nutzen zuzuschreiben. Desshalb giebt es in allen Philosophien so viel hochfliegende Metaphysik und eine solche Scheu vor den unbedeutend erscheinenden Lösungen der Physik; denn die Bedeutsamkeit der Erkenntniss für das Leben soll so gross als möglich erscheinen. Hier ist der Antagonismus zwischen den wissenschaftlichen Einzelgebieten und der Philosophie. Letztere will, was die Kunst will, dem Leben und Handeln möglichste Tiefe und Bedeutung geben; in ersteren sucht man Erkenntniss und Nichts weiter, – was dabei auch herauskomme. Es hat bis jetzt noch keinen Philosophen gegeben, unter dessen Händen die Philosophie nicht zu einer Apologie der Erkenntniss geworden wäre; in diesem Puncte wenigstens ist ein jeder Optimist, dass dieser die höchste Nützlichkeit zugesprochen werden müsse. Sie alle werden von der Logik tyrannisirt: und diese ist ihrem Wesen nach Optimismus.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

5. Misunderstanding of dreams

Human all too human

In one sentence:

Our dreams divided the one inside.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

5. MISUNDERSTANDING OF DREAMS. —In the ages of a rude and primitive civilization man believed that in dreams he became acquainted with a second actual world; herein lies the origin of all metaphysics. Without dreams there could have been found no reason for a division of the world. The distinction, too, between soul and body is connected with the most ancient comprehension of dreams, also the supposition of an imaginary soul-body, therefore the origin of all belief in spirits, and probably also the belief in gods. ” The dead continues to live, for he appears to the living in a dream ” : thus men reasoned of old for thousands and thousands of years.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

5. Missverständniss des Traumes. – Im Traume glaubte der Mensch in den Zeitaltern roher uranfänglicher Cultur eine zweite reale Welt kennen zu lernen; hier ist der Ursprung aller Metaphysik. Ohne den Traum hätte man keinen Anlass zu einer Scheidung der Welt gefunden. Auch die Zerlegung in Seele und Leib hängt mit der ältesten Auffassung des Traumes zusammen, ebenso die Annahme eines Seelenscheinleibes, also die Herkunft alles Geisterglaubens, und wahrscheinlich auch des Götterglaubens. “Der Todte lebt fort; denn er erscheint dem Lebenden im Traume”: so schloss man ehedem, durch viele Jahrtausende hindurch.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

4. Astrology and the like

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

The things people like in religions, morals and aesthetic seem to belong to the surface and not the heart of it. The people like the idea behind religion, morals and aesthetics, the lofty words, and shiny bits but they don’t want to see the fundament. But they deceive themselves because they feel moved by it, like the stars do in astrology. The stars seem to point out our future, but they just shine. “the moral man, however, takes it for granted that what he has essentially at heart must also be the essence and heart of things”. The moral man takes what’s fundamental in him and sees that as the essence of the things.

In one sentence:

The ideas shine but the truth lies in the heart.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909

4. ASTROLOGY AND THE LIKE.—It is probable that the objects of religious, moral, æsthetic and logical sentiment likewise belong only to the surface of things, while man willingly believes that here, at least, he has touched the heart of the world ; he deceives himself, because those things enrapture him so profoundly, and make him so profoundly unhappy, and he therefore shows the same pride here as in astrology. For astrology believes that the firmament moves round the destiny of man; the moral man, however, takes it for granted that what he has essentially at heart must also be the essence and heart of things.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

4. Astrologie und Verwandtes. – Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass die Objecte des religiösen, moralischen und ästhetischen Empfindens ebenfalls nur zur Oberfläche der Dinge gehören, während der Mensch gerne glaubt, dass er hier wenigstens an das Herz der Welt rühre; er täuscht sich, weil jene Dinge ihn so tief beseligen und so tief unglücklich machen, und zeigt also hier denselben Stolz wie bei der Astrologie. Denn diese meint, der Sternenhimmel drehte sich um das Loos des Menschen; der moralische Mensch aber setzt voraus, Das, was ihm wesentlich am Herzen liege, müsse auch Wesen und Herz der Dinge sein.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

3. Appreciation of Simple Truths

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

An advanced civilization appreciates small scientific truth more than the blinding shine coming from metaphysical and artistic forms. The admirers of forms mock the admirers of “unpretentious truths” because the forms are so “beautiful, splendid, enchanting”. But the scientific truth is “hard won” and “manly”. Not only the individual but the whole of mankind “will be elevated to this manliness”. “The admirers of forms” will cling to the old truth after the scientific spirit succeeds, because they can’t or won’t appreciate the simple scientific truths. At the and of this aphorism Nietzsche writes that those worlds views have changed places and “the kingdom of the inward, spiritual beauty constantly grows deeper and wider”

This last quote was from the Helen Zimmern, 1914 translation. Below are the same passages but from different translators.

