The Skeptic
“…But the new rebel is a Skeptic, and will not entirely trust anything.
He has no loyalty; therefore he can never be really a revolutionist.
And the fact that he doubts everything really gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind; and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it.
Thus he writes one book complaining that imperial oppression insults the purity of women, and then he writes another book (about the sex problem) in which he insults it himself.
He curses the Sultan because Christian girls lose their virginity, and then curses Mrs. Grundy because they keep it.
As a politician, he will cry out that war is a waste of life, and then, as a philosopher, that all life is waste of time.
A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, and then prove by the highest philosophical principles that the peasant ought to have killed himself.
A man denounces marriage as a lie, and then denounces aristocratic profligates for treating it as a lie.
He calls a flag a bauble, and then blames the oppressors of Poland or Ireland because they take away that bauble.
The man of this school goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they were beasts; then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting, where he proves that they practically are beasts.
In short, the modern revolutionist, being an infinite skeptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mines. In his book on politics he attacks men for trampling on morality; in his book on ethics he attacks morality for trampling on men.
Therefore the modern man in revolt has become practically useless for all purposes of revolt.
By rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything…”
G. K. Chesterton
Showing posts with label Skepticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skepticism. Show all posts
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Love Believes All Things
"Love Believes All Things." 1 Corinthians 13:7
Soren Kierkegaard, in his book, Works on Love, reveals the bankruptcy of those who are overly critical, skeptical and suspicious of others. A loving person and a mistrusting person may have the exact same knowledge about an individual but they will draw different conclusions from what they know. A loving person will always interpret the individual in the best positive light, giving him the benefit of the doubt. A mistrusting person, however, will interpret the individual in the worst possible light, refusing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The mistrusting person feels that believing the individual would be foolish and gullible. By believing the individual, the mistrusting person fears he will be deceived and taken advantage of. Therefore, to avoid being deceived, the mistrusting person always takes the position of skepticism and criticism, viewing all actions of the individual with suspicion.
However, there are many ways of being deceived. If you always mistrust others and view them with suspicion, you cheat yourself out of love. You may never be deceived and taken advantage of by others, but you will also never experience intimacy and love. Therefore, you may never be cheated by another person but you will have cheated yourself out of the most important thing in life—love.
If you love someone else and give them the benefit of the doubt, you may be deceived and cheated. But you will only be deceived and cheated in finite things, things that are temporal and less important. However, if you love and trust others, you will have grasped the most important fundamental truth of life.
Kierkegaard also took a hard swing at his critics when he called them “associate professors [whose] task in life is to judge the great men. [They display a] curious mixture of arrogance and wretchedness—arrogance because they feel called upon to pass judgment, wretchedness because they do not feel their lives are even remotely related to those of the great.”
Read C. Stephen Evans’ article, “Kierkegaard Among the Biographers” in Books & Culture, July/August 2007, pages 12-13.
Soren Kierkegaard, in his book, Works on Love, reveals the bankruptcy of those who are overly critical, skeptical and suspicious of others. A loving person and a mistrusting person may have the exact same knowledge about an individual but they will draw different conclusions from what they know. A loving person will always interpret the individual in the best positive light, giving him the benefit of the doubt. A mistrusting person, however, will interpret the individual in the worst possible light, refusing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The mistrusting person feels that believing the individual would be foolish and gullible. By believing the individual, the mistrusting person fears he will be deceived and taken advantage of. Therefore, to avoid being deceived, the mistrusting person always takes the position of skepticism and criticism, viewing all actions of the individual with suspicion.
However, there are many ways of being deceived. If you always mistrust others and view them with suspicion, you cheat yourself out of love. You may never be deceived and taken advantage of by others, but you will also never experience intimacy and love. Therefore, you may never be cheated by another person but you will have cheated yourself out of the most important thing in life—love.
If you love someone else and give them the benefit of the doubt, you may be deceived and cheated. But you will only be deceived and cheated in finite things, things that are temporal and less important. However, if you love and trust others, you will have grasped the most important fundamental truth of life.
Kierkegaard also took a hard swing at his critics when he called them “associate professors [whose] task in life is to judge the great men. [They display a] curious mixture of arrogance and wretchedness—arrogance because they feel called upon to pass judgment, wretchedness because they do not feel their lives are even remotely related to those of the great.”
Read C. Stephen Evans’ article, “Kierkegaard Among the Biographers” in Books & Culture, July/August 2007, pages 12-13.
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