The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 3 of 3)Schopenhauer, Arthur
Philosophy
The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 3 of 3)
Schopenhauer, Arthur
Idea (Philosophy); Knowledge, Theory of; Philosophy; Will
Thus here, as also in the
sexual impulse, the will to live becomes to a certain extent transcendent,
for its consciousness extends beyond the individual, in which it is
inherent, to the species. In order to avoid expressing this second
manifestation of the life of the species in a merely abstract manner, and
to present it to the reader in its magnitude and reality, I will give a
few examples of the extraordinary strength of instinctive maternal
affection.
The sea‐otter, when pursued, seizes its young one and dives with it; when
it comes up again to take breath, it covers the young one with its body,
and receives the harpoon of the hunter while the young one is escaping. A
young whale is killed merely to attract the mother, who hurries to it and
seldom forsakes it so long as it still lives, even although she is struck
with several harpoons (Scoresby’s “Journal of a Whaling Voyage;” from the
English of Kreis, p. 196). At Three Kings Island, near New Zealand, there
are colossal seals called sea‐elephants (_phoca proboscidea_). They swim
round the island in regular herds and feed upon fishes, but yet have
certain terrible enemies below water unknown to us, by whom they are often
severely wounded; hence their swimming together requires special tactics.
The females bring forth their young upon the shore; while they are
suckling them, which lasts from seven to eight weeks, all the males form a
circle round them in order to prevent them, driven by hunger, from
entering the sea, and if this is attempted they prevent it by biting. Thus
they all fast together for between seven and eight weeks, and all become
very thin, simply in order that the young may not enter the sea before
they are able to swim well and observe the necessary tactics which are
then taught them with blows and bites (Freycinet, _Voy. aux terres
Australes_, 1826). We also see here how parental affection, like every
strong exertion of the will (_cf._ chap. xix. 6), heightens the
intelligence. Wild ducks, white‐throats, and many other birds, when the
sportsman comes near their nest, fly in front of him with loud cries and
flap about as if their wings were injured, in order to attract his
attention from their young to themselves. The lark tries to entice the dog
away from its nest by exposing itself. In the same way hinds and does
induce the hunter to pursue them in order that their young may not be
attacked. Swallows have flown into burning houses to rescue their young or
perish with them. At Delft, in a great fire, a stork allowed itself to be
burnt in its nest rather than forsake its tender young, which could not
yet fly (Hadr. Junius, _Descriptio Hollandiæ_). Mountain‐cocks and
woodcocks allow themselves to be taken upon the nest when brooding.
_Muscicapa tyrannus_ protects its nest with remarkable courage, and
defends itself against eagles. An ant has been cut in two, and the fore
half been seen to bring the pupæ to a place of safety. A bitch whose
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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