Sex & Character: Authorised Translation from the Sixth German EditionWeininger, Otto
Philosophy
Sex & Character: Authorised Translation from the Sixth German Edition
Weininger, Otto
Character; Sex; Sex (Psychology); Sexual ethics
As there is no real dignity in women, so what is meant by the word
“gentleman” does not exist amongst the Jews. The genuine Jew fails in
this innate good breeding by which alone individuals honour their own
individuality and respect that of others. There is no Jewish nobility,
and this is the more surprising as Jewish pedigrees can be traced back
for thousands of years.
The familiar Jewish arrogance has a similar explanation; it springs from
want of true knowledge of himself and the consequent overpowering need
he feels to enhance his own personality by depreciating that of his
fellow-creatures. And so, although his descent is incomparably longer
than that of the members of Aryan aristocracies, he has an inordinate
love for titles. The Aryan respect for his ancestors is rooted in the
conception that they were _his_ ancestors; it depends on his valuation
of his own personality, and, in spite of the communistic strength and
antiquity of the Jewish traditions, this individual sense of ancestry is
lacking.
The faults of the Jewish race have often been attributed to the
repression of that race by Aryans, and many Christians are still
disposed to blame themselves in this respect. But the self-reproach is
not justified. Outward circumstances do not mould a race in one
direction, unless there is in the race the innate tendency to respond to
the moulding forces; the total result comes at least as much from the
natural disposition as from the modifying circumstances. We know now
that the proof of the inheritance of acquired characters has broken
down, and, in the human race still more than the lower forms of life, it
is certain that individual and racial characters persist in spite of all
adaptive moulding. When men change, it is from within, outwards, unless
the change, as in the case of women, is a mere superficial imitation of
real change, and is not rooted in their natures. And how can we
reconcile the idea that the Jewish character is a modern modification
with the history of the foundation of the race, given in the Old
Testament without any disapprobation of how the patriarch Jacob deceived
his dying father, cheated his brother Esau and over-reached his
father-in-law, Laban?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account