“because it cannot see that the richness of inner, rational beauty always spreads and deepens” Alexander Harvey, 1908

“spiritual beauty is continually growing deeper and wider” R. J. Hollingdale, 1986

“the realm of inner, spiritual beauty is continually deepening and expanding” Google translator 2017

“das Reich der inneren, geistigen Schönheit sich fortwährend vertieft und erweitert” F.Nietzsche 1878

In one sentence:

The appreciation of scientific beauty is slowly replacing the appreciation for external beauty.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1914

3. ESTIMATION OF UNPRETENTIOUS TRUTHS.— It is the mark of a higher culture to value the little unpretentious truths which have been discovered by means of rigorous method more highly than the errors handed down by metaphysical ages and men, which blind us and make us happy. At first, one has scorn on his lips for unpretentious truths, as if they could offer no match for the others: they stand so modest, simple, sober, even apparently discouraging, while the other truths are so beautiful, splendid, enchanting, or even enrapturing. But truths that are hard won, certain, enduring, and therefore still of consequence for all further knowledge are the higher; to keep to them is manly, and shows bravery, simplicity, restraint. Eventually, not only the individual, but all mankind will be elevated to this manliness, when men finally grow accustomed to the greater esteem for durable, lasting knowledge and have lost all belief in inspiration and a seemingly miraculous communication of truths.

The admirers of forms, with their standard of beauty and sublimity, will, to be sure, have good reason to mock at first, when esteem for unpretentious truths and the scientific spirit first comes to rule, but only because either their eye has not yet been opened to the charm of the simplest form, or because men raised in that spirit have not yet been fully and inwardly permeated by it, so that they continue thoughtlessly to imitate old forms (and poorly, too, like someone who no longer really cares about the matter). Previously, the mind was not obliged to think rigorously; its importance lay in spinning out symbols and forms. That has changed ; that earnestness in the symbolical has become the mark of a lower culture. As our arts themselves grow evermore intellectual, our senses more spiritual, and as, for instance, people now judge concerning what sounds well to the senses quite differently from how they did a hundred years ago, so the forms of our life grow ever more spiritual, to the eye of older ages perhaps uglier, but only because it is incapable of perceiving how the kingdom of the inward, spiritual beauty constantly grows deeper and wider, and to what extent the inner intellectual look may be of more importance to us all than the most beautiful bodily frame and the noblest architectural structure

