Beyond Good and Evil — Page 4
Having kept a sharp eye on philosophers, and having read between their lines long enough, I now say to myself that the greater part of conscious thinking must be counted among the instinctive functions, and it is so even in the case of philosophical thinking; one has here to learn anew, as one learned anew about heredity and "innateness."
Nachdem ich Philosophen scharf beobachtet und lange genug zwischen ihren Zeilen gelesen habe, sage ich mir nun, dass der größte Teil des bewussten Denkens zu den instinktiven Funktionen gezählt werden muss, und dies gilt sogar im Falle des philosophischen Denkens; man muss hier von Neuem lernen, wie man von Neuem über Vererbung und „Angeborensein" gelernt hat.
As little as the act of birth comes into consideration in the whole process and procedure of heredity, just as little is "being-conscious" OPPOSED to the instinctive in any decisive sense; the greater part of the conscious thinking of a philosopher is secretly influenced by his instincts, and forced into definite channels.
So wenig der Geburtsakt im gesamten Prozess und Verfahren der Vererbung in Betracht kommt, ebenso wenig ist das „Bewusstsein" dem Instinktiven in irgendeinem entscheidenden Sinne ENTGEGENGESETZT; der größte Teil des bewussten Denkens eines Philosophen wird heimlich von seinen Instinkten beeinflusst und in bestimmte Bahnen gezwungen.
And behind all logic and its seeming sovereignty of movement, there are valuations, or to speak more plainly, physiological demands, for the maintenance of a definite mode of life For example, that the certain is worth more than the uncertain, that illusion is less valuable than "truth" such valuations, in spite of their regulative importance for US, might notwithstanding be only superficial valuations, special kinds of _niaiserie_, such as may be necessary for the maintenance of beings such as ourselves.
Und hinter aller Logik und ihrer scheinbaren Souveränität der Bewegung stehen Wertungen, oder um es deutlicher zu sagen, physiologische Forderungen zur Erhaltung einer bestimmten Lebensweise. Zum Beispiel, dass das Gewisse mehr wert ist als das Ungewisse, dass Illusion weniger wertvoll ist als „Wahrheit" – solche Wertungen könnten trotz ihrer regulativen Bedeutung für UNS nichtsdestoweniger nur oberflächliche Wertungen sein, besondere Arten von _niaiserie_, wie sie zur Erhaltung von Wesen wie uns notwendig sein mögen.
Supposing, in effect, that man is not just the "measure of things."
Vorausgesetzt nämlich, dass der Mensch nicht einfach das „Maß der Dinge" ist.
4. The falseness of an opinion is not for us any objection to it: it is here, perhaps, that our new language sounds most strangely.
4. Die Falschheit einer Meinung ist für uns kein Einwand gegen sie: hier ist es vielleicht, wo unsere neue Sprache am seltsamsten klingt.
Vocabulary
- Nachdem
- After (conjunction introducing a subordinate clause)
- ich
- First person singular pronoun meaning 'I'
- Philosophen
- Philosophers; plural of Philosoph
- scharf
- Sharp, keen, or closely (as in observation)
- beobachtet
- Observed, watched; past participle of beobachten
- und
- Coordinating conjunction meaning 'and'
- lange
- For a long time; adjective or adverb meaning 'long'
- genug
- Enough, sufficiently
- zwischen
- Preposition meaning 'between' or 'among'
- ihren
- Their (dative/accusative plural possessive pronoun)
- Zeilen
- Lines (of text); plural of Zeile
- gelesen
- Read; past participle of lesen
- habe
- Have; first person singular of haben (auxiliary)
- sage
- Say; first person singular present of sagen
- mir
- To me; dative form of the pronoun ich
- nun
- Now, at this point in time or discourse
- dass
- That; subordinating conjunction introducing a clause
- der
- Definite article or relative pronoun meaning 'the/that'
- größte
- Greatest, largest; superlative form of groß
- Teil
- Part, portion, or section of a whole
- des
- Genitive masculine/neuter definite article meaning 'of the'
- bewussten
- Conscious, aware; inflected form of bewusst
- Denkens
- Of thinking; genitive form of Denken (thought)
- zu
- To, toward; preposition or infinitive particle
- den
- Dative plural or accusative masculine definite article
- instinktiven
- Instinctive; inflected adjective from Instinkt
- Funktionen
- Functions; plural of Funktion
- gezählt
- Counted, reckoned; past participle of zählen
- werden
- Auxiliary verb expressing future or passive voice
- muss
- Must; third person singular of müssen (obligation)
- dies
- This; demonstrative pronoun referring to something mentioned
- gilt
- Applies, holds true; third person singular of gelten
- sogar
- Even, indeed; adverb emphasizing a stronger case
- im
- Contraction of in dem meaning 'in the'
- Falle
- Case, instance; dative form of Fall
- philosophischen
- Philosophical; inflected adjective from Philosophie
- man
- One, people in general; indefinite pronoun
- hier
- Here, at this place or point
- von
- Preposition meaning 'from,' 'of,' or 'by'
- Neuem
- Anew, again; dative of neu in von Neuem
- lernen
- To learn, to study something new
- wie
- How, as; conjunction or interrogative adverb
- über
- About, over, above; versatile German preposition
- Vererbung
- Heredity, inheritance (biological or genetic transmission)
- Angeborensein
- The state of being innate or inborn
- gelernt
- Learned; past participle of lernen
- hat
- Has; third person singular present of haben
- So
- So, thus; adverb indicating manner or degree
- wenig
- Little, few; indicating a small amount
- Geburtsakt
- Act of birth; the moment of being born
