SCHOPENHAUER: The Wisdom of Death

Reference: The Story of Philosophy

This paper presents Chapter VII Section 7 from the book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY by WILL DURANT. The  contents are from the 1933 reprint of this book by TIME INCORPORATED by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc.

The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.

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VII. The Wisdom of Death 

And yet, something more is needed. By Nirvana the individual achieves the peace of will-Iessness, and finds salvation; but after the individual? Life laughs at the death of the individual; it will survive him in his offspring, or in the offspring of others; even if his little stream of life runs dry there are a thousand other streams that grow broader and deeper with every generation. How can Man be saved? Is there a Nirvana for the race as well as for the individual?

There is Nirvana for the individual, but is there a Nirvana for the race as well?

Obviously, the only final and radical conquest of the will must lie in stopping up the source of life—the will to reproduce. “The satisfaction of the reproductive impulse is utterly and intrinsically reprehensible because it is the strongest affirmation of the lust for life.” What crime have these children committed that they should be born?

If, now, we contemplate the turmoil of life, we behold all occupied with its want and misery, straining all their powers to satisfy its infinite needs and to ward off its multifarious sorrows, yet without daring to hope for anything else than simply the preservation of this tormented existence for a short span of time. In between, however, and in the midst of this tumult, we see the glance of two lovers meet longingly; yet why so secretly, fearfully, and stealthily? Because these lovers are the traitors who seek to perpetuate the whole want and drudgery which would otherwise speedily reach an end; … here lies the profound reason for the shame connected with the process of generation.

Obviously, the only final and radical conquest of the will must lie in stopping up the source of life—the will to reproduce. 

It is woman that is the culprit here; for when knowledge has reached to will-Iessness, her thoughtless charms allure man again into reproduction. Youth has not intelligence enough to see how brief these charms must be; and when the intelligence comes, it is too late. 

With young girls Nature seems to have had in view what, in the language of the drama; is called a striking effect; as for a few years she dowers them with a wealth of beauty and is lavish in her gift of charm, at the expense of all the rest of their lives; so that during those years they may capture the fancy of some man to such a degree that he is hurried away into undertaking the honorable care of them … as long as they live—a step for which there would not seem to be any sufficient warrant if only reason directed man’s thoughts. … Here, as elsewhere, Nature proceeds with her usual economy; for just as the female ant, after fecundation, loses her wings, which are then superfluous, nay, actually a danger to the business of breeding; so, after giving birth to one or two children, a woman generally loses her beauty; probably, indeed, for similar reasons.

A women’s brief and thoughtless charms allure man into reproduction.

Young men ought to reflect that “if the object which inspires them today to write madrigals and sonnets had been born eighteen years earlier, it would scarcely have won a glance from them.” After all, men are much more beautiful in body than women. 

It is only a man whose intellect is clouded by his sexual impulse that could give the name of the fair sex to that undersized, narrow-shouldered, broad-hipped, and short-legged race; for the whole beauty of the sex is bound up with this impulse. Instead of calling them beautiful there would be more warrant for describing women as the unesthetic sex. Neither for music, nor for poetry, nor for the fine arts, have they really and truly any sense of susceptibility; it is a mere mockery if they make a pretense of it in order to assist their endeavor to please. … They are incapable of taking a purely objective interest in anything. … The most distinguished intellects among the whole sex have never managed to produce a single achievement in the fine arts that is really genuine and original; or given to the world any work of permanent value in any sphere.

The whole beauty of the sex is bound up with this sexual impulse. Women are, otherwise, unesthetic and incapable of taking a purely objective interest in anything.

This veneration of women is a product of Christianity and of German sentimentality; and it is in turn a cause of that Romantic movement which exalts feeling, instinct and will above the intellect. The Asiatics know better, and frankly recognize the inferiority of woman. “When the laws gave women equal rights with men, they ought also to have endowed them with masculine intellects.” Asia again shows a finer honesty than ours in its marriage institutions; it accepts as normal and legal the custom of polygamy, which, though so widely practiced among us, is covered with the fig-leaf of a phrase. “Where are there any real monogamists?”—And how absurd it is to give property-rights to women! “All women are, with rare exceptions, inclined to extravagance,” because they live only in the present, and their chief out-door sport is shopping. “Women think that it is men’s business to earn money, and theirs to spend it”; this is their conception of the division of labor. “I am therefore of opinion that women should never be allowed altogether to manage their own concerns, but should always stand under actual male supervision, be it of father, of husband, of son, or of the state—as is the case in Hindostan; and that consequently they should never be given full power to dispose of any property they have not themselves acquired.”* It was probably the luxury and extravagance of the women of Louis XIII’s court that brought on the general corruption of government which culminated in the French Revolution.

