101. Hearing is the subjectivity of Hell, listening
… the objectivity of the World, both of which are necessarily subordinate to
speaking and reading respectively.
102. To hear what is spoken
is to receive subjectively what is conveyed objectively; conversely, to listen
to what is read is to receive objectively what is conveyed subjectively.
103. Hence the attraction of opposites ... as
speaking objectively calls forth hearing subjectively,
and reading subjectively calls forth listening objectively.
104. Seeing is subjective, and follows from the
phenomenal objectivity of the written word.
Looking, by contrast, is objective, and follows from the noumenal subjectivity of the thought word. I look at, or reflect upon, what is
thought. I see what is written.
105. Looking is the objectivity of Heaven, seeing …
the subjectivity of Purgatory, both of which are necessarily subordinate to
thinking and writing respectively.
106. To look at, or examine,
what is thought is to perceive objectively what is conceived subjectively;
conversely, to see what is written is to perceive subjectively what is
conceived objectively.
107. Hence, once again, the
attraction of opposites ... as thinking subjectively calls forth looking
objectively, and writing subjectively calls forth seeing objectively.
108. The poet has a better
understanding of the philosopher, and hence of philosophy, than ever the
novelist or dramatist would have. Hence Coleridge, Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, etc.
109. Conversely, the novelist has a better
understanding of the dramatist, and hence of drama, than ever the poet or
philosopher would have. Hence J. B. Priestley, Lawrence Durrell, Camus, Sartre, etc.
110. The poetic philosopher,
viz. Nietzsche, is the lowest type of philosopher, and the philosophic poet,
viz. Eliot, the highest type of poet.
(Nevertheless the lowest type of philosopher is still superior to the
highest type of poet.)
111. Conversely, the novelistic dramatist, viz.
Shaw, is the lowest type of, dramatist, and the dramatic novelist, viz. Greene,
the highest type of novelist.
(Nevertheless the lowest type of dramatist is still superior to the
highest type of novelist.)
112. From the literary
barbarism of drama to the literary culture of philosophy via the literary
civilization of fiction and the literary nature of poetry.
113. A society rooted in drama will generally spurn
philosophy, just as a deeply philosophical society will tend to steer clear of
drama.
114. Where drama is king, then philosophy will be
effectively 'beyond the pale', and therefore a sort of outcast, to be derided
by the literary establishment.
115. Fiction and poetry are always possible and even
laudable in a society rooted in drama, provided they remain deferential to the
prevailing literary genre, like middle- and working-class elements vis-à-vis
the upper class.
116. The philosopher, who is a classless individual,
cannot expect any encouragement from the class-bound status quo, since he is a
living refutation of everything for which it stands and a threat, implicitly if
not explicitly, to its class-ridden values.
117. That which is not cultural is philistine ... in
one degree or another. Hence nature, and thus poetry, in relation to culture, and thus
philosophy.
118. That which is not civilized is barbarous in one
degree or another. Hence
supernature, and thus drama, in relation to
civilization, and thus fiction.
119. Philistinism is to culture what barbarism is to
civilization - its natural alternative.
120. Philistinism, or nature, stands to culture as
sin to grace.
121. Barbarism, or supernature,
stands to civilization as punishment to crime.
122. The philistine writer,
or poet, stands to the cultural writer, or philosopher, as woman to God, or the
World to Heaven.
123. The civilized writer,
or novelist, stands to the barbarous writer, or dramatist, as man to the Devil,
or Purgatory to Hell.
124. The philistine writer
shares in common with the cultural writer a subjective bias, albeit one that,
in his case, is phenomenal rather than noumenal, and
hence of a mundane character.
125. The civilized writer shares in common with the
barbarous writer an objective bias, albeit one that, in his case, is phenomenal
rather than noumenal, and hence of a purgatorial
character.
126. The philistine writer,
or poet, is less good, morally considered, than the cultural writer, or
philosopher, but is nevertheless not evil.
127. The civilized writer, or
novelist, is less evil, morally considered, than the barbarous writer, or
dramatist, but is nevertheless not good.
128. Morally considered, the philistine writer ranks
higher, in the sight of God, than the civilized one, since the relative goodness
of phenomenal subjectivity is closer to the absolute goodness of noumenal subjectivity than ever the relative evil of
phenomenal objectivity could be (obvious joke!).
129. Hence the poet is
preferable, in the sight of God, to the novelist, as is woman to man, and
nature to civilization.