- gesamten
- Entire, whole; inflected form of gesamt
- Prozess
- Process, procedure; sequence of events or actions
- Verfahren
- Procedure, method, or process used systematically
- in
- Preposition meaning 'in,' 'into,' or 'within'
- Betracht
- Consideration; used in in Betracht kommen (to be relevant)
- kommt
- Comes; third person singular present of kommen
- ebenso
- Likewise, just as, equally so
- ist
- Is; third person singular present of sein
- das
- The (neuter definite article) or 'that/which'
- Bewusstsein
- Consciousness, awareness; state of being conscious
- dem
- Dative masculine/neuter definite article meaning 'the'
- Instinktiven
- The instinctive; nominalized adjective referring to instinct
- irgendeinem
- Any, some (dative); indefinite article form
- entscheidenden
- Decisive, crucial; inflected form of entscheidend
- Sinne
- Sense, meaning; dative of Sinn
- ENTGEGENGESETZT
- Opposed, contrary; past participle of entgegensetzen (emphasized)
- eines
- Of a; genitive form of the indefinite article ein
- wird
- Is (being); third person singular of werden (passive/future)
- heimlich
- Secretly, covertly; adjective or adverb meaning hidden
- seinen
- Its/his (accusative/dative); possessive pronoun form
- Instinkten
- Instincts; dative plural of Instinkt
- beeinflusst
- Influenced; past participle of beeinflussen
- bestimmte
- Certain, specific; inflected form of bestimmt
- Bahnen
- Paths, tracks, trajectories; plural of Bahn
- gezwungen
- Forced, compelled; past participle of zwingen
- Und
- And; coordinating conjunction (sentence-initial here)
- hinter
- Behind, beyond; preposition indicating position or cause
- aller
- Of all; genitive plural form of all
- Logik
- Logic; systematic reasoning and formal thought
- ihrer
- Her/their/its; genitive possessive pronoun form
- scheinbaren
- Apparent, seeming; inflected form of scheinbar
- Souveränität
- Sovereignty, supreme authority or self-determination
- Bewegung
- Movement, motion; physical or social movement
- stehen
- To stand; to be situated or positioned
- Wertungen
- Valuations, judgments; plural of Wertung
- oder
- Or; coordinating conjunction presenting an alternative
- um
- Around, in order to; preposition or conjunction
- es
- It; neuter third person singular pronoun
- deutlicher
- More clearly; comparative form of deutlich
- sagen
- To say, to tell; basic verb of speech
- physiologische
- Physiological; relating to bodily functions and processes
- Forderungen
- Demands, requirements; plural of Forderung
- zur
- Contraction of zu der meaning 'to the'
- Erhaltung
- Preservation, maintenance, conservation of something
- einer
- A, one; genitive/dative feminine indefinite article
- Lebensweise
- Way of life, lifestyle, manner of living
- Zum
- Contraction of zu dem; 'to the' or 'for the'
- Beispiel
- Example; used in zum Beispiel meaning 'for example'
- Gewisse
- Certain (things); nominalized adjective from gewiss
- mehr
- More; comparative adverb or adjective
- wert
- Worth, valuable; predicate adjective indicating value
- als
- Than, as; used in comparisons or equivalences
- Ungewisse
- The uncertain; nominalized adjective from ungewiss
- Illusion
- Illusion; false belief or misleading appearance
- weniger
- Less, fewer; comparative form of wenig
- wertvoll
- Valuable, precious; having worth or significance
- Wahrheit
- Truth; that which corresponds to reality or fact
- solche
- Such (ones); demonstrative pronoun or adjective
- könnten
- Could; subjunctive II of können (possibility)
- trotz
- Despite, in spite of; preposition with genitive
- regulativen
- Regulative, regulatory; inflected form of regulativ
- Bedeutung
- Meaning, significance, importance of something
- für
- For; preposition indicating purpose or recipient
- UNS
- Us; accusative/dative of wir (emphasized here)
- nichtsdestoweniger
- Nevertheless, nonetheless; concessive adverb
- nur
- Only, merely; restrictive adverb
- oberflächliche
- Superficial, shallow; inflected form of oberflächlich
- sein
- To be; infinitive of the copula verb
- besondere
- Special, particular; inflected form of besonder
- Arten
- Types, kinds, species; plural of Art
- sie
- They/she/it; third person pronoun (various forms)
- Wesen
- Being, essence, nature of something or someone
- notwendig
- Necessary, essential, inevitable
- mögen
- May, might; modal verb expressing possibility or liking
- Vorausgesetzt
- Presupposed, provided that; past participle of voraussetzen
- nämlich
- Namely, that is to say; explanatory adverb
- Mensch
- Human being, person; the human as a species
- nicht
- Not; basic negation particle in German
- einfach
- Simple, simply; adjective or adverb
- Maß
- Measure, standard; used in Maß der Dinge
- Dinge
- Things; plural of Ding
- Die
- The; feminine or plural definite article
- Falschheit
- Falseness, falsehood; quality of being false
- Meinung
- Opinion, view; personal judgment or belief
- kein
- No, not a; negative indefinite article
- Einwand
- Objection, protest against something stated
- gegen
- Against, toward; preposition with accusative
- vielleicht
- Perhaps, maybe; adverb expressing uncertainty
- wo
- Where; relative or interrogative adverb of place
- unsere
- Our; first person plural possessive adjective
- neue
- New; inflected form of neu
- Sprache
- Language, speech; system of verbal communication
- am
- Contraction of an dem; used in superlatives too
- seltsamsten
- Strangest, most peculiar; superlative of seltsam
- klingt
- Sounds; third person singular present of klingen
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →