第 9 节
作者:
寻找山吹 更新:2021-02-18 23:57 字数:9322
nevertheless; wherever we hear of men who have emerged from a state
of savagery; we find this science。 And all of a sudden it appears
that the men of our day have decided that this same science; which
has hitherto served as the guiding thread of all human knowledge; is
the very thing which hinders every thing。 Men erect buildings; and
one architect has made one estimate of cost; a second has made
another; and a third yet another。 The estimates differ somewhat;
but they are correct; so that any one can see; that; if the whole is
carried out in accordance with the calculations; the building will
be erected。 Along come people; and assert that the chief point lies
in having no estimates; and that it should be built thusby the
eye。 And this 〃thus;〃 men call the most accurate of scientific
science。 Men repudiate every science; the very substance of
science;the definition of the destiny and the welfare of men;and
this repudiation they designate as science。
Ever since men have existed; great minds have been born into their
midst; which; in the conflict with reason and conscience; have put
to themselves questions as to 〃what constitutes welfare;the
destiny and welfare; not of myself alone; but of every man?〃 What
does that power which has created and which leads me; demand of me
and of every man? And what is it necessary for me to do; in order
to comply with the requirements imposed upon me by the demands of
individual and universal welfare? They have asked themselves: 〃I
am a whole; and also a part of something infinite; eternal; what;
then; are my relations to other parts similar to myself; to men and
to the wholeto the world?〃
And from the voices of conscience and of reason; and from a
comparison of what their contemporaries and men who had lived before
them; and who had propounded to themselves the same questions; had
said; these great teachers have deduced their doctrines; which were
simple; clear; intelligible to all men; and always such as were
susceptible of fulfilment。 Such men have existed of the first;
second; third; and lowest ranks。 The world is full of such men。
Every living man propounds the question to himself; how to reconcile
the demands of welfare; and of his personal existence; with
conscience and reason; and from this universal labor; slowly but
uninterruptedly; new forms of life; which are more in accord with
the requirements of reason and of conscience; are worked out。
All at once; a new caste of people makes its appearance; and they
say; 〃All this is nonsense; all this must be abandoned。〃 This is
the deductive method of ratiocination (wherein lies the difference
between the deductive and the inductive method; no one can
understand); these are the dogmas of the technological and
metaphysical period。 Every thing that these men discover by inward
experience; and which they communicate to one another; concerning
their knowledge of the law of their existence (of their functional
activity; according to their own jargon); every thing that the
grandest minds of mankind have accomplished in this direction; since
the beginning of the world;all this is nonsense; and has no weight
whatever。 According to this new doctrine; it appears that you are
cells: and that you; as a cell; have a very definite functional
activity; which you not only fulfil; but which you infallibly feel
within you; and that you are a thinking; talking; understanding
cell; and that you; for this reason; can ask another similar talking
cell whether it is just the same; and in this way verify your own
experience; that you can take advantage of the fact that speaking
cells; which have lived before you; have written on the same
subject; and that you have millions of cells which confirm your
observations by their agreement with the cells which have written
down their thoughts;all this signifies nothing; all this is an
evil and an erroneous method。
The true scientific method is this: If you wish to know in what the
destiny and the welfare of all mankind and of all the world
consists; you must; first of all; cease to listen to the voices of
your conscience and of your reason; which present themselves in you
and in others like you; you must cease to believe all that the great
teachers of mankind have said with regard to your conscience and
reason; and you must consider all this as nonsense; and begin all
over again。 And; in order to understand every thing from the
beginning; you must look through microscopes at the movements of
amoebae; and cells in worms; or; with still greater composure;
believe in every thing that men with a diploma of infallibility
shall say to you about them。 And as you gaze at the movements of
these cells; or read about what others have seen; you must attribute
to these cells your own human sensations and calculations as to what
they desire; whither they are directing themselves; how they compare
and discuss; and to what they have become accustomed; and from these
observations (in which there is not a word about an error of thought
or of expression) you must deduce a conclusion by analogy as to what
you are; what is your destiny; wherein lies the welfare of yourself
and of other cells like you。 In order to understand yourself; you
must study not only the worms which you see; but microscopic
creatures which you can barely see; and transformations from one set
of creatures into others; which no one has ever beheld; and which
you; most assuredly; will never behold。 And the same with art。
Where there has been true science; art has always been its exponent。
Ever since men have been in existence; they have been in the habit
of deducing; from all pursuits; the expressions of various branches
of learning concerning the destiny and the welfare of man; and the
expression of this knowledge has been art in the strict sense of the
word。
Ever since men have existed; there have been those who were
peculiarly sensitive and responsive to the doctrine regarding the
destiny and welfare of man; who have given expression to their own
and the popular conflict; to the delusions which lead them astray
from their destinies; their sufferings in this conflict; their hopes
in the triumph of good; them despair over the triumph of evil; and
their raptures in the consciousness of the approaching bliss of man;
on viol and tabret; in images and words。 Always; down to the most
recent times; art has served science and life;only then was it
what has been so highly esteemed of men。 But art; in its capacity
of an important human activity; disappeared simultaneously with the
substitution for the genuine science of destiny and welfare; of the
science of any thing you choose to fancy。 Art has existed among all
peoples; and will exist until that which among us is scornfully
called religion has come to be considered the only science。
In our European world; so long as there existed a Church; as the
doctrine of destiny and welfare; and so long as the Church was
regarded as the only true science; art served the Church; and
remained true art: but as soon as art abandoned the Church; and
began to serve science; while science served whatever came to hand;
art lost its significance。 And notwithstanding the rights claimed
on the score of ancient memories; and of the clumsy assertion which
only proves its loss of its calling; that art serves art; it has
become a trade; providing men with something agreeable; and as such;
it inevitably comes into the category of choreographic; culinary;
hair…dressing; and cosmetic arts; whose practitioners designate
themselves as artists; with the same right as the poets; printers;
and musicians of our day。
Glance backward into the past; and you will see that in the course
of thousands of years; out of milliards of people; only half a score
of Confucius'; Buddhas; Solomons; Socrates; Solons; and Homers have
been produced。 Evidently; they are rarely met with among men; in
spite of the fact that these men have not been selected from a
single caste; but from mankind at large。 Evidently; these true
teachers and artists and learned men; the purveyors of spiritual
nourishment; are rare。 And it is not without reason that mankind
has valued and still values them so highly。
But it now appears; that all these great factors in the science and
art of the past are no longer of use to us。 Nowadays; scientific
and artistic authorities can; in accordance with the law of division
of labor; be turned out by factory methods; and; in one decade; more
great men have been manufactured in art and science; than have ever
been born of such among all nations; since the foundation of the
world。 Nowadays there is a guild of learned men and artists; and
they prepare; by perfected methods; all that spiritual food which
man requires。 And they have prepared so much of it; that it is no
longer necessary to refer to the elder authorities; who have
preceded them;not only to the ancients; but to those much nearer
to us。 All that was the activity of the theological and
metaphysical period;all that must be wiped out: but the true; the
rational activity began; say; fifty years ago; and in the course of
those fifty yea