*An echo of Schopenhauer’s dissatisfaction with his mother’s extravagance.

Schopenhauer is very critical of womenkind and looks down upon them.

The less we have to do with women, then, the better. They are not even a “necessary evil”; life is safer and smoother without them. Let men recognize the snare that lies in women’s beauty, and the absurd comedy of reproduction will end. The development of intelligence will weaken or frustrate the will to reproduce, and will thereby at last achieve the extinction of the race. Nothing could form a finer denouement to the insane tragedy of the restless will;—why should the curtain that has just fallen upon defeat and death always rise again upon a new life, a new, struggle, and a new defeat? How long shall we be lured into this much-ado-about-nothing, this endless pain that leads only to a painful end? When shall we have the courage to fling defiance into the face of the Will,—to tell it that the loveliness of life is a lie, and that the greatest boon of all is death? 

According to Schopenhauer, the nirvana of the race lies in the extinction of the race. The loveliness of life is a lie, and that the greatest boon of all is death.

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April 4, 2022 – 5:38 AM Categories: Philosophy | Post a comment

SCHOPENHAUER: Religion

Reference: The Story of Philosophy

This paper presents Chapter VII Section 6.4 from the book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY by WILL DURANT. The  contents are from the 1933 reprint of this book by TIME INCORPORATED by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc.

The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.

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VI. The Wisdom of Life 

(4) Religion

It dawned upon Schopenhauer’s maturity that his theory of art—as the withdrawal of the will, and the contemplation of the eternal and universal—was also a theory of religion. In youth he had received very little religious training; and his temper did not incline him to respect the ecclesiastical organizations of his time. He despised theologians: “As ultima ratio,” or the final argument, “of theologians we find among many nations the stake”; and he described religion as “the metaphysics of the masses.” But in later years he began to see a profound significance in certain religious practices and dogmas. “The controversy which is so perseveringly carried on in our own day between supernaturalists and rationalists rests on the failure to recognize the allegorical nature of all religion.” Christianity, for example, is a profound philosophy of pessimism; “the doctrine of original sin (assertion of the will) and of salvation (denial of the will) is the great truth which constitutes the essence of Christianity.” Fasting is a remarkable expedient for weakening those desires that lead never to happiness but either to disillusionment or to further desire. “The power by virtue of which Christianity was able to overcome first Judaism, and then the heathenism of Greece and Rome, lies solely in its pessimism, in the confession that our state is both exceedingly wretched and sinful, while Judaism and heathenism were both optimistic”: they thought of religion as a bribe to the heavenly powers for aid towards earthly success; Christianity thought of religion as a deterrent from the useless quest of earthly happiness. In the midst of worldly luxury and power it has held up the ideal of the saint, the Fool in Christ, who refuses to fight, and absolutely overcomes the individual will.” 

It dawned upon Schopenhauer’s maturity that his theory of art—as the withdrawal of the will, and the contemplation of the eternal and universal—was also a theory of religion. Christianity thought of religion as a deterrent from the useless quest of earthly happiness.

Buddhism is profounder than Christianity, because it makes the destruction of the will the entirety of religion, and preaches Nirvana as the goal of all personal development. The Hindus were deeper than the thinkers of Europe, because their interpretation of the world was internal and intuitive, not external and intellectual; the intellect divides everything, intuition unites everything; the Hindus saw that the “I” is a delusion; that the individual is merely phenomenal, and that, the only reality is the Infinite One—“That art thou.” “Whoever is able to say this to himself, with regard to every being with whom he comes in contact,”—whoever is clear-eyed and clear-souled enough to see that we are all members of one organism, all of us little currents in an ocean of will,—he “is certain of all virtue and blessedness, and is on the direct road to salvation.” Schopenhauer does not think that Christianity will ever displace Buddhism in the East: “it is just the same as if we fired a bullet against a cliff.” Rather, Indian philosophy streams into Europe, and will profoundly alter our knowledge and our thought. “The influence of the Sanskrit literature will penetrate not less deeply than did the revival of Greek letters in the fifteenth century.”* 

*Perhaps we are witnessing a fulfillment of this prophecy in the growth of theosophy and similar faiths.