130. Sin is philistine, but philistinism is
preferable, in the sight of God, to civilized criminality. In fact, logic compels one to confess that
there is no evil in sin, only in crime and, to a greater extent, punishment.
131. God can save the poet ... to heavenly
philosophy, but neither the novelist nor the dramatist can be saved, since
salvation is from a lower good to a higher good, as from phenomenal to noumenal subjectivity, not from evil, whether phenomenally
or noumenally objective, to good.
132. Of course, the novelist can 'convert', if not
to poetry ... then at least to short stories, the 'bovaryization'
of fiction relative to the World, and thus 'lie down with the (poetic) lamb'.
133. Doubtless such a literary 'bovaryization'
is the masculine, and therefore Catholic, form of the World, in contrast to the
masculine per se, and therefore Protestant, form of the purgatorial Overworld, viz. the novel.
134. A truly, or absolutely, good society would, in
affirming philosophy, be one without a conscious commitment to both novels and
plays, and therefore one in which neither novelists nor dramatists
existed. Indeed, it is unlikely that
even poets would exist in such a society!
135. Nevertheless a relatively good society, centred
in the Beautiful, would have no shortage of poets or, for that matter,
short-story writers, since both nature and a natural version of civilization
would take precedence over everything else, including, though not necessarily
excluding, civilization itself.
136. Historically, it could be said that cultural
peoples, like the Greeks, Chinese, and Catholic Irish, tended to regard
outsiders, though particularly invaders, as barbarians, the noumenal
opposite of themselves, whereas civilized peoples, like the English, Romans,
and Spanish, tended to regard outsiders, though particularly the colonized, as
natives, the phenomenal opposite of themselves.
137. Hence whereas the noumenal
axis, as it were, threw up a cultural/barbaric antithesis, the phenomenal axis,
by contrast, gave rise to a civilized/native antithesis.
138. Ireland affords us an example of a cultural
people who were first invaded by barbarians, viz. Vikings, Danes, etc., and
then 'nativized' by ensuing invasions of civilized peoples,
like the Normans and English. Thus were
a cultural people first of all weakened and then brought low by, respectively,
barbarous and civilized peoples, the latter of whom
continued to dominate them for several centuries.
139. Since nature can lead to culture, as beauty to
truth, we have no reason to doubt that the Catholic Irish, still effectively
'bogged down' in natural sin, can be saved to culture in due course, returning,
via the Second Coming, to their rightful inheritance as Children of God, albeit
in a culture far superior to the historical one!
140. If short stories are the 'bovaryization'
of fiction relevant to the World, then prose poems are arguably the 'bovaryization' of poetry relevant to the purgatorial Overworld, the realm ordinarily associated with novels.
141. Nietzsche affords us a poignant example of a
Protestant philosopher (Lutheran) in decadent motion towards the hell of
religious fundamentalism, his 'will to power' a tragic testimony to diabolical
delusion in the worship of strength.
142. Schopenhauer was even more decadent, in some
respects, than Nietzsche, though less in regard to religious fundamentalism
than with reference to the scientific idealism of oriental mysticism, with its
cosmic pantheism. In this respect, Schopenhauer
and Nietzsche were poles apart.
143. Given Nietzsche's adulation of barbarism in an
affirmation of the 'will to power' through strength, there can be no question
that his concept of the Superman was a projection less of God than of the
Devil, and thus his 'Great Noontide' confirms a susceptibility to pagan
metaphors which 'flies in the face' of all that is good and holy, marking him
down as a male chauvinist product of German fundamentalism.
144. To deny the 'will to fame' through beauty ... in
order to affirm the 'will to glory' through truth, the only form of self-denial
that is necessary, and indeed possible, to the World, woman, the poet, etc., if
affirmation of the noumenal self, or spirit, is to
take its place ... as the Holy Spirit of Heaven.
145. On the other hand, one cannot deny the
phenomenal self unless one is already partial to it ... in worldly sin. That man who is more into the phenomenal
not-self ... of the 'will to wealth' through knowledge ... is simply not in a
position to deny the phenomenal self, and, unless he converts from the one to
the other, abandoning the realm of overworldly crime,
he may risk damnation to the hell of the noumenal
not-self, wherein the 'will to power' through strength is the prevailing and
presiding element, consigning him to the punishment of time.
146. A concrete example (there are many that could
be given) of the 'will to wealth' through knowledge leading, in due course of
damnation, to the 'will to power' through strength: the novelist whose novel is
adapted to film, becoming the victim of the noumenal
not-self ... as dramatic considerations take precedence over narrative ones in
the unfolding of his literary punishment, Hell overtaking Purgatory as the book
is eclipsed by the film. Such a diabolical
fate is the common reward of countless novelists, and all because, as fiction
writers, they pertain to the phenomenal not-self and are accordingly fit prey
for the Devil.
