Interpretation

A JOURNAL
Fall 1998

J.

OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Number 1

Volume 26

3
21

Cameron Wybrow
Robert D. Sacks

The Significance The Book

of

the

City

in Genesis 1-11

of

Job: Translation

and

Commentary

on

Chapters 39-42 65
Andrew Reece

Drama, Narrative,
Charmides

and

Socratic Eros in Plato's

77

Mark Kremer

Liberty

and

Revolution in Burke's Letter to the

Sheriffs of Bristol

99

Steven

Berg

Interpreting
to

the Twofold Presentation of the

Will

Power Doctrine in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke

Zarathustra

Review Essays

121

Frank Schalow Bruce W. Ballard

Heidegger,

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

137

Whose Pluralism?

Interpretation
Editor-in-Chief

Hilail Gildin, Dept.

Leonard

of

Philosophy, Queens College

*

Executive Editor General Editors

Grey

Seth G. Benardete Charles E. Butterworth Hilail Gildin Robert Horwitz (d. 1987) Howard B. White (d. 1974)

Consulting

Editors

Christopher Bruell Joseph Cropsey Ernest L. Fortin John Hallowell (d. 1992) Harry V. Jaffa David Lowenthal Muhsin Mahdi Harvey C. Mansfield Arnaldo Momigliano (d. 1987) Michael Oakeshott (d. 1990) Ellis Sandoz Leo Strauss (d. 1973)
Kenneth W. Thompson Terence E. Marshall Heinrich Meier

International Editors Editors

Wayne Ambler Maurice Auerbach Fred Baumann Amy Bonnette Patrick Coby Elizabeth C de Baca Eastman Thomas S. Engeman Edward J. Erler Maureen Feder-Marcus Pamela K. Jensen Ken Masugi Will Morrisey Susan Orr Charles T. Rubin Leslie G. Rubin Susan Meld Shell Bradford P. Wilson Michael P. Zuckert Catherine H. Zuckert
-

Manuscript Editor Subscriptions

Lucia B. Prochnow
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Well

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Those

Theology, Literature,

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Jurisprudence.

contributors should

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E Mail:

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Interpretation
Fall 1998
-1-

Volume 26

Number 1

Cameron Wybrow
Robert D. Sacks

The Significance The Book

of

of

the

City

in Genesis 1-11
and

3
on

Job: Translation

Commentary

Chapters 39-42
Andrew Reece

21

Drama, Narrative,
Charmides

and

Socratic Eros in Plato's 65

Mark Kremer

Liberty

and

Revolution in Burke's Letter to the 77

Sheriffs of Bristol Steven

Berg

Interpreting
Zarathustra

the Twofold Presentation of the Will

to Power Doctrine in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke

99

Review Essays

Frank Schalow Bruce W. Ballard

Heidegger,

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

121
137

Whose Pluralism?

Copyright 1998

interpretation

ISSN 0020-9635

Interpretation
Editor-in-Chief

Hilail Gildin, Dept. Leonard

of

Philosophy, Queens College

Executive Editor
General Editors

Grey

Seth G. Benardete Charles E. Butterworth Hilail Gildin Robert Horwitz (d. 1987) Howard B. White (d. 1974)

Consulting

Editors

Christopher Bruell Joseph Cropsey Ernest L. Fortin John Hallowell (d. 1992) Harry V. Jaffa David Lowenthal Muhsin Mahdi Harvey C. Mansfield Arnaldo Momigliano (d. 1987) Michael Oakeshott (d. 1990) Ellis Sandoz Leo Strauss (d. 1973) Kenneth W. Thompson
Terence E. Marshall Heinrich Meier

International Editors

Editors

Wayne Ambler Maurice Auerbach Fred Baumann Amy Bonnette Patrick Coby Elizabeth C de Baca Eastman Thomas S. Engeman Edward J. Erler Maureen Feder-Marcus Pamela K. Jensen Ken Masugi Will Morrisey Susan Orr Charles T. Rubin Leslie G. Rubin Susan Meld Shell Bradford P. Wilson Michael P. Zuckert Catherine H. Zuckert
-

Manuscript Editor

Lucia B. Prochnow Subscription rates per volume (3 issues): individuals $29 libraries and all other institutions $48 students (four-year limit) $18
Single
copies available. outside

Subscriptions

U.S.: Canada $4.50 extra; $5.40 extra by surface mail (8 weeks or longer) or $11.00 by air. Payments: in U.S. dollars and payable by a financial institution located within the U.S.A. (or the U.S. Postal Service). Postage
elsewhere

The Journal Welcomes Manuscripts

in

in

Political Philosophy

as

Well

as

Those

Theology, Literature,

and

Jurisprudence.

contributors should

follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 1 3th ed. or manuals based on it; double-space their manuscripts, including notes; place references in the text, in endnotes or follow current journal style in printing references. Words from languages not rooted in Latin should be transliterated to English. To ensure impartial judgment of their manuscripts, contributors should omit mention of their
other work; with

postal/zip

put, on the title page only, their name, any affiliation desired, address code in full, E-Mail and telephone. Please send four clear copies,

which will not

be

returned.

Composition

by

Eastern Composition, Inc.,

Binghamton, N.Y. 13904 U.S.A.

Inquiries:

(Ms.) Joan Walsh, Assistant to the Editor interpretation, Queens College, Flushing, N.Y. 11367-1597, U.S.A. (718)997-5542 Fax (718) 997-5565
interpretation_journal@qc.edu

E Mail:

The Significance

of

the

City

in Genesis 1-11

Cameron Wybrow
McMaster

Divinity

College

where

The city is mentioned in three episodes in Genesis 1-11: in Genesis 4, it is said that Cain (or possibly his son Enoch) built the first city; in

Genesis 10, where it is stated that Nimrod ruled over (and possibly built) cities; and in Genesis 1 1, in which the unified human race attempts to build Babel, the
city and tower with its top in the heavens. Traditional exegesis of these stories, Jewish
and

Christian,
was

was often sur

prisingly antiurban, antitechnical,

associated with

and antipolitical.

Why

this? One finds in

the traditional commentaries a number of overlapping themes. those who are supposed to be

First,

the city is

impious in

their

intentions: Cain, herds

Nimrod,
man.

the Babel-builders.

Second,

the city is connected with land ownership,

and thus opposed

to an allegedly purer form of

life,

that of the nomadic

Third,

the city is associated with the complexity and sophistication of a

of which are

number of

necessary for survival and many of which are possibly morally dangerous. Finally, the city is associated with improper aspirations toward human greatness or even human divinization, with
superfluous and
which

arts, few

the pride or hubris

desires to

compete

with,

or even

defy,

the Lord

God.
the the

In this

paper

wish

to make three arguments. The first is that

much of

traditional pious exegesis of Genesis 1-11 fails in its very reasonable task
elaboration of a moral or political of urban

because, in its urge to theory moralize about the lives and motives of the early city-builders, it makes funda mental interpretive errors. It improperly fuses the characters and accomplish
life
ments of

Cain, Nimrod,

and the
which

Babel-builders,

not

paying

enough attention

to

the different contexts

in

these characters appear, and it prejudges the

motives of the characters

in

all

three cases,

failing

to note that in each

instance

there are redeeming

features,
second

or at

least

reasonable

those

characters.

The

thing I

wish

to argue

excuses, for the actions of is that the failure to read the

text carefully

does damage to the

one major point on which the traditional

interpreters I
will

seem

to be correct: the unacceptability of the Babel project. the Babel-builders are not evil in
condemned

For,

as

argue,

although

intent,
of

the effort

they

are

making is indeed
narrator.

from the
to be

political-theological perspective of

the Biblical

Finally, I
is

wish not

to argue that,

in light

the Babel project,

as a per

Nimrod's kingdom

of cities

understood as a

tyranny but

fectly
when

reasonable attempt

to establish a political ordering

law, divine

or

conventional,

has

not yet made

among inroads into the human

men at a time

heart.

interpretation. Fall

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

4
I

Interpretation
will

proceed

in the be

following

manner.

First, I

will

present

the

political

themes which can

gleaned

from the discussion

of

Cain, Nimrod

and

the
will

Babel-builders in
show

some representative premodern commentaries. of the

Next,

the

inadequacy

handling
with

of

the political themes

interpreters'

traditional

remarks

the

fine details

of

comparing the the Biblical text. Fi

by

nally, I

will propose

my

own tentative account of

the Bible's

moral-political

evaluation of

the

city.

A. THE CRITIQUE OF THE CITY IN TRADITIONAL EXEGESIS

The traditional

commentaries on

Genesis

are

only enough to Genesis Rabbah, Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, Abravanel's

reveal some representative

tendencies.

legion, and I have consulted Specifically, I have used

tateuch, Augustine's
these

City of God,
a

and

Calvin's

Commentary on the Pen Commentary on Genesis. Out of

antiurban,
anti-

I have

constructed

kind
I

of composite account of the

technical,

antipolitical tendencies of commentaries am not

the Jewish and

Christian traditions. In fus

ing (they
own.

different
are all

trying

to blur the differences

and notes),

between them

properly distinguished in the text

tendencies of

establish some general

but merely trying to which I can set my against interpretation,

1. Traditional One

Hostility
with

Toward Cain

and

His Line

must

begin

Cain. Cain, heaped

who

is traditionally
him

credited with

founding
Christian
character,

the first city, has

had

abuse

upon

by

scores of

Jewish

and

interpreters for

at

least two

millennia.1

His

motives and

his

spiritual

and the spiritual character of

with

his descendants, have all been impugned, often little basis in the text. This negative portrayal of Cain colors the event with he is associated, that is, the
an

which

founding

of

the city, and establishes among

interpreters
recorded

antiurban, antipolitical atmosphere, in which those city-builders

later in Genesis 1-11

get a

(especially

Nimrod

and the

Babel-builders)

will

find it hard to

fair hearing.

Cain,

Cain's very birth is suspect, according to some of the rabbis. Noting that unlike his Genesis 5 counterpart Seth, is not said to have been born after

Adam's (hence

conclude that he is actually the offspring of death Sammael. This is why he becomes a murderer and Abel.2 kills the son truly in God's image, With this rather unauspicious head start in life, Cain cannot be expected to

God's) image, they

Eve and the angel of

produce much good.

fices to the
most

Thus, his religious performance is faulty. When he sacri Lord (Gen. 4.3-5), he offers (according to some of the rabbis) the
samples of

inferior

his produce, the

refuse,3

or, if the quality is acceptable,

The
he
gives

City

in Genesis

paltry amount after finishing most of it off himself (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, p. 153). Those interpreters, such as Augustine and Calvin, who only
a are not

nature of
vin

willing to supplement the Genesis story quite so blatantly regarding the Cain's offerings, supplement it equally regarding Cain's motives. Cal declares that there was nothing wrong with Cain's grain, but with his hy

pocrisy; Cain practised a purely external

religion and did not really serve God in his heart. Augustine, finding nothing wrong with Cain's sacrifice, declares that Cain's other activities (unmentioned in the Biblical text) must have been
evil.4

The traditional do
not

commentators are a
condemn

little lighter

on

Cain in

one respect:

they
and

ground

unanimously (4.2). Calvin

Cain's

choice of occupation as a tiller of the

grants that this occupation can

be laudable

and

holy,

that it in fact can be interpreted as commanded

by

God in Genesis 1
and

and

(Calvin,
Cain's
tion:

p.

192). Augustine

says

nothing negative,

Rabbi Eliezer
of

allows

The Genesis Rabbah, however, says bluntly "Cain, Noah, and Uzziah lusted after the ground, and them. One became a murderer, another a drunkard, another
choice.

Cain's
leper"

occupa

no good came of
a

(Genesis
to

Rabbah,

vol.

2,

p.

29). Abravanel

sheds

light

on

the rabbinic

hostility

Cain's

farming
simpler,

career, explaining that "Cain also chose to engage in artful things and
ground,"

therefore became a tiller of the

"natural"

whereas

Abel

was satisfied with

the

Abel, says Abravanel, was the proto type of all the great prophets and leaders of Israel, who were themselves shep herds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David.5 Cain's desire to settle down
more
of a shepherd.

life

into

sophisticated, technical
to run away
which

occupation represents the perennial nonluxurious

human ten

dency

from the simple, God intended

with us.

dience for
Rabbah
see a

Contrasting

sufficiency and obe Abravanel and the Genesis

and

life

of

on one

hand

Rabbi Eliezer, Augustine,

Calvin

on

the other,

we

fundamental difference
I

over the worth of settled agricultural

life. This
activ

fundamental difference

allows room
which

for

a more positive view of

Cain's

ities

and

intentions,

to

will return

later.
"wicked"
"house"

building of a city, some rabbis say that he, like other hoped to have immortality through a (presumably, his city and people, his son Enoch) which would live forever (Genesis Rabbah, vol. 1, p. 255). Augustine sees the city which Cain builds as an allegory of the City of Man, that human society which seeks only earthly felicity and denies our supernatural end (City of God, XV. 1, 5, 8, 17, 21). Augustine takes great pleasure in repeat
About Cain's

edly noting that the line

murderers, that
with

which originated

the earthly city began and ended

with

is, (City of God, XV.5, 8, 21). ruthless The commentators are regarding Cain's descendants, and do not hesitate to invent facts in order to condemn them. The names of Irad, Mehujael,
and

Cain

Lamech

Metusael,

and

Lamech

are all

said vol.

(without

etymological

argument) to
of

mean sexual

"rebellion"

(Genesis Rabbah,

1,

p.

256). The details

Lamech's

mistreatment of

his wives,

absent

from the Biblical text,

are supplied

by

the

Interpretation
(ibid.). Tubal-Cain is
mentioned as noted

rabbis

for his

forging
of

of weapons

(which

are not provid

specifically

the metal

implements
crime

Genesis 4.22), thus

more

ing

way for his

ancestor

Cain's
sister

to be

perpetrated

efficiently

(ibid.). Naamah, Tubal-Cain's

given

(about

whom

absolutely

no

details
as

are

in Genesis), sang

and played

in honor

of

idols (ibid.) (which,

far

as we

can

tell from Genesis

4, did

not yet exist).

In general, Cain's

generation were

sinners and rebels who thought p.

they did

not need

God (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer,

and

159).

They
eyes,

went about stark naked,

like beasts,

flagrantly
about

violated the naked

with

rules

concerning incest (p.

160). Cain's daughters

went

painted

tempting

the angels to

fall;

these unions produced the wicked

giants who were wiped out

in the Flood (pp. 160-62).

violence and

In

a more analytical

vein, Abravanel argues that the

were

destruction

which prevailed which

before the Flood

directly

linked to the
p.

acquisitiveness

Cain bequeathed to his descendants (Abravanel,

view, Calvin refuses to
condemn

257).

Taking

posite

the Cain line on such grounds;

the op for him

the arts are goods, and gifts from God

(Calvin,

pp.

217-22). Like the rabbis,

however, Calvin notes the wickedness of the atmosphere in which the arts arise; he affirms the vileness of Lamech's polygamy and waxes eloquent about
Lamech's cruelty and inhumanity (ibid.). Cain's line is uniformly contrasted unfavorably with Seth's line, the latter who lived more virtuously, the former being, if not being the "sons of
God"

completely evil,
God"

at

least

more carnal

in their interests. In Calvin these "sons

of

are

Augustine

virtually and Calvin the Cainite

self-conscious that

they

are

the Church

(Calvin,
of

p.

238). In
who se

women are the

"daughters

men"

justified both
pp.

duced Seth's line into waywardness, creating the universal degeneration which lines' being wiped out by the Flood (City of God, XV.22; Calvin, 237-40). In sum, it
can

be

said that

Cain does

not

have

very

good public

image. His

birth is suspect, his offering to God was shoddy of farming is judged ambivalently, his founding
or even of

and/or of a

insincere, his taking up

an act of

city is

vainglory
of vio

defiance

of

God, his

male

descendants increased the level

of weapons or

lence in the world,

superfluous sin.

either

by

the

introduction

by

their

desire for

He

and

city

which

wealth, his female descendants seduced the only godly people into his line have few if any redeeming features, and because of this, the he founded, and all its connections (with the arts, with human law

making,

with political

life) fall

under a

dark

shadow.

Such is the

picture which

traditional exegesis of

Genesis 4 tends to

yield.

2. Traditional

Hostility Toward Nimrod

accounts.

Nimrod fares only slightly better than Cain in traditional

"beginning"

He liter
actions

ally

cannot even make a

onto the

Biblical

stage without

his

The

City

in Genesis

being
be
a

condemned.

Genesis 10.8

reads:

"And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to

begin"
profane"

Genesis Rabbah interprets the verb "to mighty one in the (halal), here found in the hiphil form, as the-verb "to (halal), which is the normal meaning of the piel form of the same root. From the sense "pro
fane,"

earth."

the rabbis feel justified in translate: "Nimrod

vol.

deriving

all wicked

things,
mighty

and

thus

they

can

liberally

'rebelled'

when

he

was a

one

in the

earth"

(Genesis Rabbah,
"began"

2,

p.

260). In

case anyone should think the rabbis are

stretching the meaning too much, they supply other examples of wicked people things, and hence were actually They mention the people of in not Genesis 4, who 4.26 are said, to degenerating calling
"rebelling."

who

"begin"

upon

the name of the

Lord, but
mention

rather, to

"rebel"

in their calling

upon

the name

of the

Lord,

and

they

the evil men of pre-Flood

"rebelled"

days,

who, instead of

"beginning"

to multiply upon the earth,

such evil

to multiply upon the earth

and the pre-Flood gi announced with the

(ibid.).
ants same

Obviously, in
must

company
whose

as the

Cainites

and

their offspring,

Nimrod,

"beginning"

is is

verb,

be evil, too.
Nimrod the
city-builder evil.

There is

other evidence that

Nimrod, being

mighty hunter, is reminiscent of the other hunter in Genesis, Esau. Esau, of course, is bad for two reasons. First, he was the foe of his brother Jacob, the
ancestor of

Israel. Second, in later Jewish literature (Neusner tells us) he

oppressive power of us that
"hunter,"

sym

bolizes the

Rome (Jacob Neusner, in Genesis Rabbah, vol. was obviously a furious Nimrod, being a a beast than a human he was also the originator of more like being; man, tyranny (Calvin, p. 317). Augustine tells us that Nimrod, like all hunters, is a deceiver, oppressor, and destroyer of earth-bom creatures (City of God, XVI.4).

2,

p.

38). Calvin tells

He further

argues that the statement that

Nimrod

was a

the Lord (Genesis

Lord,

that

is,
he

10.9) means that Nimrod was a rebel (City of God, XVI. 3). And, if it

mighty hunter before the mighty hunter

"against"

seems

bad

enough

for
not

Nimrod that his

even grant

hunting

is interpreted hunter.

so negatively, some of the rabbis

do

say he fooled people into thinking he could cow fierce beasts, when in fact he did it by wearing the magical coats of animal skin which God had given to Adam and Eve when he put them out of
was a great

They

Eden. Thus, his claim to might, which is what persuaded people to let him them, was based on a sham (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, p. 175).
Another thing
which counts against

rule

Nimrod is his be

being

a grandson of

Ham,

who was consigned

to slavery

by

Noah in Genesis 9. Since Nimrod is

slave, it

is
p.

against

the order of things that

he

should

king

(Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer,

174).

Finally, Nimrod is
lived
until

evil

the time of

because, although it is not mentioned in Scripture, he Abraham, and, as master of the pagan lands out of which
when

Abraham came, tried to kill Abraham

he

was

young.

In this attempt,
pp.

however, he Genesis Rabbah,

was miraculously thwarted (Pirke vol.

de Rabbi Eliezer,

420-21;

2,

pp.

60-61).

Interpretation

Nimrod, in
an

summary, is repudiated

by

much of the tradition

because he
represents

was

impious

rebel against

God

and tyrannical over mankind.

sinfulness of

He

the

cruel godlessness of pride and

the pagan empires, the

the Ham

line, worldly

glory been founded with the

set against righteousness. right motives.

His city, therefore,

could

hardly
him

have

Urban life,
takes on a

associated with

and

his

kingdom,

again,

as

in the

case of

Cain,

bad

scent.

3. Traditional

Hostility

Toward the Babel-Builders explicitly state that Nimrod had anything Genesis 1 1, he was often assumed to have been
not

Although the Biblical text does

to do with the Babel project of

its initiator, for two reasons. First, the plain on which Babel was erected was in the land of Shinar, which, according to Genesis 10, was the area of his king dom. Second, it is said in Genesis 10 that Nimrod founded a city called Babel,
which

is

often assumed to

chapters are

be the city discussed in Genesis 1 1 Thus, the two intertwined in traditional commentary, and, as one might expect,
.

Nimrod becomes Babel

project

due to responsibility for the Babel project, and the is condemned because it was the brainchild of Nimrod. There is
odious

reason to question the connection out

between Nimrod

and

Babel,

as

will point

later. In any case, the purpose of this section is to discuss the faults of the Babel-builders insofar as they can be discerned without reference to Nimrod. The tradition uniformly condemns the builders at Babel. Both their deeds
and

their motives are entirely wicked. The

Babel-builders, like Nimrod,

do,"

are

"rebels,"

"and this they begin to which, do" translated into rabbinic, means, "this they are rebelling to (Genesis Rabbah, vol. 2, p. 260). Why is their act a rebellion? They are trying to build a tower
says: with

because in Genesis 6 God

its top in the heavens; they

are not satisfied with want the are

are

trying

to challenge

God,

to displace him.

They
they

being

given the

earth, the lower part of the world;

vol.

heavens,
with

the upper part, too

(Genesis Rabbah,
want

2,

pp.

49-50). for idol

They

filled

the sin of pride,

which p.

for they
p.

to make a

"name"

themselves (Gen.

(Genesis Rabbah,
and

vol.

11.4), 1,

probably
vol. at

signifies also that

they

made an on

261,

2,

51). Augustine insists

their pride

impiety

and their

foolishness

thinking

that a tower of any height could

ever challenge

concurs with the others that the story is about like that of the giants who tried to pile Pelion on Ossa to God-defying pride, scale Olympus and dethrone Jove in pagan mythology (City of God, XVI.4;

the

Lord; Calvin

Calvin,

p.

324).

There

are other

flaws in the

Babel-builders'

motives.

The

rabbis object that

in Genesis 11.2 they decide to vated by Satan (Genesis Rabbah,

tent

"settle"

in the land

of

Shinar.

"Settling"

is

moti

vol.

being settling and building

in

"settled,"

but

are on

the

50); God's people do not rest con move, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In
p.

2,

city,

needless to

say, the

Babel-builders

are reminiscent

The
of

City
us

in Genesis

the godless Cain. Abravanel argues, apparently picking up

on

the language
a

of mutual exhortation

in 11.3-4 ("let

brick,"

us make

"let

build

city"), that to urban

the

Babel-builders
that

wanted not

only superfluity (his

usual objection

life) but
social
people

they

thought that

political organization was

the highest

form

of

life. It is their

politics as much as their materialism that

is

at

fault. God's

do not need the political life of the city, says Abravanel. Abravanel thus, in criticizing the Babel-builders, manages to slip in the moral that the way of Torah is higher than the way of the Greeks, who defined man as a political
animal.

4.

Summary

of the Traditional Critique of the

City
associations.

The

city-builders of

Genesis 1-11

all

have unsavory
are

They
or

are

fugitives from God

ters.

or rebels against

God; they
God's

murderers, sinners,

idola

They

wish

to build a settled and secure life

or even against wishes.

without

God's

help

by They

purely human means,

are

proud,

thinking

to

build

structures which will

keep

their names alive

forever.

They

are

from the

wrong lines, Cain

being

rejected

in favor first

of

Abel,

then of

Seth, Nimrod

being
things
some

part of

the Ham line which Noah subjects to Shem and Japheth. The the city, the arts,
political

which go with

cooperation,

and the rule of

with

human beings

by

others, are equally

stained

by

association

the

wrong sort of people. The arts come from the children of vengeful bigamist Lamech. Ruling comes from Nimrod, heir of a slave, and is associated with the
violence of
patriarchs.

hunting, which, being Esau's way, is inferior to the way of the Politics, the art of bringing people together to build a decent civil

order, is
ated,
not

rendered suspect

by

the

fact that the first

is

people to

be

political cooper

to build a better
cities

life, but to

conspire against and a

God. More generally, the human beings

who are

desire to build

is unnecessary,

desire

of

walking away from God rather than with him. The city cannot provide for security against death; it cannot give one immortal life or even an immortal name; only God can do these things. The city, then, is grounded in folly. At best it is
a

necessary

evil

in

fallen world;

at worst

it is temptation to idolatry,

rejection of

God,

and

tyranny

over others.

B. CRITICISM OF THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE CITY

One
upon

of the

first things that

and the

traditionalists'

strikes us when we read the

assault

Cain, Nimrod,
are quite are not

Babel-builders is how

much not

they

add

to the text.

They
story.

which

willing to supply motives which are recorded, in order to establish the

stated, and even actions

appropriate moral of each

This

might not

be

bad procedure, if

the materials

they

supplied were

10

Interpretation

role of providing plausible explanations for what is recorded. far beyond this, however. They attribute Cain's birth to the angel They Sammael; they condemn Nimrod for his paganism and his attempt to murder Abraham. When material this far from the text is allowed to shape the inter

limited to the
go

characters'

pretation of

motives and

actions, all interpretive

control

is lost. The
rule

text can mean whatever the interpreters want it to mean. We simply have to out much of the legendary material if we think our text of Genesis 1-11
make sense on

can

its

own.

Another mology

noticeable

feature is the Jewish

This

interpreters'

fascination

with

ety

and other word play.

again might not

be bad in itself, but

some of

fetched. For example, the but the rabbis stretch it beyond the resemblance may be significant, point, demanding us to allow not only the rendering of the hiphil
the claims made are simply too far
"profane,"

"begin"-"profane"

breaking
as the

"begin"

piel
ling."

but

also the

idiosyncratic

"profaning"

equation of

with

"rebel
word

Again,

when

they

assert without philological

"idol,"

reasoning that the

"name"

in the Babel story

all mean

can

only

mean

or that the names of

Cain's lies

descendants
I

"rebellion,"

they

ask us

to

accept

too much on faith.

believe, however,

that the real problem of the traditional interpreters

deeper. The

addition of

legendary

material and

the use of verbal tricks are not

interpretation; they are merely the justifications. The interpreters have already decided that Cain, Nimrod, and the Babel-builders
the reasons for the antiurban
are

evil, and

would maintain

this even
reasons.

if

all

the

etymologies

and

legendary

material were

excluded, for two

First,

the evil of

Cain

and the others

is

axiomatic

in the interpretive tradition in

to my present

which

they have been

would argue

trained. Sec that there is

ond, and
enough reading.

more relevant

interest, they

in the Biblical text,

even without the extraneous

material, to

justify

their

They
contrast

can

indeed

appeal

to

a number of

textual details.

They

can point to the

parallel

between Cain the farmer

and

and

Abel the shepherd, to the

connection

be

tween Nimrod

Esau the hunters, to the

between the

violence of

Cain

and

Lamech

and the rise of urban

life

and the

arts, to the fact that Nimrod

to the similarity

is

reminiscent of

the evil

"mighty
"men
of

men"

wiped out
name"

in the Flood,

between the

pre-Flood

and the

Babel-builders'

desire for

name, to the connection between

Abraham left the

eastern world ruled

Nimrod, Shinar, and Babel, to the fact that by Nimrod, to Nimrod's connection with
and associations upon

Ham,

and so on.

which a

plenty of loose connections traditional interpretation can be founded. There

are

Nonetheless,
the
errors

the traditional

interpretation is inadequate. Some

of

the claims

are errors, and other are

facts simply do not fit into the antiurban picture. Among the following: Augustine's claim that Nimrod was a hunter is
considered who

"against
even

God"

by Calvin,

philologically unacceptable by found Nimrod unappealing. Augustine's

most

claim that

translators, Cain's

line

ended with a murderer

is

also

untrue, since Lamech fathers sons who are

The
not murderers of

City

in Genesis

11

but inventors. The

rabbis'

claim that

Nimrod

shares the character

Canaan, Ham's son, is cursed to in Genesis 9. Canaan's brother Cush and Cush's son Nimrod are not slavery included in the curse.
Then there
are the

the slave Ham is untrue, since not Ham but

facts

that

do

not

fit. The

common

interpretation that

Nimrod
to aid
all the project.

undertook

the Babel project on

his own,

or

that he ordered the people

him,

runs against of

the clear sense of the text in that

of

Genesis 11,

which makes

"children

men,"

The interpretation
same
such

is, Abravanel,

the entire race, equally responsible

for the

that the sin of the Babel-builders was

cannot explain of the cities of

essentially the why God took

desire drastic

of

action at

superfluity that motivated Cain, Babel but not in the case

Cain, Nimrod, and Asshur in Genesis 4 and 10. Further, there is bad reasoning in the traditional
pretation of

constructions.

