Beyond Good and Evil — Page 5
The question is, how far an opinion is life-furthering, life-preserving, species-preserving, perhaps species-rearing, and we are fundamentally inclined to maintain that the falsest opinions (to which the synthetic judgments a priori belong), are the most indispensable to us, that without a recognition of logical fictions, without a comparison of reality with the purely IMAGINED world of the absolute and immutable, without a constant counterfeiting of the world by means of numbers, man could not live--that the renunciation of false opinions would be a renunciation of life, a negation of life.
Die Frage ist, inwieweit eine Meinung lebensfördernd, lebenserhaltend, arterhaltend, vielleicht arterzüchtend ist, und wir sind grundsätzlich geneigt zu behaupten, dass die falschesten Meinungen (zu denen die synthetischen Urteile a priori gehören) uns am unentbehrlichsten sind, dass ohne eine Anerkennung logischer Fiktionen, ohne einen Vergleich der Wirklichkeit mit der rein IMAGINIERTEN Welt des Absoluten und Unveränderlichen, ohne eine beständige Verfälschung der Welt durch Zahlen der Mensch nicht leben könnte – dass der Verzicht auf falsche Meinungen ein Verzicht auf das Leben, eine Verneinung des Lebens wäre.
TO RECOGNISE UNTRUTH AS A CONDITION OF LIFE; that is certainly to impugn the traditional ideas of value in a dangerous manner, and a philosophy which ventures to do so, has thereby alone placed itself beyond good and evil.
DIE UNWAHRHEIT ALS BEDINGUNG DES LEBENS ANZUERKENNEN; das heißt freilich, den gewohnten Wertgefühlen auf eine gefährliche Weise entgegenzutreten, und eine Philosophie, die das wagt, hat sich damit allein schon jenseits von Gut und Böse gestellt.
5. That which causes philosophers to be regarded half-distrustfully and half-mockingly, is not the oft-repeated discovery how innocent they are--how often and easily they make mistakes and lose their way, in short, how childish and childlike they are,--but that there is not enough honest dealing with them, whereas they all raise a loud and virtuous outcry when the problem of truthfulness is even hinted at in the remotest manner.
5. Was dazu führt, dass Philosophen halb misstrauisch und halb spöttisch betrachtet werden, ist nicht die oft wiederholte Entdeckung, wie unschuldig sie sind – wie oft und leicht sie Fehler machen und sich verirren, kurz, wie kindisch und kindlich sie sind –, sondern dass es an hinreichend ehrlichem Umgang mit ihnen mangelt, während sie alle ein lautes und tugendhaftes Geschrei erheben, wenn das Problem der Wahrhaftigkeit auch nur auf die entfernteste Weise angedeutet wird.
Vocabulary
- Frage
- Question or issue being considered.
- inwieweit
- To what extent; how far something applies.
- Meinung
- Opinion or view held by someone.
- lebensfördernd
- Life-promoting; conducive to sustaining life.
- lebenserhaltend
- Life-preserving; maintaining or sustaining life.
- arterhaltend
- Species-preserving; maintaining survival of a species.
- vielleicht
- Perhaps; maybe; expressing possibility or uncertainty.
- arterzüchtend
- Species-breeding; promoting cultivation of a species.
- grundsätzlich
- Fundamentally; as a matter of principle.
- geneigt
- Inclined or disposed toward something.
- behaupten
- To assert or claim something as true.
- falschesten
- Most false; superlative form of 'falsch.'
- Meinungen
- Opinions; plural of Meinung.
- synthetischen
- Synthetic; combining concepts not analytically connected.
- Urteile
- Judgments; assessments or verdicts about something.
- priori
- Latin: prior to experience; independent of observation.
- gehören
- To belong to; to be part of something.
- unentbehrlichsten
- Most indispensable; absolutely necessary above all else.
- ohne
- Without; preposition indicating absence or lack.
- Anerkennung
- Recognition or acknowledgment of something's validity.
- logischer
- Logical; pertaining to logic (genitive/dative form).
- Fiktionen
- Fictions; invented or imaginary constructs.
- Vergleich
- Comparison between two or more things.
- Wirklichkeit
- Reality; the actual state of things.
- rein
- Pure; purely; completely without mixture.
- IMAGINIERTEN
- Imagined; conceived purely in the mind.
- Welt
- World; the totality of existence or reality.