147. What usually befalls novelists is much less
likely to befall short-story writers, and almost never happens to poets ...
given their affiliation to the World and consequent identification, through
phenomenal subjectivity, with the phenomenal self.
148. As to film-writers and dramatists in general,
they are already, and by choice, given to the noumenal
not-self, and can therefore hardly be regarded as having been damned to the
hell of the 'will to power' through strength ... after the fashion of a
novelist or other purgatorial type. On
the contrary, they are the devils of literature, who are at one with their
confinement in the punishment of time, the writers of a diabolical
dispensation, as objective as it is possible for such people to get.
149. By contrast, philosophers, being literary gods,
are (or should be) as subjective as it is possible for writers to be, since
they relate to the noumenal self, and in that self,
the true self of the spirit, is to be found the noumenal
subjectivity of the 'will to glory' through truth.
150. Just as the Devil reveals himself or, rather,
his noumenal not-self through drama, so God reveals
his noumenal self through philosophy - the former
absolutely evil and the latter absolutely good. In between come the relative evil and good of
man and woman respectively, the former revealing his phenomenal not-self
through fiction, the latter revealing her phenomenal self through poetry, and
this despite the apparent gender of the novelist or poet (assuming that men are
no less capable, if natural, of exploring their feminine side, or phenomenal
self, through poetry ... than women are capable, if civilized, of exploring
their masculine side, or phenomenal not-self, through narrative fiction).
151. No less than the genuine novelist is masculine,
the genuine poet is feminine - the former given to the 'will to wealth' through
knowledge, the latter given to the 'will to fame' through beauty. Hence not only is this a distinction, by and
large, between men and women; it is a distinction, of necessity, between
relative (phenomenal) evil and relative (phenomenal) good, the objectivity of
fiction and the subjectivity of verse.
152. Such a distinction is rather akin, in realistic
terms, to that between, say, radios and tape-decks/tapes, and contrasts with
the comparatively dramatic/philosophic distinction, amounting to a
diabolic/divine dichotomy, between, say, televisions and computers.
153. When one considers sports, the great majority
of which involve either knock-out or league competitions (and often, as in the
case of football and cricket, both types of competition), it is evident that
the prevailing tendency is the 'will to power' through strength, a will aided
and abetted by the 'will to wealth' through knowledge of the businessman in
whose pay the great variety of contemporary 'gladiators' do battle.
154. Thus barbarism and civilization combine to
seduce the masses from their subjective nature to a superficially objective
acquiescence in the competitive spectacles which dominate our time.
155. With the sun and the moon riding high in contemporary
open societies, it is as though television and radio were in conspiracy against
the World, nature, woman, etc. in the dissemination, through objective evil, of
barbarous and civilized values, thereby affirming the 'will to power' through
strength (television) and the 'will to wealth' through knowledge (radio), while
effectively trampling subjectivity underfoot.
156. When the 'will to fame' through beauty is
taken-over by knowledge, as often happens these days, it is not long before it
is 'sold down river' to strength, whence it is twisted and corrupted to suit
the noumenal objectivity of the barbarous context in
question, and accordingly rendered subject to the 'will to power'. Thus ensue all manner of charts, tables,
awards, sales figures, publicity stunts, etc. which drive the 'nail into the
coffin' of beauty, giving the Devil the last laugh, since what was once half
alive soon becomes completely dead.
Strength is the death of the artist, just as the Father is the death -
and implicit refutation - of God.
157. The twentieth century was the age, effectively superpagan, of time, strength, the heart, the soul, the
Father, the Devil, power, light, fire, etc., and thus the rejection of
everything that is genuinely good and holy.
Only fools could possibly be happy (assuming 'happy' is really the word)
in such an age; for it is one in which the folly of evil is everywhere
enthroned in objective defiance of subjective good, with the moon and the sun
'riding high' in unfettered heathen defence of profane values. The Devil is free to do, man is free to take,
and woman is bound to give. In such an
age, it is impossible for God to be!
158. Not until the civilized lion lies down with the
natural lamb ... in lamb-like harmony with the World ... will there be any
possibility of a cultural superlamb in the heavenly
Beyond. In the meantime, the civilized
lion will always be in the shadow of the barbarous superlion
that reigns in Hell through the strength of its 'will to power'.