The inter

Augustine

and

the rabbis that Nimrod must have been unneces

sarily violent and tyrannical, because he was a hunter and hunters kill things, is feeble. For shepherds (like Abel) kill things, too their sheep. And settled farmers (like Cain, and the later Israelites) kill their cattle. The way of the

hunter is thus
the settled

no more violent

toward animal life than that of the shepherd or

his prey
creation

captive

farmer. In fact, the hunter is less violent, because he does not keep for its entire life before killing it. His victims enjoy God's

before
as

castrated,
the city

falling to his arrows. They they are by the farmer. Further,

The hunter is the loner,

are

not

rounded

the association
who

up in pens of the hunter

and
with

is

peculiar.

hardly
closer

the model of the political man.

lives away from the city The landed farmer with his rural commu
in the marketplace, these
are

nity, the shepherd who sells

his

wool and mutton or

in

spirit

to the city than is the hunter

trapper who

is

self-sufficient.

The

association

between

simply Then there is the

Calvin
claims

not worked out well

hunting by the

and

city life allegedly intended

of the

by

Genesis is

traditionalists. text with uncharitable motives.

not

supplementation

that Cain's offering is

hypocritical, but he does

order to wicked

derive this

from textual evidence; rather, he infers it in infers, in a parallel manner, that Cain had a
says

justify

God. Augustine
all

lifestyle. Yet

the text

is that God did

nor

not gaze unto

Cain

and

imputed to Cain,
execution.

is his

sacrifice said
supposed

his sacrifice; no evil motive is to be flawed in either intention or

Similarly, Cain is
to

to build his city out of vainglory, out of

the desire for a name, or out of the wish to build a worldly city without God.

The text

would seem
was

suggest

that his motive was fear of

being killed,

and

that the city

to protect

him; further,

the text says that Cain believes he

is

hidden from God's face, and God does not contradict Cain on this point. How, if God will then, could we expect Cain to build anything but a "worldly
city,"

not

help him build "lusting after the

laws to

heavenly
that

ground,"

Again, the rabbis rage against Cain for is, tilling it, but say nothing against Moses who
one?

prescribes

govern

Israel's

settled agricultural

life. If Israel is

not wicked

12

Interpretation
of

for wanting land exactly

of the what

its

own

to till,

the pre-Flood men are said to

"rebel"

why is Cain's motive so disreputable? Again, in multiplying upon the earth, but that is
to

they

were commanded

do in Genesis 1.

Why is

their attempt at

obedience

lashed

out at as a rebellion? as motivated

forge interpreted

Finally, why is Tubal-Cain's invention by the desire to make swords rather than
the vengeful

ploughshares?

Certainly, his father

was

Lamech, but

one cannot

simply impute such emotions to a son. After all, no one else in the Cain line is said to be violent, and Tubal-Cain's siblings all invent useful or pleasant arts,
not violent ones.

One has to say, then, that the

tional

antiurban trend of thought

without textual

interpreters,

though not
a close

clearly justified

by

of the city-builders and

completely reading of the details of Genesis 1-11. The motives their families are not so clearly evil as supposed. There
and misunderstood rather

among the tradi foundation, is not

is

evidence that

Cain is frightened, slighted,

than evil.

Nimrod in Genesis 10 displays

no wicked motives or

overtly

evil actions.

The

Babel-builders, however wrong their project may be, say nothing at all about defying God. Further, if Nimrod cannot be connected with the Babel project of
Genesis 1 1
There is
,

a negative

interpretation

of

Babel

would not reflect upon

Nimrod.
theo-

much

work, then, to be done if

about the

we are

to articulate a coherent

logico-political teaching

city

as presented

in Genesis 1-11.

C. THE TEACHING ABOUT THE CITY IN GENESIS 1-11

essay will be a preliminary attempt to give the outlines of the doctrine of Genesis 1-11 on the place of the city in the political life of mankind. I wish to argue that Genesis 1-11 wants us to see the city, and, more
remainder of this

The

broadly

speaking, human

political

effort, in

a much more positive

light than the

tradition sometimes suggests.

The line

of

interpretation

which

body am building
who

of traditional

interpretation, but in its

I follow here comes, oddly enough, from the more unorthodox moments. For I

upon the work of

themselves are

Eugene Combs, Kenneth Post, and Robert Sacks, indebted to Midrashic sources such as the Genesis Rabbah.
one sees

In the Midrashic writings,

political

hints here

and

there

of a a

different

account of

by less pietistic, more acute of politically way reading Scripture. Combs, Post, and Sacks have devel oped these hints and systematized them to an extent; I wish to pursue their
an account which can

life,

be brought to light

ideas

further.6

What I

will

strive to establish

is

an

interpretation
rabbis,
of

of

Genesis

which, against

Augustine

and

Calvin

and

many

of the

sees the and

earthly
a

city

as

legitimate human

response

to the problem

justice

order,

response which

God is willing
Cain. The

to work with and, under certain

circumstances, is
so well

bless.
I begin
with classification of

Cain

as

"bad

guy"

The
established that

City

in Genesis

13

it

seems

impious to
Cain's

question

God's

refusal

to gaze

upon

sacrifice

trary. Cain cannot know why God pays no

it, but it must be questioned. First, is, from Cain's point of view, arbi attention to it, as God does not say.
much

He has
worked

worked

hard to

produce

his grain, probably

more

harder than Abel has

tried to obey God's the
earth

to raise his sheep.

Further, he,
not

than

Abel,

apparent commandments. and

Did

God tell Adam to

subdue

(Gen. 1),

to till the garden (Gen. 2)? Did not God tell Adam that
would work

upon expulsion

from Eden he
Cain felt

the

land for his food (Gen. 3)? One

like the

can see

slighted.

He is, in

a way,

more qualified applicant who

why loses

the job to the boss's nephew, or perhaps to an affirmative action program. As a

victim of apparent which

injustice, his
at

rage

is

natural.

This does

not

justify

the murder

follows, but it
so perverse as

least

explains
and

Cain's

emotional

state,

which

is

not

nearly Cain's

Augustine

Calvin
supply

make out. another nonmalicious account

of

Further,

the

rabbis

themselves

motives.

Cain

saw

that God preferred a sacrifice of an animal over that

of vegetation.
would

Might he

not

have

concluded
vol.

that the sacrifice of a human

being

be

even

better (Genesis Rabbah,

1,

pp.

248-49)? One does

not need

to presume that Cain killed Abel out of anger or

jealousy;
God.

one might argue that

he killed Abel in
Even if this
wicked. what sin

a misguided attempt to please

rabbinic speculation

is discounted, it is

not so clear that

Cain is

God

warns

him

"sin,"

about
ever give

is,

nor

does God

it is true (4.7), but God does not explain Cain any instructions about how to live. In
until

fact, God
Cain

says

Genesis 9. That
can rule

nothing to anyone about how to live is, God seems to be waiting to see if

after

the

Flood, in

man can rule

himself. If

race will not

be

his desire, this may be possible. If not, then perhaps the human able to live without law. The fact that Cain is not punished by
given will

God,

and

that no one else is

is waiting to see what people Lamech's speech in Genesis 4,

tion

any laws before the Flood, suggests that God live like. The violent world presumed by
that God's policy of nonpunishment and
wisest.

and the utter violence of the pre-Flood genera

described in Genesis 6, has

can grant that

suggests

noninstruction

not proved

to be the
a

Man

needs

law.

We

Cain does

sorry for it afterward. He engages remaining days in nonviolent ways, wandering, In this
respect

bad deed, but only one, and he seems to be in no more malicious activity and spends his

building

city,

and procreating. who

Cain

contrasts

favorably
great

with

his descendant Lamech,

proudly boasts of his killings. Cain says that his sin is too
will

to be forgiven and expects that everyone

kill him; that is, he assumes, with Hobbes, that everyone is a poten try tial murderer and that there is no safety in the state of nature. Further, he fears
to

he

will

be hidden from God's face, and,

while

God

promises

to protect Cain

from

the assaults of other men,

he

never reassures

Cain

about

his continuing

presence.

Perhaps God thinks his

not

protective sign

ence, but Cain clearly does

take

it that

way.

implies his continuing pres God therefore allows Cain to

14

Interpretation
from his
presence

go out

(4.16)

to

dwell in the land

of

Nod ("wandering").

Believing

that he

is

no

mark, is it any

wonder

interest to God, and not trusting in God's that Cain builds a city to protect himself? Is the defen
longer
of not a natural course

sive arrangement of a

city

for

men who

believe they

are

in

the state of nature, with no law

but that

of

the strong to protect them?

"Enoch,"

Similarly, it is hard
"inauguration,"

to find blame with Cain's descendants. None of them

son which means

does anything shameful, except for Lamech. Cain's lends his name to the first city. bad
overtones

"Inauguration"

does

not

have

in Hebrew,

as

Isaac Friedman has

shown against

in fact, it has rather the first city is an be

good.

good ones

(Friedman,
of a new

n.

1,

pp. of

"inauguration"

way

Jacques Ellul; 11, 49-61). The founding of life, one which may prove to

It begins

as

the act of a fearful murderer, but perhaps it will end in

something better. And, indeed, the descendants of Enoch, who invent arts which make life more convenient, suggest that this is the case. Even Calvin, who was

hostile to Cain, granted the goodness fact that one of the arts invented, that
prove the text condemns arts

of of

the arts described in Genesis 4. The

forging,

can yield weapons

does

not

in general; for the text does

not even mention and mu

weapons,

and

the other arts which arise at the same time

(tentmaking

sic)

are

My
and

clearly innocuous. intent here is not to

who seems

whitewash

Cain

or

Lamech,

to have understood God's

his line. Cain clearly did wrong, forgiveness of Cain in the

not punish

most perverse possible manner

(i.e., God does

killers,

therefore we

have to do I

unto others

omen of the violence to come story. would

before they do it unto us!), appears as an unsavory in Genesis 6. So there are dark spots in the Cain
that the association of the city with violence,

insist, however,

though a genuine theme of

conclusion remains
narrator

that urban

life, in any

ambiguous as a

Genesis 4, is not put in such a way as to force the of its aspects, must be rejected. The city moral and political possibility; neither God nor the
flesh"

judges it.
confirmed

This is

in Genesis 6. When "all

This

becomes

corrupt upon the

earth, much is said of wickedness and violence, but

evil

taking

place

in

cities.

makes

nothing is said of cities or because the people of the Seth sense,

city, are condemned along with
not connected with urbanism

line,

who are not associated with

Cain's

eastern

Cain's line. The

or political

wickedness
as such.

is

more

general, and

life

In

fact, it

could

be

contended that

absence of political structures and of would seem

laws

which

it is precisely the led to the wickedness. This

by the fact that God gave the first laws after the if to try to avert a repetition of the same wickedness. If we now turn to the cities of Genesis 10, we discover that they emerge in the context of obedience to God's intentions. That context is provided Gene
Flood (Genesis 9.1-7),
as

to be confirmed

by

sis

9. We
recall

that in Genesis 1 God ordered

Adam to be

replenish

the earth. In Genesis 9 Noah takes the place of

fruitful, multiply, and Adam, and is given

The
similar

City

in Genesis

15

It is

as

instructions in language that is very strongly reminiscent of Genesis 1. if we are watching a new creation; the race of Adam is being given a

second chance at life. This time, however, something is added: God gives the first laws, those restraining murder and improper diet (9.1-7). The new begin ning, the new creation as it were, will have a legal dimension absent from the

old, which

relied

too much on
we are

innate human told, the

goodness.

In this

new

creation,

sons of

Noah

are obedient

in the way

that the sons of Adam were never said to

be: they

"overspread"

the whole earth

overspreading,

is, they occupy it as they were meant to. Genesis 10 documents this family by family, naming the lands and peoples descending from and Japheth. Since, in this overspreading, families (mishpahoth) Shem, Ham,
(9.19),
that
populated not merely by individuals but by descent speaking a common tongue and occupy ing a traditional land. The familial basis of nations seems to offer the possibility of internal concord within each nation. It also helps maintain concord between

stay together, the

"nations,"

earth

becomes

peoples of common

nations,
and

since

they

too are related.

without

Thus,

the migrating offspring of

Shem, Ham,
among

Japheth

separate

violence, amicably

dividing

the world

themselves. The peacefulness of the process reminds one of the separation of

Abraham

and

Lot (Gen. 13),

and

and seems an

improvement

on

the relationship unit, the

between Cain
nation,

Abel. Thus,
an

a world organized on the world

by

the

new political

seems to

be

improvement

before the Flood,

which

had

no such structure

discernible. God's
command and

In this

context of obedience to

family

solidarity, the

city

arises.

The first

cities are

or comes

to rule. The next

a region called

in Shinar, in the east; these Nimrod either builds group arises in the east as well, either built by
or

Nimrod in
said to
dom,"

Asshur,

built

by Asshur,
cities

a son of

Shem. Nimrod is
word

have begun his

"kingdom"

in the first

in Shinar. The

"king

occurring in Genesis for the first time, suggests in which one will rule over many. If this automatically
and

a new political

ordering

suggests ruthless power

tyranny

to

modem

ears,

we must remember and that

that such a form of rule was

very

common

in

ancient

times,

the Biblical narrator would not auto

matically have assumed such a rule to be evil. The Bible acknowledges that good kings can exist, both over Israel and over other nations (cf. Abimelech in

Genesis 20). One

wicked one.

must

not

conclude, therefore, that Nimrod's rule

was

One

might even argue

that, for the laws

of

God (Gen. 9.1-7) to be

enforced, people need to have some kind of authority set over

a

tribal or

monarchical nature.

whenever

the tribal or

them, whether of The Bible may be suggesting that kingship arises national structures are felt to be inadequate to enforce the
the barest minimum for a decent social
reason

Noachide

laws,

which are

life.
that

We may now be able to fathom the Calvin Nimrod was a "mighty

hunter."

for the Biblical

statement

and

Augustine

saw this as

indicating
was

savagery

and oppression.

There is

another

interpretation. Recall that in Genesis

9,

which echoed

Genesis 1 generally,

a slight modification to

Genesis 1

16

Interpretation
God does
dread"

made.

not speak of upon the

"dominion"

over the animals

which are now given

"fear

and

animals,

of a any more, but human for up as prey

beings. Genesis 1
allows

implicitly

taught that man was to be vegetarian; Genesis

9
to

him to be
person

carnivorous.

In this context, how

to be a
"hunter,"

can one

fault Nimrod? He is
person said

the

first

in the text

said

that

is,

the first

have taken

advantage of

the

new

bequest God has

"might"

given.

first hunter, but his literally and hence the most striking excellence,
the
order of creation.

at

hunting

makes

He may not have been him the hunter par

example of

the new, God-sanctioned

It is true that Nimrod,

"mighty"

being

"mighty"

hunter, may

remind us of

the wicked

men

before the Flood, but those

men were characterized

by

neither

hunting
hunting,
basis to

nor

of an adjective alone.

city building. Their sins cannot be imputed to him on the strength Thus, from the above discussion, one must conclude that
cannot

as

such,

condemn

be evil, and that Nimrod's hunting is not in itself a his cities. I would suggest, in fact, that the rule of a hunter may
symbolize the

over urban civilization

improvements
elements

of the new world over

the old. The new world contains

harsh

(men

killing

animals,

men

ruling men), but it is perhaps less harsh than the pre-Flood world, in which other forms of suffering must have been prevalent (starvation after crop failure, vulnerability to
random

killing). The

likely

to make men hopeless or

pre-Flood world.

may not be pretty, but it is less it has possibilities for something desperate;
new order

higher than the

Note Nimrod does

also that the text

not seek a

builders

of

any motive of vanity to Nimrod. did the mighty men of old (6.4) or the Babel (1 1.4). Nimrod does not name any cities after himself or after
not attribute as
"name"

does

his son, as did Cain (4.17). Nimrod became famous, and so did his empire, but it is others who note his greatness on the earth (10.8) and before the Lord
(10.9). Nimrod does
not

boast

about

himself,
and

as

did Lamech (4.23-24). In

important respects, then, Nimrod

and

his city

compare

favorably

with

the Cain

line

and

its city

and the

Babel-builders

their city.

Finally, we must ing was Lamech's,

strained passion.

note that which

the only version of law and order

hitherto

obtain

something tyrant, but

multiple vengeance driven by unre (mamlakhah) introduces into the world more stable and orderly. One can grant that a king may become a one must also grant that a king can establish the rule of law, which consisted
rule

in

Nimrod's

prescribes moderate and measured

punishments, unlike Lamech's.

For these reasons, I

represents a political

would

argue, the text is

which

teaching
at

that the

rise

of

Nimrod

possibility

is

new

and,

least

some of

the nations which

legitimately
source,
at

overspread the earth at

least potentially, good. At God's com

the rule of

mand are ruled not

by kings; kings

are one possible source of

law. Kings

may (I Samuel 8), but the text

attempt

be God's

recommended

least

not

for his

own chosen people

nowhere

indicates that

kingship

is

an

illegitimate
permis-

to maintain order and

justice in human life. Nimrod,

by

God's

The
sion a ect

City

in Genesis

17

mighty hunter, turns his prowess toward the ruling of peoples. His proj may be ambiguous, like Cain's, but it is not to be so lightly condemned as it
the rabbis,

is

by

Calvin,

and

Augustine.

Finally, I
certain

turn to the Babel story.

Regarding

this story, I

think,
are

there

is

a a

justification for the traditional however. Further,

close even

antiurban exegesis.
case of

Babel is

not

exactly

typical city,

in the

Babel there

features
grant.

to the motives of the

will

builders

which the traditional exegesis

redeeming does not

the

my discussion

by

showing exactly in

what

respects

Babel-builders
are

are condemned point

by
I

the text, and in what respects their ambitions

legitimate. At this
and

will

draw

heavily

upon

the

work

of

Eugene

Combs

Kenneth Post

and attempt to confirm their analysis

by

the Babel-builders of Genesis 11 with Nimrod and the peoples of

comparing Genesis 10.

The 11.4). kind

people of

Babel do
to

not wish

to be

"scattered"

upon

the earth (Gen.

They

want

live,

of

super-city

with

together, speaking one language, in one place, in a its top in the heavens. This desire runs counter to God's
all and

commandments of
want

Genesis 1

to

build upward,

settled on

Genesis 9 that they should fill the earth. They one spot; God wants them to move outward,
aim

spreading
master

to many spots.

They

heavenward (11.4); God

at the end of
purpose.

wants

them to

the earth (1.28). It

"scattered,"

is only fitting, then, that

the Babel story

they

are a of

There is
"scattering"

to carry out their true difference between the

"overspreading"

of

Genesis 10 if

and the

Genesis 11. The "sons

men"

Noah,"

of

perhaps educated

obey God, process. The "sons

ratively)
of

reproducing and nonviolently occupying the earth, as

of

(11.5),

that

is,
is,

the

descendants
of

Flood, by natural a by (literally or figu

the
refuse

Adam,

who

have

not

learned the lesson

that

the

Flood,

to obey

God.

They

"scattered,"

therefore are

separated and moved over the earth

in

a more unnatural and violent manner.

The
with

sin of the

Babel-builders, if it
and

was a

sin, seems to have nothing to do

seems

storming heaven

defying

God. Rather, it

to be a certain un populating, scattered,

of

willingness to take on the adventure of

human life, the

Babel-builders'

adventure of

mastering, and enjoying the earth. The their cautiousness,

their

fear

of

being
a

inward-looking

attitude, is

perhaps

reminiscent

Cain's Yet

motives.

He, too,
be

was afraid of safe.

something, and

he, too, built

desire for

city in the

east where

he

could

can one condemn

the Babel-builders for their

we not

social and geo

graphic cohesion?
a noble aspiration?

Would Do

normally

call
we

the solidarity of the human race

we not often

say that

believe that the in

world would

be

better

off

if there

were

only

one great

people,

united

brotherly

love, instead

of a multitude of

warring
of the

nations?

What is wrong
as

with

the wish of the Babel-

builders? To think this

The language

out requires some care.

Babel-builders is, among these

Combs

and

Post

point

out, the

language

of mutual

entreaty, the language of unity and solidarity (Combs and

"rules"

Post,

p.

428). No

one

people

(which is why I

would

con-

18
tend

Interpretation
Nimrod had nothing to do
work

with

the construction of the Babel

which

of

Genesis imposed
con

11); they
on

together as equal partners toward a goal

is

not

them but chosen

by

themselves. This form of social

organization

is in

trast to the forms described in Genesis 10. In Genesis

nized

10,

the

world was orga

according according to
the

to

"nations,"

which

are

"kingdoms"

connected with

essentially families writ large, and powerful cities. The forms of govern
men"

ment, then, were tribal and monarchical. In Genesis

not allow of

11,

the "sons of

will

founding

"nations,"

of

that

is,

separate

peoples, because

they

are

"one

speech"

to

rule over

they do not need a monarch them because they have already imposed a unity of purpose on
and wish

to

remain

that way, and

themselves.

Why

might the author of

Genesis think

such a project

scatter a group of people who are working together

Why should God fraternally for a common

they
can

bad?

end, and seem to be

peaceful and

nonviolent, so that

become

nations

and war with each other?

Why

not

leave the

entire

human

race

in

one construc

tive unity?

The Combs-Post answer,

good

which so

I think is the
one

correct

one, is that it is not

for human beings to be

of

utterly

that there
and

arising
a

different

ways of

peaceful, unified world-state, however

thinking, speaking, noble it may be,

no possibility of the living. The desire to live in overlooks the

is

risk that

the single, unified world-state, validated

by

the consensus of everyone in

it,

may be
and the ual

or

become dedicated to bad

ends.

only language that

exists should

If the only state, and the only people, become corrupt, and if every individ
that state that
will

is

so

thoroughly

committed

to the
own

common ends of

its

evil

cannot

be

perceived even

by

its
to

members, the situation

be irreparable.
would

God, having
unable

promised never

destroy

the world again with a

Flood,
its

be

to

stop

the corrupted universal state

from retaining

all

members

in

thrall for

Therefore, God cannot allow it to be The Babel-builders, then, are not malicious. They do not wish to God. In fact, they do not even mention him. It is true that they wish
eternity.

built.7

overthrow
"name,"

and that

this may indicate worldly pride, but that does not necessarily

imply

rebellion against

rebelling against builders want a

ture

God. Cain may have been proud of his city, but he was not God in naming it after his son. It is more likely that the Babel-

"name"

for their

project to christen the marvellous urban struc

they have created,

will

and to give

it,

as

it were,

a permanent essence which,

they dream,

hold them together in Shinar forever.

"name"

necessarily an improper desire; God, in if taking into account the desire of the Babel-builders, will in the very next story in the Bible promise to make great the name of a certain nation, the nation sired by Abraham. Abraham will continue in the tradition of obedience
a not

Further, wanting
as

is

fact,

established

by

the "sons of

Noah"

of

Genesis 10,
his
people

who accepted the

limitations
of

of

nationhood, but he will obtain the reward sought

"name"

by

the

Babel-builders
will not

Genesis 11. The

or reputation

earn,

however,

be for

The
martial

City

in Genesis

19

valor, or for

building

great

towers into the

a

heavens, but for

purity,

which once achieved will make

Israel

blessing

and a source of wisdom

for

all

the nations of the earth (Gen.

12.3; Deut. 4.6).

to teach, then, that the city
cities were

Genesis 1-11

would seem

is

not evil.

The

mo

tives of those who built the first

mixed,

and not always the

best, but

these motives were not wicked. Cain was afraid of

afraid of what

death;
was

the Babelers were

not

being

scattered.

If these

people

strayed, it

due to

knowing

God wanted, or not trusting enough in God's promises to obey his wishes. And in one case, in Genesis 10, we find that cities are built by a masterly figure, whose claim to leadership might be said to be indirectly authorized by God himself, in the bequest
epitome of evil and order of animal

flesh in Genesis 9. Nimrod is

establish

not the

rebellion; he is the first to

explicitly

a political

in the

new

world, the world which

is

being

properly

populated

by

the

sons of

Noah.

In

societies other than

Israel,

which

do

not claim the

benefit

of

God's direct

rule and

teaching, the

order represented perfect

by

Nimrod is

essential.

Although the

political order

is less than

in that it

requires the exercise of

force, it is
can

only in
coexist

some

kind

of political order that the of time.

arts,

law,

and

human

decency

for any length

Like Cain's city

"Enoch,"

Nimrod's

cities are the

"inauguration"

of something new: a social order in which justice can have a foothold. The traditional pious exegesis of Genesis fails to understand that

merely human
are achieve

political

orderings, flawed

and susceptible

to abuse as

they

are,

the only possible means

by

which

the non-Israelite children of Noah can

justice

upon

the earth.

NOTES

1. There

are grammatical and general grounds

built the

city.

The

arguments

for this

are well summarized

for arguing that it was Enoch, Cain's son, who in Isaac Friedman's thesis, "Piety and
Four"

Civilization: An Analysis

of the

City

in Genesis
results

(Hamilton, Ont.: McMaster University,

argue that the evils of

1979),
Cain

pp.

44-48. One
separated

could use

Friedman's

(though he does not) to

can

be

from

the

not require this

argument, as

city of Enoch, if one wished to put the city in a better light. But I do I do not believe that Genesis wishes us to understand Cain as funda
stained

mentally evil or ungodly. The city is not bad as some of the rabbis and Christian

by

its

association with

Cain, because Cain is

not so

commentators make out.

2. Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, trans. Gerald Friedlander (New York: Hermon Press, 1970), pp. 150 51, 158. 3. Genesis Rabbah, trans. Jacob Neusner, 2 vols. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), vol. 1, p. 242. 4. John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, trans. Rev. John
trans.

King (Edinburgh, 1847), pp. 196-98. Augustine, Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans, Henry Bettenson (Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1972), XV.7. (Title henceforth: City of
5. Isaac Abravanel, Commentary on the Pentateuch (selections), trans. Robert Sacks, in Ralph and Muhsin Mahdi, eds., Medieval Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
p.

God.)
Lemer

1978),

256.

20

Interpretation

6. Eugene Combs and Kenneth Post, The Foundations of Political Order in Genesis and the Chandogya Upanisad (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987); Eugene Combs, "Has YHWH cursed the Ground? Perplexity of Interpretation in Genesis in Lyle Eslinger and Glen Taylor,
1-5,"

Memory of Peter C. Craigie (Sheffield, MA: JSOT Press, 1988); Robert Sacks, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990). As I have been deeply engaged with this material for a number of
eds., Ascribe to the Lord: Biblical and Other

Studies in

years, it is no longer

possible for me to tell reliably which ideas were originally mine and which theirs; hence, I am going to dispense for the most part with notes, except when I can clearly recall a specific indebtedness. But I give here a very firm acknowledgment that many of my specific sug gestions must have come from them, and that my general line of approach is completely theirs. I add that Combs and Post would probably transfer much credit for their ideas to Sacks, whose 1990

work was available to them

Athens"

in typescript form

much

earlier, and to Leo

Strauss,

whose

"Jerusalem

and

Strauss,
which

who

essay was seminal for them. Sacks in turn acknowledges his immense debt to Leo introduced him to Genesis, and undoubtedly to the rabbinic tradition of interpretation

shows

writings of

up in Sacks's work. In a general way, I too have been influenced by the various Strauss on the Bible and wish to acknowledge it fully, even though Strauss is not cited

in this essay because he does not deal with the specific passages I am working on here. 6. Due to space limitations, I have only scratched the surface of the Combs-Post account of the Babel story. Readers who wish to think about its depths more fully should read the chapter on Genesis 1 1 (pp.
ment of of

405-39) in

the work cited; I know of no other philosophical and exegetical treat

the Babel story of comparable length and depth. I add that, in my necessary simplification

the Combs-Post

of the

Babel story

which

discussion, I have doubtless been influenced by another very rich interpretation in some respects resembles it, C. S. Lewis's novel That Hideous Strength.

The Book
Translation

of
and

Job

Commentary

on

Chapters 39 through 42

Robert D. Sacks
St. John's

College, Santa Fe

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

1 "Do

you

know
the

when

it is time for the

mountain goat

to

drop?1

and

have

hind writhing in the dance of birth?2 2 Can you the months they fulfill? and do you know the season for them to deliver, 3 when to give birth to their young, and thus to end their they couch and split
you watched
number3 open4

travail?

4 Their her

children
more.5

thrive and flourish in the

wild.

They

come out and

return unto

no

"Who6

sent the wild

ass7

off

to be

free?8

And

who

has

untied the reins of

the untamed
off

jenny, 6

whose

home I have
at the

made the

wilderness, and who dwells city, and does not

and
even

in the

salt

lands? 7 He laughs
shout,9

bustling
hills
as

of the

hear the drivers

8 but

roams the

his pasture, he

every

green

thing is his
crib?
plow

to search

out.10

9 "Would the 10 Can is

you

wild ox agree

to serve you? Would

spend the night at your

up the valleys
great.

hitch him up with a rope and hold him to the furrow? Will he behind you? 11 Would you rely upon him? Remember, his
you

strength

Could

leave him it into the

your

toils?

12 Would

you

trust him to

bring

in the

grain and gather

barn?"

13 "An

ostrich

plumage of a

stork,12

whimsically flaps her wings as if she had the pinions and 14 but leaves her eggs on the ground for the dust to keep
a

them warm. 15

She has forgotten that

hers. Her toils
caused

foot

can crush

them,

or that a wild

beast

might trample them

down. 16 She treats her

were all

children

roughly, as if

they

were not even

in
all

vain.

