But then the labor too must be adapted to that end! Man is honored only
by human, self-conscious labor, only by the labor that has for its end
no "egoistic" purpose, but Man, and is Man's self-revelation; so that
the saying should be _laboro, ergo sum_, I labor, therefore I am a man.
The humane liberal wants that labor of the _mind_ which _works up_ all
material; he wants the mind, that leaves no thing quiet or in its
existing condition, that acquiesces in nothing, analyzes everything,
criticises anew every result that has been gained. This restless mind is
the true laborer, it obliterates prejudices, shatters limits and
narrownesses, and raises man above everything that would like to
dominate over him, while the Communist labors only for himself, and not
even freely, but from necessity,--in short, represents a man condemned
to hard labor.
The laborer of such a type is not "egoistic," because he does not labor
for individuals, neither for himself nor for other individuals, not for
_private_ men therefore, but for humanity and its progress: he does not
ease individual pains, does not care for individual wants, but removes
limits within which humanity is pressed, dispels prejudices which
dominate an entire time, vanquishes hindrances that obstruct the path of
all, clears away errors in which men entangle themselves, discovers
truths which are found through him for all and for all time; in
short--he lives and labors for humanity.
Now, in the first place, the discoverer of a great truth doubtless knows
that it can be useful to the rest of men, and, as a jealous withholding
furnishes him no enjoyment, he communicates it; but, even though he has
the consciousness that his communication is highly valuable to the rest,
yet he has in no wise sought and found his truth for the sake of the
rest, but for his own sake, because he himself desired it, because
darkness and fancies left him no rest till he had procured for himself
light and enlightenment to the best of his powers.
He labors, therefore, for his own sake and for the satisfaction of _his_
want. That along with this he was also useful to others, yes, to
posterity, does not take from his labor the _egoistic_ character.
In the next place, if he did labor only on his own account, like the
rest, why should his act be human, those of the rest unhuman, _i. e._
egoistic? Perhaps, because this book, painting, symphony, etc., is the
labor of his whole being, because he has done his best in it, has spread
himself out wholly and is wholly to be known from it, while the work of
a handicraftsman mirrors only the handicraftsman, _i. e._ the skill in
handicraft, not "the man"? In his poems we have the whole Schiller; in
so many hundred stoves, on the other hand, we have before us only the
stove-maker, not "the man."
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