159. Some people think that being follows from
doing, or glory from power, so that what one is will be conditioned, in
large part, by what one does. My
answer to them is that such being is akin to the light from an electric Fire -
a mere aside to its fiery essence. Hence
the 'glory' of a football team that parades the FA Cup before its fans. Such a team knows the being that comes from
winning the Cup, but such being is merely the aside to the doing which, through
strength, led to a successful resolution of the 'will to power'.
160. Speaking analogically, one could say that the
being/glory aside to a doing/power will is the being/glory of the Devil, like
the light from an electric fire, and that only a fool would mistake or confound
such a spurious Heaven with that genuine Heaven which, in the circumstances of
a diabolic hegemony, will remain 'beyond the pale' of the existing order,
scarcely perceptible to the mind accustomed to being through doing, or glory
through power.
161. And yet, even people rooted in the soul have a
spirit of sorts, and not merely in terms of an aside to their soul, but
independently of emotional will. Even
'human doings' are capable, now and again, of becoming human beings, not human
doings with a beingful aside, but genuine human
beings who do nothing.
162. In contrast to the mini-being that follows from
a maxi-doing, we must reserve to genuine human beings a mini-doing that follows
from a maxi-being, the mini-doing, it may be, of breathing in regard to the
techniques of meditation, which may well seem akin to the heat aside from an
electric light, the small power that emanates from a large glory, the soulful
accompaniment to a spiritual glow. It is
in doing-through-being, or power-through-glory, that God is manifested to us,
whose radiant smile is the smile of Heaven itself, blissfully transported on a
wave of sanctified air.
163. To contrast the
divinity, in noumenal subjectivity, of the Holy
Spirit of Heaven with the devility, in noumenal objectivity, of the Holy Soul of Hell (the
Father), as one would contrast truth with strength, or glory with power.
164. To contrast the
femininity, in phenomenal subjectivity, of the Holy Will of the World (the
Mother) with the masculinity, in phenomenal objectivity, of the Holy Mind of
Purgatory (the Son), as one would contrast beauty with knowledge, or fame with
wealth.
165. To contrast the absolute religious evil of
strength with the absolute religious good of truth, power with glory, as one
would contrast the Devil with God, or the Holy Soul of Hell (the Father) with
the Holy Spirit of Heaven.
166. To contrast the relative religious evil of
knowledge with the relative religious good of beauty, wealth with fame, as one
would contrast man with woman, or the Holy Mind of Purgatory (the Son) with the
Holy Will of the World (the Mother).
167. The Holy Spirit of Heaven as the 'will to
glory' through truth, the perfect inner form which is only possible on the
basis of a concentrated awareness of the spirit upon the air which sets it free
of earthly attachments and carries it joyfully aloft to a transcendence
supreme.
168. The spirit which is aware of itself in relation
to the (lightness of) inner air is freed from earthly attachments and rendered
truly divine.
169. Without air there is no
spirit, nor can there ever be. Hence
there is no spirit where air is absent, as in cosmic space.
170. That man who realizes the connection between
his spiritual self and the air he breathes ... ceases to take air for granted,
but realizes that without it there could be no divinity, nor any divinity where
air was not. Hence the
absence of divinity from cosmic space.
171. The Holy Spirit of
Heaven, as the 'will to glory' through truth, contrasts absolutely with the
Holy Soul of Hell, as the 'will to power' through strength.
172. The Holy Will of the
World, as the 'will to fame' through beauty, contrasts relatively with the Holy
Mind of Purgatory, as the 'will to wealth' through knowledge.
173. Holiness can be 'good' or 'evil', subjective or
objective, depending whether it is relative to truth and beauty on the one
hand, or to strength and knowledge on the other hand.
174. When holiness is 'good' it is either of the
Holy Spirit ... (absolute) or of the Mother (relative). When holiness is 'evil' it is either of the
Father (absolute) or of the Son (relative).
175. Religious good begins with the Mother and ends
with the Holy Spirit ... thereby progressing from beauty to truth, or perfect
outer form to perfect inner form, the former feminine, the latter divine.
176. Religious evil begins with the Son and ends
with the Father ... thereby regressing from knowledge to strength, or imperfect
inner content to imperfect outer content, the former masculine, the latter
diabolic.
177. To be saved from the
sin of beauty to the grace of truth, thereby passing from the World to Heaven
or the Mother to the Holy Spirit.
178. To be damned from the
crime of knowledge to the punishment of strength, thereby passing from
Purgatory to Hell or the Son to the Father.
