The positive outcome of philosophyDietzgen, Joseph
Philosophy
The positive outcome of philosophy
Dietzgen, Joseph
Knowledge, Theory of; Logic; Philosophy
It is no more inconceivable that the faculty of universal understanding
should be innate in us than that circles come into this world round, two
mountains have a valley between them, water is liquid and fire burns.
All things have a certain composition in themselves, they are born with
it. Does that require any explanation? The flowers which gradually grow
on plants, the powers and wisdom that grow in men in the course of
years, are no more easily explained than such innate faculties, and the
latter are no more wonderful than those acquired later. The best
explanation cannot deprive the wonders of nature of their natural
marvelousness. It is a mistake to assume that the faculty of
explanation which is located in the human brain, is a destroyer of the
belief in natural marvels. Philosophy which makes this faculty of
explanation and the nature of its explanations the object of its special
study gives us a new and much better understanding of this old miracle
maker. It destroys the belief in metaphysical miracles by showing that
physical nature is so universal that it absolutely excludes every other
form of existence than the natural one from this world of wonders.
I and many of my readers find in our brains the actual consciousness
that this general nature of which the intellect is a part is an infinite
nature. I call this consciousness innate, although it is acquired. The
point that I wish to impress on the reader is that the difference
generally made between innate and acquired qualities is not so
extraordinary that the innate need not to be acquired and the acquired
does not presuppose something innate. The one contradicts the other only
in those brains who do not understand the positive outcome of
philosophy. Such thinkers do not know how to make reasonable
distinctions and exaggerate in consequence. They have not grasped the
conciliation of all differences and contradictions in universal nature
by which all contradictions are solved.
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