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

3. Schätzung der unscheinbaren Wahrheiten. – Es ist das Merkmal einer höhern Cultur, die kleinen unscheinbaren Wahrheiten, welche mit strenger Methode gefunden wurden, höher zu schätzen, als die beglückenden und blendenden Irrthümer, welche metaphysischen und künstlerischen Zeitaltern und Menschen entstammen. Zunächst hat man gegen erstere den Hohn auf den Lippen, als könne hier gar nichts Gleichberechtigtes gegen einander stehen: so bescheiden, schlicht, nüchtern, ja scheinbar entmuthigend stehen diese, so schön, prunkend, berauschend, ja vielleicht beseligend stehen jene da. Aber das mühsam Errungene, Gewisse, Dauernde und desshalb für jede weitere Erkenntniss noch Folgenreiche ist doch das Höhere, zu ihm sich zu halten ist männlich und zeigt Tapferkeit, Schlichtheit, Enthaltsamkeit an. Allmählich wird nicht nur der Einzelne, sondern die gesammte Menschheit zu dieser Männlichkeit emporgehoben werden, wenn sie sich endlich an die höhere Schätzung der haltbaren, dauerhaften Erkenntnisse gewöhnt und allen Glauben an Inspiration und wundergleiche Mittheilung von Wahrheiten verloren hat. – Die Verehrer der Formen freilich, mit ihrem Maassstabe des Schönen und Erhabenen, werden zunächst gute Gründe zu spotten haben, sobald die Schätzung der unscheinbaren Wahrheiten und der wissenschaftliche Geist anfängt zur Herrschaft zu kommen: aber nur weil entweder ihr Auge sich noch nicht dem Reiz der schlichtesten Form erschlossen hat oder weil die in jenem Geiste erzogenen Menschen noch lange nicht völlig und innerlich von ihm durchdrungen sind, so dass sie immer noch gedankenlos alte Formen nachmachen (und diess schlecht genug, wie es jemand thut, dem nicht mehr viel an einer Sache liegt). Ehemals war der Geist nicht durch strenges Denken in Anspruch genommen, da lag sein Ernst im Ausspinnen von Symbolen und Formen. Das hat sich verändert; jener Ernst des Symbolischen ist zum Kennzeichen der niederen Cultur geworden; wie unsere Künste selber immer intellectualer, unsere Sinne geistiger werden, und wie man zum Beispiel jetzt ganz anders darüber urtheilt, was sinnlich wohltönend ist, als vor hundert Jahren: so werden auch die Formen unseres Lebens immer geistiger, für das Auge älterer Zeiten vielleicht hässlicher, aber nur weil es nicht zu sehen vermag, wie das Reich der inneren, geistigen Schönheit sich fortwährend vertieft und erweitert und in wie fern uns Allen der geistreiche Blick jetzt mehr gelten darf, als der schönste Gliederbau und das erhabenste Bauwerk.

I use a Dutch translation that is based on the work of researchers Colli and Montinari. I also read a copyrighted translation by R.J.HolllingdaleI that is much better than the one I can show you here and that is a copyright free. It is a translation from 1914 that you can also read here and here. If you want to read it in German you can do that here, my German is not good enough to pretend that I can translate it better than the professionals do but I will use it as a referee. I did not find a copyright free Dutch edition but you can buy and then download it here if you like it, I will make some pictures of the first aphorism so you can see if you like it.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1996
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

Opinion

Quotes

“there are no eternal facts as there are no absolute truths.”

This is a famous quote by Nietzsche and I am tempted to give my opinion about it, but I don’t. The reason I don’t like to that is complicated, but I can give an example that might explain it. If someone ask me what I think of a piece of music from for instance Mozart, I can tell them if I like it or not, but I cannot be critical about the quality of the music because that would mean that I think that I am at the same level as a Mozart. Only if I studied classical music, composition and so on, I can begin to understand Mozart’s quality’s and I can start thinking about giving a critique.

The same goes for a quote from a famous philosopher. I cannot critic it because I don’t know how it is connected with the rest of the philosopher’s work. If I have an opinion about it, I must be honest and admit that that opinion is based on that of another philosophers work with a similar status than the one that I am commenting on. The same goes for agreeing to, do you really know what you are agreeing with?

An opinion is surrounded by pitfalls, watch your step.

2. Inherited faults of philosophers

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

Nietzsche begins with writing that “all philosophers” look upon man as “aeterna veritas” or eternal truth and unchangeable, but they only use a limited timeframe to define man. Some philosophers define man by recent developments like religion and political events. But man has evolved, including their understanding of things. Philosophers still see the instincts of humans as unalterable facts and key to the understanding of the world, but everything essential in human evolution took place ages ago, before our written history. Think of our “lizard brain” combined with the aphorism 1. Nietzsche goes on by writing that they, the philosophers, speak of man since they started writing as unaltered or “eternal man”. And then follows a famous quote “Yet everything evolved: there are no eternal facts as there are no absolute truths.” In the light of this aphorism it seems to me that he speaks of man not fixt but ever changing despite he also pointed out that “everything essential in the development of mankind took place in primeval times, long before the four thousand years we more or less know about” hinting at a more stable beginning lingering on, in us.

In one sentence:

Man’s being cannot be fixed in time or connected to an event and identified with it.