You see,

she

has

no

fear 17

because God has

understanding.
horse'3

her to forget

wisdom, and she has no share in

18 She just flaps her

rider.14

wings as

if

on

high,

and

laughs

at a

passing

and

its

19 "Did

you give

to the horse

20 Can

you make

him

leap

its strength, or clothe its like a locust when the glory

and exults at

neck with a mane?

of

his

snort

breeds

terror? 21 He digs up the valleys,

meet armed combat.

in his is
not

strength as

he

goes out to

22 He laughs

fear

and

dismayed,
appeared

nor

is he turned

The first bers 2

and

thirty-eight chapters of the translation and

and

commentary

in Volume 24, Num

3,

in Volume 25

of

Interpretation.

interpretation, Fall

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

22
back

Interpretation

by
He

edge of sword.

23 A

quiverful of arrows whizzes excitement and agitation,

by

the

flashing
into the

spear and the earth.

javelin. 24 With

he

gouges

pays no

homage to trumpet's

'Huzzah'

! He

smells the

blast, 25 but facing battle from afar. Oh, the roars of

the
hawk16

the trumpet the

he

cries

captains and

the

shoutings!"

26 "Is it

by

your wisdom that

soars and spreads

its

wings out

to

the south? 27 Does the eagle mount at your command,

building

its

nest on

high? 28 He dwells

upon the

rock.17

pinnacle, making it his stronghold.

eye spots

He takes up his lodging on the highest 29 From there he searches out his prey. His
swill

it from afar, 30

and

his fledglings

down the blood. Whenever

death defiles, he is

there."18

Comments
1. Job has

entered

far into hind

what we

have

come

to

call

the Land of the

Jackal.

There he The The

The

will meet six sets of wild

beasts:

rock-goat and

wild ass and untamed

jenny

wild ox ostrich

The

The horse The hawk None been

of

and eagle

them is mythical, and each of them

is

either a close relative to a

tame species or
made

is itself

a member of species of animals some of whom

have

tame,

although

almost as side.

if

we were

in Hebrew they have totally different names. It is to leam what each would be when viewed from the other but
absolute veil

They

remind us of that thin

between the

world of man

and the world

beyond 39:18

man. and

See

notes to

26.

2. The
and

single

Hebrew

word

hul,

which

have here translated

by

the phrase
of our

I have generally translated birth" is "writhing in the dance of

"writhe,"

very
will

complex word.

Indeed,

much

understanding

of the

Book

of

Job

center on our attempt to regain the sense of of this word.

unity that lies

within the

complexity

As far

as one can

tell, it originally

meant

"to

whirl."

Hos. 1 1 :6

The bars

sword shall

"whirl
and

down"

against their cities, consume the

of their

gates,

2Sam. 3:28
are of

Afterward,
forever
Ner.

guiltless

May

my kingdom before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son it whirl down upon the head of Joab, and upon all his

when

devour them in their fortresses. David heard of it, he said, "I and

father's

house."

The Book of Job

It
can also mean

23

"to

dance."

Sometimes it is
and exultation:

used

in

perfectly

wonderful

context which can

be full

of

joy

Psa. 149:3

Let them
timbrel and

praise

his

name with

dancing, making melody

to

him

with

lyre!

But

more often than not things get out of

hand,

and often when

first reading

the word, the reader can

feel

foreboding

thought

thickening

the air.

Exod. 15:20

Then Miriam,
in her hand;

the prophetess, the sister of

Aaron,
her

took a timbrel

and all the women went out after

with timbrels and

dancing.
Exod. 32:19

And

as soon as
Moses'

he

came near the

dancing,
hands

anger

burned hot, foot

and

camp and saw the calf and the he threw the tables out of his

and

broke

them at the

of the mountain.

The Book
rule, only to
the book

Judges, that book which begins see them dashed, ends in fright and
of a

with such

high hopes for

self-

the clear need of the one

thing

had hoped to avoid,

king.

Judg. 21:20

wait

And they commanded the Benjaminites, saying, "Go and lie in in the vineyards, and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out
win

to dance

the

dances,

then come out of the vineyards and seize

of

each man

his

wife

from the daughters

their

Shiloh,

and go

to the land of

Benjamin. And
to us,
we will

when

fathers

or their

brothers

come to complain

did

not take

say to them, Grant them graciously to us; because we for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you

give

them to them, else you would now

be

guilty.

And the
to their number,

Benjaminites did so, from the dancers

to their

and took their wives,

according

whom

they

carried off; then

they

went and returned

inheritance,

and rebuilt the

towns,

and

dwelt in

them.

Then, too, it
Psa. 29:8

comes

to mean "to

tremble,"

or

"to

quake":

The

voice of the

LORD

shakes the wilderness, the

LORD

shakes

the wilderness of Kadesh.

Deut. 2:25

This

day

will

begin to

put

the

dread

and

fear

of you upon the

peoples that are under the whole

you and shall

heaven,
anguish

who shall

hear the

report of

tremble and

be in

because

of you.

It

"anguish"

often means

and

"pain":

Isa. 23:5
Jer. 51:29

When the
report about

report comes

to

Egypt, they

will

be in

anguish over the

Tyre.
trembles and writhes

The land

in pain, for the Lord's

purposes

24

Interpretation
against
without

Babylon stand, inhabitant.

to make the

land

of

Babylon

desolation,

or even a mortal

injury:
The battle hard found him;
and

ISam. 31:3.

pressed

upon

Saul,

and the archers

he

was

badly

wounded

by

the archers.

But,
birth":

as

in

our

case, it

can also mean

"to be in

labor,"

and

hence "to

give

Deu. 32:18
the

You God He

were unmindful of who gave you

the

Rock

that

begot you,

and you

forgot

birth.
your vindication as

Ps. 37:6

will

bring
was

forth

the

light,
in

and your right as

the noonday.

Ps. 51:5

Behold, I
conceive me.

brought forth in iniquity, brings forth rain;

and

sin

did my

mother

Prov. 25:23

The

north wind

and a

backbiting

tongue, angry them; they

aghast at

looks.
Isa. 13:8
and
will one

they

will

be dismayed. Pangs like

a woman will

and

agony

will seize will

be in

anguish

in

travail.

They

look

another; their

faces

be

aflame.

For this reason, the

mean

"pain"

"anguish"

same word that meant

and

can

also

"to

prosper":

Psa. 10:5

His

ways prosper at all all

times; thy judgments

puffs at them.

are on

high,

out of

his

sight; as for

his foes, he

We
a man

can now

begin to

understand the great admonition:

"Gird

your

loins like is
put

(gebher)."

There is

wildness and pain present when

the signet

to

the

clay to

make a

thing

of value and worth.

Here there is

no

indication that the

by a curse or the result of having taken a bite of the apple. Job, in visiting the day of birth, was revisiting the day of his own birth. To venture beyond the realm of man and to see each thing as having its own
pain of was caused signet means to come to

birth

terms with the unity of all these things we must look at:

opposing feelings.

There is
Jer. 23:19

one more aspect of

Behold,
tempest; it

the storm of the

will

LORD! Wrath has head

gone

forth,

whirling

burst

upon the

of the wicked.

Note the

phrase

"a whirling
word

tempest."

If the
as we

words and

ideas
the

were

intended
pas-

by

the author to come together as

naturally

they do for
may

reader who

knows the

"whirlwind,"

English-speaking
in this

also recognize

The Book of Job

sage some

25

foundation for the

shift we

had already begun to feel in the

role of

the

feminine. It is the whirling, dancing, pain-ridden, speaks to Job. She, for the Hebrew word for tempest is
see that pain
and

birthing
a

tempest that

Job

joy

and

birth

are

so

feminine noun, lets interrelated that they cannot be

of

distinguished in

speech.
are

3. How different things

Isa. 66:7 her Before

here from the Book

in labor
she gave

Isaiah:
pain came upon

she was

birth; before her

she was

delivered

of a son.

a nurturing god rather than a constructing god, fostering in each life to own its signet, number and season as well as pleasure being according and pain are an integral part of the way in which things come to be what they

If God is

are,

and are what

they

are.

This, then, is
land?

the question to Job: Can he discern

number and order

in this

untrodden

4. In using such a harsh word, the Voice is beginning to open Job to different kind of order. From the point of view of human justice there is no
priori reason

a a

why birth
our

should entail

so much

pain,

and

in terms

of

human

justice it
a world

seems all wrong.

Here,

perhaps
with

beyond

world, an order

for the first time, we can begin to see its own necessities which seems to be
see that without such a

totally indifferent to our sense of order. Yet we can all world, the joys of our world could never come to be.
5. The Voice here
as reminds

Job that in its

own

way, the separation of birth is that

our

hard

and as

final

as the separation of

death,

and

understanding
the

of

the

one

may lead us in coming to terms with the other. 6. The question is, of course, rhetorical, since,
the wild ass
wild ass

unlike

donkey

and the

burro,

has

never

known

either

burden

or rein.

7. The

had been for it:

wild ass

mentioned several

times in the text

before. Job

already had
Job 6:5

some care

Will the

bray

when

there

is

grass?

Eliphaz had
Job 11:12

none:

Hollow
a man

man will

become thoughtful

when

the wild ass gives birth to

('adam).

But
quite

even

Job,

while

he

showed a certain amount of

compassion, did

not

have the

respect

that these lines demand:

Job 24:5

They

are wild asses

at

in the desert, going

off about their

labors

of

snatching up

dawn.

8. To
word

understand used

this passage,

it

would

be best to begin

by

seeing how the

is

in

other

Biblical

contexts:

26

Interpretation
Exod. 21:2

When

you

buy

Hebrew slave, he

shall serve six years, and

in

the seventh he shall go out

free, for

nothing. and

But if the

slave

plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, go out free. When a man strikes the
. .

eye of

my his slave,

children;

will not

male or eye's

female,
sake.

and

destroys it, he
a

shall

let the

slave go

free for the

Deut. 15:12

If

your

brother,

Hebrew man,

or a

Hebrew woman, is

sold

to

you, he shall serve

you six you.

years, and in the

seventh year you shall

let him
ISam. 17:25

go

free from
men of

And the
come up?

Israel said, "Have

come

you seen

this man who

has him

kills him, the

his

Surely king
this the

he has

up

to

will enrich with

defy Israel; great riches,

to

and the man who and will give

Israel."

daughter,
"Is
not

and make

his father's house free in

choose:

Isa. 58:6

fast that I

loose the bonds let the

of

wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to

oppressed go

free,
Jer. 34:9

and to

break every every

yoke?"

that

one should set

free his Hebrew slaves,

male and
.

female,

so that no one should enslave a

Jew, his brother.

the

At the
who

end of six years each of you must set

free

fellow Hebrew

has been free from

sold to you and your service. ears to me.

has

served you six years; you must set

him

But

your

fathers did
you

not

listen to

me or

incline their

but then

turned around and profaned

male and

my

name when each of you took

whom you

back his

female slaves,
and you

had

set

them

into

subjection to

free according to their desire, be your slaves.

brought

9. Job himself had

once said

nearly the

same thing:

Job 3:18-19

There driver's

prisoners are

wholly

at ease

for they do

not even

hear the
of

voice.

Small

and

great, all are there, and the slave is free

his lord.

And there

are other

passages, too, that

show

his

concern.

Job 7:2

Like his

a slave

he

yearns

for

the shadows, and

like

hireling

he

waits

for

wages.

It is true that,
"servant,"

since the
with

language does

not

distinguish between

"slave"

and

Job, along

many others, did have

a slave or servant:

Job 19:16
to

I called to my servant, but he him for favor.

gave no

answer,

and now must

I curry

They
with

were servants or

slaves, that

was

true, but they

were

treated

kindness:

justly

and

The Book of Job

Job 31:13-14 If
ever

27
man

I felt

contempt

for the

cause of one of

my servants,
what would

or maid when
when

they brought

complaint against

me,

I do

God

rose up?

10. Even from

was

within

the human sphere,

oneself and

men could always see

that slavery

unpleasant,

both for
moved

for

others.

There

were always some men

suffering it caused, and many of them devoted their lives to alleviating that suffering. But the discovery of the notion that slavery is wrong as such, regardless of whether there is pain and suffering involved or not, requires a certain admiration for the wild ass. To put it other
who were

deeply

by

the

pain and

wise, it requires something like the concept of a signet. It is through seeing the
wild ass as

having

life

of

freedom becomes important to

their way

its own, roaming the hills as his pasture, that its us. That is not to say that such ideas cannot find
world

back into the human is No. Job

but,

as

we shall

see, it will be a

long

journey. 11. The

an
furrow."

answer

can

do

none of

these things, and

them

yet

he did have

ox, five hundred of them, and he did "hitch But to "trust them to bring in the

up

and

hold them to the

grain"

would, of course have been

out of the question.

Human

art

is only the

vaguest

image

of the world
which

farm.

"trust."

This is the only verse, It is in noticeable

Job 4:18-19
If He

with

the exception of

39:24, in

God

speaks of

contrast

to what Eliphaz had said:

put no trust

in His

servants and to
a

His

angels

lays

charge of

folly,

what of

those who

dwell in

house

of clay, whose

foundation

is but dust?

or

Job 15:15

He
clean

puts no trust sight.

in His

Holy

Ones

and even the

heavens

are not

in His

Because
trusted to

each

thing is

what

it is beyond the
in

sphere of

man, each

thing

can

be

be

what

it is. Job
world

sees a world chaotic as

which all

things are trusted

rather

than watched.
ance

The

farm,

in

unrecorded

Bildad's "first left to itself, is

12. It is

generations."

time, giving it a The signets,

it may seem, has kept itself in bal legitimate claim to be much older than
or

nature, the way

each

thing is

when

prior

to either the arts or to tradition.

not certain what

bird is meant, but here is

have in
abomination

what

is known:

Lev. 11:13

And these
shall not

you shall

among the birds, they

and

be eaten, they

are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the

osprey,
the

...

the stork, the

heron according to its kind, the hoopoe,

are watered

bat. The trees

of the

Ps. 104:16

LORD

abundantly, the cedars of

28

Interpretation
Lebanon
stork
which

he

planted.

In them the birds build

trees.

their nests; the

has her home in the fir

stork

Jer. 8:7

Even the
swallow, and

in the heavens knows her times;

and

the turtledove,
people

crane

keep

the time of their coming; but my

know Zech. 5:9

not the ordinance of the

LORD.

Then I lifted my forward! The

of a stork, and

eyes and saw, and

behold,

two

women

wind was

in their wings; they had lifted they up the ephah between

wings

coming like the wings heaven.

earth and

It is

probable

that the author

intended
or

double irony,

since

the name of this

bird

means

something like
of the

"piety"

"loving by

care."

13. Part

irony

of this passage ridden

is that ostriches, insofar

as

been domesticated, have been

were

some tribesmen of the area as

they have if they

horses.
must

14. For Job this

have been the fearful to

most

difficult

of

the beasts to meet thus

far;

at

least it is the
can

most

write about.

Who

help being totally

would

charmed

by

the
and

foolish

antics of

this silly, silly

beast. Yet

at the same time we are

horrified

know that if

she were a fellow-

citizen our arraign as

judgment

have to be
Our

quite otherwise and we would

have to

her for

child abuse.

worlds are
met

beginning

to pull apart and to clash

they have for Job

as

since we

first

him.

15. The first thing to be moving any to be asked, then, destruction

are

said of these verses

is that the Hebrew text is

Agincourt. The first

as

words ever spoken on

the

field

at

questions

savage, subhuman might

own

why the human soul should find itself so moved by the of a beast that could mean to it nothing other than its

for

such a

and why the author should wish to arouse in Job an admiration beast. Does this not mean raising the very passions in Job that Elihu, when

if only in part, foresaw hibernation? It

he

warned

Job

not

to leave his

warm

den

of

would seem that there are not

one, but two obscure and sometimes inter

chinks

weaving of the Human

and the wall.

pathways which

lure

men

like Job toward the

in the Great Wall

Both the highest

City

and that reveal

its

problematic character.
with

lowest in

man

have

a certain

kinship
home

the

lands

that

lie beyond that

If Job is to

return

safely to the human

of

man, he must learn to feel and to

recognize all sides of the

may find its proper place. 16. The hawk, too, had been domesticated. There is an early bas relief from Khorsabad showing a falconer bearing a hawk on his wrist.
character that each

17. The

imagery

is

not uncommon

in the

Bible, but

the significance has

greatly

changed:

Isa. 33:15

He

who walks

righteously

and speaks

uprightly,

who

despises the

gain of stops

oppression,
ears

his

looking

upon

his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense
who shakes

The Book of Job

will will

29

be the fortresses

of

rocks; his bread will be given

him, his
of

water

be

sure. and

Jer. 48:28
Jer. 49:16

Leave the cities, like the dove that The horror

dwell in the rock, O inhabitants in the

Moab! Be

nests

sides of the mouth of a gorge.

you

inspire has deceived you,

high

and the pride of your

heart,
the
you

you who

dwell in

the clefts of the rock, who

hold the height

I
will

of

hill. Though The

you make your nest as

as the eagle's,

bring
clefts will

down from there,

pride of your whose

says the

LORD.
you who
your

Obad. 1:3

heart has deceived you, is high,

who
ground?"

live in the
"Who

of the

rock,
me

dwelling
set

say in

heart,

bring

down to the is

Though

you soar aloft will

like the eagle,

you

though your nest

says the

among the stars, thence I

bring

down,

LORD.

18. The
ostrich.

sixth as

beast,

the

hawk, is
in the

not

Job,

we

shall

see

next

charming as his sister bird the chapter, has been defeated. Elihu's
so

implicit

claim that no man

is

enough of a man

(gebher)

to

face the

world of

nature seems

to be

vindicated.

The

sight of

the blood and the gore have numbed

carnage made was so

him. The

cold and

more grotesque. cause

longterm planning that led up to the We do not, however, know whether Job
or

it the

horrified be

he did
a

not

see,

to
of

life

life

about

precisely because he did see that the hawk, in returning to flow off into death, did for its children all that the charm
to do.

the ostrich

was unable

CHAPTER FORTY

1 And the LORD

wrangle with
swer."

answered

Job

and said:
would

2 "Should
convict

a man of

discipline

the Almighty? One who

God

must give an an

3 Then Job
can

answered

the LORD and said: 4 "I have become so weak. How

my hand upon my mouth. 5 I have spoken once, but I have no answer; twice, but I cannot 6 And the LORD answered Job out of the Tempest and said: 7 "Gird up your
I
answer

You? I

lay

continue."1

loins like
Would
might

a man

(gebher)2: I

will question

you, and you must let me know.

order

you shatter

be

right?

my judgment? Would you condemn me in 9 Have you an arm like God's, and can you thunder in

that you
a voice

such as

His?3

splendor.

10 "Go ahead, deck yourself out in majesty and dignity. Put on glory and 11 Let fly the outbursts of your anger. Look upon every man of
him. 12 Look down the
I
upon everyone of majestic pride and

majestic pride and abase

bring
hand

him low

and tread

guilty.

13

Bury

them all in the dust. Bind

their faces in
would

obscurity.

14 Then
you.4

even

would praise you,

for

your own right

have

saved

30

Interpretation
Behemoth5

15 "But look now, here is

whom

made

along

with you.

He

eats

fodder just like the cattle, 16 but just look at the is in the muscles of his belly. 17 He can stretch out his
sinews of

strength

in his loins. His

ducts

might

tail stiff as a cedar.

are

The
and

his thighs
are

are all

knit together. 18 His bones

iron.6

of

brass,

his limbs
Maker

like

rods of

19 He is the first

of

God's

ways.7

Only his
come

can approach

him

with a sword.

20 "The
there to

mountains yield

him produce,
under

and all the

beasts

of

the

field

play.8

21 He lies down

the

lotuses, hiding

in the

reeds and

the

fen. 22 The lotuses blanket him

surround

with their shade and the willows of the

rage,9

brook in

him. 23 Though the burst into his

snare?10

river

he is unalarmed,

confident

that the

Jordan

will

mouth.

24 Can he be taken

by

the eyes? or pierced

the nose with a

25
jaw

"Can"

you

haul in the

Leviathan12

with a

fishhook? Can
through

you press

down his

his tongue
with a

with

the line? 26 Can

you put a

barb? 27 Will he

always

softly?

28 Will he
you

make a covenant

ring be coming to implore you, or with you to be your eternal

his nose,

or pierce

speak to you

servant?13

29 "Can
ladies?14

play
you

with

him like

bird hold

or tie of

him

on a

string for

your

young

30 Or 31 Can

can the

dealers

get

him

and trade

their shares in the

spears?

market?

fill his hide hand

with

32

Merely

place

your

upon

harpoons, or his head with fishing his head, and you will remember

war no

Comments
no answer. He has been numbed as if stung by the Socratic sting fish. Once Job thought that he knew what justice was, but he did not. Now ray he neither knows nor believes that he knows. The sight of the six beasts has

1 Job has
.

convinced

him that Elihu

was

right,

beyond

man

is

no place

for

a man.

his warning was just. The world Job has been converted from the Brother of
and that

the Jackal to one who would "call out to the muck

'Mother'
'Sister'

'Thou

Father'

art

my
right

and

call out

and
recantation

to the

maggots."

2. If Job's
this
not
point.

had been

what

God had wanted, He has it

here

at

There

would

have been

no need to continue.

But the Tempest

will

go. Again it says, "gird up your loins like a man (gebher)"; and his teaching is not a but an 3. God's argument is, I believe, somewhat more specific than one might at first take it to be. "Have you an arm like God's, and can you thunder in a voice

let Job

"telling,"

again

"asking."

His?"

such as

God

seems to

base His

argument on

His power, but Job had

always recognized

God's

greater power.

Indeed,

that was always the problem:

Job 9:19

If trial be

by

strength, He is the mighty one,

and

if

by

court of

law,

who would plead

my

case?

The Book of Job

When Job thought that he knew
what

31
had

justice was, he
of

also thought

that he

the means to establish that justice. In the

become

clear that

Job's understanding beyond the

last two chapters, however, it has justice was defective in that he had
problem of

not realized that an adequate attempt requires that one

to address the
sphere of

human justice
prob

journey

human justice to face the

lem deal

of what one might wish with

to call cosmic justice. The next two chapters will

the question of the administration of that justice.

Appropriately enough, God is joking. means by which justice is established in the

learn
of

4.

These do
cosmos,

not turn out

to be the

and

Job has

yet much to

the spirit behind the administration of that justice. Job's search

a world

for

human justice has led him into

relevant.

in

which

human

action no

longer

seems

Its

vast

forces

are so wide

seen and no outburst of

his

anger ever

sweeping that no decking would ever be be felt, and it will take Job a time to see
within

the implications of that kind of justice as it expresses itself

the sphere of

human

action.
behemoth

5. The

word

is

the normal plural of the

feminine

noun

behemah,
We have

which means

already

seen

any large domesticated it in Job:

Just
ask the

animal such as a cow or an ox.

Job 12:7

beasts

and

they

will show

you;

Job 18:3 Job 35:10-11

Why
none

are we considered

beasts

and made unclean

.

in

your eyes?

say "Where is God my maker, than the beasts of the earth;

are all

who teaches us more

The verbs, however 6. "Behemoth

cattle."

in the
made

masculine singular. with you

. . .

whom

along

eats

fodder just like the

neither miracu

It is

a normal part of the greater world around us,

being

lous

nor mythical. of

It

is, however, clearly

are

of mythic proportion.
iron."

"His bones

are

ducts

brass,

and

his limbs

like

rods of

The

visible universe

is

much

larger than any man knows and of which he is unaware. Man is 7. Compare
Ps. 111:10

contains creatures which man not

did

not name and

the

unquestioned center of all

that is visible.

The fear

of the

LORD is

the

beginning

of wisdom; a good

understanding have
ever!

all those who practice

it. His

praise endures

for

Prov. 1:7

The fear
wisdom and

of the

LORD is the

beginning

of

knowledge; fools despise

and whatever you

instruction.
of wisdom

Prov. 4:7

The
get,
get

beginning
insight.

is this: Get wisdom,

Prov. 8:12
. .

I,
his

wisdom, dwell

in prudence,

and

I find knowledge
of

and

discretion.
of

The LORD
acts of old.

created me at the

beginning

his work, the first

8.

"laugh"

or

32
9.

Interpretation

'Ashaq
kind.

is usually translated

"oppress."

as

It

occurs rather

frequently in
of

the

Bible

and with

the exception of this verse only,

always

implies injustice

the

gravest

Job 10:3
Lev. 19:13

Does it
contempt

seem good to

You that You oppress, hand?

that

You have

for

the toil of your own

You hired

shall not oppress your neighbor or rob

him. The

wages of a

servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

10. The half-mythic, half-real fabric

reader whom

of this account succeeds

in

leaving

the

feeling
he has
room

that he shares a
never seen.

world with a

living being
at ease

of monumental stature of the

This

grand

beast is

in the land

Jackal.

for the pounding, tyrannizing river, making it his drinking foun tain. He is passively ferocious yet actively gentle and seems to rule by laughter.

He finds

Thus,
note on role

we must now

begin

a rather and

long

and, I

fear,

somewhat

boring
books

foot

the subject of
of

"laughter"

"play."

I believe that the

role

subject plays a
of

in the Book
with

Job

which

differs from its

in the

other

the

Bible,
no

the possible exception of the Book of Proverbs. There

is, however,

way limit our

mean

of

seeing that other than

"derision."

looking

at each usage, verse

inquiry
be

to the words shq and shq, since words like

or

I shall by I'g essentially

verse.

"mocking"

It

must

remembered

that we are only speaking of

"laughter."

Joy

and

happiness

are another matter.

person

The first

in the Bible to laugh

on

was

Abraham:
and

Gen. 17:17

Then Abraham fell "Shall

a child who

his face

laughed,
a

and said to

himself,
Shall

be born to

a man who

is
a

hundred

years old?

Sarah,
But from the
Gen. 17:18

is ninety

years old,

bear

child?"

next verses

it becomes

clear

that it was not a contented laughter:

said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in thy God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
sight!"

And Abraham

Sarah's laughter
Gen. 18:12

came next:

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have my husband is old, shall I have
pleasure?"

grown

old, and

But had her laughter been goodnatured, that she had laughed.
Gen. 18:13 The LORD
said to
a

she would

have felt

no need

to

deny

Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh,

child,
now that

and

say,

'Shall I Indeed bear

old?'

am

Is anything too hard

The Book of Job

for the LORD? At the
spring,
not

33

appointed time

will return to

you, in the saying, "I did

laugh."

and

Sarah

shall

have

son."

But Sarah

denied,
you

laugh"; for

she was afraid.

He said, "No, but

did

Then

came the

taunting laughter
So Lot

of the sons-in-law of

Lot:
who were to

Gen. 19:14

went out and said to get out of this

his sons-in-law, his

marry his

daughters, "Up,

place; for the LORD is about to

sons-in-law to

destroy
Sarah:
Gen. 21:6

city."

the

But he

seemed to

be jesting.

And Sarah said, "God has

who

made a

laughingstock

of

me; every

one

hears

will

laugh

me."

at

Next there

came

Ishmael:
But Sarah
saw the son of
with

Gen. 21:9
to

Hagar the Egyptian,

son

whom she

had borne

Abraham, playing

her

Isaac.

It is hard to have any idea of what Ishmael consequences were disastrous. Foolish Isaac's innocent play
Gen. 26:8
also

was

actually doing, but certainly the

betrayed him.
a

When he had been there Philistines looked

long

time, Abimelech Isaac

out of a window and saw

king of the joking with Rebekah

his

wife.

The

next

two occurrences of the

word are

usually

even

translated

by

the word

"insult":
Gen. 39:14
she called

to the men of her household and said to them,

came

"See, he
me to

has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; Gen. 39:17
and she told whom you

in to

lie

him the

same

story, saying, "The Hebrew servant,

came

have brought among us,

in to

me to

insult me;

Then

came the golden calf:

Exod. 32:6

and

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, up to
play.

and rose your

And the LORD

said to

people,

whom you

brought up

out of the

Moses, "Go down; for land of Egypt, have

corrupted

themselves;

Next

34

Interpretation
Judg. 16:25
And
when

their

hearts

were

merry,

they

said, "Call

Samson,

that

he may make sport for So they called Samson out of the prison, and he made sport before them. They made him stand between the
us."

pillars;

Next

came

laughter

and a tune that

led to

a revolution:

ISam. 18:7

And the

women

sang to
and

one another as

they

made

merry, "Saul

thousands."

has

slain

his thousands,

David his

ten

Joab

and

Abner play

rough:

2Sam. 2:14

And Abner
us."

said to

Joab, "Let

the young

men arise and

play before

And Joab said, "Let them

over
and

by

Then they arose and passed number, twelve for Benjamin and Ishbosheth the son of Saul, David. And in his
each caught

arise."

twelve of the servants of

his

opponent

by

the

head,
is

and thrust

his

sword

opponent's side; so

down together. Therefore that

which

place was called

they fell Helkathhazzurim,

at

Gibeon.

There is laughter

no question
was

but that Uzzah's

punishment which stemmed

from the

next

too

great.

