To what extent is bad writing style, particularly bad academic style, a result of (a) poor skill, (b) affectation, (c) imitation, or (d) a tool to conceal the meaning and implications of one’s ideas? Heinrich Heine here lambasts many of his fellow intellectuals: “Distinguished German philosophers who may accidentally cast a glance over these pages […]
Heine versus Nietzsche on obscurantism in philosophy Read More »
The satirist, poet, and radical Heinrich Heine described poet Alfred de Musset as “a young man with a great future behind him.” Ouch. Musset never forgave him. Heine is known to have fought in at least ten duels in his life. One wonders why. Heine also said this of Kant, describing his clockwork walks along
The Department of Great Putdowns: Heine on de Musset and Kant Read More »
An amusing line from Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), the great German essayist: “One should forgive one’s enemies, but not before they are hanged.” The line is rhetorically similar to Augustine’s “Give me chastity, oh Lord, but not yet,” from Book 8 of Confessions.
Heine on forgiving one’s enemies, but not too soon Read More »
While the world watched France’s revolution, an equally important cultural phenomenon was occurring across the Rhine: “In the year 1789 … nothing else was talked of in Germany but the philosophy of Kant, about which were poured forth in abundance commentaries, chrestomathies, interpretations, estimates, apologies, and so forth.” That’s Heinrich Heine, who also wrote, “Our
[This is Appendix 4 of Nietzsche and the Nazis. Sources for the quotations are at the end of this post.] Appendix 4: Quotations on German militarism Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): “War itself, if it is carried on with order and with a sacred respect for the rights of citizens, has something sublime in it, and makes
Appendix 4: Quotations on German militarism [Nietzsche and the Nazis] Read More »