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1914

2. INHERITED FAULTS OF PHILOSOPHERS.—All philosophers have the common fault that they start from man in his present state and hope to attain their end by an analysis of him. Unconsciously they look upon ” man ” as an aeterna veritas(eternal truth), as a thing unchangeable in all commotion, as a sure measure of things. Everything the philosopher has declared about man is, however, at bottom no more than a testimony as to the man of a very limited period of time. Lack of historical sense is the family failing of all philosophers; many, without being aware of it, even take the most recent manifestation of man, such as has arisen under the impress of certain religions, even certain political events, as the fixed form from which one has to start out. They will not learn that man has become, that the faculty of cognition has become; while some of them would have it that the whole world is spun out of this faculty of cognition. Now, everything essential in the development of mankind took place in primeval times, long before the four thousand years we more or less know about; during these years mankind may well not have altered very much. But the philosopher here sees “instincts” in man as he now is and assumes that these belong to the unalterable facts of mankind and to that extent could provide a key to the understanding of the world in general: the whole of teleology is constructed by speaking of the man of the last four millennia as of an eternal man towards whom all things in the world have had a natural relationship from the time he began. But everything has become: there are no eternal facts, just as there are no absolute truths. Consequently what is needed from now on is historical philosophizing, and with it the virtue of modesty.

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

2. Erbfehler der Philosophen. – Alle Philosophen haben den gemeinsamen Fehler an sich, dass sie vom gegenwärtigen Menschen ausgehen und durch eine Analyse desselben an’s Ziel zu kommen meinen. Unwillkürlich schwebt ihnen “der Mensch” als eine aeterna veritas, als ein Gleichbleibendes in allem Strudel, als ein sicheres Maass der Dinge vor. Alles, was der Philosoph über den Menschen aussagt, ist aber im Grunde nicht mehr, als ein Zeugniss über den Menschen eines sehr beschränkten Zeitraumes. Mangel an historischem Sinn ist der Erbfehler aller Philosophen; manche sogar nehmen unversehens die allerjüngste Gestaltung des Menschen, wie eine solche unter dem Eindruck bestimmter Religionen, ja bestimmter politischer Ereignisse entstanden ist, als die feste Form, von der man ausgehen müsse. Sie wollen nicht lernen, dass der Mensch geworden ist, dass auch das Erkenntnissvermögen geworden ist; während Einige von ihnen sogar die ganze Welt aus diesem Erkenntnissvermögen sich herausspinnen lassen. – Nun ist alles Wesentliche der menschlichen Entwickelung in Urzeiten vor sich gegangen, lange vor jenen vier tausend Jahren, die wir ungefähr kennen; in diesen mag sich der Mensch nicht viel mehr verändert haben. Da sieht aber der Philosoph “Instincte” am gegenwärtigen Menschen und nimmt an, dass diese zu den unveränderlichen Thatsachen des Menschen gehören und insofern einen Schüssel zum Verständniss der Welt überhaupt abgeben können; die ganze Teleologie ist darauf gebaut, dass man vom Menschen der letzten vier Jahrtausende als von einem ewigen redet, zu welchem hin alle Dinge in der Welt von ihrem Anbeginne eine natürliche Richtung haben. Alles aber ist geworden; es giebt keine ewigen Thatsachen: sowie es keine absoluten Wahrheiten giebt. – Demnach ist das historische Philosophiren von jetzt ab nöthig und mit ihm die Tugend der Bescheidung.

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here

1. Chemistry of ideas and sensations

Human all too human

You can read the aphorism I discuss here below the main article.

Synopsis and my take on it:

Nietzsche is predicting here the existence of what we now call neurotransmitters in a study field (neurochemistry) that was not yet invented. First he pointed out that in metaphysical philosophy and in popular languages there is the assumption of “a miraculous origin for more highly valued things”. Things like making music that originates from “divine inspiration” instead of a cold hard chemistry process in the brain. Nietzsche talks about “chemistry of the moral, religious, esthetic ideas and sentiments” and about emotions we feel. And then, as Nietzsche often does in his work, he ends with a question that puts a thought in your mind that makes you feel challenged: “Humanity likes to put all questions as to origin and beginning out of its mind; must one not be almost dehumanized to feel a contrary tendency in one’s self?”