2Sam. 6:5

And David
the LORD

and all the

house

of

Israel

were

with all

their might,

with songs and

making merry before lyres and harps and

tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when

they

came to the and

was

threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD
kindled
against

Uzzah;

and

God

smote

him there because he

ark of

put

forth

his hand to the ark;

and

he died there beside the

God.

The

same might even

be

said

for Michal:

2Sam. 6:21

And David
me above your prince over

said to

Michal, "It

was

before the LORD,

who chose

father, Israel, the

abased

and above all

people of the

his house, to appoint me as LORD and I will make merry

than this,

before the LORD. I

and

will make myself yet more contemptible

will

be

in

your

eyes; but

by

the maids of whom you

have spoken,

by

them I shall

be held in

honor."

Then

come

mocking

and

scorning
couriers went

2Chron. 30:10

So the

Ephraim

and

Manasseh,

from city to city through the country of and as far as Zebulun; but they laughed

them to scorn, and mocked them.

The Book of Job

Even the
good

35

laughing
He

at the

bad is

not the same as goodnatured

laughter:

Ps. 2:4
Ps. 37:13

who sits

in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.

at the

but the LORD laughs

coming.

wicked, for he sees that his

day

is

Ps. 52:5-6

But God

will

break

you

down for ever; he

will snatch and

tear you

tent; he will uproot you from the land The righteous shall see, and fear, and shall laugh
your

from

of the at

living. Selah.
saying,
all the

him,

Ps. 59:8

But thou, O LORD, dost laugh nations in derision.

at

them; thou dost hold

Peppered throughout the

one

quotations

from the Book

we

of

Proverbs, however,
closer to what we

finds

another strain.
of

There only do

find something

find in the Book

Job.

Prov. 1:26
Prov. 8:12
.

I
you,

also will

laugh

at your

calamity; I

will mock when panic strikes

I,

wisdom, dwell in prudence, and I

find knowledge

and

discretion.

Prov. 8:31 Prov. 10:23

beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.
It is like
sport to a

then I was

fool to do wrong, but

wise conduct

is

pleasure

to a man of understanding.

Prov. 14:13 Prov. 26:18

Even in laughter the heart is sad, Like

a madman who throws

and the end of

joy

is

grief.

firebrands,

arrows,

and

death, is

the

man who

deceives his has

neighbor and

says, "I am only

joking!"

Prov. 29:9

If

a wise man
and

an argument with a

fool,

the

fool only

rages and

laughs,
Prov. 31:10
. . .

there

is

no quiet.

good wife who can

find? She is far

are

more precious than and she

jewels.

Strength

and

dignity

her clothing,

laughs

at the time

to come.

Ecclesiastes

also

has

a rather

dim

view of

laughter.
it?"

Eccles. 2:2

said of

laughter, "It is

mad,"

and of pleasure,

"What

use

is

Eccles. 3:4
to

a time to weep, and a time to

laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time

dance;
Sorrow is better than laughter, for

Eccles. 7:3
Eccles. 7:6
the

by

sadness of countenance the

heart is

made glad. as

For

the crackling of thorns

this also
made

under a

pot, so is the laughter of

fools;

is

vanity.

Eccles. 10:19

Bread is

for laughter,

and wine gladdens

life,

and

money

answers everything.

Jeremiah is

not quite

the same. He too rejects the

"laughter"

of

his day:

36

Interpretation
Jer. 15:17
not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; I sat because thy hand was upon me, for thou hadst filled me with indignation.

I did

alone,

Jer. 48:26

"Make him drunk, because he

so that

magnified

himself

against

the

LORD;

Moab

shall wallow
not

in his vomit,
him

and

he too

shall

be held in

derision. Was thieves,

Jer. 48:39
shame!

Israel

derision to

you?

that whenever you spoke of

you wagged your

Was he found among head?

How it is broken! How they

wail!

How Moab has turned his back in

and a

So Moab has become him.

derision

horror to

all

that are

round about

and

feels

mocked

Jer. 20:7

stronger all

O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art than I, and thou hast prevailed. I have become a laughingstock
the

day; every

one mocks me.

But he

also

has

another notion of

laughter.
and your wounds

Jer. 30:17
the

For I

will restore

health to you,

will

heal,

says

LORD, because they have called you an outcast: 'It is Zion, for whom no one Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the
cares!'

fortunes
the

of

the tents of

Jacob,

and

have

compassion on

his dwellings;
and

where

city it

shall

be

rebuilt upon

its mound,
I

and the palace shall stand

used to

be. Out

of them shall come songs of

will

thanksgiving,
and

the voices of those who make merry.

shall not small.

multiply them,
and

they
be

be few; I

will make

them

honored,

they

shall not

It is

reserved

for

another time and

is

not a

way

of

meeting

what

is before us,

however.
There
are also such

thoughts to be found elsewhere:

Ps. 126:1

Song

of

Ascents. When
who

the

LORD

restored the

fortunes filled
said

of

Zion,
the

we were

like those
and our

dream. Then

our mouth was

with

laughter,
Zech. 8:4
sit

tongue with shouts of

great

joy;

then

they

among

nations, "The LORD has done

things for

them."

Thus in the

says the

LORD

of

hosts: Old

men and old women shall again

streets of

Jerusalem,
shall

each with staff

of

the streets of the

streets.

city

be full

boys

and girls

in hand for very age. And playing in its

Outside follows:
Lam. 1:7

of the

Book

of

Job there

are

only

handful left.

They

read

as

Jerusalem

remembers

in the days

of

her

affliction and

bitterness

all the precious

things that were hers from days of old. When her

The Book of Job

people

37

fell into the hands

gloated over

the

foe

of the foe, and there was her, mocking at her downfall.

none to

help her,

Lam. 3:14 Ezek. 23:32

I have become the joke to

songs all

all the peoples, the

burden

of their

day
says

long.
the Lord GOD: "You shall drink your sister's cup
and

Thus
which

is

deep

large;

you shall

be laughed

at and

held in derision,

for it
Hab. 1:10

contains much; and of rulers

At kings they scoff, every fortress, for they

like the
wind and go

they

make sport.

They

laugh

at

heap

up

earth and take

on, guilty men, whose

it. Then they sweep by own might is their god!

It

might

be

noted

Testament

also

imply

in passing that the six references to laughter in the New only scoffing (cf. Mat. 9:24, Mark 5:40, Luke 6:21, 25, laughter in the Book
of

8:53, James 4:9).

The first to
Job 5:21-23
speak of

Job is Eliphaz:
be

When tongues scourge, FEAR

will of violence when

you will

secure and shall

have

no

it comes; but
of the

at violence and starvation you of

laugh. Have

no

FEAR in

beasts
and

the earth,

for

you

have

covenant with the rocks

the

field,

the

beasts

of the

fields

will

bring
His laughter is
rocks and the

you peace.

rooted
of

beasts

in the safety of a fields" the but is not knew the

"covenant"

he

will

have "with the

we

so

different from laughter

laughter

have

known before. Job the outcast,

Job 12:4
on

also

grim side of

But God But

whose

now

I have become have him

joke to my friends,
a

one who would

'Call

answer'

and
now

joke,

simple, innocent joke!

those younger than

Job 30:1

they have
would

turned me

into the joke,

fathers I

have felt

contempt to put with

my sheep dogs.

But there
of

was another side of we are

laughter,
the

a side which

had

always

been

a part

Job and, if

to judge

by

different from the others, even before his real thought had started:
Job 29:24 I joked
them them a

many quotations given above, made him all his trouble, and perhaps even before

with

bit

so that

my kindness

would not overwhelm

because they had

no self-confidence.

The
much

subject was
and

bound to

come

up, because one cannot fail to notice how

play

innocent laughter there is in the Tempest:

He laughs

Job 39:7-8

at the clamor of the roams the

city, and does not even hear the

drivers shout, but

hills

as

his pasture,

and

every

green

thing

is his to

search out.

38

Interpretation
Job 39:18 its

She just flaps her

rider.

wings on

high,

and

laughs

at a

passing horse

and

Job 39:22
Job 40:20

He laughs
The
play.

at

fear

and

is

not

dismayed,

nor

is he

turned

back

by

edge of sword. mountains yield

him produce, bird

and all the

beasts

come

there to

Job 40:29

Job 41:21

you play with him like ladies? young He laughs to the sound

Can

or

tie him on a

string for

your

of the

javelin.

With Job, laughter

ceases to

be

thing hidden away for

better time
a

or a

luxury
with

indulged in

by

those who are mindless of the times. It

with

is

way

of

living

the times: "I joked

them a bit so that my

kindness

would not over

whelm them

because they had no It is hard not to feel that there isn't

of

self-confidence."

some connection of

between Job's

new

understanding sees a bit strange.

subject of

laughter

and

his

Identity

really

discovery being what

the signets. At
one

first,

this relation

is

seems to
Dane."

be

more a

It is in comedy tragedy that people seem more plastic, continually changing their clothing, their iden tity, and even their sex. Imagine Oedipus being mistaken for a long-lost twin
than of comedy. "It

is I, Hamlet, the

brother. Yet it is Lear

shadow";
granted

who asks:

"Who is it that
upon

can

tell me who I am?

Lear's

and

why

must

Hamlet insist knows full

things

which can so

be taken for

by Rosalind,

who

well who she

is

even while she

is

being

Ganymede playing Rosalind? 11. Some English translations

12. See
note to

start

Chapter Forty-one

at this point.

3:8
and

13. Job has come,

of nature.

Eliphaz

once

had

he has seen, but he has a dream:

not come

to be the conquerer

Job 5:22

but

at violence and starvation you will

laugh. Have

no

FEAR

of

the beasts of the earth, for you

have

a covenant with the rocks

in the

field,
but it

and the

beasts

of the

fields

will

bring

you peace.

was not the right

slave?"

dream: "Will he

make a covenant with you to

be

your

eternal

To

conquer rather

it more succinctly, Job has come to learn from nature, but not to it. To that extent, he has come to have its ways impressed upon him than impressing his ways upon it, and one of the things he learned, as we
put

have

from the ostrich, is the importance of freedom understanding of the signets. On this question, compare:
seen

as

it follows from

an

Gen. 1 :26

and

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every

of the

The Book of Job

creeping thing that creeps upon the own image, in the image of God he
created them.
earth."

39

So God

created man

in his

created

him;

male and

female he

fruitful

and multiply, and over the

And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fill the earth and subdue it; and have fish
of the sea and over the

dominion every

birds

of the air and over

living thing

that moves upon the

earth."

It

should

be

noted that

both words,

"subdue"

"dominate,"

and

are quite

defi

nite and strong:

Lev. 25:46

You may bequeath them to your possession for ever; you may make brethren the
another,
people of

sons after you, to

slaves of

inherit

as a

them, but

over your one over

Israel

you shall not take

dominion,

with

harshness.
"subdue"

In addition, the

word

for

also

has

a sense of completion and

final

ity.

Josh. 18:1

Then the

whole congregation of the people of

Israel

assembled at subdued

Shiloh,
Jer. 34: 1 1

and set

up

the tent of

meeting there; the land

lay

before them.

But female

afterward slaves

they turned around and took back the male they had set free, and subdued them as slaves.
is
not a world

and

14. The
world about use

world

beyond
can

man

in

which man can

play; it is only

in

which

he

learn

about play.

The

charm of

the sentence teaches

us

it

innocent jesting, but the beyond is not ours. We cannot divide it up and as we will. To see it is to see it as a thing for itself, not as a thing for us.
ways

15. In many
Isa. 2: 1

this

verse reminds one of

the

famous

passage

from Isaiah:

The

word which

Isaiah the

son of

Amoz

saw

concerning Judah
of the

and

Jerusalem. It house
of

shall come

to pass in the latter days that the

mountain of

the

the LORD shall

be

established as the

highest

mountains,
and

and shall

be

raised above the

hills;
the

and all the nations shall

flow to it,

many
of the

peoples shall

come,

and say:
of

"Come, let
of

us go

LORD,

to the

house

God

Jacob;
For

that

ways and that we

may

walk

in his

paths."

out

up he may teach us his of Zion shall go forth

shall

to the mountain

the

law,

and the word of the

LORD from Jerusalem. He

judge

between the beat

nations, and shall

their swords

decide for many peoples; and they shall into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
sword against nation, neither shall

nation shall not

lift up

they leam

war

any

more.

But it is

not

the same. There

is

no promise of a great
an act

day

to come one

day

that Job must wait

for in expectation, but

the he must perform now.

40

Interpretation
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

1 "Thus, him? 2 No
would stand
restitution?4

[all]
one

expectation'

is

an

illusion.2

Do
up.

men not reel at the

sight of

is

so

brutal3

as to rouse

him

Now,

who

is

that one who

give exact

before Is
not

me?

3 Who

confronts me and

[demands that] I

everything
outer

under the

heavens
his

mine?5

4 "I Who Who

pride

will not

be

silent about

him,

or

exploits or the grace of

his frame. 5
7 But his

can unveil

his

garment,

or come

before his double-folded jaw? 6

surrounded
tight9

can open the

doors6

of

his face

his teeth

by

terror!

is the

strength of

the next, and not a

his shields7, up by a breath between them. 9 Each

closed8

seal,10

each

touching

clings"

one

to his brother.

They
Out

clutch'2

each other and cannot

at

be

parted. eyes are

10 "Lights flash
of

his

sneeze.

His

his

mouth comes a

flaming
from

torch as sparks of
a stream or

like the cracking of dawn. 11 fire escape. 12 From his

cauldron.

nostrils there comes smoke as

boiling

13 His breath in

ignites the

coals and

flames

come out of

his

mouth.

14 His

strength resides

his neck, and terror dances before him. 15 Festoons of flesh, fused all together, lie on him cast as metal and do not 16 His heart is cast hard as stone,
quaver.13

cast as a nether millstone.

17 "When he
sion.

rises

up, the gods are in dread. stand,

nor

They
spear,

shatter and are

nor

in

confu

18 No

sword that will reach can

javelin,

nor

lance. 19
He

Iron he
put

counts as

straw, and bronze as rotton wood. 20 No son of the bow can

stubble

him to flight. Slingstones turn to

sound of the
javelin.14

21

and clubs are rated as straw.

laughs to the
22 "His
the
mud15

underparts are

jagged leaves

shards.

He

sprawls

himself

out

implacable

on

23

and makes the

pot17

deep
will

to seethe
a

like

a cauldron.

He

makes the sea

his
be

ointment16

24

and

headed. 25 No
without

one of the

dust

shining wake till the abyss seems all hoaryhave dominion over him, for he was made to

dread.18

26 He

sees

every towering thing. He is

king

over all the

sons of

pride.'"9

Comments
1. tohalto is from the
much versed root

root yhl

(wait in expectation). Even the

can see that yhl

reader not

in Hebrew,
"to

or so

believe,

is

a near relative of the

at

hwl

or

hyl,

which was

discussed in
carried

the note to
with

Job 39:1. It too, could,

wait,"

times,
word

mean

but

along

it

a sense of

dread,

whereas this

implies hope
might also of

or expectation. of some use to the reader

It
the

be

to consider how the root is used in

Book

Job:

Job 6:11

What
end that

strength

have I, that I

should wait

in expectations? What is my

should

prolong my life?

The Book of Job

Job 13:15
It may be that He
will

41

slay
will

me.

I have

no

higher

expectations.

None

the less I will defend my ways before Him.

Job 14:14
of

If

a man

(gebher) dies,

he

come

back to life

again?

All the days

Job 29:21

my service I have waited in expectation for my release to come. Men would hear me and wait in expectation, falling silent to hear
counsel.

my

Job 29:23 Job 30:26

the

They

waited

for

me

in

expectation as

for the rain; their in

mouths

opened wide as

if to

catch the

I hoped for the

good

spring but there came evil; I

rain.

waited

expectation

for

Job 32:11

light, but there came only a murk. I have waited in expectation for your
while you searched

words and

listened for

your

Job 32:16

understanding I waited in
and could no

expectation
reply.

for something to say. till they had finished speaking, till they

stood

longer

2. We have heard those

Isa. 27:1 On that
punish the

expectations:

day,
He

the Lord

with

his

sore and great and

strong

sword shall

Leviathan the
shall

flying

serpent, and the Leviathan the crooked

serpent: and

Ps. 74:14
the

You

crushed the as

slay the crocodile that is in the sea. head of the Leviathan and gave it to the

people of

island
Those

food.

Job 3:8

who

despise the sea,

will curse

and those who are

determined to

lay

open

the

Leviathan

it.

If abandoning
that the

"expectation"

means

day

will come the

Leviathan

will

primarily abandoning the expectation be crushed in favor of the alternative

account of the

Leviathan:
There
go the ships, the

Ps. 104:26

Leviathan

whom you made

They
Job 40:29

serve

You

and

You

give them their a

to play food in due time.

on a

with.

you play ladies? young

Can

with

him like

bird

or

tie him

string for

your

yhl.

interplay between hwl and denying us the second. The first has replaced the second. That is to say, that it is by giving up the yhl and recognizing that the world beyond man and its denizens have a legitimate being for themselves, apart from their being for us, that we begin to see our own legitimate being as it is implied in the notion of the hwl.
The Voice has introduced
us to the

then perhaps we can gain a deeper insight into the

first

while

Since the
relation to

abandonment of

expectation,

YaChaL, insofar

as

it deals

with our

the world beyond man, need not

imply

the abandonment of

hope

QaWah,

which

deals

with our relation

to the world of man, it might be wise to

remind ourselves of

Job's hopes
Who
will see

as well:

Job 6:8-9

grant

to it that my request comes to light; that God hopes? Would that God were pleased to crush me, loose my his hand and cut me off!

42

Interpretation
Job 14:18-22
A
mountain place.

has fallen
The
waters

and crumbled away, a rock

dislodged

from its
torrents

have

worn

the

have
You

washed

away the dust his face

of

of

away and its the land. So, You have

stones

trashed all mortal hope. You have

resigned. mangled never

overpowered

man,

and

he has

and sent

him

off.

His his

sons were was

honored but he
unaware. away.

knew

it.

They
with

were

in disgrace, but he
and

His

body

surrounds

him

pain,

spirit

is

eaten

Job 17:13-15

If I

must take the

in darkness;
'Mother*

call out to the muck

'Sister'

Pit to be my home, and spread 'Thou art my

to the maggots,
where

out

my

couch

Father'

and call out

and

then

is my hope?

3. Job has
nonhuman.

passed

through that

veil

which

separates

the human

from the
of

His

journey

had begun

some time ago.

He first felt it in the form

fear:
Job 30:29
I became
a

and so

brother to the Jackal

and

friend

to the ostrich.

But the forces pulling him back into the land of the Jackal had, in already begun. Back in Verse 21 of that same chapter, Job had said:
Job 30:21-22 You have turned brutal
persecute me. and with the might of

fact,

Your hand You

You hoist in the

me

up

onto the wind and set me astride to

be tossed

about

wreckage.

The
word,

word

'akf'zar,
occurs

which

I have translated

"brutal,"

as

is

not a

very

common

and

it

only twice outside the Book of Job. One of them reads:

give the

Lam. 4:3

Even the jackals

breast

and suckle their young, ostriches

but the

daughter

of

my

people

has become brutal, like the

in

the

wilderness.

The

"brutal"

word

seems, then, to

imply

the attempt or

desire to be

or

be

come an actor within

the realm beyond the

human. But to

see that

"[all]

expec

tation

is

illusion,"

an

is to

see a world which man

a world as a world can

may first leam to recognize of man. But that knowledge

rouse

may admire, and in which he for itself, apart from the needs

only lead

one

to say: "No one is so brutal as to

him

up."

4. The
comes the

root of

this word, shlm, means "to be whole or

word

complete."

From it

Hebrew
So

for

"peace."

Neh. 6:15

the wall was

finished (shlm)

on the

twenty-fifth

day

the month

Elul,
Then the

within

fifty-two days.
to mean "to pay [a

word comes

debt]":

The Book of Job

2Kings 4:7

43

She
and

came and told the man of

your

God,

and

pay

debts

and you and your sons can

he said, "Go, sell the live on the

lift."

oil

rest."

where

the word
a

for debt is

related to a word

To pay
off."

debt, then, is

to "make

whole,"

meaning "to or "to fill

in"

what one

has "lifted

This understanding is fundamental to human justice:

Exod. 21:36 Or if it is known that the
ox

has been

accustomed to gore
shall

in the
and the

past, and its owner has not kept it

in, he

pay

ox

for ox,

dead beast

shall

be his.

The
again. crime

goal of this

kind

of

justice is to

make

those who have suffered whole

To the

extent that one must speak of punishment, one charged with a

is

punished

for

what

harm he has

caused others.

This is human justice

as

it is

contained in the notion of shlm. If, however, winnowing is the prime anal ogy of cosmic justice, then punishment for cosmic crimes can only be punished in terms of the harm man has caused to himself. In that sense, it does not

strictly make sense to "demand exact 5. "Is not everything under the heavens human justice. It leaves
always room

restitution."

mine?"

Cosmic justice is larger than

and

for the Leviathan

is."

insures
of a of

that there will

be

grass even
note

"where

no man
saw

But its justice is

the

6. In the
embodied

to Job 31:34 we
door."

importance

winnowing kind. Job's openness as We

can

in his "open

But Leviathan is "to

finally

closed to man.

know him from the Here it is taken

outside only.
defend,"

7. meganim, from the

root mgn,
mean

normally In
either of

means

"to

shield."

by

all

to

his
the

scales.

case, it

means

that the
spoke

Leviathan,
of.

unlike

Job, does have

kind
He

impenetrable be hurt

skin the others.

Satan

He

cannot

be disturbed

by

others.

cannot

by

No

one can

touch

him. Therefore he

cannot

learn from

others and so cannot

learn to know

himself.
8. The I
can remainder of this chapter

is clearly
how the

quite

dense,

and

am not sure that

be

of much assistance either to the

reader or

to myself. It might

help,
in the

however,

to begin

by looking

to

see

word sgr

("closed") is

used

rest of the text:

Job 3:9-10
of

May

it

not see the eyelid of

dawn open, for it

closed not the

doors Him

Job 1 1:10 Job 12:14

my mother's belly but hid my eyes from toil. If He should pass by and separate or close up,
and what

who can turn

back?

He tears down

can never

be

rebuilt.

He

closes

in

on a man

and

Job 16:1 1
of

nothing is ever reopened. God sets the wicked to close in

men.

on me and casts me

into the hands

guilty

44

Interpretation
One
cannot

up, while

noticing that the Leviathan finds his strength in Job's strength lay in his willingness to stand in the open

help

being
not.

closed

entranceway.

Job leaves himself

openness

open to what

is

most

other; the Leviathan does

Job's
skin."

first

came to

light

when we saw that

he had

no

"skin beneath his

This

was

the vulnerability that let in pain and anguish. But it also left him open to

feeling and then seeing a world beyond his world. Job has seen the Leviathan, but has the Leviathan seen Job? His closedness would seem to say No.
9.
ness. off.
"tight,"

sar.

The Leviathan's

pride turns out to

be Job's

old

foe

narrow

For Job it

was the oppressive was

feeling

of walls

For the Leviathan it

"Seal,"

his

completion and perfection.

pulling in and sky cutting For Job it was the

beginning
10.

of murk and confusion.

ing

What gave anything its being by mak it intelligible to another, has, for the Leviathan, become that which seals it

hotam

for Job,

"signet."

away from all other beings, making it unknown and unintelligible to 11. dabhaq, For us it is ugly, shameful, or constrictive:
"stick."

all others.

Job 19:20
Job 31:7

My

bones

stick

(dbq)

to

If my step has

wandered

my skin and to my flesh. from the way, my heart gone

after

my

eyes, or a taint stuck

(dbq)

to my

hand,

At best, it

restrains speech:

Job 29:10

The

voice of

the nobles was

hushed,

and their tongue stuck

(dbq)

to

their palate,

For the

world

beyond man, it is
to

another thing:

Job 38:38
and

liquify

the

dust

and cast

it into

congealed

(dbq)

clods?

for the Leviathan it

Each

seems to

be

yet another.

Job 41:9 Job 41:15

one clings of

Festoons
and

(dbq) to his brother. flesh, fused (dbq) all together, lie

on

him

cast as metal

do

not quaver.

12. Iqd: It is important to

Job 5:13 Job 36:8 He traps the
contorted ones

see

how very different this

in their

word

looks

to men:

wise

own craftiness as the advice of those

dashes headlong.
are

But if they

bound in fetters

and trapped

in

cords of affliction,

But, in

the world

beyond man,

also consider:

Job 38:30

clutches to

Water draws itself up, tight itself.

complete.

as

stone,

and the

face

of

the

deep

Again,

the list

is

The Book of Job

13. Not
Job 6:12
so

45

Job,

who once said:

Do I have flesh

of

bronze?

For

man

to

be

made of

flesh is to be

able to

feel

pain:

Job 19:22

Why
flesh?

do

you pursue me

like God, taking

satisfaction out of

my

Not to feel
Job 10:4

pain

is

not

to understand pain;

Have You

eyes of

flesh?

For Job, it is through the

notion of which

feeling

of pain that we come

to understand the

importance, by seeing

ourselves

willing to

risk pain and

death for that

is important:
For

Job 13:14

what reason

do I take my flesh between my teeth

and

my life in

my hands?

flower 14.

The way his flesh lies makes it appear to be open to the other, but, like a carved in stone, the festoons of flesh cast like iron remain for ever, but

forever in itself.

Nothing

can

be for him

what

it is for itself. Difference for him

His total
unawareness and

makes no

difference. "Slingstones turn to

to the world around
neither

stubble."

indifference he
uses

him is

awesome.

The lights

which

flash

at

his

sneeze

to see
see

To

appreciate

by, by only him. are for themselves and not as are for us, to things as they they the grass which grew where no man was, Job was forced to quit the
nor

to read

and yet we are arrested and can see

world of man

for

a world unstifled

by

human

need and

let to be itself. But in

that world only man, the stranger, through his weakness and otherness could

learn to let things be.

Only

then could he return with a

fuller understanding

of

human

need. an old

15. Once

Parmenides

asked a

anything in itself apart from what bit absurd. Has mud anything better to do than to be

young Socrates if he thought mud was it is for us. The question would seem to be a
made

into

a mud

pie,

or a

brick,

or a

house? And

we all

stand upon the earth with never a thought of

asking its permission. Nonetheless, we can almost feel the jagged shards cutting gashes into the ground. In this imagery we see the great destruction to others implied in his
16. Or
simple

being.

"perfume"

Exod. 30:25

and you shall make of these a sacred as

blended

by

the perfumer; a

holy

anointing oil anointing oil it shall be.

46

Interpretation
Whoever
ISam. 8:13 He bakers.
compounds

outsider shall
will

be

cut off

any like it or whoever from his people.

puts

any

of

it

on an

take your daughters to be

perfumers and cooks and

Song

of

Sol. 5:13

His

cheeks are

like beds

of spices,
myrrh.

yielding fragrance. His

lips

are

lilies, distilling

liquid

17.
first it burst

38:8

Who

closed

up the

sea

behind the double door

when

out of

the womb

The sea,
which

long

in

our

tale the measureless realm of chaos and confusion,

had

always threatened to engulf

pleasure.

all, has become a simple utensil,

instru

ment of

his innocent

18. The

word which

I have translated

"dread"

as

is

very

obscure

word, and

in fact

appears

in only

one other passage

in the

whole of

Biblical literature.

Ironically,
Gen. 9:2

the passage reads:

on

all

and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on every the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.

Panic

But the Leviathan "was

emerges,
and perhaps

made

to

be

dread."

without correction

Thus, Job 41:25

intentionally

so, as a

to

Genesis 9:2. If the

human

understanding is to be of any ultimate relevance, man cannot be master of the visible universe. It is only in seeing a thing outside of himself as a being in itself, that man can begin to regard himself as a self.
sphere of

19. in

shahas.

The

one other verse

exact meaning of this word is in the Bible. The context is:

not

very

clear.

It only

appears

Job 28:7-9

The

eye of the

falcon has it

never caught sight of

it,

nor

have the

sons of pride ever trampled

over.

The lion

can

bear it

no witness, mountains

but

man

has

put

his hand to the flint

and overturned

its

by

the root.

In Aramaic, the
means

shahsa'

word

means

"a

lion,"

while

in Ethiopian the
elevated,"

root

"to be

insolent."

root comes

the word

In Arabic, the shhis, "a bulky

root means
or

"to be

from

which

man"

"a

rank."

man of

Thus,

there

king
since

over

beasts

is disagreement among translators as to whether the Leviathan is or over men. The ambiguity may not be totally unintentional,
that such a

it is

not so clear

distinction is
that

the Leviathan himself. It

is

not even clear

of any concern whatsoever to he knows that he is king, though

king

indeed he surely is.

grand

This

beast,

above and

beneath

all malice or

ambition, oblivious to all,

The Book of Job

rules all and

47

by

the mere weight of his

being. In him

we recognize our

limitations

hence

see our

definition.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

1 Then Job
that no
without
design'

answered
can

the LORD and said: 2 "I know that You

can

do

all and counsel

be

withheld

from You. 3 Who is this I had

wonders2

one that

hides

knowledge? I have

spoken though

not understood.

