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."
Ayant gardé un œil attentif sur les philosophes, et ayant assez longtemps lu entre leurs lignes, je me dis maintenant que la plus grande partie de la pensée consciente doit être comptée parmi les fonctions instinctives, et il en est ainsi même dans le cas de la pensée philosophique ; on a ici à réapprendre, comme on a réappris à propos de l'hérédité et de l'« innéité ».
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.
Aussi peu que l'acte de naissance entre en considération dans l'ensemble du processus et de la procédure de l'hérédité, aussi peu le « fait-d'être-conscient » est-il OPPOSÉ à l'instinctif dans quelque sens décisif ; la plus grande partie de la pensée consciente d'un philosophe est secrètement influencée par ses instincts, et forcée dans des canaux définis.
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.
Et derrière toute logique et sa souveraineté apparente de mouvement, il y a des évaluations, ou pour parler plus clairement, des exigences physiologiques, pour le maintien d'un mode de vie défini. Par exemple, que le certain vaut plus que l'incertain, que l'illusion est moins précieuse que la « vérité » — de telles évaluations, en dépit de leur importance régulatrice pour NOUS, pourraient néanmoins n'être que des évaluations superficielles, des espèces particulières de _niaiserie_, telles qu'elles peuvent être nécessaires au maintien d'êtres tels que nous-mêmes.
Supposing, in effect, that man is not just the "measure of things."
En supposant, en effet, que l'homme n'est pas simplement la « mesure des choses ».
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. La fausseté d'une opinion n'est pas pour nous une objection à son égard : c'est ici, peut-être, que notre nouveau langage sonne le plus étrangement.
Vocabulary
- Ayant
- a-yɑ̃ — Having (present participle of avoir, auxiliary verb)
- gardé
- gar-de — Kept, maintained, watched over something carefully
- œil
- œj — Eye; organ of sight
- attentif
- a-tɑ̃-tif — Attentive, watchful, paying close attention
- philosophes
- fi-lo-zɔf — Philosophers, thinkers who study fundamental questions
- assez
- a-se — Enough, sufficiently, rather, quite
- longtemps
- lɔ̃-tɑ̃ — For a long time, a long while
- lu
- ly — Read (past participle of lire)
- entre
- ɑ̃-trə — Between, among (preposition)
- lignes
- liɲ — Lines; rows of text on a page
- dis
- di — Say, tell (first-person present of dire)
- maintenant
- mɛ̃t-nɑ̃ — Now, at the present moment
- partie
- par-ti — Part, portion, section of a whole
- pensée
- pɑ̃-se — Thought, thinking, idea, reflection
- consciente
- kɔ̃-sjɑ̃t — Conscious, aware (feminine adjective)
- doit
- dwa — Must, has to (third-person singular of devoir)
- comptée
- kɔ̃-te — Counted, reckoned, included in a category
- parmi
- par-mi — Among, amongst (preposition)
- fonctions
- fɔ̃k-sjɔ̃ — Functions, roles, tasks, operations
- instinctives
- ɛ̃s-tɛ̃k-tiv — Instinctive, driven by instinct (feminine plural)
- ainsi
- ɛ̃-si — Thus, so, in this way
- même
- mɛm — Even, same, itself (adverb/adjective)
- cas
- kɑ — Case, instance, situation
- philosophique
- fi-lo-zo-fik — Philosophical, relating to philosophy
- ici
- i-si — Here, in this place
- réapprendre
- re-a-prɑ̃-drə — To relearn, to learn something again
- réappris
- re-a-pri — Relearned (past participle of réapprendre)
- propos
- prɔ-po — Regarding, about; remarks, words
- hérédité
- e-re-di-te — Heredity, inheritance of genetic traits
- innéité
- i-ne-i-te — Innateness, quality of being innate
- Aussi
- o-si — Also, too, therefore, consequently
- peu
- pø — Little, few, not much
- acte
- akt — Act, action, deed
- naissance
- nɛ-sɑ̃s — Birth, the moment of being born
- considération
- kɔ̃-si-de-ra-sjɔ̃ — Consideration, regard, careful thought
- ensemble
- ɑ̃-sɑ̃-blə — Together, as a whole; entire set
- processus
- prɔ-se-sys — Process, ongoing series of actions
- procédure
- prɔ-se-dyr — Procedure, established method or process
- fait-
- fɛ — Fact (stem in compound: fait-d'être-conscient)