In one sentence:

Chemistry takes over

Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1914

First and last things

CHEMISTRY OF IDEAS AND SENSATIONS. —Philosophical problems adopt in almost all matters the same form of question as they did two thousand years ago ; how can anything spring from its opposite ? for instance, reason out of unreason, the sentient out of the dead, logic out of unlogic, disinterested contemplation out of covetous willing, life for others out of egoism, truth out of error ? Metaphysical philosophy has helped itself over those difficulties hitherto by denying the origin of one thing in another, and assuming a miraculous origin for more highly valued things, immediately out of the kernel and essence of the ” thing in itself.” Historical philosophy, on the contrary, which is no longer to be thought of as separate from physical science, the youngest of all philosophical methods, has ascertained in single cases (and presumably this will happen in everything) that there are no opposites except in the usual exaggeration of the popular or metaphysical point of view, and that an error of reason lies at the bottom of the opposition : according to this explanation, strictly understood, there is neither an unegoistical action nor an entirely disinterested point of view, they are both only sublimations in which the fundamental element appears almost evaporated, and is only to be discovered by the closest observation. All that we require, and which can only be given us by the present advance of the single sciences, is a chemistry of the moral, religious, esthetic ideas and sentiments, as also of those emotions which we experience in ourselves both in the great and in the small phases of social and intellectual intercourse, and even in solitude; but what if this chemistry should result in the fact that also in this case the most beautiful colors have been obtained from base, even despised materials ? Would many be inclined to pursue such examinations? Humanity likes to put all questions as to origin and beginning out of its mind; must one not be almost dehumanised to feel a contrary tendency in one’s self?

Menschliches allzumenschlich 1878/80

Von den ersten und letzten Dingen.

Chemie der Begriffe und Empfindungen. – Die Philosophischen Probleme nehmen jetzt wieder fast in allen Stücken dieselbe Form der Frage an, wie vor zweitausend Jahren.- wie kann Etwas aus seinem Gegensatz entstehen, zum Beispiel Vernünftiges aus Vernunftlosem, Empfindendes aus Todtem, Logik aus Unlogik, interesseloses Anschauen aus begehrlichem Wollen, Leben für Andere aus Egoismus, Wahrheit aus Irrthümern? Die metaphysische Philosophie half sich bisher über diese Schwierigkeit hinweg, insofern sie die Entstehung des Einen aus dem Andern leugnete und für die höher gewertheten Dinge einen Wunder-Ursprung annahm, unmittelbar aus dem Kern und Wesen des “Dinges an sich” heraus. Die historische Philosophie dagegen, welche gar nicht mehr getrennt von der Naturwissenschaft zu denken ist, die allerjüngste aller philosophischen Methoden, ermittelte in einzelnen Fällen (und vermuthlich wird diess in allen ihr Ergebniss sein), dass es keine Gegensätze sind, ausser in der gewohnten Uebertreibung der populären oder metaphysischen Auffassung und dass ein Irrthum der Vernunft dieser Gegenüberstellung zu Grunde liegt: nach ihrer Erklärung giebt es, streng gefasst, weder ein unegoistisches Handeln, noch ein völlig interesseloses Anschauen, es sind beides nur Sublimirungen, bei denen das Grundelement fast verflüchtigt erscheint und nur noch für die feinste Beobachtung sich als vorhanden erweist. – Alles, was wir brauchen und was erst bei der gegenwärtigen Höhe der einzelnen Wissenschaften uns gegeben werden kann, ist eine Chemie der moralischen, religiösen, ästhetischen Vorstellungen und Empfindungen, ebenso aller jener Regungen, welche wir im Gross- und Kleinverkehr der Cultur und Gesellschaft, ja in der Einsamkeit an uns erleben: wie, wenn diese Chemie mit dem Ergebniss abschlösse, dass auch auf diesem Gebiete die herrlichsten Farben aus niedrigen, ja verachteten Stoffen gewonnen sind? Werden Viele Lust haben, solchen Untersuchungen zu folgen? Die Menschheit liebt es, die Fragen über Herkunft und Anfänge sich aus dem Sinn zu schlagen: muss man nicht fast entmenscht sein, um den entgegengesetzten Hang in sich zu spüren? –

Sources:

Menselijk al te menselijk een boek voor vrije geesten, translated by Thomas Graftdijk, 2000. Buy it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by R.J.Hollingdale, 1986
Human, all too human a book for free spirits I V3, translated by Gary handwerk 1997
Human, all too human a book for free spirits Part I, translated by Helen Zimmern 1909. Read it here
Human, all too human a book for free spirits, translated by Alexander Harvey, 1908. Read it here
Menschliches allzu menschlich 1878/80. Read it here