Chapter 16 Volume 3 Faith-4

II I should do something so that it will happen; I should not do something so that it will not happen.But can I act without looking closely at an end beyond my action, without concentrating my purpose on something that is made possible through my action and only through my action?Can I desire without wishing for something?Never again! It would totally contradict the nature of my heart.It is a being in the future which is joined in my thinking directly to every action according to the laws of mere thought, and my action is to this state as the moving cause is to the effect already produced. same relationship.However, this purpose of my actions is not given to me for itself—for example, by instinct—and then my manner of acting is determined according to this purpose; I should not have a purpose assigned to me. , and then inquire how I should act to this end, because I myself have an end; my action should not depend on it; but I should act in a certain way simply because I ought to;— — that's the first thing.The voice in my heart tells me that something will come out of this course of action.This something must be my end, because I must act, and action is a means to an end, and only a means to an end.I want something to happen because I ought to act so that it happens;--just as I am not hungry because food is set before me, but something is my food because I am hungry; In the same way, I act as I act not because something is my end, but on the contrary, something is my end because I ought to act in this way.I don't fixate on a point in advance through which I want to draw my line, and let the position of the point determine the direction of the line and the angle it makes; The points that the line must pass through.The purpose does not determine the content of the command, but on the contrary, the content directly given by the command determines the purpose.

I say that it is the order to act which by its own power sets the end for me; the order within me compels me to imagine that I should act in this way, compels me to believe that this action will produce a certain result.The command to act presents before my mind's eyes the vision of another world; this world is certainly a world, a state, not an action, but it is a different world from the world that my physical eyes see. a better and better world; the command to act sets me on this better world, grasps it with all my might, desires it, lives only in it, and finds satisfaction only in it.This command, in its own right, assured me that this purpose would be achieved.I concentrate and entrust my whole thought and my whole life to this command, and to fix my eyes on nothing else, from a consideration which is accompanied by an unshakable conviction that this The hope foreshadowed by the command is real and certain, and excludes the possibility of even imagining the contrary.I live both in obedience to this command and in the intuition of its purpose; I live in the better world it promises me.

Even a mere consideration of the existing world, without regard to that moral imperative, expresses in the depths of my soul a desire, a longing—no, not a mere longing, but a longing for a better An absolute requirement for the good world.When I look at the relationship between people, the relationship between people and Qiran, the weakness of people's strength and the incomparable intensity of their lust and passion, I can't help but cry out in my heart: "Things are impossible. It's going to last; it's got to, oh, it's got to be totally different, better." I can never imagine that the status quo of mankind will remain unchanged forever, nor can I imagine that this status quo is the entire ultimate goal of mankind.If so, it would all be a dream, a deception: and it would not be worth the trouble of earning a living, this repetitive, aimless, meaningless game.The status quo is only valuable to me if I see it as a means to a better state, as a transition point to a higher, more complete state; not for the status quo itself, but for the Only by preparing better things for the status quo can I endure the status quo, value the status quo, and be willing to fulfill my responsibilities under the status quo.My mood cannot be content with what it is, nor can it remain for a moment; it produces an irresistible revulsion in my mind; my whole being runs irresistibly towards something better in the future.

Do I eat and drink only so that I can be hungry and thirsty again, eat and drink again, until the grave that opens beneath my feet swallows me up, and I myself become food for maggots?Do I breed creatures like myself so that they may eat, drink and die, leaving some like them to do what I have done?This cycle of ever returning to itself, this game of always starting over in the same way--a game in which everything comes into being to be destroyed, to be simply regenerated as it was And destruction—what is the purpose, what is the purpose of this monster that constantly devours itself in order to be able to be produced again, and is constantly produced in order to be able to devour itself again?

This can no longer be the mission of my being, and it can never be the mission of all existence.There must be something, which is there because it has become; since it has become, it will endure, and cannot be regenerated; and this permanent must be born in the replacement of the fleeting What is, is continued in the replacement of fleeting things, and is carried away intact on the rippling waves of time. We human beings still seek our own survival and continuation from the nature that opposes us through hard work.The greater part of mankind still succumbs all their lives to hard labor in order to feed themselves, and the few who think in their place; land of food.It often happens, too, that when the laborer has accomplished his work, and expects a long-term reward for himself and his effort, a hostile climate destroys in a moment the effort which he had spent years gradually completing. and more frequent accidents: floods, storms, volcanoes, sweeping away whole tracts of land, and tearing away the marks of a rational mind Creations, along with their creators, are buried simultaneously in the wild chaos of death and destruction.Illness sent to the premature grave some young adults and some children whose lives were hastily ended before anything had been produced.In prosperous countries plague spreads, and orphans the few who are spared, deprived of the usual assistance of their fellows, and lives alone and alone; The land that mankind has worked so hard to develop for itself has returned to barrenness. — This is the status quo, but it will never be like this forever.All creations bearing the imprint of reason and made to expand the power of reason will never be completely lost in the progress of the times.

The sacrifices made by reason to the irrational violence of nature must at least lessen, satisfy, and alleviate this violence.The power which has done evil by disobedience to the rules of the river may never do so again; it is doomed not to renew itself; All those eruptions of brute forces before which human power is utterly emptied, those storms which lay waste to the earth, those earthquakes, those volcanoes, can only be brutish substances that give life to lawfully advancing, The final resistance to the proper and purposive process—to which human power will not have to yield against its inherent disposition—can only be a final, shocking blow to the self-fulfilling development of our planet. hit.That resistance must gradually weaken, and finally fail, because in a regular process nothing can renew its power; the process of development must finally be completed, and the lodgings destined for us must be ready.

Nature must gradually enter into such a state that its lawful progress can be predicted and expected with certainty, and that its forces will be inextricably linked with that which is destined to master it—the power of man. — maintain a certain relationship.As soon as this relation is established, and the purposive development of nature acquires a firm foundation, the creation of man can itself, by its mere existence, by its influence independent of the creator's intentions, interfere with nature, Introduce into nature a new principle of life-giving.The cultivated land will give life to the primeval forests, deserts, and swamps, making their atmosphere less dull and hostile; orderly and varied plantings will spread around themselves a new disposition to live and reproduce. into the air, and the sun will cast its most vital rays upon the very atmosphere that a healthy, industrious, and civilized people breathes.Science, first born out of need, will later carefully and calmly explore the inalienable laws of nature, survey all the forces of nature, and learn to predict its possible development; science will form a new concept of nature. Get close to the living and dynamic nature, and follow the footprints of nature.Every knowledge which reason acquires from nature is preserved from generation to generation as the basis of new knowledge for the use of our common understanding of mankind.Thus nature will become more and more knowable and transparent to us, down to its most mysterious depths, and human power, enlightened and armed with its discoveries, will be easily harnessed Naturally, peacefully maintain the fait accompli of conquering nature.In addition to the mechanical labor required by the human body for its development, improvement, and health 269), man's domination over nature will gradually no longer require greater consumption of mechanical labor, and this labor will no longer be a burden, because rational creatures It is not destined to be the bearer of this burden.