There is

beyond me, a world full of that I had never known. 4 Now listen and I will speak; I shall question you, and you will inform me. 5 I had hear;3 heard of You as ears can but now my eyes have seen You. 6 Wherefore I
world

have both

contempt and compassion

for4

dust

and

ashes."5

And6

it

was

so, that

after

the LORD had spoken these words unto

Temanite,7

Job,
you,

that
and

the LORD said to Eliphaz the

against your two as

"My

anger

fumes

against

friends: for

you

have

not spoken of me the

thing

that

is right,
rams,

has my

servant

Job. 8 Therefore,
and offer

get yourselves seven

bulls

and seven

Job, my bear8 Job shall pray for you; for I will deal with you after your folly, in that you have
and go to servant servant

up for

yourselves a

burnt offering; and my his countenance in order not to

not spoken of me the

thing

that

is right, as my servant Job 9 So Eliphas the Temanite

Naamathite
also

has."

and

Bildad the

Shuhite

and

Zophar

the

went and did according as the LORD commanded them, the LORD Job.9 bore up the countenance of 10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his

friends,

and

the LORD returned all that Job

all of

had,

twice over.

11 Then his house

sion

his brothers
with which

sisters'0

and

and all of

his friends
him.12

came over to

supped"

and

him.

They
12

consoled

him

and showed

him

compas

for

all

the evils

the LORD

had brought

upon

Each

one gave a of

Qesitahn

and each a golden ring;

and the

LORD blessed the last days

his 13
the
all

life

even more

than He had its beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six

asses;'4

thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and one thousand she
and

he

also

had

seven sons and three

daughters.'5

14 The first he

called

by

name of

Jamimah,16

the second to be

Keziah,17

and the third

Keren-Hapuch.18

15 In

the land there

could not

daughters,
knew his

and their

found any woman more father gave them an inheritance alongside

hundred
and

beautiful'9

than Job's
brothers.20

their

16 And Job lived

another one

forty

years after

these events, and

sons and

his

son's

sons, and

died,

an old man contented with

theirs, four his days.

generations.

17 And

so

Job

Comments 1 It is terribly
how
translate this word. Gener

mezimah.

unclear

one should

ally speaking it usually implies

evil or wicked

intent:

48

Interpretation
Job 21:27 Ps. 10:2

Oh, I know
devised In

what you are

thinking, the

machination you

have

against me.

arrogance the wicked

hotly

pursue the poor;

let them be

caught

in

the schemes which

they have devised.

often means

In the Book
cretion":

of

Proverbs, however, it

something

more

like "dis

Prov. 8:12

I,
on

wisdom, dwell

in prudence,

and

I find knowledge

and

discretion.

Jeremiah,
wicked:

the other

hand,

uses

it to describe God's

plans

against

the

Jer. 30:24

The fierce

anger of

the LORD

will not

turn

back

until

he has

executed and accomplished the you will understand this.

intents

of

his

mind.

In the latter days

The
sage

in question, yibhaser, only in the Bible:

verb

occurs

in the

passive

in

one other pas

Gen. 1 1 :6

all one and

And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do;

nothing

that

they

propose to

do

can

be

withheld

from

them."

The verb, then,

sense one

would seem or

to preclude

finds in Proverbs

taking the in Jeremiah, since in

also

word mzmh either

in the

neither case

is anything
Perhaps Job

being

spoken of which one would want to prevent.

This leaves the first meaning, but that is

means,

difficult to

accept.

however,

that that too can

be

accepted as

long

as

it is known to be

without malice or

intent. beyond me,

a world

2. "There is
are]
wonders

a world

full

wonders,"

of

literally, "[There

beyond
'em'

me."

3. Literally, "I had heard of You by rumor of the cf. 28:22. 4. 'al ken as wenihamti 'al 'epher we'phar. This is clearly a critical contested passage. I also think that it has been much abused.
ear,"

and

King
least

James translates: "Wherefore I

The Revised Standard does

abhor

myself, and repent

on

dust

and

ashes."

about the

same,

except that

King

James

at

puts the word

"myself in
ashes."

italics, indicating

that there

is nothing

corre

sponding to it in the Hebrew text. Greenberg has "Therefore, I recant and re lent, being but dust and Greenberg is more in line with the original
punctuation which puts the major
as the

stop

after the second verb rather than the

first

King

James

would require.

ashes."

The Cambridge Bible translates: "Therefore I melt away; I repent in dust Their reasoning is somewhat complicated. The root m's had

and

already

The Book of Job

occurred
meant

-49

in Job 7:5:
ooze."

"My
also

skin

has become hard

and

begins to

ooze,"

where

it

"to

It is

found in Ps. 58:8, "Let them be like the

with

snail which

dissolves into
and nms

slime."

These passages, together

seem

the

fact that the

It

roots mss

do

mean

"to

melt,"

to be behind their understanding of the verse.

The
the

root m

's

fundamentally
Again,

means

"to

despise"

"reject."

or

is, for instance,

real

feeling

that God has when people offer Him sacrifices that have no to translate it as
"recant,"

meaning to them.
require

as

Greenberg does,
and

would

something like a "myself to be to be no basis for such an assumption. The

root nhm means

understood

in the text,

there seems

"to feel

deep

compassion."

sorrow or

Like the English

word, if one

feels

sorrow

guilt, and repentance. But to

others

for something that one has done, one feels remorse, feel sorrow or compassion for the suffering of
anything like
"on"

does not, in itself,

the word normally
and so

imply
does

guilt or self-recrimination.
"upon."

'al;
and

mean

or

When

King

James trans
on

lates "on dust

ashes,"

one assumes

ashes,"

but,

far

as

I have been

able to

in English

vernacular

is

by

no means as

they mean "while sitting tell, the inference which is automatic in Hebrew.
that

dust

so clear

'al is exactly the

word

that one would expect to

mean

find

following
for."

wenihamti,

however,
As far
em'

and together as the word

'em'

they simply
'em'

"I feel

compassion one would

is concerned, normally as 'el, "I have comtempt for as 'eth or strange to let the 'al do for both.
as
. .

have

expected

but it

would not

be

so

,epher we'phar, "Dust meaning

mankind

ashes,"

and

is,

of

course, a

common

Biblical

phrase

in

all

its

mortality.

Job 30:19

It throws

me

into the

mire and

I become like dust

and ashes.

Also

see

Gen. 18:27
the

Abraham answered, "Behold, I have taken

upon myself

to speak to

Lord, I

who am

but dust

ashes."

and

5. Job the homeless is

which no man counts

at

home

now.

He is
of

at

home in
He

very large

world

in

for

more

than a

hill

beans. He is
value.

also at

home in

very
each and and

small world world

in

which each man

is

of

infinite

can

be

at

home in

only because he is at home in the other. He also knows that that large woolly world has in it a kind of love and a kind of laughter which only he

his fellows 6.

can establish

in the

world of the small.

Linguistically

speaking, we have returned to Chapter

One, back

to the

everyday language of Dick and Jane. This return by an author who knows the names of Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar is, by the way, one more reason for

believing
tion.

that the book was conceived of as a whole, and that the linguistic
and

flight from

back to the

mundane was a

integral

part of

the author's inten

50

Interpretation
1. Again there has been
a switch middle

in the texture
section with

of the

language. Gone is the

vocabulary.

tortuous

syntax of the

long

its

obscure

The
that

language is simple, but it is has been

replaced

not a simple return of

to a fairytale

world.

All

of

by

the

language

ordinary everyday

adult

human

speech.

8. Remember Aaron. 9. Job's his hands his friends

eyes

could not

have seen, but that seeing took place in a foreign land in act, Job of the wide world is again Job the servant

which
of

the

LORD, living in a nutshell. He who has seen the Leviathan will say a prayer for as they bring their bulls and their rams to be sacrificed. The world of
out to

seeing turned has returned.

10.
Job 1:4

be

a world

devoid

of all meaningful

human action,

and

Job

His

sons used to make

feasts in their homes,

sisters

each one on a

different
with

day,

and send word

to their three

to come and eat and

drink

them.

It

might

be

worth

mentioning that the only

sisters,"

other

Biblical

character

to use the
was

phrase

"brothers

and

with all

the sense of equality that

it implies,

that wonderful woman of the night,

Rahab:
my father them,
and

Joshua 2:13

and save alive

and

mother, my brothers and sisters,

our

and all who

belong

to

deliver

lives from death.

11. The
nation now

word

'aChaL that had

so often meant

death, destruction,
interact:
devour
even

and

resig

holds

together a world that can act and

Job 5:5

All he has harvested the

hungry

shall

taking

out

from Job 6:6

an

under

the thorns: and the

thirsty

shall go

panting

after their

wealth.

Can egg

what white

is tasteless be

eaten without salt or

does the

slime of

Job 13:28 Job 15:34

Job 18:13

and all

have any taste? becomes worn out like have

a rotten

thing

like

a piece of

clothing
. .

that the moths

eaten.

the tents of
skin will

bribery
eaten

are a

consuming fire.
will consume

His

be

away; death's first born

his

members.

Job 20:26 Job

21:25-26

He

will

be

consumed

by

an unblown

fire

and all shall go

ill

with the remnant

left in his tent.

of

Another dies in the bitterness

goodness,
them over.
yet

his soul,

never

having

eaten of

together

they lie in

the

dust,

and the worms cover

Job 22:20 Job 31:8

saying, "Has
consumed

not our

enemy been destroyed,

another eat

their remains

by

fire?"

then

let

me sow,

but

The Book of Job

Job 31:12
Job 31:16-17 It
would

51

be

fire consuming down to Abaddon, uprooting

withhold pleasures

all

that I have ever accomplished.

How
widow's

could

from the

poor or

drain

a
with

the

Job 31:39

sharing it had grown with me for a father? fatherless, they up claims that I have eaten its produce without payment and
eye,
or even eat a crust of
when

bread alone,

not

snuffed out the

life

of

its owners,
whom

Job 40:15-16 He

But look now, here is Behemoth

eats

made

along

with you.

fodder just like the cattle, but look at the loins. His might is in the muscles of his belly.

strength

in his

Now,
12.

at

the end of the

book,

after

character and

become

an act of simple

Job's return, eating joyous unity.

can

lose its destructive

Job 2: 1 1

Now

when

Job's three friends had heard

came each

of all the evils that

had

come upon

him, they
the

from his

own place

Eliphaz the

Temanite, Bildad
show

Shuhite,

and

Zophar the Naamatite.

They
him

conferred and to

with one another and planned

to

come

together to console

him

compassion.

What

was not possible

before has

now

become

actual.

The

recognition of

compassion that

Job

gained

from beyond the human

sphere

has had its full

effect within the

human

sphere.

13.
Gen. 33:19 Joshua 24:32 And from the
The bones

sons of

Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for

land
on which

hundred Qesitoth the

of

piece of

he had

pitched

his tent.

Joseph
at

which the people of

Israel brought up from

of

Egypt

were

buried

Shechem, in
sons of an

the portion of ground which

Jacob bought from the

Hamor the father

Shechem for
of

hundred Qesitoth; it became Joseph.

inheritance

of the

descendants

14.
Job 1:3 He head
owned seven thousand

sheep, three thousand camels, ten thousand

of

cattle, five hundred she asses and was the head of a very large
was the

estate.

He

richest

man

('ish) in

the

East

15. We

remember:

Job 1:18-19

While he

was yet

talking,
were

another one came

in

and

said; "Your

sons and your

of

daughters

eating

and

drinking

wine

in the house

their oldest

brother,

when a

mighty

wind came

in from the
on

wilderness and struck

the

four

corners of the

house. It fell down

52

Interpretation
the

young

people.

They

are

dead,

and

alone

have

escaped

to tell

thee."

Nor have they been forgotten:

Job 42:1 1
to

Then

all of

his brothers

and sisters and all of

his friends him

came over

his house

and supped with

him.

They

consoled

and showed upon

him

compassion

for

all the evils which the

LORD had brought

him.

The Book
rection.

of

Job does

not end with a

deus

ex machina or miracle or resur

of

death

In recognizing the being of itself, Job himself becomes

word yom, or

all the things that a self.

"day."

are,

including

the

being
his

16. It is from the

words

It is

a new

Job. We

remember

to

his friends:
his
his day.

Job 3:1

Then, Job

opened

mouth and spurned

17. qesi'a, in English,

"cassia,"

is

fragrant bark

of a tree

that can be

pow

dered like
Ps. 45:8

cinnamon and used

in

cooking.

Your
your

robes are all

fragrant

with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

From

ivory

palaces stringed

instruments

make you

glad;

18. keren happuli1: the first two ful. Then, too, the very fact that them a certain being and hence a The
pukh

names are

the

clearly intended to be very beauti daughters are mentioned by name gives But
what of

certain nobility.

this

name?

second

word,

means

"antimony":
for house

IChron 29:2

So I have
the gold
the

provided

the

of

for the things

of gold, the silver

of of

my God, so far for the things

as

was able,

of silver, and of

bronze for the things for the things

bronze,

the

iron for the things

iron,

and wood and stones

wood, besides great quantities of onyx

colored

for setting, antimony,

stones,

all sorts of precious

stones,

and marble.

In

ancient times

it

was ground

into

powder,

also called pukf1, and used pens of the

by

women as eye makeup.

As

such

it became, in the

prophets, sym

bolic

of

feminine

corruption:

2Kings 9:30
Jer. 4:30

When Jehu her eyes,

came to

Jezreel, Jezebel heard

of

it;

and she painted

her head, and looked out of the window. And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you
and adorned

enlarge your eyes with paint?

The Book of Job

Now let
name
"horn."

53

us

look

at the

first word,

qeren.

It

"horn,"

means means so

and

together the
more

means

"the Horn

Mascara,"

of

but

qeren

much

than

A horn

contained

the oil used to anoint the

said to

kings

of

Israel:

ISam. 16:1

The LORD seeing I have horn with oil, have

Samuel, "How long

him from

will you grieve over

over

Saul,

rejected and

being king
to

Israel? Fill

your

go; I

will send you

Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I

sons."

provided

for

myself a

king
of

among his

ISam. 16:13

Then Samuel took the horn his

oil, and anointed him in the midst of

came

brothers;

and

the Spirit

of

the LORD

mightily

upon

David

from that
1 Kings 1:39

day

forward. And Samuel

priest took the

rose up, and went to

Ramah.
tent,
and

There Zadok the

anointed

horn

of oil

from

the

Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet; said, "Long live King
Solomon!"

and all the people

But,

to

begin

at

the

beginning,
firstling
them

the word means the horn of a

living
horns

animal:

Deut. 33:17
ox;

His

bull has majesty,

and

his homs

are the

of a wild

with

he

shall push the peoples, all of

them, to the

ends of

the earth; such are the ten thousands of

Ephraim,

and such are the

thousands

of

Manasseh.

But the

root also means

"to

shine":

Exod. 34:30
the

And

when

Aaron

and all the people of

Israel

saw

Moses, behold,
Moses'

his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. The people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of
skin of

face shone; he
and
went

and

Moses

would put the veil upon

his face again,

until

in to

speak with

him.

hence,

the word itself can mean "a ray of

light";
rays

Hab. 3:4

His brightness
there

was

like the light,

flashed from his hand;

and

he

veiled

his

power.

The homs

of an animal

are

his

strength and

his defense.

They

give

him

greater stature and a

formidable look:
adversaries of will

ISam. 2:10

The
them

the

LORD

shall

be broken
will

to pieces; against

he

thunder

in heaven. The LORD

to

judge the horn

ends of the of

earth; he
anointed.

will give strength

his king,

and exalt the

his

And

so

it

comes

to mean all these things

for

human being:
heart
exults in the LORD; my derides my enemies, because I

ISam. 2:1

Hannah horn

also prayed and

said,

"My

exalted

in the LORD.
salvation.

My

mouth

rejoice

in thy

54

Interpretation
Ps. 75:4 up Ps. 89:17

I say
your

to the
horn;"

boastful, "Do
glory

boast,"

not

and to the wicked,

"Do

not

lift

For thou
exalted.

art the

of their strength;

by thy

favor

our

horn

is

This is

what

Job had in
I have
the

mind when

he

said:

Job 16:15

sewed sackcloth over

my

skin.

I have driven my horns into

dust.

Often the Psalmist

Ps. 132:17

will

bring

these meanings together:

There I

will make a

horn

to sprout

for David; I have for

prepared a

Ps. 148:14

lamp for my anointed. He has raised up a hom for his

the people of

people, praise

all

his

saints,

for

Israel

who are near

to

him. Praise the LORD!

As I

once

before had

occasion to

mention, the hom

played a central role

in

the place of worship:

Exod. 27:2 be Exod. 29:12

And

you shall make

horns for it blood

on

its four corners; its horns

shall

of one piece with and shall

it,

and you shall

take part

of

the

of

overlay it with bronze. the bull and put it upon the blood
you shall

horns
1 Kings 2:28

of

the

altar with your

finger,
Joab

and the rest of the

pour out at

the

base

of the altar.

When the
although

news came to

for Joab had

supported

Adonijah

he had

not supported

Absalom

Joab fled to

the tent of the

LORD

and caught

hold

of the

horns

of the altar.

And,

of

course, it was the source of all kinds of music:

Joshua 6:5

And
you

when

they

make a

long

blast

with the ram's

horn,

as soon as

hear the

sound of the

trumpet, then
city

all the people shall shout with

a great shout; and the wall of the people shall go

will

fall down flat,

and the

IChron. 15:28

So

all

up every Israel brought up the

of

man straight

before him.
LORD
with

ark of the covenant of the and

shouting, to the sound

the

hom, trumpets,

cymbals,

and made

loud

music on

harps

and

lyres.

Linguistically, too,

the phrase

"hom

mascara"

of

works

well, because it

eas and

ily blends
"the hom

into the language along

of

with such other phrases as

"hom

oil"

of

my

salvation":

2Sam. 22:3
of

My God,

my rock, in

whom

I take refuge, my

shield and the

horn
savest

my salvation, my me from violence.

stronghold and

my refuge, my savior; thou

The Book of Job

To
word

55

put

the argument simply,

by

conjoining the Its bare

word queren

("hom")

to the

pukh

in

such a natural and

ordinary way, the author has silently but

mention

force
to

fully

robbed

the word of

its

sting.

is

no

longer

sufficient

conjure

up a degrading image of womankind. 19. As is the case in the dialogues of Plato, there is
also good.

a prima

facie

assumption

that the beautiful is that

That

statement

is

by

no means

intended to

imply

Plato

was unaware of

the problematic character of that assumption: only

and

think of such people as

Meno

Alcibiades.
also complicated

The Biblical
The

view of

beauty
since

is

and,

so as

to not mislead

ourselves, we shall have to consider the full list. We have not,

cluded

however, in
have to be

Song
its

of

Songs,

it is

a subject

in itself

which would

understood on

own

terms. to Sarai. From the

The

subject

first

arises with respect

beginning

we are

shown the

difficulties involved:
When he
know that Egyptians
me,
saw

Gen. 12:11

was about to enter

you are a woman

beautiful to

Egypt, he said to Sarai his behold; and when

.

wife, "I the

will

see you, will

they

will

say, 'This is his wife'; then

they

kill

but they

let

you

live.

And

when

the princes of
woman was

Pharaoh into

her, they

praised

her to Pharaoh. And the But the LORD

afflicted

taken

Pharaoh's house.
with great plagues

Pharaoh
wife.

and

his house

because

of

Sarai, Abram's

And ultimately, her

beauty

almost

led to the death

of an

innocent,

though

perhaps somewhat naive man.

Gen. 20:2

And Abraham Abimelech

said of

king
a

of

Sarah his wife, "She is my Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God

sister."

And
to

came

Abimelech in

dream

by

night, and said to

him, "Behold,

you are a a

dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, man's
wife."

"Lord, Although it is

wilt thou

slay

an

innocent

people?

clear

that as a young man, Jacob preferred Rachel's

beauty

to

Leah's

soft eyes:

Gen. 29:16

Now Laban had two daughters; the

and the name of the younger was

name of the older was eyes were

Leah,

Rachel. Leah's

soft, but

Rachel

was

beautiful

and

lovely. Jacob loved Rachel; for

your younger

and

he said, "I

will serve you seven years

daughter

Rachel,"

But it is

not clear what the reader

is to think.
has
a child:

Leah knows only

Gen. 29:31

gratitude each time she

When the LORD

but Rachel
was

saw

that

Leah

was

hated, he

opened

her womb;

barren. And Leah

conceived and

bore

son, and she

56

Interpretation
called upon

his

name

Reuben; for

she said,

"Because the LORD has looked

me."

She my affliction; surely now my husband will love conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has
heard that I his
name
am

hated, he has

given me this son also"; and she called

Simon.

But Rachel

always thinks

in terms

of

battle

and victory:

Gen. 30:1 Gen. 30:6

When Rachel
sister;

saw

that she

bore Jacob
me

no children, she envied

or

her

and she said

to

Jacob, "Give

children,
and

die!"

shall

Then Rachel said, "God has judged me,

voice and given me a

has

also

heard my

son"; therefore she called his name Dan.

Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed"; so she called his name Naphtali.

When

she

finally

does have
another:

a son of

her own,

she reacts not with

gratitude,

but

with a

demand for

Gen. 30:24

and she called me another

his

name

Joseph,

saying,

"May

the LORD add to

son!"

Her demand

was

met, but

at a

very

heavy

price:

Gen. 35:16

Then they journeyed from Bethel;

when she was now you will she

and when

they

were still some

distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, in her hard labor, the have
son.'

and she

had hard labor. And

midwife said to as

her, "Fear
called

not; for

another

And

her

soul was

departing
his

(for
name

died),

she called

his

name

Benoni; but his father

buried

Benjamin. So Rachel died,

(that

and she was

on the

way to Ephrath

is, Bethlehem).
her

Nor is it

clear what we are to think of

charm:

Gen. 31:32
it."

"Any

one with whom you

find

your gods shall not

live. In the

presence of our

kinsmen
not

Now Jacob did

I have that is yours, and take know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban
point out what

went

into Jacob's tent,

and

two maidservants,

but he did

into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the not find them. And he went out of

Leah's tent, and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon
all about the tent, but did not find them. And she her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon So he searched, but did not find the household gods. said to
me."

them.

Laban felt

The Book of Job

But
perhaps most

57
soft-

telling

of all

is the

ultimate

superiority

of

Leah's

spoken son

Judah

over that master

magician,

Joseph,

whom we saw at work

in

the note to Job

6:11.
was

Joseph himself

beautiful, but
all that

again

it led to

grave problems.

Gen. 39:6

So he left
no concern

he had in Joseph's charge;

which

and

having

him he had
was

for anything but the food

he

ate.

Now Joseph

handsome (beautiful) and good-looking. And after a time his wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, "Lie with

master's

me."

Then

come the pointless cows:

Gen. 41:2

and

fat,

and

up the

there came up out of fed in the reed grass. they first seven fat cows,
.

behold,

the
. .

Nile

seven cows

beautiful

and

And the thin

and gaunt cows ate

On the

other

hand

beauty

as a

fictional

goal

is

at times

implicitly

praised:

Num. 35:33

You

shall not

thus pollute the land in

and no expiation shed

which you

live; for blood

be
made

pollutes the

land,
the

[beautification]
in it,
except

can

for him

the

land, for
it.

blood that is

by

the blood of

who shed

There is

law:
and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire for her and would take her for yourself as wife,

Deut. 21:11

you

have

but it

must

be

read

in the light

of

Cozbi.

David

was

beautiful:
brought him in. Now he
he."

ISam. 16:12

And he sent, beautiful eyes,

anoint

and

was

ruddy, and had

and was

handsome. And the LORD said, "Arise,

and saw and

him; for
when

this

is

ISam. 17:42

And

the

Philistine looked,
a youth,

David, he disdained
appearance.

him; for he
He
charm

was

but

ruddy

beautiful in

was charming, and not

to

allow oneself

to fall under the sway of that

one cannot

is to

miss

a great

deal

of the

Bible. Nonetheless,

totally

forget his
There

relation was also

to Bath Shibah.

Abigail:

ISam. 25:3

Now the

name of the man was

woman was of good

Nabal,

and the name of

his

wife

Abigail. The

man was churlish and

understanding and beautiful, but the ill-behaved; he was a Calebite.

58

Interpretation
Tamar
was a wonderful

person, but her

beauty

caused

her disaster:

2Sam. 13:1

Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name So Tamar; and after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. Amnon lay down, and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Pray let my sister Tamar come and
Now
was
make a couple of cakes

But
and said

when she

in my sight, that I may eat from her brought them near him to eat, he took hold
sister."

hand."

of

her,
with

listen to her.

her, "Come, lie with her; and being stronger

to

me, my
than she,

But he

would not

he forced her,

and

lay

Her brother

was not so

wonderful, but

beauty did him in

as well:

2Sam. 14:25

Now in

all

Israel there

was no one so much to

be

praised

for his his hair

it
of

beauty
head

as

Absalom; from

the sole of
.

his foot to the

.

crown of cut

there was no

blemish in him.
every

And

when

he

the

his head (for

at the end of cut

year

he
the

used

to cut
of

it;

when

was

heavy
meet

on

him, he

it), he

weighed weight.

hair

his head, two

chanced to and
upon

hundred
the

shekels

by

the

king's

And Absalom
was

servants of

David. Absalom he

riding

his mule,
and

the mule went under the thick

caught

branches
was

of a great

oak,

his head
and

fast in the oak,

and

left

hanging

between heaven

earth, while the mule that was under

him

went on.

2Sam. 18:10

And

a certain man saw

it,

and told

hanging

in

an oak.

On

the other

Joab, "Behold, I saw Absalom hand, if I had dealt

the
will
aloof."

treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from Joab said, "I king), then you yourself would have stood
not waste time

like this

you."

with

And he took three darts in his

of

hand,
alive

and thrust them

into the heart

Absalom,

while

he

was still

in the

surrounded

And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers, Absalom and struck him, and killed him.
oak.

For the
understand

sake of completeness

shall add the rest of the

story, though I do

not

its importance:

2Sam. 14:27

There

were

name was

Tamar;

born to Absalom three sons, and she was a beautiful woman.

one

daughter

whose

Next

came poor

Abishag:

1 Kings 1:3
of

So they sought for a beautiful maiden throughout all the territory Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the
maiden was

king. The

very

beautiful;
the

and she

became the king's

not.

nurse

and ministered to

him; but

king

knew her

The Book of Job

Vashti's

59

beauty

did

not

help her,

and

there is little

reason

to believe she

deserved her fate:

Esther 1:11

to

bring

Queen Vashti before the

king

with

her

royal

crown, in
she was

order to show the peoples and the princes

her beauty; for

fair

to behold.

Esther's

beauty

saved

her people,

Esther 2:7

uncle,
and

He had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his for she had neither father nor mother; the maiden was beautiful

lovely,
as

and when

her father

and

her

mother

died, Mordecai

adopted

her

his

own

daughter.

but it is The

not clear what rest speak one

kind
way

of a person she or the other

has become

by

the end of the book.

for themselves:
is

Ps. 45:2

You

are the most

beautiful

of the sons of men; grace

you

poured

upon your

lips;

therefore

God has blessed

for

ever.

Ps. 48:2
the

beautiful in elevation, is the

joy

of all

the earth,

Mount Zion, in let her

Prov. 6:25

far north, the city of the great King. Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
her eyelashes;
and

and

do

not

capture

you with

Prov. 31:30

Charm is deceitful,
LORD is to be

beauty is

vain, but a

woman who

fears the

praised.

Eccles. 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Eccles. 5:18

Behold,
and

what

I have

seen to

be

good and

to be

beautiful is to

eat

drink

and

find

enjoyment of

in

all the toil with which one toils

which

under

the sun the

few days

his life

God has

given

him, for
of a

this

is his lot.
of perfume

Isa. 3:24

Instead
girdle,
a

there will

be rottenness;

and

instead

Isa. 33:17 Jer. 4:30

hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold a land
rope; and instead of
well-set

that stretches afar.

And you, O desolate one,

scarlet, that you

what

do

you mean that you

dress in
Your

beautify

yourself with ornaments of

gold, that you

enlarge your eyes with paint?

In

vain you

beautify

yourself.

Jer. 10:3

lovers despise you; they seek your life. for the customs of the peoples are false. A tree from the forest is
cut

down,
it it

and worked with an axe

with silver and

by

the

hands

of a craftsman.

Men

beautify
so that

gold; they fasten it

with

hammer

and nails

cannot move.

Jer. 11:15

What right has my beloved in my

house,

when she

has done

vile

60

Interpretation
deeds? Can
vows and sacrificial

flesh

avert your

doom? Can tree,

you

then exult? The LORD once called you, "A

green olive

beautiful
will set

Lam. 2:15

with goodly fruit"; but with the roar of a great tempest he fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and

wag their heads Ezek. 16:13 Thus

at the

daughter

was called the perfection of

you were made

Jerusalem; "Is beauty, the joy of all

of
with gold and

this the city which

earth?"

the

beautiful
and

silver; and your

cloth; you ate

raiment was of

fine linen, And

silk, and
grew

embroidered

fine flour
came

and

honey

and oil.

