The positive outcome of philosophyDietzgen, Joseph
Philosophy
The positive outcome of philosophy
Dietzgen, Joseph
Knowledge, Theory of; Logic; Philosophy
I remember reading in a satirical paper the question: "What is a
gentleman? Answer: A gentleman is a loafer with money, and a loafer is a
gentleman without money." Just as these two types of men are essentially
alike and differ only in the small matter of money, so you should
remember that there are no essential differences, that all differences
are merely matters of attributes and qualities of the same absolute
world substance. To distinguish correctly and logically, that is the
point which logic is aiming to teach us. To make distinctions is the
function which is also called perceiving, knowing, understanding,
comprehending. When you consider that this function is innate in man,
and that man together with his faculty of understanding is innate in
nature, then you recognize all distinctions and the distinguished
objects as attributes of the undistinguished One, of the absolute,
compared to which all things are only relative things, in other words,
attributes.
I am endeavoring to make clear to you that logical thinking requires the
awakening of the consciousness of the one supreme general nature. And
you must not think of this sum of all existence in the stupid way in
which people used to think of the animal kingdom before Darwin, but
regard the world as a living organic unit, from which the faculty of
understanding has blossomed the same as all other things. In the logic
of the narrow-minded, all animal species are widely separated, without
any living interconnection, while Darwin has demonstrated the uniform
process, the intermingling life in multiform creation. The illustration
of this famous zoologist of the transition from one species to another
may serve as an example of the logical transitions in the world process,
in which all differences are but undulations. All our classifications
must always remember the undivided basis on which they are resting.
We have shown that the intellect divides the universal nature,
classifies and analyzes it, and we have learned of the universal nature
that it not only furnishes to the intellect the material for its work,
but also that the world comprises within its general process the
intellectual process, that the intellectual movement is a specialization
of the natural movement.
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