Buddhism is profounder than Christianity, because it makes the destruction of the will the entirety of religion, and preaches Nirvana as the goal of all personal development. The Hindus saw that the “I” is a delusion; that the individual is merely phenomenal, and that, the only reality is the Infinite One.

The ultimate wisdom, then, is Nirvana: to reduce one’s self to a minimum of desire and will. The world-will is stronger than ours; let us yield at once. “The less the will is excited, the less we suffer.” The great masterpieces of painting have always represented countenances in which “we see the expression of the completest knowledge, which is not directed to particular things, but has … become the quieter of all will.” “That peace which is above all reason, that perfect calm of the spirit, that deep rest, that inviolable confidence and serenity, … as Raphael and Correggio have represented it, is an entire and certain gospel; only knowledge remains, the will has vanished.” 

The ultimate wisdom, then, is Nirvana: to reduce one’s self to a minimum of desire and will. To Schopenhauer, the will or self is the same thing as the Reactive Mind of Hubbard.

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April 2, 2022 – 8:18 PM Categories: Philosophy | Post a comment

SCHOPENHAUER: Art

Reference: The Story of Philosophy

This paper presents Chapter VII Section 6.3 from the book THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY by WILL DURANT. The  contents are from the 1933 reprint of this book by TIME INCORPORATED by arrangement with Simon and Schuster, Inc.

The paragraphs of the original material (in black) are accompanied by brief comments (in color) based on the present understanding.

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VI. The Wisdom of Life 

(3) Art

This deliverance of knowledge from servitude to the will, this forgetting of the individual self and its material interest, this elevation of the mind to the will-less contemplation of truth, is the function of art. The object of science is the universal that contains many particulars; the object of art is the particular that contains a universal. “Even the portrait ought to be, as Winckelmann says, the ideal of the individual.” In painting animals the most characteristic is accounted the most beautiful, because it best reveals the species. A work of art is successful, then, in proportion as it suggests the Platonic Idea, or universal, of the group to which the represented object belongs. The portrait of a man must aim, therefore, not at photographic fidelity, but at exposing, as far as possible, through one figure, some essential or universal quality of man.”* Art is greater than science because the latter proceeds by laborious accumulation and cautious reasoning, while the former reaches its. goal at once by intuition and presentation; science can get along with talent, but art requires genius.

*So in literature, character-portrayal rises to greatness—other things equai—in proportion as the clearly-delineated individual represents also a Universal type, like Faust and Marguerite or Quixote and Sancho Panza.

A work of art is successful, then, in proportion as it suggests the Platonic Idea, or universal, of the group to which the represented object belongs.

Our pleasure in nature, as in poetry or painting, is derived from contemplation of the object without admixture of personal will. To the artist the Rhine is a varied series of bewitching views, stirring the senses and the imagination with suggestions of beauty; but the traveler who is bent on his personal affairs “will see the Rhine and its banks only as a line, and the bridges only as lines cutting the first line.” The artist so frees himself from personal concerns that “to artistic perception it is all one whether we see the sunset from a prison or from a palace.” “It is this blessedness of will-less perception which casts an enchanting glamour over the past and the distant, and presents them to us in so fair a light.” Even hostile objects, when we contemplate them without excitation of the will, and without immediate danger, become sublime. Similarly, tragedy may take an esthetic value, by delivering us from the strife of the individual will, and enabling us to see our suffering in a larger view. Art alleviates the ills of life by showing us the eternal and universal behind the transitory and the individual. Spinoza was right: “in so far as the mind sees things in their eternal aspect it participates in eternity.”*

*Goethe: “There is no better deliverance from the world” of strife “than through art.” 

Art alleviates the ills of life by showing us the eternal and universal behind the transitory and the individual. 