You

to regal estate.
of your

your renown

exceedingly beautiful, and went forth among the nations

you

because

beauty, for it
upon

was perfect through the splendor which

I had bestowed
your

you, says the Lord GOD. "But

trusted

in

beauty,

and played the

harlot because

of your
.

renown, and

lavished

your

harlotries
your

on

any passer-by

at the

head

of

every

street you
yourself

built

lofty

place and prostituted your

beauty, offering
made

harlotry."

Ezek. 27:4

any passer-by, and multiplying your Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders beauty.
.

to

perfect your

The

men of
men of

Arvad Gamad

and

Helech

were upon

your walls round

about, and

were

in

your

towers;
made

they hung
Ezek. 28:15 You

their shields upon your walls round about;

they

perfect your

beauty.

were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, iniquity was found in you. Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty

till

Your heart

was proud

because

of your

beauty;
I

you corrupted

your wisdom

for the

sake of your splendor.

cast you to the ground;

you."

I Ezek. 31:7

exposed you

before kings, to feast their

eyes on

It

was

its

roots went

beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for down to abundant waters. The cedars in the garden of

God
trees

could not rival

were as

it,

nor the

fir trees

equal

its boughs;

the plane

garden of
of

nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the God was like it in beauty. I made it beautiful in the mass
and all the trees of

its branches, high

Eden

envied

it,

that were

in

the

garden of

God. Therefore thus

says the

Lord GOD: Because it

and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves, I have cast it out.

towered

proud of

Ezek. 33:32

And, lo,
beautiful
you

you are to them

like

one who sings

love

songs with a
what

voice and plays well on an

instrument, for they hear

young
and men shall

say, but

they

will not

do it. faint for

Amos 8:13 Zech. 9:15

that
thirst.

day

the

beautiful
of

virgins and the

The LORD

hosts

will protect

them,

they

shall

devour

and

The Book of Job

tread
and

61

down the slingers;

a

and

they

shall

drink their blood like wine,

corners of

be full like

bowl, drenched like the

God
will save them crown shall

the

altar.

On that
of

day

the LORD their

for they

are the

flock

his

people; for like the jewels of a Yea, how good and how fair it
men

they

shall shine on

his land.
young

be! Grain

shall make the

flourish,

and new wine the maidens.

20. Perhaps the best way of understanding the significance of what has curred is to compare it to the case of the daughters of Zelophehad:
Num. 26:33 Now Zelophehad the
and the names of the son of

oc

Hepher had
of

no sons,
were

but daughters:

daughters
Tirzah.

Zelophehad

Mahlah, Noah,
son of

Hoglah, Milcah,
Num. 27:1 Then drew
son of

and

near the son of

son of

daughters

of

Zelophehad the

Hepher,
of

Gilead,

Machir,

son of

Manasseh, from

the

families
were:

Manasseh the

Joseph. The

names of

his daughters

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all
the congregation, at the door of the tent
of

meeting, saying, Our

father died in the wilderness; he

those
who gathered of

among the company of themselves together against the LORD in the

was not
own

company

Korah, but died for his

sin; and he had no

sons.

tance only
would not

The first thing to note is that the daughters of Zelophehad received an inheri because their father had no son. Had there been a son, the daughters

have

received an

inheritance, but only

dowry.

The text

continues:

Num. 27:4a

Why
family,

should the name of our

father be

taken

away from his

The

main argument

here

concerns

the

preservation of

the name of the

sake of

father,

whereas

in the Book

of

Job the inheritance is purely for the

the daugh

ters.

Thus,

the next phrase

Num. 27:4b

Give to

us a possession alongside our

father's brothers.
so

cannot

convey the

same sense of

equality that

one

feels

strongly in the

verse

Job 42:15b

and their

father

gave them an

inheritance

alongside their

brothers.

It

should also

be

noted that

it

was

Job's

own

decision to

change

his will,

given what

he had

seen

in the Tempest:
case of

Num. 27:5

Moses brought their

before the LORD. And

are

the

LORD

said to

Moses, "The daughters

Zelophelad

right; you shall give them

62

Interpretation
possession of an

the

inheritance

of their

inheritance among their father's brothers and cause father to pass to them. And you shall say to the
a man

people of

Israel, 'If

dies,

and

has

no son, then you shall cause no

his inheritance to
you shall give

pass to

his daughter. And if he has

daughter,

then

his inheritance to his brothers.

In the

case of

Zelophehad, however,
The heads
of the
fathers'

there was a further complication:

Num. 36:1

houses
of

of the

families
of the

of the sons of
fathers'

Gilead the
the sons

Machir, son of Joseph, came near

son of

Manasseh,
houses

houses

of

and spoke

before Moses

and

before the

leaders,

the

heads

fathers'

of the

of the people of
give

Israel; they

said, "The LORD commanded my lord to

the

land for inheritance

by

lot to the

people of

Israel;

and of

LORD to

give the

inheritance

my lord was commanded by the Zelophehad our brother to his

of the people of

daughters. But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes Israel then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance
which

of our

fathers,
so

and added to the

inheritance

of the tribe to

they belong;

it

inheritance. And
their

when will

be taken away from the lot of our the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then
will

inheritance

be

added to the

inheritance

of

the tribe to which the

they belong;
the tribe

and their

inheritance

will

be taken from

inheritance
Israel

of

fathers."

of our

And Moses

commanded the people of

according to the word of the LORD, saying, "The tribe of the sons Joseph is right, This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters
of

of

Zelophehad, 'Let
within

them marry

whom

they

think

best;
The

only,

they

shall

marry

the family of the tribe of their father.

tribe to another; the

inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one for every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to

inheritance

of

the tribe of his

possesses an

inheritance in any tribe

fathers. And every daughter who of the people of Israel shall be her father,
so that of

wife to one of the

of

family

of the tribe of

the people of Israel may possess the

inheritance

every one his fathers. So

no
of

inheritance
the tribes

shall

be transferred from Israel

of

one tribe to another;

for

each

of

the people of

shall cleave to

its

own

inheritance.' "

The daughters

Zelophehad did

as the

LORD

commanded

the

Moses; for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's
are

brothers. These
LORD

the commandments and the ordinances which the

commanded

by Moses
at

to the people

of Israel in the

plains

of

Moab

by

the Jordan

Jericho.

Although the
genuine concern

words

"Let them marry

welfare of

whom

they

think

best"

clearly
own

show

for the

the women, tribal

the women

inheritance is

paramount. and the

Husbands

are

immediately
out to

found for

from their dowry.

tribe,

inheritance turns

be little

more than a grand

The Book of Job

Job's daughters, however, nothing is said dowries. The inheritance is outright and absolute. So far
In the
case of
means

63
or

about

husbands

as

can

see, that

that

Job has

established the right of women to own and

hold
a

property.

Could this be
world

part of a

legacy

that Job

has brought back from

Job
to

very large
and

to a very small world?

was prepared

The way

by

the names that

gave

the slight shift the author gave to our

understanding
of worlds.

of

his daughters, beauty.

"just"

by
the

For Job, the

other cried

beginning
The

was a need

"unjust."

clashing for human

One

said

while

friendship,

and a need of clarity, the

two refused to mesh.

Human sociality
way to
plant

men work together and

it requires means nothing more than that by day in the evening they talk. Of what do they speak? Of the com, the way to go out on the hunt, the way to bake bread, the
and all

way to These
some

bury

the

dead,
be

and of the

ways, there

would

no

way to live as "one of com, there would be no bread, there

and

us."

Without these

would must

be

no

life.

ways must

be taught

they

must

be learned.

They

be taught,

by

the

fathers

and some

by

the mothers, and it

is the

children who must

learn

them.

But

men are such that

the stories that teach these ways cannot be

shared unless

they

touch upon "the

first
a

things"

and tell of a world which

holds

all of our ways together.

Without

whole,

men are

empty

and

life is

without

taste.

for clarity that came about when his world began to fall asunder led Job to the need for autonomous understanding, and hence to ultimately questions concerning those accounts of "the first
The
need
things."

Out

of the whirl of the

Tempest

came

the

notion of

the signets, the notion

that things had their own

selves apart

seal upon

them and were what

recognition

they

were

in them
under

from human

need.

This

led to

a shift

in Job's

standing

of and

sensitivity to beauty. The

needs of man

may better be

served

being

open

to the excellence of things as

they

grow of

themselves than

by by

seeing them as being directed towards those needs. This insight, in turn, led, as we have seen, to the emergence of the nurturing and swaddling God as distin
guished

from the making

and

constructing God. A

small change

in

last

will

and testament was the result.

Drama, Narrative,
Plato's Charmides
Andrew Reece
Earlham College

and

Socratic Eros in

Plato's Charmides is
the
reader multiple

an evocative and

highly
of

nuanced

dialogue, offering
of possible

to

themes

for

consideration and a

variety

inter

pretative approaches.
open

Three formal factors

Plato's

composition

immediately

an

corresponding points of entry into the work. First, the Charmides is aporetic, definitional dialogue, a dramatized discussion in which Socrates
three

and

his interlocutors
term, in this

attempt

but fail to formulate

("prudence,"

satisfactory definition
(first
posed at

of a

"sound-mindedness,"

moral

case sophrosyne

or "self-

control").

By leaving

the question "What is

sophrosyne?"

159a)

unanswered at

the end of the text, Plato encourages us to review the proposed

definitions (as Socrates

ment

does, 175a-c)

and

to scrutinize the processes of argu

aporia.

by

which the

investigation has derailed in

not

Second,

the Charmides

is

a narrated

dialogue, featuring Socrates

only

as a participant

in the discus
on the next

sion
day.1

but In

also as a reporter of

the proceedings to
gives

an unnamed

friend

so

casting his dialogue Plato

the
"friend"

his

readers

the opportunity to as

sume the role of

and to evaluate

Socrates'

own

commentary

on

the

previous

day's

events.

Third,

the obvious care Plato takes to give the dialogue a

dramatic setting demands that we pay close attention to details of characterization, locale, and time. Most studies of the Charmides have focused
particular
on

the definitions of

sophrosyne presented within

the text and the complex and

knowledge"

intriguing
175a). I

introduction

of the concept of a approach

"knowledge

of

(166e-

propose

here to

the dialogue the

by

the second and third routes,

responding to
cratic eros.

Socrates'

narrative and

overall

dramatic frame, in
the

order

to

consider a theme not

usually discussed

with reference to

Charmides, So
Socrates tell the
Charmides'

Plato story
of

prefaces the elenctic core of the

dialogue

by having
Charmides

his introduction to Charmides, Socrates

night

story that

has

conspicuous elements of and at

an erotic encounter.

says that when

he

met

cousin

Critias the

before, he had just

his

come

back from battle

grounds

Potidaea

stamping into the wrestling school (palaistra) of Taureas and met several of his acquaintances, to whom he gave a report of the fighting. After spending an
wandered undetermined time on this

and was

happy

to

be

able return to

usual

in Athens. He

subject, he turned the

conversation

toward the latest

happenings in the
interpretation, Fall

philosophical

community, asking

whether there were

any

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

66

Interpretation
men who

young
their

had

proven themselves exceptional

worth

for

their wisdom or

for
one

beauty

(153a-d). It is
about

breath both
echoi

"what's going

noting that Socrates (peri on in

should

have

asked

in

philosophy"

philosophias

hopos

ta nun) and about the physical attractiveness of the youths.

anticipated this
where

Plato has

already

juxtaposition

of themes

palaistra,

Athenian

males would

setting the Charmides in a be stimulated both physically and intel

by

lectually by
Lysis, in
palaistra

one another's presence.

We

are reminded of the

beginning

of the

which

by

looking
author

ones"

Ctesippus try to entice Socrates into a new telling him that they and "a great many other young men good (203b).2 wile away their time there in discussion Already our

Hippothales

and

has

established a

link between eros, the desire for beauty,

and philoso

phy, the desire for wisdom, though the nature of that link is not
clear.

immediately

No

sooner

had he

asked about the

young men,
all of

continues

throng
was

of them

began to fill the room,

Critias'

whom,

Socrates, than a Critias told him, were the

that this cousin

lovers (erastai)

of

cousin

Charmides (154a). We learn

young immediate discomfiture
man

by

common consent the soon

best-looking

in his

age group. of all

Char

mides

himself

entered, to the

present, in
of

cluding Socrates,
this youth:

who confides

to his anonymous

companion

his impression

My friend,

am no good at measuring.

am

simply
and

blank

ruler when me.

it

comes to

beautiful young men. Nearly all men at that Charmides seemed just then remarkably tall
Charmides'

age seem

beautiful to

But still,

beautiful.

(154b-c)
youngest

arrival

had

like

effect on all the men

present, from the

were a

to the oldest, all of whom gazed upon

agalma

him "as if he

statue"

(hosper

154c). Plato's

use of words and

images here is
is

suggestive.

What I have
a white

translated as "I am

measuring-line."

simply a blank Atechnos leuke stathme

regard to.
. .

ruler"

literally
. .

"I

am

simply

eimi pros

was colloquial

for "I

make no extended make

distinctions in

Presumably

the expression

derived this

meaning from the fact that a line coated with visible measuring marks on limestone or marble,
while

white chalk could not

so

it is

an appropriate

image here

Socrates is

looking

at a man who seems to

be

an agalma,

perhaps of stone.

Socrates

then says that

his friend

Chaerephon,

who was also

present, remarked upon

was so

Charmides'

and added that his body singularly fine (pankalos) that it could easily cause one to forget the young man's face altogether (154d). There was, then, something unreal about attractiveness. He was like a sculpted image, with a superhuman
Charmides'

handsome face

beauty,

whose admirers

temporarily forgot
and a

ual with a

distinctive face
Charmides'

beauty

was

that they were looking at an individ distinctive identity. The very magnitude of this distinguishing feature to his other admirers, but the

Drama, Narrative,
metrically inept
companion

and

Eros in Plato 's Charmides

67

Socrates,
narrative

even while

in the him.
was

that beautiful youths

admitting his wonderment, reminds his qua beautiful now seem much
he
Charmides'

the same to

Socrates
at

indeed

not convinced that

needed to see
cousin
thing,"

body,
noble

least

until

he had

Critias'

assurance that

his

possessed, besides his specifically, "a

soul was

obvious

soul"

stimulating qualities, "one other little (154d-e).4 When Critias had answered that

Charmides'

indeed

kalos kai agathos, Socrates suggested by means of a discussion. In order to

he
asked

"undressing"

that part of the young man

prevent
call

Critias,
of

Charmides'

guardian, to

any impression of unseemliness, Charmides over. By making this

Socrates'

example

politesse older man

explicit, Plato

ironically

heightens the

erotic

ambience.

An

in

a palaistra

suspected of sexual motives often

(and it

was

have

paidagogoi attend

their sons

approaching a youth could easily be partly for this reason that fathers would in such settings, to shield the boys from
Charmides'

possible seduction.

See Symp. 183c-d, Lys. 223a; Dover 1978, pp. 82-83.). By soul, telling Critias just before that he was interested above all in Socrates turned the banter of the older men away from their carnal appreciation
of the youth.

At the

same

time,

by having
the

Socrates

bring

up the issue Socrates

of wres

tling-school protocol,

Plato

makes

reader aware

that this meeting does at

and

least have the

were
on

appearance of a seductive approach. enough

Happily

Critias

good

terms that

they

could collaborate

in

ruse

to draw

for headaches, the malady about which Charmides had recently been complaining. It may be that Critias suggested this scheme because it seemed to him a less erotically
Charmides to them.

They

pretended

that Socrates knew a

cure

charged

scenario

than a removal of the garments

from

Charmides'

soul and

(as

McAvoy 1996,
came.

pp.

83-84,

suggests).

In any event, it worked,

companion

Charmides

Socrates

continues

his narrative, telling his among the

to
make

proach caused a great ruckus man

men

pushing his

neighbor aside opted

ap sitting in the palaistra, with every room on the bench for Charmides next

that

Charmides'

to himself. He eventually
mides'

to sit between Socrates and

a

Critias,

and

Char

sudden nearness threw

Socrates into

dither:

At this point, my friend, I lost my bearings (eporoun), and my previous confidence in my ability to speak with him easily was knocked out of me. When Critias told him that I
was the one who

knew the cure, he looked

me

right in the

eyes with an

indescribable look

and was on the verge of

asking
I

me a question.

Everyone in the
longer

palaistra gathered round us

in

circle, and it was right at that moment, my noble

cloak. caught

friend,
of

that I saw what was

inside his

fire, I

was no

within

myself, and I came to regard Cydias as the

wisest counselor with respect

to matters

love.

Speaking

of a

beautiful boy, he fawn before

gave the a

following
be

advice to someone:

Take
meat.

care not to go as a

lion

and

snatched

up like

a piece of

68
I

Interpretation
thought that

myself cure

had been

captured

by

beast like that. Still,

I
managed

when

he

asked

me

if I knew the

for his headache,

with some effort

to

answer

that I

did. (155d-e)

The Charmides is
which

is

all we

only source for this Cydias fragment (Page 1962, 714), citation of Cydias is significant have from the poet.
our
Socrates'

for Plato's treatment importance I

wish

of

Socratic

eros

to

review what we

have learned
with

in this dialogue, but before elaborating its so far from the time Socrates
Charmides.

entered the palaistra

to his actual meeting

Sophrosyne,
has
ual not yet

the topic of the discussion that takes up most of the

mentioned.

Charmides,
from
sex

been

Since self-control, particularly

restraint

indulgence,

was a

enough

to see that

Socrates'

typical understanding of the word's meaning, it is easy ability to overcome his immediate lust for Char

mides

introduces

one possible

definition

of the term

dramatically.5

Furthermore,

the setting of this

well

dialogue
some

immediately following
of

the battle at Potidaea may that Socrates displayed

have

reminded

Plato's
and

original readers

exceptional courage

in that battle,

audience

familiar
courage

with

it certainly springs to the mind of a later the Symposium, in which Alcibiades praises Socrates
sophrosyne

both for

and

for

(219d-220c). Although Plato

makes

connection

between

courage and sophrosyne

in

other

dialogues (Grg. 507a-c,

not mutu

Pit. 306b), these

virtues were often considered a rare

combination, if

ally

exclusive

(North 1966,
"oddness,"

p.

97). But Socrates is

a rare creature

(Alcibiades
not alto

remarks on gether

his

atopia, at Symp.

221d),

and perhaps

it is

surprising that

we should

find

courage and sophrosyne

complementing one another in his character. We might see from Plato of the unity of virtue, but more particularly we have
notion
geous

coexisting and here a suggestion

an augmented
coura

of

Socratic sophrosyne, in in the

which self-control and

exhibits

itself in
can

actions.

In the Laches Socrates

context of

Laches

agree

that one

speak

easily Though

of courage

resisting temptation and

of the

indulgence (191d).

an elenctic

investigation

begun,
in

these small dramatic hints

such a

explicit:

quences

way that it poses What is sophrosyne? (159a), and another is implicit: What conse for our understanding of sophrosyne and of this dialogue follow from
question

meaning of sophrosyne has not yet Plato to frame the upcoming discussion two questions for us rather than one. One question is

help

the

the elenchus of the

of

fact that Socrates apparently possesses the virtue? The first Charmides. The second leads us back into Socratic eros. Diotima's lecture to Socrates in the Symposium is, important texts on the theme of eros, and it can
of that

drives

a consideration

of

course, one of Plato's

most

enhance our understand

she has explained to Socrates that is ultimately a longing for immortality through procreation (201c-208e), Diotima explains that while those who want to gain a kind of physical immor
eros

ing

theme in the

Charmides. After

tality

seek marriage and

family,

those who

are more

inclined to leave

an intel-

Drama, Narrative,
lectual
or spiritual

and

Eros in Plato 's Charmides

69

legacy hope
lover

to produce
who

wisdom

(phronesis)

and excellence

(arete) (208e-209a). Like

children, the spiritual

a man

looks for find

a suitable wife to

bear his

goes out to

a good match.

Since love loves

of wisdom

both
far"

beauty
are

and wisdom

(204b),
and

and since

the greatest

kinds

"by

justice

(dikaiosyne)

sophrosyne, the lover will prefer a combination

of

these qualities, someone who

is both kotos and,

at

least potentially, dikaios

and sophron:

If

anyone should even

be

pregnant

in his
of

soul with these virtues when

[dikaiosyne

and

sophrosyne]
enough

from the time

to

his youth, then

he is

a man and old

he

will

desire both
man

impregnate
father be
a

another and to give

will go out

birth himself.

Surely

he too [like the

hoping

to

child]

to find

some specimen of

beauty

with whom

to reproduce; certainly
will

he

would never

anything

ugly.

Therefore he

attracted to

beget offspring with beautiful bodies for his procreative

intentions, rather than ugly ones, distinguished, and gifted soul, he

the company
goodness of a person

and will

if he

should also come upon a

beautiful,

like He

this

be very much drawn to this combination. In he will be well-supplied with words about

(arete),
he

about what sort of a man a good man will

activities

will pursue.

try

to teach the

other.

is, and what (209a-c)

sorts of

Returning
the

to the

Charmides,
at

we observe

that Plato has indicated to us through

met

setting

and action

that when

Socrates

his friends in the be

He was,

palaistra

he had

sophrosyne

in his soul,

least if

self-control might presence. was

considered the external we might

manifestation of that virtue's with sophrosyne.

inward

say,

pregnant

If this is the case, he

tual

lover

when

he

went out

merely acting like Diotima's spiri to the palaistra, hoping to find young men who
could

were

both kalos

and

wise,

who

be taught

impregnated

with

soph

It became quickly obvious that Charmides met the first qualification. For the second, Socrates felt that he needed to speak with Charmides face to
rosyne.

face, despite body, and good.

know that

Critias'

assurance that

his

cousin's

soul was

beautiful, like his describes,

have
we

If the Socrates

of

the Charmides is a lover like that Diotima

even should

Charmides have turned

out

to be an ideal soul mate (the

would passed

term is hackneyed but strangely appropriate

here), Socrates

beyond his infatuation

with

the young man's individual

beauty

and

begun his
when

ascent toward universal, eternal rates

beauty

(Symp. 210a-212a). Indeed,

Soc
men met

more or

(as the blank ruler) confesses to his friend that he finds all young less equal in beauty, he implies that either at the moment he
shortly "Charmides
or

Charmides
universal.

thereafter
seemed

he had already

started

the movement to the

just then

(tote)

to be remarkably tall and beauti

appreciates the

ful to young We

me,"

he says, but generally speaking he

Socrates'

beauty

of all

men

(154b-c).
to
quotation of

return

Cydias,

who

had

warned the

lover that
would

one could

be

overtaken and consumed

by

beautiful boy, just

as a

fawn

70
be

Interpretation
reduced to a chunk of meat

by

lion. This is

a remarkable

passage

for

several

reasons,

of which three come

immediately

to mind.

First, Socrates,
with

who

had been observing the behavior of amusement, reveals to his confidant that the
actually foreshadows the
sent

Charmides'

swarm of

lovers

detached

sudden

proximity

of the youth of composure

him reeling into

elenctic aporia

aporia.

This

physiological

loss

in

which the

dialogue

concludes.

In both cases,

the aporia has a

beneficial

element.

The bewilderment
greater

engendered

by

the

Socratic

elenchus

ideally

spurs the
of

interlocutors to
and

self-awareness, the

perception of their own

lack

knowledge,
him to

finally

renewed reflection.

Sim
sus

ilarly,

Socrates'

sexual arousal

here leads him to

a new awareness of

his

ceptibility to
advice.

passion and causes

consider the significance of

Cydias'

The

second

striking

point about

the passage
not

is that

turn a

disconcerting, potentially embarrassing (if

opportunity for detached introspection indicates that shown in his control of his desire, consists in part in his intellectual

Socrates'

ability to unpleasant) event into an sophrosyne, here

appetite cite

Socrates'

having

greater
of

this line

urgency than his Cydias Plato appropriates

sexual

appetite.6

Third, by having Socrates

for

a metaphor

erotic pursuit that would

have been familiar to his readers, but it seems surprising that Socrates should choose (or perhaps construe) a version of the predator-prey image in which the
lover

(erastes) figures
as the
lion.7

as the

fawn

and

the

object of

figures

We

might expect

that the

image

his desire (the eromenos) would function the other

way around. The usual formulation

of

prey

lighting

upon

the erastes the part

the metaphor comparing an erotic pursuit to a beast its quarry, or as a hunter tracking game, does indeed give of the hunter and the eromenos the part of the hunted. For
of

example, there
c-d:

seems to

be

a probable sexual connotation to

Theognis 1278

A
a

lion, with trust in my strength, I caught a fawn in my claws, right out from under hind, but did not drink its blood. (Cited as an image for erotic capture by Dover 1978, p. 58.)
his first
speech

Concluding
motives of

in the Phaedrus, in
singing, "As

which

he denounces the

selfish

lovers
boys"

under the spell of

eros, Socrates begins to launch into epic (as

wolves are

he

admits

he has

done, 241e),

fond

of

lambs, just

so

do

lovers love
165).
Socrates'

(241d). Such

metaphors are similar to the common compari

game

son of sexual pursuit to

p.

hunting

(Dover, 1978,
an

pp.

81-91; Halperin 1985,

of

citation of the

line from Cydias,

inversion

the expected

im

age, has

not always

been

recognized as such.

stretches the

Charmides

text enough

For example, Jowett's translation to make it approximate a more conven

tional arrangement:

Drama, Narrative,
I thought how fair youth, he devoured
appetite.8

and

Eros in Plato's Charmides

love,
when, in speaking of a

71

well

Cydias

understood the nature of

warns someone

"not to

bring

the fawn in sight of the lion to be

overcome

by

him,"

for I felt that I had been

by

a sort of wild-beast

lion, who, perceiving his craving for Charmides, is aware that he poses some danger to the younger man (Nussbaum 1986, p. 92, also reads the text in this way). He then realizes the
version we can still as

In this

imagine Socrates

the

saliency
would-be

of

the advice given

of the
and

by

Cydias. But

what

Cydias had

advised

the

lover
lion"

fair

youth was

actually "take
me

care not to go as a

fawn

before

be devoured:

eulabeisthai

katenanta leontos
seem
Socrates'

nebron

elthonta moiran

haireisthai kreon

[my

emphases].

Thus there

to me to be
use of

at

least two

more

likely

readings.

this

inverted image is

to suppose that

One way of understanding he means he has been snared

by

his lust

for Charmides, so that the lion in the poem stands for carnal desire, not for an individual whose beauty incites it. Another reading, and I think the one that
most

simply

accommodates the

text, interprets the inversion his

encounter

as a simple rever

sal of roles.

Since Plato has

seem

contrived to make

between Socrates handsome

youth

and and

Charmides striking up
so

very

much

like

lover

looking

over a

a conversation with

him, he

must mean us

to go along

with

the

game,

to speak, and to imagine Socrates as the erastes and Charmides as the

eromenos.

If

we

do,

we will

be inclined to

expect the metaphor of

the lion and

fawn to felt

refer to

Socrates

and

Charmides,

respectively.

When Socrates says, "I

myself

to have been captured

by

beast like

that,"

he

most

likely

means

Charmides became, only if a with the power to momentarily, lion, pursue, catch, and devour (McAvoy 1996, p. 90, also interprets the quotation in this sense).
while

that he found himself in the role of the fawn

If

Socrates'

we understand

quotation of

Plato is here
whom

foreshadowing

the end of the

Socrates had first

approached as

Cydias in this sense, we can see that dialogue, in which Charmides, a lover might approach his beloved,
pursuer.

and

slyly Charmides have failed in his

suggests that the pursued will

become the

When Socrates, Critias,

their attempt to

tells Socrates that the two

of them should cousin even

define sophrosyne, Charmides thereafter spend every day together in

will resort

discussion. Critias
and

and

plotting that if Charmides is really intent

says
you"

force to

make

Socrates

submit

playfully say that they to their will. Socrates

to

replies

in kind
then,"

no one will

be

able

to resist him. "So

Charmides, "don't
(176a-d). If
Charmides'

either."

you resist me

Socrates answers, "I

with

won't resist

we continue

to

follow the

erotic subtext of

the dialogue we to "see him

can view
again,"

realization of

his desire to be

Socrates,
which

as a manifestation of anteros, a phenomenon passive eromenos of a sexual

in

the nominally
advances

relationship

not

only

enjoys

his lover's

but

even reciprocates, perhaps

to the point that the two roles are exchanged, or

72

Interpretation
merged. met

become
should

In the Phaedrus Socrates

says that

in
He

an

ideal relationship

eros

be

by

anteros as a matter of course.

cautions

that the sexual

desires
couple

on either side of the

relationship

should

be kept in

check so that

the

may enjoy

each other's thoughts and pursue wisdom

together, but he

does

not condemn the

desires

of either party, which cf.

relationship
eros

of their souls

(255a-256e;
and

actually help nurture the Symp. 210a. For Plato's treatment of

see

and anteros of

in the Phaedrus

Symposium,
Socrates'

Halperin 1986.). The

Alcibiades

anteros not own

corresponding only in Alcibiades himself, but also in Euthydemus and our very Charmides (222a-b). The Charmides dramatizes the title character's expe Socratic
eros

the Symposium says that

eros aroused a

rience of

(just

as the

Alcibiades I dramatizes

Alcibiades'

own

first

feelings
roles

Socrates'

of anteros). a neat and

quotation of

Cydias

encapsulates

this reversal of

in

Continuing
told

surprising image. his story about his meeting he had

regained

with

Charmides

and the

others, Soc speak, he

which

rates says that once

his

composure and was able to consisted of a

Charmides that the headache remedy he knew

administered a

leaf

had to be

had learned from

concurrently with a charm (epode, 155e). This cure he Thracian doctor working under the patronage of the god
a

Zalmoxis. The holistic Thracian had taught that

other part of

malady

of the

head

the

body

could

only be

cured through a regimen of care

any directed at apply the

soul.

or

the entire

body
charm

and the soul as well. was composed of

A Zalmoxian

physician would

charm,

which

itself
he

beautiful

words

(logoi

kaloi),

to the

With this
present and as a

could cause sophrosyne to settle

into

one's soul and

to be

in it (engenomenes kai parouses), bringing the soul to a healthy state consequently expediting bodily health (156d-157c). In setting himself up practitioner of Zalmoxian medicine Socrates promised to impart sophrosyne

to

Charmides

by

means of

kaloi logoi.
It
was

Socrates'

version of the charm would

Charmides'

naturally

prove to

be

an elenchus.

in the hopes that

soul would

prove amenable to such a charm that

Socrates had

agreed to speak with

him.