- être-
- ɛ-trə — Being (stem in philosophical compound noun)
- conscient
- kɔ̃-sjɑ̃ — Conscious, aware of one's thoughts
- OPPOSÉ
- ɔ-po-ze — Opposed, contrary, set against something
- instinctif
- ɛ̃s-tɛ̃k-tif — Instinctive, arising from instinct
- quelque
- kɛl-kə — Some, any, a certain (adjective)
- sens
- sɑ̃s — Sense, meaning, direction
- décisif
- de-si-zif — Decisive, conclusive, critically important
- philosophe
- fi-lo-zɔf — Philosopher, thinker, seeker of wisdom
- secrètement
- sə-krɛt-mɑ̃ — Secretly, in a hidden or covert manner
- influencée
- ɛ̃-fly-ɑ̃-se — Influenced, affected (feminine past participle)
- instincts
- ɛ̃s-tɛ̃ — Instincts, innate drives or impulses
- forcée
- fɔr-se — Forced, compelled (feminine past participle)
- canaux
- ka-no — Channels, ducts, conduits (plural of canal)
- définis
- de-fi-ni — Defined, specific, determined (plural adjective)
- derrière
- dɛ-rjɛr — Behind, at the back of (preposition)
- logique
- lɔ-ʒik — Logic, reasoning; logical (noun/adjective)
- souveraineté
- su-vrɛn-te — Sovereignty, supreme authority or power
- apparente
- a-pa-rɑ̃t — Apparent, seeming, visible (feminine adjective)
- mouvement
- muv-mɑ̃ — Movement, motion, shift
- évaluations
- e-va-lɥa-sjɔ̃ — Evaluations, assessments, value judgments
- parler
- par-le — To speak, to talk
- clairement
- klɛr-mɑ̃ — Clearly, plainly, in a clear manner
- exigences
- ɛɡ-zi-ʒɑ̃s — Requirements, demands, exacting needs
- physiologiques
- fi-zjɔ-lɔ-ʒik — Physiological, relating to body's functions
- maintien
- mɛ̃-tjɛ̃ — Maintenance, upkeep, preservation of something
- mode
- mɔd — Mode, manner, fashion, way
- vie
- vi — Life, living existence
- défini
- de-fi-ni — Defined, specific, clearly established
- exemple
- ɛɡ-zɑ̃-plə — Example, instance used for illustration
- certain
- sɛr-tɛ̃ — Certain, sure, definite (adjective)
- vaut
- vo — Is worth (third-person singular of valoir)
- incertain
- ɛ̃-sɛr-tɛ̃ — Uncertain, unsure, not definite
- illusion
- i-ly-zjɔ̃ — Illusion, false perception or belief
- moins
- mwɛ̃ — Less, fewer (adverb of comparison)
- précieuse
- pre-sjøz — Precious, valuable (feminine adjective)
- vérité
- ve-ri-te — Truth, reality, accurate fact
- telles
- tɛl — Such (feminine plural demonstrative adjective)
- dépit
- de-pi — Spite; en dépit de: despite, in spite of
- importance
- ɛ̃-pɔr-tɑ̃s — Importance, significance, weight
- régulatrice
- re-gy-la-tris — Regulatory, governing, controlling (feminine adjective)
- pourraient
- pu-rɛ — Could (third-person plural conditional of pouvoir)
- néanmoins
- ne-ɑ̃-mwɛ̃ — Nevertheless, nonetheless, still
- superficielles
- sy-pɛr-fi-sjɛl — Superficial, shallow (feminine plural adjective)
- espèces
- ɛs-pɛs — Species; kinds, sorts, types
- particulières
- par-ti-ky-ljɛr — Particular, specific (feminine plural adjective)
- _niaiserie_
- njɛ-zri — Silliness, foolishness, stupidity
- peuvent
- pøv — Can, are able to (third-person plural of pouvoir)
- nécessaires
- ne-se-sɛr — Necessary, essential, required (plural adjective)
- êtres
- ɛ-trə — Beings, creatures, entities (plural noun)
- tels
- tɛl — Such (masculine plural demonstrative adjective)
- mêmes
- mɛm — Selves (in nous-mêmes: ourselves)
- supposant
- sy-po-zɑ̃ — Supposing, assuming (present participle of supposer)
- effet
- e-fɛ — Effect; en effet: indeed, in fact
- homme
- ɔm — Man, human being
- simplement
- sɛ̃-plə-mɑ̃ — Simply, merely, just
- mesure
- mə-zyr — Measure, standard, yardstick
- choses
- ʃoz — Things, objects, matters (plural noun)
- fausseté
- fos-te — Falseness, falsity, untruth
- opinion
- ɔ-pi-njɔ̃ — Opinion, view, personal judgment
- objection
- ɔb-ʒɛk-sjɔ̃ — Objection, protest, opposing argument
- égard
- e-ɡar — Regard, respect; à son égard: concerning it
- nouveau
- nu-vo — New, novel, fresh (masculine adjective)
- langage
- lɑ̃-ɡaʒ — Language, speech, manner of expression
- sonne
- sɔn — Sounds, rings (third-person singular of sonner)
- étrangement
- e-trɑ̃ʒ-mɑ̃ — Strangely, oddly, in a peculiar manner
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