- Absoluten
- The Absolute; unconditional or perfect ultimate being.
- Unveränderlichen
- The Unchangeable; that which never alters.
- beständige
- Constant; persistent; continuously occurring.
- Verfälschung
- Falsification; distortion or adulteration of truth.
- Zahlen
- Numbers; mathematical quantities used for counting.
- Mensch
- Human being; person; mankind.
- leben
- To live; to exist as a living being.
- könnte
- Could; subjunctive form of 'können' (to be able).
- Verzicht
- Renunciation; giving up or refraining from something.
- falsche
- False; incorrect; wrong (adjective, inflected form).
- Leben
- Life; the state of being alive.
- Verneinung
- Negation or denial of something.
- Lebens
- Of life; genitive form of 'Leben.'
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive II of 'sein.'
- UNWAHRHEIT
- Untruth; falsehood; something that is not true.
- BEDINGUNG
- Condition; prerequisite for something to occur.
- ANZUERKENNEN
- To acknowledge; to recognize as valid or true.
- heißt
- Means; is called; third-person singular of 'heißen.'
- freilich
- Admittedly; certainly; of course; indeed.
- gewohnten
- Customary; habitual; accustomed (adjective, inflected).
- Wertgefühlen
- Value-feelings; intuitive moral or ethical sentiments.
- gefährliche
- Dangerous; hazardous; posing a risk.
- Weise
- Way; manner; fashion in which something is done.
- entgegenzutreten
- To oppose; to confront or counter something directly.
- Philosophie
- Philosophy; study of fundamental questions about existence.
- wagt
- Dares; ventures; third-person singular of 'wagen.'
- damit
- With that; thereby; by doing so.
- allein
- Alone; solely; by that very act.
- schon
- Already; even; particle emphasizing certainty.
- jenseits
- Beyond; on the other side of something.
- Gut
- Good; moral goodness as a philosophical concept.
- Böse
- Evil; that which is morally bad or wicked.
- gestellt
- Placed; positioned; past participle of 'stellen.'
- dazu
- To that; in addition; for that purpose.
- führt
- Leads; causes; third-person singular of 'führen.'
- Philosophen
- Philosophers; those who study fundamental questions.
- halb
- Half; partially; used in compound expressions.
- misstrauisch
- Mistrustful; suspicious; lacking trust in others.
- spöttisch
- Mocking; scornful; expressing ridicule or derision.
- betrachtet
- Regarded; observed; past participle of 'betrachten.'
- werden
- To become; auxiliary for future or passive voice.
- oft
- Often; frequently; on many occasions.
- wiederholte
- Repeated; done again multiple times (adjective form).
- Entdeckung
- Discovery; finding something previously unknown.
- unschuldig
- Innocent; guileless; without fault or blame.
- leicht
- Easily; lightly; without great difficulty.
- Fehler
- Mistake; error; something done incorrectly.
- machen
- To make; to do; general-purpose verb.
- verirren
- To lose one's way; to go astray.
- kurz
- Briefly; in short; to put it concisely.
- kindisch
- Childish; immature; silly in a pejorative sense.
- kindlich
- Childlike; innocent and simple in a positive sense.
- sondern
- But rather; corrective conjunction replacing a negation.
- hinreichend
- Sufficiently; adequately; enough for the purpose.
- ehrlichem
- Honest; dative inflected form of 'ehrlich.'
- Umgang
- Dealings; interaction; manner of engaging with others.
- mangelt
- Is lacking; is deficient; from 'mangeln.'
- während
- While; whereas; during a period of time.
- alle
- All; everyone; every one of them.
- lautes
- Loud; noisy (adjective, inflected neuter form).
- tugendhaftes
- Virtuous; morally excellent (adjective, inflected form).
- Geschrei
- Outcry; clamor; loud shouting or cries.
- erheben
- To raise; to lift up; to make an outcry.
- wenn
- When; if; conditional or temporal conjunction.
- Problem
- Problem; difficult question or challenge to resolve.
- Wahrhaftigkeit
- Truthfulness; sincerity; dedication to telling truth.
- auch
- Also; too; even; additive particle.
- nur
- Only; merely; just; limiting particle.
- entfernteste
- Most remote; farthest away (superlative of 'entfernt').
- angedeutet
- Hinted at; indicated; suggested subtly.
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