(no subject)
"Does history ever obey the will of men? Looking at you always makes me ponder that question. You're not a great man and you're not a genius either. But, nonetheless, you have one characteristic that sets you quite apart: you have no trace whatever of willpower. And so I am always fascinated to think of you in relation to history...
In the long run, all human will is doomed to frustration. It's a matter of course that things turn out contrary to your intentions. And what conclusions does a Westerner draw from this? He says: 'My will was the sole rational force involved. Failure came about by chance.'
To speak of chance is to negate the possibility of any law of cause and effect. Chance is the one final irrationality acceptable to the free will.
Without the concept of chance, you see, the Western philosophy of free will could never have arisen. Chance is the crucial refuge of the will. And without it the very thought of gambling would be inconceivable, just as the Westerner has no other way of rationalizing the repeated setbacks and frustrations that he must endure. I think that this concept of chance, of a gamble, is the very substance of the God of [Westerners], and so they have a deity whose characteristics are derived from that refuge so vital to free will, namely chance--the only sort of God who would inspire the freedom of human will...
I cannot help trying to conjure up an odious face for this dreadful God, and this weakness is doubtless due to my own bent toward voluntarism. for if Chance ceases to exist, then Will becomes meaningless--no more significant than a speck of rust on the huge chain of cause and effect that we only glimpse from time to time. Then there's only one way to participate in history, and that's to have no will at all--to function solely as a shining, beautiful atom, eternal and unchanging. No one should look for any other meaning in human existence.
You are not likely to see things this way. I wouldn't expect you to subscribe to such a philosophy. The only things you do put any faith in--and that without much thought--are your... changing moods, your individuality, and--not your fixed character, but on the contrary, your very lack of it. Am I right?"
In the long run, all human will is doomed to frustration. It's a matter of course that things turn out contrary to your intentions. And what conclusions does a Westerner draw from this? He says: 'My will was the sole rational force involved. Failure came about by chance.'
To speak of chance is to negate the possibility of any law of cause and effect. Chance is the one final irrationality acceptable to the free will.
Without the concept of chance, you see, the Western philosophy of free will could never have arisen. Chance is the crucial refuge of the will. And without it the very thought of gambling would be inconceivable, just as the Westerner has no other way of rationalizing the repeated setbacks and frustrations that he must endure. I think that this concept of chance, of a gamble, is the very substance of the God of [Westerners], and so they have a deity whose characteristics are derived from that refuge so vital to free will, namely chance--the only sort of God who would inspire the freedom of human will...
I cannot help trying to conjure up an odious face for this dreadful God, and this weakness is doubtless due to my own bent toward voluntarism. for if Chance ceases to exist, then Will becomes meaningless--no more significant than a speck of rust on the huge chain of cause and effect that we only glimpse from time to time. Then there's only one way to participate in history, and that's to have no will at all--to function solely as a shining, beautiful atom, eternal and unchanging. No one should look for any other meaning in human existence.
You are not likely to see things this way. I wouldn't expect you to subscribe to such a philosophy. The only things you do put any faith in--and that without much thought--are your... changing moods, your individuality, and--not your fixed character, but on the contrary, your very lack of it. Am I right?"