179. One should never confound religious good and
evil, whether relative or absolute, with scientific good and evil.
180. To contrast the absolute scientific evil of
weakness with the absolute scientific good of illusion, impotence with shame,
as one would contrast the Antidevil with the Antigod, or the Clear Fire of Time (Satan) with the Clear
Light of the Void (Jehovah).
181. To contrast the relative scientific evil of
ignorance with the relative scientific good of ugliness, poverty with
obscurity, as one would contrast Antiman with Antiwoman, or the Clear Water of Volume (Antichrist) with
the Clear Earth of Mass (Antivirgin and/or Cursed
Whore).
182. One could speak of the Clear Light of the
Void/Space as the 'antiwill to shame' through illusion,
in contrast to the Clear Fire of Time as the 'antiwill
to impotence' through weakness.
183. Likewise, one could speak of the Clear Earth of
Mass as the 'antiwill to obscurity' through ugliness,
in contrast to the Clear Water of Volume as the 'antiwill
to poverty' through ignorance.
184. Add 'inner' to antiwill
... and one has the economic parallels to the scientific positions.
185. Add 'outer' to will ... and one has the
political parallels to the religious positions.
186. Like holiness, clearness
can be either 'good' or 'evil', subjective or objective, depending whether it
is relative to illusion and ugliness on the one hand, or to weakness and
ignorance on the other hand.
187. When clearness is 'good' or, more specifically,
'antigood' ... it is either of the Clear Light ...
(absolute) or of the Clear Earth ... (relative). When clearness is 'anti-evil' it is either of
the Clear Fire ... (absolute) or of the Clear Water ... (relative).
188. Scientific 'antigood'
begins with the Clear Light ... (absolute) and ends with the Clear Earth ... (relative), thereby regressing from
illusion to ugliness, or the least perfect inner form to the least perfect
outer form, the former 'antidivine' and the latter 'antifeminine'.
189. Scientific 'anti-evil' begins with the Clear
Water ... (relative) and ends with the Clear Fire ... (absolute), thereby
progressing from ignorance to weakness, or the most imperfect inner content to
the most imperfect outer content, the former 'antimasculine'
and the latter 'antidiabolic'.
190. To fall from the antigrace of illusion to the antisin
of ugliness, thereby passing from Antiheaven to the Antiworld, or the Antispirit
(Jehovah) to the Antivirgin (Cursed Whore).
191. To rise from the
anticrime of ignorance to the antipunishment of
weakness, thereby passing from Antipurgatory to Antihell, or the Antison
(Antichrist) to the Antifather (Satan).
192. Virtue and vice have
less to do with holiness or clearness as such ... than with subjectivity and
objectivity, being, in effect, alternative terms for 'good' and 'evil'.
193. Hence we should
distinguish between the religious virtues of beauty and truth in relation to
the Mother and the Holy Ghost, but ... the religious vices of strength and
knowledge in relation to the Father and the Son.
194. Likewise, we should distinguish between the
scientific virtues or, more correctly, antivirtues of
illusion and ugliness in relation to the Antispirit
and the Antimother, but ... the scientific antivices of ignorance and weakness in relation to the Antison and the Antifather.
195. We should also distinguish, in relation to
politics, between the outer virtues of outer beauty and truth in relation to
the Outer Mother and the Outer Spirit, but ... the outer vices of outer
strength and knowledge in relation to the Outer Father and the Outer Son.
196. Likewise, in relation to economics, between the
inner antivirtues of inner illusion and ugliness in
relation to the Inner Antispirit and the Inner Antimother, but ... the inner antivices
of inner ignorance and weakness in relation to the Inner Antison
and the Inner Antifather.
197. Whereas the political positions are
characterized by unholiness in relation to the
'outer', the economic positions are characterized by unclearness in relation to
the 'inner'.
198. In relation to unholiness,
holiness is of course 'inner'. Hence to
distinguish between, say, the Unholy Spirit of Outer Heaven and the Holy Spirit
of Inner Heaven.
199. In relation to unclearness, clearness is of
course 'outer'. Hence to distinguish
between, say, the Unclear Light of Inner Space and the Clear Light of Outer
Space (the Void).
200. Generally I leave the 'outer' standings of the
scientific positions, together with the 'inner' standings of the religious
positions, implicit, in order to avoid or, at any rate, reduce confusion. Nevertheless the explicit 'inner' standings
of the economic positions do not reflect a superior status over the implicit
'outer' standings of the scientific positions, since the 'unclear' is ever
inferior, judged objectively, to the 'clear'.