Critias had

quickened
a

his

expectation

by assuring Socrates
moreover,
came

that

Charmides

would

be willing to have
Socrates'

discussion
of

and was,

philosophos

(154e-155a).
on
Charmides'

description

Zalmoxian therapy
and

from

the third rung of

He was looking body (step 1) but realized in time that its beauty was not (step 2). His focus shifted (not without difficulty) to
up.

Diotima's ladder

lover standing drawn to

a

so unique after all soul

Charmides'

(step

3).

With

some confidence

in that

soul's

made a proposal

to the young man to

next

This

would

have been the

Socrates in effect receptivity join him in constructing a kalos logos. step, as Diotima defines it:
to sophrosyne,

Then [the in
a

lover]

must consider that

beauty

in

souls

is

worth more than the

beauty

in his soul, even if he has little to show on the that will be enough: the lover surface, will fall in love with him and care for him (210b-c)9 and give birth to the kinds of logoi that make young men better.
someone suitable

body. If

is

Drama, Narrative,
The first logoi that
would ensue would

and

Eros in Plato 's Charmides

the

73
(to

be

conversations about

beauty

kalon)

of customs or

laws

(nomoi)

and practices or activities

(epitedeumata)
their

(210c). In the Charmides

of sophrosyne

Socrates, Charmides,

and

Critias begin

discussion

by

considering

likely

manifestations of that virtue

quiet circumspection

in practice,

like walking

and

talking

with

deliberate,

showing modesty
generally,

(160d-161b), keeping
good things

to one's own work

(159b-160d), (161b-163d), and,

the element of to

doing

(163e-164d).

They

consider

kalon only in the first of these activities, seeking to evaluate the others on the basis of their goodness and societal benefits. In other dialogues, however, Soc
rates argues

for

the

identity

of to

kalon
e.g.

and goodness

(to agathon,

e.g.

Phil.

Rep. 457b); their investigation still fo 64e) cuses on the quality of admirability in various practices. Now the third concep tion of sophrosyne, "doing one's (to ta heautou prattein), expanded as a
and usefulness

(to ophelimon,

own"

every member of a city, is accepted by Socrates and his interlocutors in the Republic as a definition for justice (433a). Indeed the Re
principle

followed

by

public

is

a much more extended

discussion

of nomoi than one's own

is the Charmides, but leads the three

Critias'

definition in the

things"

of sophrosyne as

"doing

speakers

sequences of

dialogue ultimately to a consideration of the social con sophrosyne construed in various ways (171d-173d). What Socra
present
sophrosyne

tes says about

later in the dialogue

could

be

said perhaps

more

naturally

of

dikaiosyne:

A house city

run

in

accordance with sophrosyne would

certainly be

run

well, as

would a

so governed, and so with

everything

else controlled

by

sophrosyne.

(17 le)

Socrates,
level

again,

expands

his logos
nomoi.

about an

individual

soul

(Charmides')

to the
of

of a

logos

about

It has been

observed

that the meanings

sophrosyne and
rates'

dikaiosyne

often

apparent possession of

overlap in Plato, and it may well be that Soc sophrosyne in the Charmides implies his concomi
so

tant possession of

dikaiosyne,

that he has both of the virtues required

of sophrosyne and

by

Diotiman lover. (On the similarity in meaning Plato's dialogues, see Larson 1951).

diakaiosyne in

Socrates
mate

also prompted
on

Critias to

elevate

the discussion to the next, penulti

rung (episteme). When Socrates

Diotima's ladder:
made

an appreciation of

the

beauty

of

knowledge

the

observation about

the benefits to a city of

provisional

being
tance

governed
Critias'

according to sophrosyne, he did so with the

definition
of the virtue as

accep
of

of

"knowledge

of

the other knowledge

and of

knowledge itself (166c). The began (to

Critias'

consideration of sophrosyne as a

form

episteme

with
gignoskein

statement

that sophrosyne was the same as

and

know

ing
it

oneself

heauton, 165b)
kind
remains and

his

agreement with

Socrates that
point

must therefore of the

be

some

of episteme

(165c). From that

on

on, the

discussion
possible

Charmides
an

fixed for

the meaning, possibility, and

benefits for

individual

a polis of a

knowledge

of

knowledge

74

Interpretation
and the various epistemai.

itself

In the Symposium Diotima tells Socrates that

the consideration of epistemai will allow the lover to see

profound
manifestation

beauty in its
of

most

and

coax

from him the kaloi logoi

(210d). The
near as

contemplation of

the

he

can come to the vision of

beauty beauty

of the epistemai

philosophy brings the lover as

prompted

itself. The discourse

by

the contemplation of
pose the charm of

knowledge here

reminds us of the

kaloi logoi that

com

comprise the

therapy, as well as the philosophoi logoi that Socratic lover's discourse in the Phaedrus (257b). In the Charm
can

Zalmoxis'

ides these logoi

Charmides
tes'

was not an out of the

only be the elenchus. Sadly for Socrates, as it turned out, ideal youth with whom to give birth to such discourse.
discussion before the topic
of episteme came up.

He dropped

Socra

ascent could go no

further

with

him.10

By
show

reading the drama

how
one

and narration of the

Charmides
"about"

with

frequent

refer

ence to other

dialogues, especially

the

Symposium, my intention has been

a certain

to

dialogue that is not, ostensibly,

to

topic, here

eros, can reinforce the understanding of that topic we achieve through the other

dialogues. I do
go

not mean

imply

that Plato

intended his

original audience to

back through the Charmides

after

kinds

of point-to-point comparisons

first reading the Symposium to find the I have been making. Rather, I am con Plato had developed have
an

vinced

that when he wrote both dialogues

idea

of philo

sophical

love that he

wanted to express

through the character of Socrates. In the

might

Charmides he imagines how Socrates

erastes, while in the Symposium

acted

in the

guise

of an

he imagines how the

actions of a

philosopher-

lover

might

be

expressed

in theory. The fact that Diotima's ladder in the Sym

posium

reaches no

to the vision of the Beautiful in

proaches

such

level in the Charmides drama has little

itself but that Socrates ap relevance for the Forms

when

question of whether

Plato had in

mind a

theory

of

he

wrote the

Charmides. If he

had
I

such a

necessarily have allowed that Socrates had in Plato did not choose to introduce the theory and, vision, any case,
would not

had, he

as a solution to the question of sophrosyne. conclude with an observation about of

the significance of the narrative and

or
"ingressive"

drama
earlier

the Charmides for the

proposed wrote the

"proleptic"

reading
some years now

of

Plato's

dialogues Plato

by

Charles Kahn. For

and other

Kahn has

early dialogues or dialogues in Kahn's terms) partly in order to prepare his readers for the fuller, more dogmatic treatment that his middle dialogues like the Re public would give to the ideas presented with less elaboration in the earlier
"threshold"

argued that

Charmides

("premiddle"

works.

According

to

Kahn's theory

of

prolepsis, the arguments

of aporetic

dia

logues like the Charmides, Laches, Lysis, and Euthydemus would tions to the reader that could only be answered by a consideration
writings with reference

suggest ques
of these

early

to the others and after the appearance of the middle

dialogues (the Symposium, Phaedo, and Republic. Kahn 1996, pp. 56-70, 148291; 1988, pp. 541-49). As an example, he shows that the notion of the knowl-

Drama, Narrative,
edge of good and

and

Eros in Plato 's Charmides

sophrosyne

75

evil, though rejected as a definition for

courage and

in the

Charmides
of

and

for

the

Euthydemus
only becomes
pp.

in the Laches, has in common with the political art wisdom in the Lysis a possible political dimension
understandable to

which

fully

Plato's

readers after

they have

met pp.

the

dialectically
for

trained philosopher kings

of

Republic V-VII (Kahn 1996, in Kahn's

work

203-9; 1988,
principles

542-46). One

of

the more modest of the methodological

which one

finds

elegant support

is the

point that

the aporetic
works

dialogues look forward to the

middle

dialogues,

while

the middle

help

the reader to a fuller understanding of the earlier works. (For an

pp. not

opposing view, see the critique of Kahn 1988 by Griswold 1988, Although the specific details of his interpretation would perhaps
to the

550-51.)

kind

kind

of

reading I have been pursuing here, I would suggest dramatic prolepsis at work in the Charmides, by which
of

fit neatly that there is a

Socrates'

ac

tions and narrative anticipate

of

Plato's
and

more

expositive, theoretical explorations

Socratic

eros

in the Phaedrus

especially in the Symposium.

NOTES

character

other dialogues in which Socrates narrates directly (as opposed to narrating to another in the dialogue, as in the Protagoras and Euthydemus) are the Lysis and the Republic, but in those works he does not, as here, address his remarks to a specific second-person listener. 2. Cf. the Symposium, in which Alcibiades tells the assembled guests that one of his early

1. The

with Socrates included a bit of wrestling. Alcibiades, who by this time was entirely smitten See Socrates, proposed this activity in the belief that "surely something would come out of also Dover 1978, pp. 54-55. 3. Plutarch, for example, makes the comment that "a chatterbox [adoleschos] is simply a white
it."

"dates"

with

conversations,"

measuring-line about
such a

person,

since

he

can speak

4. For the 5. This

recently,

possible sexual

meaning that the topic of a discussion makes no difference to endlessly on any theme (Mor. 513f)innuendo of "one little see McAvoy 1996, p. 73 n. 25.
thing,"

observation

has been
p.

by Mahoney (1996,
puts

6. Bruell
was aware of
was part of

this point
of

made by North (1966, p. 154), Hyland (1981, p. 27) and, more 184), McAvoy (1996, p. 82), and Kahn (1996, pp. 187-88). well: "Socrates was not simply outside of himself; he also thought, he stood

himself
him

how he

in

relation

to Kydias with respect to wisdom; that thought

the experience, so to speak. And

gave some power

his

awareness of all

his wisdom, 146). 7. I

to

resist what

had been

an

this, together with his irresistible passion

.

concern
"

for
p.

(1977,

mention

from

what

poem that differed parenthetically the possibility that Plato puts a spin on its author intended because the quotation alone does not indicate that Cydias had in mind :

Cydias'

the metaphorical relation lion

fawn
:

:: eromenos : erastes.

If Plato's

readers expected even

from

Cydias the

more usual relation

lion

fawn

:: erastes : eromenos, the effect would

have been

an even

more protracted pause

8. Jowett 1961,
the passage

in the reading than the one I propose Plato meant to elicit. 102. Donald Watt's translation (1987, pp. 179-80) captures the ambiguity of but seems to indicate Charmides as the referent for the lion: "When speaking of a
p.

handsome boy, [Cydias] said, by way of advice to presence of a lion and be snatched as a portion
creature."

someone, 'Take care not to go as a

meat.'

fawn into the just

such a

of

I felt I'd been

of

caught

by
said

Kahn

(1996,

p.

187)
It

also preserves the

ambiguity
care

the text:
a

someone on the subject of a provide a meal

handsome

boy

'to take

lest, like

in advising fawn in front of a lion, he

"[Cydias]

for the

beast.'

seemed to me that

I had fallen

victim to a wild animal of

sort."

this

76

Interpretation
9. Kahn (1996, p. 270) also has the Symposium and
in these
men philosophical noticed the connection

between the logoi

Socrates'

shared

by

the

lovers
natural

described in

Socrates'

conversations with attractive an

interlocutors: "It is flirtatious

to recognize
with

logoi

implicit

reference to

conversations

handsome

like Meno,

as well as reference to the protreptic speeches

Socrates loves to
or

address to much-admired youths

like Charmides
Plato

and

Clinias (in the Euthydemus)

readers to come

to

beautiful

boys like Lysias 10. It is

with

Menexenus."

and also

reasonable to suppose that

intended his

to the

Charmides
ruling
and

the prejudice that

after the

Charmides, like Critias

a member of the notorious oligarchic regime manifestation as

Athens

therefore also

Peloponnesian war, lacked sophrosyne in its in its manifestation as a kind of knowledge.

"self-control,"

REFERENCES

Bruell, C. 1977. "Socratic Politics

Charmides."

and

Self-Knowledge: An Interpretation

of

Plato's

Interpretation 6: 141-203.
Plato."

Dover, K. 1978. Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Journal of Philosophy 85: 550-51. Griswold, C. 1988. "Unifying Ancient Philosophy 5: Halperin, D. 1985. "Platonic Eros and What Men Call
Love."

161-204.
1986. "Plato
and

Erotic

Reciprocity."

Classical

Antiquity

5: 60-80.

Hyland, D. 1981. The Virtue of Philosophy: An Interpretation of Plato's Charmides.

Athens: The Ohio

University

Press.
and

Jowett, B.,

trans. 1961.

Charmides. In E. Hamilton

H. Cairnes, eds., The Collected

Dialogues."

Dialogues of Plato. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp. 99-122. Kahn, C. 1988. "Plato's Charmides and the Proleptic Reading of Socratic
Journal of Philosophy 85: 541-49. 1996. Plato and the Socratic Dialogue. Cambridge: Cambridge Press.

University

Larson, C. 1951. "The Platonic Synonyms dikaiosyne

nal

sophrosyn

and

American Jour

of Philology 72: 395-414.

Sophrosyne."

Mahoney, T. 1996. "The Charmides: Socratic Sophrosyne, Human

Journal of Philosophy 34: 183-99. McAvoy, M. 1996. "Carnal Knowledge in the
ern
Charmides."

South

Dialogues
and

with

Plato

(Apeiron 29.4). Ed. E. Benitez. Edmonton: Academic

Printing

Publishing. Pp.

63-103.

North, H. 1966. Sophrosyne: Self-Knowledge and Self-Restraint in Greek Literature. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Nussbaum, M. 1986. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and
Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge

University

Press.

Page, D. L. 1962. Potae Melici Graeci. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Watt, D., trans. 1987. Charmides. In T. J. Saunders, ed., Plato: Early Socratic Dialogues.

Hanmondsworth, Eng: Penguin. Pp. 163-209.

Liberty

and

Revolution in Burke's

Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol

Mark Kremer
The

University

of Chicago

INTRODUCTION

Two

of

the most noteworthy and seminal events

and
on

during

Burke's life

were the

American

French Revolutions. He
them have

wrote

judgements
thought
support

formed judgements
far

on

extensively on both, and his himself. His own Whig party

with

his

condemnation of

the French Revolution was inconsistent

went so

his

for the Americans. Marx

to

as to attribute

Burke's
of

apparent

lack

of principle

his love

of

lucre. He

wrote

the

following

Burke in

Capital: "The
romantic

sycophant

who

in the pay

of the

laudator temporis

acti against

the French Revolution

English oligarchy played the just as, in the

pay of the North American colonies at the beginning of the American troubles, he had played the liberal against the English oligarchy, was an out-and-out
bourgeois.'"

any essential difference between the two revolu tions, because he thought both were part of an historical movement towards
not see

Marx did

freedom. Burke's
apparent

inconsistency

was

also

criticized

by Paine,

because he

thought that both

revolutions

supported the rights of man.

Like Marx, Paine

failed to grasp the consistency of Burke's judgement because he failed to grasp the reasons for Burke's support of the Americans. He did not support the Amer ican Revolution because it
He defended it
ent
protected

the absolute right to freedom and equality.

and

on prudential about

grounds,

if

one

is to

make sense of

his differ

judgements
his

the American and the French

and

Revolutions,
and

one must ex as

plain

peculiar

defense

understanding

of

justice

liberty

they

relate

to

prudence.2

Burke's defense
opposition to the

of the

influence

American Revolution is properly seen in light of his of theory or abstract ideas on political life. He was
the American Revolution because their
of

against

Parliament

during

indignation,
He op
spirited saw the
aristo-

justified

by

legal doctrine

sovereignty, was

becoming
of

a tyranny.

posed the revolution

in France because their doctrine

the rights of man was

leading
ness

anarchy and a subsequent military despotism. Public had decayed in both instances into hatred and revenge. Burke
them to

threat of

tyranny less from the

selfishness of

the

bourgeoisie

and

from

interpretation, Fall

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

78

Interpretation
privilege, than from
self-righteous

cratic

authority

and self-righteous rebellion

fueled

by

general and abstract

ideas.

Burke's defense
ciation of and

of prudence against principle and

theory

requires an appre

his

art.

He did

not write a theoretical work on politics.

His

speeches

letters

are

informed

by

the

immediacy
of

of events.

Yet, in

order

to persuade

his

audience about the

meaning
To

events, he had to reflect on politics as a

encompass

whole.

Burke's

rhetoric and

reasoning
appreciate

the broadest questions about

justice
must

and government. see

his

thought and

his

peculiar

genius,

one

learn to

the universal and

permanent problems of political

life in his

treatment of the political

of

issues

of

his time. In

doing

so,

one gains

the

distance
faced

philosophy
The

without

abstracting from the

concrete political problems

by

citizens and statesmen. absolute and abstract character of cannot

theory is

a poor guide
principle.3

for

political

life

because justice
however
much

be

made

into

a consistent

This

means that

Burke thought the laws to be the

as

guardian of

freedom, he

also

famous for arguing that policy needs to be guided by prudence, rather than law, as he is for being a defender of constitutional government. Justice has two different aspects, and it is no small
thought that
part of the art of the statesman to

they had their limitations. He is

keep

them

justice

of

law

consists

in its impartiality, The law

from corrupting one another. The whereas the justice of war consists in
treat its citizens equitably, while

partiality to
whom

one's own country.

must

those same citizens must treat as enemies the rebels and foreigners against

they fight. The

political association

is

constituted

by

both the
on

aspect of

law

and

the aspect of patriotism,

equitableness of the

because it is threatened
a

two different
and

fronts. The
the

law is
against

defense

against

internal tyranny,

love

of

country is

defense

foreign domination. The

political asso

is necessarily a mixture of the general and the particular, because it must regulate both the relation between citizens as well as the relation between citi
ciation

zens, rebels,

and

foreigners.

The Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol (1777) is an excellent portrayal of how Burke understood the conflicting aspects of justice and how he managed those
conflicts

in the defense

of political

liberty. The letter is

discussion

about

Britain's

partial suspension of

the

habeas
to

corpus as a tool of war against the

English in America. On temptation,

the
on

account of the war

being

a civil

one, there is

strong
of
as

the part of the

British,

fight the
to

rebels

using the
an

law. The American The British do

rebels

are not

only thought

of as

authority enemy, but

treasonous criminals, who are

gland. not

disobedient
want to

Parliament

and unfaithful

to En

them. In order to exact

wage

defeat the Americans, but punishment, Parliament must use the form
simply
suspend

to punish
of

law to

war, yet it must also

execute

partially American traitors. A disobeyed

be effectual,

the

habeas

corpus

in

order to

and unenforced

law is

not a

law. It is

the nature of law to

and the

British have

modified theirs to ensure

ought not to

its bite. It is, however,

also the nature of

law to be just. Its force

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

overreach

of

Bristol

79

the

bounds be

of

the

bounds force

of what^can

its justice, any more than its justice ought to overreach be enforced. In order to maintain the integrity of law,
realm of war and

there needs to
as

distinction between the for

war

the realm of

law,

the

required

is

of an extent

that goes well

beyond the equity

required

for justice

under

the realm of law and

law. Britain's combination, or rather confusion, of the realm of policy is very disturbing to Burke, and he
the

foresees
attempt

grave consequences

from it. It is in this background

of

Parliament's

to use the law

as an

instrument

of war

that Burke writes the Letter.

Of
most

all

wars, Burke thought that civil wars were the worst, because
and piety.

they

are

destructive to justice
wars strike

Civil

deepest

of all

into the

manners of the people.

They

vitiate their

politics;

they

corrupt

their morals,

they

pervert even the natural taste and relish

for

equity

and

justice.

By teaching

us to consider our

fellow-citizens in
us.

hostile light,
of

the whole

body

of our nation

affection and
new

kindred,
189)4

which were the

becomes gradually less dear to bond of charity whilst

we agreed,

The very names become

incentives to hatred

and rage, when the communion of our

country is

dissolved. (P.

The hatreds bom

either civil or

of

broken love have be

a vengefulness that

is

not excused

by

war.

necessity Although law

the common good. The spirit

might partial

of murderous

hatred dominates
in its
and

in its

object

and patriotism

devotion, they both

an

require a

bond

of

love that is

accompanied

by

feeling

simply negative and destructive. By the of law into the British destroy honest patriotism war, bringing generality with hate; and by bringing the partiality of war into law, they dissolve alto
of the common

idea

good;

they

are not

gether an

the bonds of affection between citizens. The dissolution of a

of a common good

feeling

and

idea

among the British accompanies the extremes of Burke foresees the savagery
as of tyrannical

barbarism
hate

tyranny

and

servility.

and the slavishness of

despondency

the extreme consequences of Brit

ain's corruption of the

law.
well suited to

The theme
of

of

Burke's letter is very

an

its

audience.

The Sheriffs

Bristol have

grown cynical and

are sworn

has become

melancholy because the law to which they instrument of crime and tyranny. Their cynicism and

177).5 melancholy are not, however, devoid of hope; they wish for peace (p. They have lost confidence in justice, but they have not lost their humanity. Their problem is how to restore peace without the sword of justice, and this is

where

Burke

steps

in to

make their

desire for

peace more than

just

humane
Ameri

and pious

hope. Burke

puts

his

case

for

reconciliation with

America before the

on

sheriffs and the public as

can

he did

earlier with

Parliament in his Speech

Taxation. He

gives to the sheriffs political reasons, public spirited

reasons,

for pursuing

peace.

He in

effect

helps to

mold and strengthen a peace

articulating the issues, proposing a policy, and making a show of face of popular and Parliamentary hostility. His opposition to the

party by courage in the

war

party is

80

Interpretation
defense
of

expressed as a

justice

against tyranny.

The letter
of

as a whole

teaches

and practices prudence

by

both teaching the limits Burke's

support of the

law

and

by

supporting the

belief in it.
The Letter
about
of shows that

Americans

owed

less to ideas
effects

democracy

and abstract rights than

to his

opposition

to the

fanatic

theory

on political

life

and

his desire to

protect political

liberty. It is in this
that one

opposition to the

fanatic
of

effects of

theory

and

his defense
the two

of prudence

finds the consistency

Burke's

reflections on

revolutions.

THE PARTIAL SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS

The

partial suspension of

the habeas corpus has two

objects:

"The first, to

enable administration

to confine, as

long

as

it

shall think
. .

proper, those whom

that act

the act

The second purpose of qualify by the name of pirates. is to detain in England for trial those who shall commit high treason in

is

pleased to

America"

(p. 178). Burke

argues

that the objects of the suspension corrupt

the order of crimes; second,
the guilty

justice in four different

ways:

first, by confusing

by
be

denying the accused a fair trial; third, by treating fourth, by treating innocent citizens inequitably.
traced to the all-consuming anger of Parliament.

inconsistently;

and

All four

corruptions can

The

partial

suspension

determines

as

pirates those

American

commanders

and mariners of private ships and vessels of war which

fall into British hands

equi-

(p. 178). The determination

tableness of the law

of

enemy

rebels as pirates undermines the

by confounding

the order of crimes. Although piracy and

their equation

treason share the same sentence

tween mistaken virtue and

(death),

blurs the difference be

(p. 179). The determination

infamous action, and, therewith, the distinction itself of American rebels as pirates was made with the
add

intention
allow

of

insulting

them, to

infamy

to punishment. The British will not

them the respect owed to a noble

love

of

liberty

or to

formidable

enemy.

In fact, the British

the

will not even allow

them the pity owed to the con

demned;
contrary,

image

of

death

neither softens nor

horrifies

the

British, but,

to the

they

rejoice at

quality of the action. the British themselves. The determination

a

it. Hatred determines the crime, rather than the moral This habit of indulging their hatred threatens the morals of
of

American

commanders and mariners as pirates reveals

disturbing
and

state of the

English

soul.

Their hatred is
not entertain

accompanied

by

pitiless-

ness and

fearlessness, because they do

the possibility of their own

deaths
god,

defeat. Parliament has taken the tone

a criminal

of an

angry

and all powerful

but, in fact, is behaving like

who appear

tyrant. Burke says that it

under the cloak of
naval

is

the

British

to be the pirates,

because,
than

law, they

take

the confiscated cargo, put to death the

the cargo amongst

American

men, and then distribute

a war

themselves,

rather

giving it to

treasury (p.

179).

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

Their wrath, far from making the British godlike, object of their own insults.
makes them

of

Bristol

81

lower

than the

By

moral qualities of

allowing their indignation to dictate the order of crimes, rather than the the crime, Parliament replaces justice with force and will. It

is particularly important to understand that the blurring of the distinction be tween treason and piracy is only possible at the expense of love of country.
Parliament denies
a place

for

patriotism

in the

moral order

and, therefore, finds

itself in
god

a world where strength

and a

tyrant

in

so

far

as

is the only claim to authority; it acts like both a its actions are not justified by country. This

insolent
men as
some

only reflected in its characterization of American naval pirates, but also in its description of American soldiers in general. After
strength not

is

American
should

defeats,

the British
more

insult them
order

by

calling them cowards,

as

if
In

they
is

have killed

British in

to prove themselves

virtuous.

the absence of justice, manly defiance becomes the only virtue. This manliness
untempered whether

by justifications

and

fears; it
and

expresses
of

itself in

simple
or the

domina
of

tion,

it be the imprisonment

killing

enemies,

taking

their goods. The spirit of just victory is

completely

lacking
habeas

in the British.
corpus

The

second object of the partial suspension of the who shall commit

is "to detain
(p. 180).

in England for trial those But these trials

cannot

high treason in

America"

bring

possibly be just, because the accused cannot possibly forward witnesses to defend himself. The accused is, therefore, tried ac

cording to form, but not according to justice. This attempt to punish the Ameri cans through the law brings the law into disrepute, because the legal process
appears to

be nothing more than a cover for the arbitrary will of Parliament. Not only does the trial of Americans in England corrupt justice, but it does
produce punished

not even

the desired effects of punishment.

What

example

can

an

American

in England

serve the

Americans

at

home? The

unjust pun

ishments only
pride and execution

serve to

increase American

vigilance.

It is only the

perverse

hate
that

of a tyrant
will

that could cause one to congratulate oneself for an

tenfold upon one's
suspension

be

retaliated

friends. Burke does habeas

corpus

not

hesitate to
precedent

point out

that the partial

of the

has its justice

in

King Henry
war,

VIII (p. 180). The

punishments serve neither or

nor the ends of

which are

victory, peace,

both.
and

The

proper place

for the

punishments

is in America,

their proper time is

cannot give punish

after the war, should the ment

English be

victorious.

Parliament

its

proper

time and place, because it

is blinded

by

its

own

indignation.
of a

The

mere

thought of shackling the to have them arrive

ship (only
where

Americans, tying half dead in England),

them down
and then

in the hold

tossing

them in

forma trial, ought to evoke feelings of horror jail, they Britain are only hardened by the punishments; (pp. 181-82). Yet the English in
will await a pro

they have lost all feelings of pity and humanity for their fellow Englishmen in America, and Burke suggests that this pitilessness will become a permanent part of the British character, that they will become savage.

82

Interpretation
The
punitive

hate

of

Parliament

even extends

to the

exchange of prisoners.

At the

end of the

war, the British are intent on punishing as traitors those

prisoners who remain mination of

American
of

to the
yet

reasoning

in their hands (p. 182). But, this action, like the deter pirates, corrupts justice because according the action the earlier prisoners should have been punished,
naval men as

they

were allowed

to go

free. It

hardly

seems

just,

never mind

possible, to

punish

the exchanged prisoners, as a life was given in return for a life.

