Grappling With Self-Deception
In "The Antichrist," Nietzsche inveighs against convictions, extolling the virtues of skepticism as a manifestation of the "freedom that proceeds from intellectual power"; the man of convictions is a prisoner, inhibited by these convictions from affirming or denying the truths of the things around him. He regards conviction as a "falsehood that becomes a matter of principle because it serves a purpose."
Interestingly, Nietzsche notes that some men of conviction are possessing of more finesse than others. In this cast he groups the priests who "have borrowed from the Jews the shrewd device of sneaking in the concepts, 'God,' 'the will of God,' and 'the revelation of God' at this place." Instead of having to confront the veracity of their dogma and its associated rituals, they make pretensions to being the "mouth piece of God," invoking the "law," the "will of God," "the holy book," and "inspiration" as a means of maintaining their power.
In the course of this vituperative railing against convictions, Nietzsche makes the case for synonimity between lies and convictions. He follows with his, by now, famous contention: "The most common sort of lie is that by which a man deceives himself; the deception of others is a relatively rare offence." It is his view, then, that mendacity takes on its most common form in self-deception.
A cursory reading of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" yields a seemingly divergent perspective. There, Dostoevsky deals with secrets and the extent of their disclosure. There are times when man will keep secrets from everyone except his close friends and relatives. Other times, man will opt for disclosure to none besides himself. Finally, there are things man hides even from himself, afraid of acknowledging their existence.
It is your humble author's opinion that keeping secrets from oneself, nay, self-deception is, in Dostoevsky's view, not as common as Nietzsche believes it to be.
One might argue that Dostoevky viewed self-deception as not so common relative to the other forms of same, namely, keeping secrets from others and, certainly, secrets that one selectively discloses to friends, but still more common than lying to others. I'd counter that it just dosen't seem that way from his prose. Intuitively, it seems like it's an altogether rare thing, this self-deception.
While not being aware of a Talmudic perspective on the topic, the Talmud in "Berachot" does discuss the apostasy of Yochanan the high priest, who defected to the Sadducees after officiating in the temple for eighy years. The Talmud warns of man's tendency to hold himself in high regard, never fancying the possibily of a sudden downfall, an ignoble descent into heresy and debauchery. Thus, to combat the baleful tentacles of self-deception, the sages of the Talmud warned coldly that "one should suppress confidence in himself until the day he expires."
Interestingly, Nietzsche notes that some men of conviction are possessing of more finesse than others. In this cast he groups the priests who "have borrowed from the Jews the shrewd device of sneaking in the concepts, 'God,' 'the will of God,' and 'the revelation of God' at this place." Instead of having to confront the veracity of their dogma and its associated rituals, they make pretensions to being the "mouth piece of God," invoking the "law," the "will of God," "the holy book," and "inspiration" as a means of maintaining their power.
In the course of this vituperative railing against convictions, Nietzsche makes the case for synonimity between lies and convictions. He follows with his, by now, famous contention: "The most common sort of lie is that by which a man deceives himself; the deception of others is a relatively rare offence." It is his view, then, that mendacity takes on its most common form in self-deception.
A cursory reading of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" yields a seemingly divergent perspective. There, Dostoevsky deals with secrets and the extent of their disclosure. There are times when man will keep secrets from everyone except his close friends and relatives. Other times, man will opt for disclosure to none besides himself. Finally, there are things man hides even from himself, afraid of acknowledging their existence.
It is your humble author's opinion that keeping secrets from oneself, nay, self-deception is, in Dostoevsky's view, not as common as Nietzsche believes it to be.
One might argue that Dostoevky viewed self-deception as not so common relative to the other forms of same, namely, keeping secrets from others and, certainly, secrets that one selectively discloses to friends, but still more common than lying to others. I'd counter that it just dosen't seem that way from his prose. Intuitively, it seems like it's an altogether rare thing, this self-deception.
While not being aware of a Talmudic perspective on the topic, the Talmud in "Berachot" does discuss the apostasy of Yochanan the high priest, who defected to the Sadducees after officiating in the temple for eighy years. The Talmud warns of man's tendency to hold himself in high regard, never fancying the possibily of a sudden downfall, an ignoble descent into heresy and debauchery. Thus, to combat the baleful tentacles of self-deception, the sages of the Talmud warned coldly that "one should suppress confidence in himself until the day he expires."
posted by Literati @ 2:34 PM
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