This power of the arts to elevate us above the strife of wills is possessed above all by music.* “Music is by no means like the other arts, the copy of the Ideas” or essences of things, but it is “the copy of the will itself”; it shows us the eternally moving, striving, wandering will, always at last returning to itself to begin its striving anew. “This is why the effect of music is more powerful and penetrating than the other arts, for they speak only of shadows, while it speaks of the things itself.” It differs too from the other arts because it affects our feelings directly,** and not through the medium of ideas; it speaks to something subtler than the intellect. What symmetry is to the plastic arts, rhythm is to music; hence music and architecture are antipodal; architecture, as Goethe said is frozen music; and symmetry is rhythm standing still. 

*”Schopenhauer was the first to recognize and designate with philosophic clearness the position of music with reference to the other fine arts.”—Wagner.
**Hanslick objects to this and argues that music affects only the imagination directly. Strictly, of course, it affects only the senses directly. 

This power of the arts to elevate us above the strife of wills is possessed above all by music. Music differs from the other arts because it affects our feelings directly, and not through the medium of ideas; it speaks to something subtler than the intellect. 

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April 2, 2022 – 5:24 PM Categories: Philosophy | Post a comment

The Mathematical Factors

These Factors are taken from page 123 of the book CRITIQUE OF PURE SCIENTOLOGY by Caspar Gerardus Marinus de Rijk. They are accompanied by my comments in color.

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The Mathematical Factors 2.0

(Rev. 25 October 2021)

1. Before the beginning and forever there is nothing.

2. And the entire secret is that nothing did not, not exist.

3. Nothing existed.

4. And the nothing was called zero, an ontological zero.

“Ontological zero” is the same concept as Hubbard’s Theta, because theta is zero in terms of MEST. The baseline is: THETA EXISTS WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END.

5. Zero is another view of infinity
If there is nothing, everything is possible.

Zero and infinity are the concepts in MEST dimension. This factor means that Theta can manifest in all possible ways. The postulate is: THETA HAS INFINITE POTENTIAL.

6. It is immaterial and exists beyond space-time.
Thus had no beginning and no end, thus eternal.

Being immaterial and existing beyond space-time simply means that THETA DOES NOT SHARE ITS CHARACTERISTICS WITH MEST.

7. It was dimensionless (a mathematical point)
Just like Descartes said: mind has no extension.

THETA HAS A DIMENSION; BUT IT IS NOT THE SAME AS MEST DIMENSION.

8. Zero is the domain of the mind.

MIND LIES IN THE THETA DIMENSION.

9. In the nothing are the numbers equating to zero.
(-∞ – 0) + (0 – ∞) = 0

THE WHOLE DIMENSION OF THETA IS ZERO IN TERMS OF MEST.

10. All mathematical equations balance to zero.

I am not quite sure what this means in the ontological sense. It could imply that there is conversion between Theta and MEST; and that the net conversion is zero. Or, it could mean that the products of various interactions within Theta dimension are all zero in terms of the MEST dimension.

11. Zero is the singularity as nothing existed before the Big Bang.
The singularity=roughly equivalent to static in scientology.

The implication here is that Theta existed first and MEST proceeded from it at the moment of Big Bang. In my opinion, both THETA and MEST have existed as the dimensions of the universe without beginning or end.

12. Implicit in the singular zero is an infinity of zeroes.
There is no reason why there would not be an infinity of zeroes, if one zero already implies infinity, it follows that zero must contain an infinity of zeroes. The zeroes=monads or thetans in Scientology.

The consideration here is that there are infinity of potentials in the dimension of Theta, called thetans. Each thetan has infinite potential of its own. In my opinion, every entity in this universe has Theta and MEST dimensions. The Theta dimension represents the beingness of the entity. The MEST dimension represents the body of the entity. The beingness has evolved in humans to have abilities that are yet to be fully explored.

13. Zero is an existential plenitude of infinite potentials.

In other words, human beingness has infinite potential. In my opinion, we have to explore the human potential and find out what it is.

14. The physical universe stems from these mathematical points but have ® > 0.
A mathematical point is a circle with radius ® zero, between zero and infinity we find the physical world.

The implication seems to be that Theta produces MEST. In my opinion, Theta and MEST are the two dimensions of the universe. Neither dimension produces the other dimension.

