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
Now what is the relation between the investigation I have been making
and the psychology of the sexes? What is the distinction between the
male and the female (and to reach this has been the object of my
digression) in the process of clarification?
Here is my answer:
The male has the same psychical data as the female, but in a more
articulated form; where she thinks more or less in henids, he thinks in
more or less clear and detailed presentations in which the elements are
distinct from the tones of feeling. With the woman, thinking and feeling
are identical, for man they are in opposition. The woman has many of her
mental experiences as henids, whilst in man these have passed through a
process of clarification. Woman is sentimental, and knows emotion but
not mental excitement.
The greater articulation of the mental data in man is reflected in the
more marked character of his body and face, as compared with the
roundness and vagueness of the woman. In the same connection it is to be
remembered that, notwithstanding the popular belief, the senses of the
male are much more acute than those of the woman. The only exception is
the sense of touch, an exception of great interest to which I shall
refer later. It has been established, moreover, that the sensibility to
pain is much more acute in man, and we have now learned to distinguish
between that and the tactile sensations.
A weaker sensibility is likely to retard the passage of mental data
through the process of clarification, although we cannot quite take it
for granted that it must be so. Perhaps a more trustworthy proof of the
less degree of articulation in the mental data of the woman may be drawn
from consideration of the greater decision in the judgments made by men,
although indeed it may be the case that this distinction rests on a
deeper basis. It is certainly the case that whilst we are still near the
henid stage we know much more certainly what a thing is not than what it
is. What Mach has called instinctive experience depends on henids. While
we are near the henid stage we think round about a subject, correct
ourselves at each new attempt, and say that that was not yet the right
word. Naturally that condition implies uncertainty and indecision in
judgment. Judgment comes towards the end of the process of
clarification; the act of judgment is in itself a departure from the
henid stage.
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