15. The ground state or native state of the singularity is unconscious an infinite potential for knowledge.

I am not sure what the word “unconscious” is doing there. The implication seems to be that all knowledge exists potentially in Theta. In my opinion, all knowledge exists in the dimension of Theta whether it is potential or actual.

16. And this goes for each of the zeroes which are all alive and sentient.

Here zero seems to be limited to human beingness (thetan) only. No other beingness is included.

17. The zeroes evolve from sentience to intelligence and self-consciousness.

The potential of theta manifests itself as thetan evolves.

18. The evolution goes from full potential to full actualization.

This potential manifests to its full extent.

19. Information consists of numbers and/or waves or energy

This is a comment on information. To me, anything that you can perceive is information.

20. The mind (zero domain) processes information (sinusoidal waves, or higher dimensional vortices) (numbers) to then experience that information as feelings, sensations, perceptions, adventures etc. in space-time.

The mind, a manifestation of theta, experiences this information as feelings, sensations, perceptions, adventures etc. 

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April 2, 2022 – 2:35 PM Categories: Scientology | Comments (2)

Theta-MEST Theory (KHTK version)

Reference: Subject: Scientology Fundamentals

The Theta-MEST theory was originated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1951. It became central to the the subject of Scientology, which was also developed by Hubbard. With subject clearing the basic statement of this theory appears as follows (see The Statement of Theta-MEST Theory),

THETA and MEST are two dimensions of the universe, which, together, explain not only all the phases of matter and its motion, but also the whole spectrum of living organisms and life.

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Theta-MEST Theory

This document expands upon this theory with the following steps of reasoning.

(1) This universe is substantial; therefore, it is made up of substance. 
NOTE: Substance is anything substantial enough to be perceived.

(2) The universal substance has the dimensions of Theta and MEST.
NOTE: We are familiar with the dimension of Theta and MEST as ‘spiritual’ and ‘physical’, respectively.

(3) In the Theta dimension we have thought, identity and mental phenomena. This dimension has its own unique set of laws.

(4) In the MEST dimension we have radiation, matter and physical phenomena. This dimension also has its unique set of laws.

(5) The laws of Theta and MEST may parallel each other to some degree, but they are very different.

(6) Being substances, both Theta and MEST have extensions and durations.

(7) Having extensions, both Theta and MEST have the characteristic of space; but the two spaces are very different.

(8) Having duration, both Theta and MEST have the characteristic of time; but the two times are very different. 

(9) Having the characteristics of space and time, both Theta and MEST can condense and expand.

(10) In the Theta dimension, thought may condense into identity; and identity may expand into thought.

(11) In the MEST dimension, radiation may condense into matter; and matter may expand into radiation.

(12) Condensation and expansion allows forms to appear and disappear. A form, therefore, has Theta and MEST dimensions.

(13) A form is individualistic in that it can be distinguished from other forms; but the universal substance is one.

(14) A form has a beginning and an end; but the universal substance has no beginning or end.

(15) The beingness is the Theta dimension of a form; it is called Thetan. The body is the MEST dimension of that form. Both dimensions operate together as one form.

(16) As a form appears and disappears, both thetan and body appear and disappear.

(17) An individual is born, and he dies. Therefore, neither the body nor the thetan is permanent.

(18) The individuality, such as, the genetic characteristics and impressions from the life lived are carried forward in seed form, most likely as DNA programming.

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EXPLANATIONS

Certain questions have arisen in relation to the above, and many will arise in the future. The purpose of this section is to address such questions.

TIME
The universe provides a background of infinite duration. Against this background we measure time in terms of duration of a cycle. On Earth, we use the cycle of Earth’s Rotation as our measure of time. All our units of time are derived from the time it takes for the Earth to complete one rotation.

CONDENSATION AND FORMS
Condensation and expansion are in the nature of substance. That is how the substance takes form and changes those forms. The same form may be brought into being and let go again and again; but its impressions retained. That is how a form may evolve.

INDIVIDUALITY
Individuality arises with the form and subsides when the form disappears; but the form and its individuality may go dormant in between as in a seed. Thus, the individuality may evolve over time with repeated appearances of the form.

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April 1, 2022 – 6:13 PM Categories: Subject Clearing | Comments (2)