The
The

exchanged prisoners were

ing

prisoners

is to

make

clearly pardoned; innocence and guilt dependent

to do
with

therefore not

to

pardon the remain

upon circumstance.

respect

for justice has Since the

much

how consistently the innocent

an

and

guilty
with

are treated.

expediencies of war necessitate the unequal treatment of

prisoners, it is more prudent not to make crime and punishment

respect

issue

to prisoners. But the British

punitive.

parliament

is incapable

of such

prudence,

because it is

The empty
prisoners are

formality

of

legal

proceedings and the

inconsistent treatment

of

not,

however,

the worst aspects of the partial suspension. It shakes

the foundation of the nation

general.

by breaking
draws

the first principle of

law,

that it

be

The

partial suspension

the distinction between men

in the differ

ent realms

and, therefore, openly denies some men their rights while protecting

those of others (p.

186). The

unequal

treatment of American prisoners only

treats the guilty unequally, but the distinction between men in the realms treats the innocent differently. This offense to threat to political liberty. Burke says
general venoms equity.

justice is the
as

act's
can

most

dangerous is
a

that,

far

as

he

tell,

liberty

principle; the

limiting

qualification, instead of
of

taking

out the sting, en

one of

it to

a greater requires

degree (p. 184). The issue

liberty is really
requires the

Liberty

a common good

equality under the law, because it between citizens.

belief in

What
not

makes the partial suspension of the

habeas

corpus

truly dangerous is
would

its

corruption of

law, but its

to the

corruption of manners.

The law

be

of no

effect most

if it

were opposed

feelings

and

ideas

of the people.

Burke finds it

disturbing

that the partial suspension,

far from

being
the

opposed to manners,

accords with them and moves them partial suspension codifies their

further in the
and

same

direction (p. 188). The

hatred

affection

between

the

British

and the

remaining bonds of English in America. It dissolves the nation be

citizens without the

dissolves

by dissolving
shared

the common good. How can there

can

belief in

fates? How

there be a belief in shared

fates

when the

law

separates of

those who are under it? This cynicism with respect to the

has the

effect of

disaffecting

decent

citizens

from

politics altogether.

justice possibility The partial

suspension

destroys

public spiritedness

by destroying

the public.

Apathy is

the

accompanying

obverse of

legislated hate, because it leaves

no place

for decent

political attachments.

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

PRELUDE TO DIALOGUE

of

Bristol

83

By
past

raising the issue

of

liberty
they

the war towards the relation the British that

and tyranny, Burke asks the British to look between the people and their representatives.

He

reminds

are

threatened

by

their rulers even more than

of

by

the rebels.

He

wants

to awaken in the people the jealous love

liberty. He

even wishes

that some abuse of the partial suspension would touch them, as

they

are

Burke's letter

indifferent to its injustice only because they do not suffer from it. attempts to moderate the extremes of hate and apathy by encour
and

aging the belief in virtue past. He even speaks as

courage

justice. He first

reminds the

British

of their noble order to en

a representative of the

traditionalists, in

love

of country.

But the British have lost their honest

prejudices which

supported

their love of liberty.

They have

the shamelessness to celebrate the

names of

victory

of

German
are

mercenaries and to
concerned with

herald the

German generals,
with

because they harm to their

Burke
regards
of

less it

British

virtue and

glory than

doing

enemies

(pp. 189-90).
might

says that

be

of some consolation
was enlightened

for the loss is

of their old

if the

reason of the

British

in

proportion to the removal

their honest prejudices.

of concern

But, British disaffection for

their past

connected

to

lack

for their future. Their hatred

causes them to

live in the

pre

sent; it

blinds

them to their own nobility and their own good.

public

Since British

spiritedness

has decayed into hatred in

order

of

Americans,
and moral

Burke

must appeal to private advantage

to moderate the British. He

speaks to the
consciences.

British
of

as

individual

citizens with

individual interests

One

the ways to make the British think about their welfare is to

destroy,
have

with

doses

of

fear,

the

confidence

fueling

their

hatred (recent
that

victories

they have not increased their authority, despite American defeats. The British have spread devastation but have only the ground they encamp on and no more.
made the reminds them

British feel invincible). Burke

Having
specter of

British doubt the certainty of victory, Burke raises the the unknown. He reminds them that the war has taken on a magni
made the

tude unimagined the fear of the

to secret
ain

by

those who either wished

it

or

feared it. In
sheriffs that

order

to give

privy biting information concerning the real threat foreign powers posed to Brit in the last year. He even uses images to induce doubt and fear; he says
unknown a

reality, he tells the

he

was

that the
mazes

way ahead is intricate, dark, and full of perplexed and treacherous (p. 191). The British must doubt themselves, if only through fear, be
can

fore they

be

enlightened.

The

specter of

foreign

powers

is

meant

to re

awaken the ties of

kinship
which

and the

love

of country.

the attachment to country, Burke can move

With the reawakening of his rhetoric from fear to shame. In

obstinate

light

of

the dangers

lie ahead, Parliament's

fury

appears

both

ridiculous and

irresponsible.

84

Interpretation
It is
The
and
no excuse poorest

for

presumptuous

ignorance,

that

it is directed

by

insolent

passion.

being

that crawls on the earth, contending to save itself from

an object respectable

justice
cannot

oppression, is

in the

eyes of

God

and man.

But I

conceive

any

existence under

heaven (which in the depths

of

its

wisdom

tolerates

all sorts of

things) that is

more

truly

odious and

disgusting

than an

impotent,

helpless creature, any

without civil wisdom or

military skill,

without a consciousness of

other qualification

for

power

arrogance, calling for battles

which

but his servility to it, bloated with pride and he is not to fight, contending for a violent
(P.

dominion in

which

he

cannot

exercise, and satisfied to be himself mean and miserable,

order to render others contemptible and wretched.

191)

Burke
to

shatters the
upon

illusion

of

Parliament's

bear

its

strength.

Being

godlike authority by bringing reason limited in its strength, Parliament needs wis

dom be

and

justice.
of uncertain

In light

victory

and certain

understood as

Burke

reinterprets this

partaking famous

of

death, manliness and cowardice judgement, rather than simply force and
in light
of the real situation

must will.

pair

facing

the Brit

ish. Far from

man's of

being

cowards, those in favor of peace are acting responsibly; "no

blood

pays

the

forfeit

of

[their]

rashness.

No desolate

widow weeps

tears

blood

over

[their]

ignorance"

(p. 199). Those in favor

of the

war, far from

being

manly, show little

are content to

real

magnanimity.

They
they

would offer themselves promise

for

battle but fortunes

hire German mercenaries; they

their country; and
notable

their private

and

they

mortgage

exult

themselves performed some

water

exploit,

when

in triumph, as if they kindred blood pours like

from the

arms of

foreign

soldiers.

actually the hypocritical

others.

pride of a

coward,

The mocking insolence of the British is who is courageous at the expense of

Besides

laying
of

foundation for
on

shame and

love

of

country, the cold doses of

fear that Burke throws

nal

the heated anger of the British prepare a more ratio

discussion

the war. With the awakening of their

interests, Burke

must

discuss

the rewards of war. He reminds the

British that the

goal of the war was

to increase their wealth, rather than to punish and to subjugate. He also tells
them that

they

will not get one cent

from America. The British

can at

best hope

to maintain trade monopolies, or at

money in the form of best the British can hope for is to

not receive

them, but they will thing In light of this hopeless prospect, the taxes,
closest

least the

to

save

their reputation

not

to look

weak and

foolish in frustration

and

defeat.

By

prepared the ground argument

reducing British hopes to the salvation of their reputation, Burke has for his plan. He has been building towards an explicit for
reconciliation

but

tion and greed. The

victories

fear

of

could only make it once he had tamed indigna humiliation upon which he builds places the recent are not proofs of allows

in

a new

light.

They
(he

British

invincibility
draw the He

but

of good

fortune. Burke

suggests

his

audience to

conclusion

for

themselves)

that the

British

should quit while

they

are ahead.

states to the

Burke 's Letter to the Sheriffs

of

Bristol

85

British, (1774),
remains

as

he

stated earlier

to Parliament in his Speech

on

American Taxation
and, to

that to reconcile while

of

in

a position of strength

is

magnanimous

the glory

Parliament,
the
power

under

will be popularly recognized as such. But Parliament illusion that it is omnipotent and believes that any limit

placed on

its

is necessarily

a sign of weakness and an

insult to its honor.

THE ARGUMENT FOR RECONCILIATION

The
of

argument

for

reconciliation must address

itself

directly

to the accusation

treason,

as

it is

asserted

that talk of peace encourages rebellion (p. 195).

Burke

argues that rebellions are provoked rather than encouraged.

This is his
moves to

first

statement about

British

guilt.

He is

cautious

in his blame; he

wards ate

it slowly by first arguing that the Americans cannot be peace. The British have broken so many promises that it
expect to

expected would

to initi
absurd

be

for them to death in

them the way.

and

be trusted; they must earn that trust, and Burke shows As things stand, the Americans must trust in themselves, to risk
with

defeat

their own arms, rather than certain tyranny. In order to

and

break this
whom

circle of

hate

distrust,

the British must form a strong peace party

confidence.

the Americans can place their

The way to form and strengthen the peace party is not through parliamentary debate. Burke has absented himself from Parliament, because his objections to its
policies

only increased its

obstinacy.

Honesty

and prudence compel

him to

take his case to those decent citizens in whom there still exist

justice

and pity.

In taking his case for reconciliation to the public (the letter is meant for circula tion) Burke is able to exploit the division between the people and their repre
sentatives,
cynicism. a

division that has lost its tension due to

widespread

hate

and

The English in America

their fellow

will

only

put their confidence

in

a peace

party that

contains the popular support of the people.

of

Without the

affection and strength

Englishmen,

the Americans are virtually alone. The obstacle to

almost unanimous support
with

peace

seems, therefore, to be the

for the
the

war

in

England, both
addresses

popular and parliamentary.

Burke is faced

dangerous

and colossal task of

himself

American policy If one man is to be heard

dividing and conquering a nation unified in its hatred. He directly to the unanimity by which Parliament justifies its by first drawing the distinction between agreement and truth.
above the voices of

many, he

must

invoke

a truth

beyond the
source and

collective

or conventional of

wisdom; Burke turns to

reason as the

foundation

his

policy.

Burke's
not

criticisms of

disputing

their right to

trying

to make

unanimity are not direct criticisms of the people. He is be heard but is rather competing for their ear. He is the people doubt Parliament and, therewith, themselves, by

pointing to the

arbitrariness of

Parliament's American

policy.

Just

a short

time

86
ago

Interpretation

Parliament unanimously opposed the war and was willing to negotiate a peace, because the British had suffered defeats. Now, having recently tasted victory, Parliament is unanimously in support of the war. Burke paints a picture
and cowardly in defeat and confident and insolent Parliament lacks the gravity and constancy of reason and character; its passions and mind are enslaved to the prevailing fortune it meets. It rides the
of

Parliament that is fearful

in

victory.

waves

of chance

and, therefore, can

neither

be

admired

by

those who

love

virtue nor ness of

followed

by

those who worship the promise of success. The arbitrari

can serve as a wedge

its policy cannot but induce doubts that the lukewarm from the majority
While Burke dares British
politicians.

to separate

not accuse the

British

nation

for the war, he

can accuse

aggrandizement.

He implies that Parliament is waging the war for its own Burke tries to awaken within the breasts of the British their
minds towards

jealous love
British

of

liberty. He turns their

traces the cause of the war to bad

politicians

government.

He is thereby

domestic politics, and he able to blame the

with sympathies

for the hinges

war and

to encourage a peace party

towards the English in America without appearing treasonous. The argument

for

reconciliation

on an argument about good government.

GOOD GOVERNMENT

In the Letter

to the
and

ity

of

Parliament

Sheriffs of Bristol we see Burke attack the ruling author defend the colonists, because Parliament has given itself
claims the right

over to

doctrinaire fanaticism. Parliament

to tax the

Americans,

even though

right of

they have no representation, because Parliament claims to have the sovereignty. Burke recognizes Parliament's sovereignty only because it
its
power

has

exercised

for

long

time and continues to do so.

Parliamentary
of obedience

sovereignty is (p. 205). Burke

people

not

justified

by

an abstract

legal right, but

people.

by

habits

argues that abstract

Parliament

rules

for the

He does

not argue that the

have

rights, but that their desires should be

respected

because

of

their strength. The people are, at

best,

granted social rights

(pp. 210-11). Par

liament must, therefore,

I
must

attend to public

opinion,

rather

than oppress it.

beg

leave to observe, that it is

not

will

be resisted, but that

no other given part of

only the invidious branch of taxation that legislative rights can be exercised, be
governed.

without regard to the general opinion of those who are to opinion a

That

general

is

the vehicle and organ of

theory

to entertain

Without this, it may be the mind, but it is nothing in the direction of affairs. (P. 207)
omnipotence.

legislative

The
not

government should exercise

its

rule with as much reserve as

possible, so

as

to offend the people. Due to the strength and

the constitution ought to

have

offices which can

variability be appealed to

of public

opinion,

when public

Burke 's Letter to the Sheriffs

opinion changes.

of

Bristol

87

The

government must act as a

kind

of grievance

committee,

and

it

must

have the
to

appropriate offices

for the

appropriate complaints.

Thus it

is

wise not

destroy
case

the

convocation of

the clergy or any other ceremonial

also mentions

offices,

just in

they

are needed

(p. 208). Burke

the veto

power of with

the monarchy. If one puts together his discussion of good government

of

his policy

reconciliation,

one sees

that

he flatters hopes to

put pressure

on

and

Parliament, from, the clergy

and of

maybe even veto

and

its legislation,

through pressures placed on,

religion more

the monarchy;

they embody

than parlia

ment,

Burke is

quick to point out

that, because

of

the fixed

sentiments and

beliefs
Burke

the people, parliament can no longer legislate

religion.

The

voice of

and

his friends is
are

a weak

minority, but it
which

gains might

strength

through the

knowledge that there Since

institutions in
so

public opinion

is

they important, Parliament must

be heard.
the charac

understand

ter of those over which it governs. If Parliament had listened to and had studied
the

Americans, it
free

would

know that the Americans

must

are averse

other than a

one.

Freedom

then be

understood as

to any government it is understood by

the

Americans. Freedom is

not an abstract

principle, any more than

is

sover of

eignty; freedom
others.

is

feeling

felt

by

those who are subjected to the

oppression and admits

rules

Freedom is primarily freedom from

to various
not

degrees
paying

depending
in

on

the people

being

ruled

(p. 211). But Parliament is

are not

attention to public opinion. which

The British
make a

studying the
are not

particular

circumstances prudence

they

must

decision.

They

practicing

(the

god of

this lower world), but are

account

thinking in

terms of an abstract

legal doctrine that fails to

for the

character of

the factions.
ought not

Burke's defense

of

American freedoms,

and even

independence,

to

be mistaken, as it was by the New Whigs, as a defense of freedom in general. He condemned the French Revolution in no uncertain terms, not because of a perverse humor, but because of a consistent opposition to the influence of ab
stract

theory

on political

life. Freedom, like authority, is

of theories of

susceptible government

to the ex

tremes

of theory.

In light

freedom,
of

all

becomes
such

tyranny
as

and usurpation

because freedom is thought

The
perfection of

in

an extreme

form,

doing

what one wills.

politics.

Reason

cannot

tolerate

an

freedom in theory is its death in inconsistent principle, whereas politics

tends to blame entire constitu

demands
gated.

compromise

to the extent that first principles are better left uninvesti

By

painting the world in extremes,

rather

theory
require

tions for

injustice,

than the particular men in power or an easily remedied

law. Compromise
If the in the
the

and

reform,

however,
but
with

the belief that the problem

is

not with the entire constitution, ment.

the particular men running the govern

people are sane enough

responsible

to articulate their particular grievance and

blame those
ment

for

the problem, then the responsible

should

party

Parlia
to

case of the

American Revolution
god of

be

prudent enough

satisfy

complaint.

The

this lower world

(prudence) is

needed

to

secure the

blessing

of

the lower world (peace). It requires compromise, and,

88
thus,

Interpretation
one must understand the

demands

of each

faction

and what

is

needed

to

satisfy them. In abstract theory, Burke sees fanaticism leading to the practical both anarchy and tyranny. Yet Burke's criticisms of abstract theory
ously
not

effects of
are obvi

directed

against general principles

in

general

cisms of religious

fanaticism

are

directed

against religion not arouse

any more than his criti in general. The idea

as

of no taxation without representation

does

his criticism,

do the

doctrines

of

the rights of man and the absolute sovereignty of parliament. He is

critical of

favorably
the

disposed to the former but

the latter two. No taxation

of a parliament

without representation

does

not

deny

the

legitimacy
It is

to exist or

legitimacy

of grievances against one.

not a principle

that is destructive

of all order and

prudence, because it is a principle of compromise, rather than

acknowledges the

hate; it implicitly
legitimate
The rights
other

possibility

of

legitimate authority

as well as

rebellion. of man and the absolute

hand,
of

principles of

destruction that

sovereignty of parliament are, on the are bom more from vengeance than an
government.

idea

the

common good or of

legitimate
while

The former is bom

source

of

the antitheological
of a
god.6

ire

of an

atheist,

the latter

has its

in the

wrath

sovereignty fortify puni hate because they make authority absolute while denying the opposition the right to exist. The French revolutionaries made their anger absolute by claiming
principles of and serve

General

freedom

to

tive

to speak

for the

rights of

man;

they

claimed

to embody mankind, thus

denying
claimed

the church, the aristocracy, and the monarchy the status and rights

they

for themselves. The British Parliament

the authority of a god;

made

themselves absolute

by

claiming

they denied

their opposition the right to resistance.

General theories
passions, bom

of

sovereignty

and rebellion tend

to

fortify

the most extreme

of self-righteous

of the most extreme circumstances.

Moments

authority lived, rather than cod ified, because they only extend and exacerbate the evils of civil war. Burke considered civil war as an evil worse than national wars because the
and self-righteous rebellion ought violence of civil war

to be short

is

untempered

by

a concern

for the

common good.

He

even considered civil war worse than are more

savagery, because the hatreds

of civil war

difficult to satisfy; they

affection,
and savage cruelty. collective

are

bom from disappointed trust,

of

and are

defiant

of past

therefore contain an element

of mission that

is

lacking

in

Not the least

Burke's

concerns was the alliance

between the

hate that is the heart ideas

were

of civil war and abstract philoso religion as a new source of

phy, as he saw that philosophic

replacing

hatred by lending fortify historical meaning to killing the enemy. These feelings and ideas of significance drown out the feelings of pity and horror that are the humane emotions evoked by slaughter. One of Burke's rhetorical goals in the Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol and the Reflections on the Revolution in France
and encourage murderous cosmic and world

fanaticism. Abstract ideas

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

is to
restore simple and

of

Bristol

89
the
and

feelings

of

pity, guilt,

horror,

and affection

by describing

suffering
crimes of

innocence

of the murdered and

the stupidity, malice, greed,

their persecutors.

The Reflections, in particular, is helpful for understanding Burke's opposi tion to abstraction, and especially to science. It is a stage upon which Burke brings before the
racy, and the
tence.
eyes each of the revolution's victims

the church, the aristoc

and

monarchy.7

He

gives

them human

feeling

justifies their

exis

He

shows their virtue and

beneficence
Burke
also

with which

they

were painted.

thereby lightens the blackness diverts the imagination away from

and
all

the grandiose claims of the revolution to

about universal
of

righting

wrong

and to

bringing

freedom

and

the brotherhood of man. He looks at the character

the revolution and shows how the actions of the
and

the various groups

leading

revolution reflect

their

individual

low

motives.

He

argues that the revolu

tionaries slandered,

broke faith,

and placed personal gain was

before their ideals. In

not

fact, he
never

argues that

revolutionary idealism
than a platform
and

in effect, though

in theory,
pocket-

anything

more

by

which

the merchant class, who resented

vengeance and
on

their exclusion

from title

honor,

could and

satisfy their

books

by

confiscating

church

property

speculating

it.

By looking

into

the actions and motives of the principles of the revolution, Burke removes the
claim

to justice

with which

they

excused their

faithlessness,

confiscations,

and

executions.

He defends decent morality

accuse

and obedience to the

law

as necessities

for

free

people. might

Some

Burke

of

being
fact

reductionistic

and opportunistic.

The

goodness of the cause and the wisdom of the

laws

cannot

be

reduced to mo

tives; Burke is
new

fully

aware of this

and undertakes an examination of the

science of politics that

is

being

used

to found the French republic. He

after

places the

discussion

of their science of

legislation

the quasi

tragedy in
Their

order to confirm through reason what science of government

he had

evoked through passion.

is contrary to the first

and

principles of

politics, just as their

crimes are

contrary to human and divine law. The Reflections justifies obe

dience then,

to

law

by

evoking the pity

fear accompanying the

breaking

of

it and,
the

by

restoring

calm and comfort

by demonstrating
and

that the revolutionary

contradicts

science of politics

is destined to defeat

doom because it

requirements of

life.8

The incommensurateness

of

theory

and

politics

comes

into focus

most

clearly in the revolution's activity of legislation. The legislator must whole; he must have an understanding of the ends of government and
each of the parts contribute to that end.

order a of

how

This is especially the

case

in

a philo

sophic revolution,

because the

citizens need theoretical principles

for knowl

edge of their rights and

duties. Burke

says that the

first law

of

revolutionary

legislation is to
their
own

destroy

all that came

same

before it. In this, the

revolutionaries treat

country in the

way

as would a

foreign

conqueror.

They destroy

90
the

Interpretation
beliefs
and

habits that
nothing.

united

them as a people;

they do
the

not seek

to reform

but to build from

political science.

This defines their task

and

wisdom of

their new

Burke
struction. almost

says that the

revolutionary legislators have

disposition towards de
that

They have

the taste of

Paris,

which

means

they have feasted

exclusively

on satire.

Your legislators

seem to

have

taken their opinions of all professions, ranks, offices,

of

from the declamations

astonished

and

buffooneries

satirists;

who would

themselves be

if they

were

held to the letter

seem

of their own

descriptions.

It is
who are

undoubtedly true, though it may

paradoxical; but in general, those

are unqualified

habitually
and

employed

in

finding

and

displaying faults,

for

the work of

reformation:

because

their minds are not

come

good, but

things.

by By hating

habit they

only unfurnished with patterns of the fair to take no delight in the contemplation of those
come to

vices too much,

they from

love

men too

little.9

The

critical

negativity that

stems

love

of

ridicule is

compounded

by

the

detachment
These

and abstractness of

the scientific mind.

philosophers are

fanatics: independent
tractable, they

of

any

interest,

which

if it

operated

alone would make them more

rage

are carried

away

with such

headlong
race

towards every desperate trial, that

they
.

would sacrifice

the whole

human

to the slightest of their experiments.

Nothing

can

be

conceived more

hard than

the heart of a thoroughbred

metaphysician

they
a period

do

not think two thousand years too

long
and,

are ready to declare that they for the good they pursue.
. . .

Their
them.

humanity
(Pp.

is

at their

horizon

like their horizon, it

always

flies before

520-21)
defects
must
of

Hate
cient

and abstraction are

the legislative soul, because

moderation

they

are

defi
must

in love. The legislator

have
of

in his

soul.

Philosophy

not place

be

so

him beyond the suffering blinded by indignation at the

nor vengeful

his fellow human beings; yet he must not spectacle of injustice that he hopes to bring
The legislator is
neither

about a Utopia through punishment and persecution.

philosopher,

God,

nor

fanatic

visionary.

He is

aware that all rebel

lion

contains

evil,

and that

the habit of criticizing and

good

breaking

the law tends to

must give

make

human beings completely lawless. Like the

of the good

seamstress, he

the appearance of continuity to mends and

patches.10

Burke's understanding

legislator is

inextricably

connected to

his

understanding of the nature of politics. The ancient sceptics had no public spir itedness because they thought the law was conventional; the modem atheists are
revolutionaries

that politics
politics.

because they think politics can be made can be made fully rational, but that does not
the conflict between politics and
mind when

rational."

Burke denies

cause

him to despise
the

By showing

theory, he teaches

limits

of

both. Burke has two types in

he

speaks of the

thorough-

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

bred
metaphysician

of

Bristol

91

the geometrician and the chemist. These two types are

legislators for the Europe

and even

new republic

in France

and

have their

ambitions set on all of

the entire world.

and

Reduction

and abstraction are the essence of

their sciences.
substance

Chemistry
and

(matter)
its
own

geometry can only recognize the categories of quantity, but these are the two categories over which
a

man

has

no control.

Legislation is

deliberative
p.

and

recognize recognize

and the peculiarity of the political But chemistry and geometry are material and simple. Chemistry reduces human beings to their lowest common element, while geometry reduces them to number and shape. At best, chemistry and geometry can produce a
association.

possibility (Reflections, the uniqueness of human beings

301). In

formative act, and order to do so it

must
must

division
and

of

labor, whereby chemistry

creates
and order

uses

its

materialism to oppose
groupings

authority,
an
un

geometry differentiated mass;

creating Burke does, in fact,

a

by

numerical

from

understand the science of the revo

lution to have divided itself into these different functions. The

chemists would

like to turn The

all of

Europe into

laboratory

using

men

like

the revolutionaries are more proud of than their chemical

action

There is nothing experiments (p. 524).

rats.

and

reaction

of

those experiments consist in

churches and ammunition

the manors of aristocrats and then

tearing down the transforming the rubble into

ire. Its
rebel

to be used against them. The materialism of the chemists expresses

political arena as antitheological and antiaristocratic accompanied

itself in the from but it

lion is not, however,

atomism except

by

a principle of order.

Nothing

can come

for infinite divisibility.

unique character of

Geometry, like
promises
proportion.12

chemistry, cannot recognize the

politics,

to have the power of ordering, because it deals

political order
upon

with number and

The

is not, however,

a mathematical

order; its

rela

tions depend more

graphical

accidents

than upon numerical necessity. The geo

boundaries
and

of political associations are are meant

formed

by

interest

rather

than

symmetry,

they

to represent and to secure those

interests. The
number

geometricians who are

and shape

dividing
ask

and,

therefore,

up France create districts according to for loyalty to a measuring stick. decent morality his
rhetoric and

Burke

understood that prudence and

used

were threatened

by

the

French Revolution, and he ways on different occasions

ridiculous absurdities.

to show

reasoning in many different the Revolution's shocking immorality and

In confronting the French Revolution Burke himself was forced to put forward the first principles under which morality and prudence live. His attempt to restore the political perspective from that of abstract rights
and science
of wants.

begins

with

the

idea that the

end of government

is the

satisfaction

Government is independence

not made

in

virtue of natural

rights,

which

of

it;

and exist

in

much greater

clearness,

and

may in

and

do

exist

in total degree

much greater

92

Interpretation
of abstract perfection: a

but their

abstract perfection

is

their

practical

defect.

By

having right to everything they want everything. Government is human wisdom to provide for human wants. (P. 370)
Burke did
of not

a contrivance of

derive from this

end the equal right of each to

be the

sole

judge

oneself,

or to an equal share

in

government.

To the contrary, from the funda

mental end

he derived

a new

basis for the

rule of gentlemen and a new under

standing of ancestral authority. He begins where other modern theorists but he combines the fundamental good with the old order. Burke
opposed abstract was against

began,

theory in

the name of the satisfaction of wants, not

political

because he
temper
ment

the idea of

right, but because he

wanted

to

it

against abuse satisfied

from both

authoritative and rebellious pride.

If Parlia

had

the Americans
and

by

differences between the British

covered, for America had,
of government. give

repealing the tax, then all the political the Americans would never have been un

by

this point, developed

its

own

Ideological

differences,

or rather conflicts

provisionary mode of principle, do not

rise to dissent among the

people as

naturally

as

do

particular situations

which

clearly threaten their welfare and their liberty.

people can

Burke thinks that the

live

content under the watch of

Parliament.
of

Thus he
amongst

argues

that

"unsuspecting
which all

confidence

is the true
rest"

centre

gravity

mankind, about

the parts are at

(p. 215).

Unsuspecting

confidence

look

after

is simply trust that the government will not be oppressive and will interests.13 The British drove the Americans to rebellion by not one's Burke is willing to strip Parliament
of the power

looking

after their complaints.

to tax in order to restore American trust.

Unsuspecting
interests

confidence assumes that the government will

look

after public

and not their own private

interests. But the

actions of

Parliament

and

the arguments of sophisticates suggest that all men act

solely for

themselves.

The doctrine that because

moral

man

is

selfish poses a great

threat to

leveling
made

destroys trust in

government as

unsuspecting confidence, such, since the belief in

argues that there

civic virtue

is

impossible (p. 221). Burke therefore

He

have

been

virtuous men who cared about the public.

asks the public to government

believe in

virtue and

to believe that corruption

is

not

innate to like to

(p. 222). He

also points out

the opportunistic reasons that lie behind the opinion that all
excuse themselves

is

selfishness;

courtiers and political men would public

in

or

der to enjoy freedom from

scrutiny

and

indignation. Burke hopes

freedom
and

to cure

apathy

and cynicism with spirited

jealousy
is

of one's own

belief in

the possibility of civic virtue.

The belief that the

cause

government

it is

conducive to resignation.

inherently Why would

corrupt

is

a servile

belief, be
would

someone attempt to change the

government

if he thought the

change would not

improve things? There

be

no pressures placed on

the government in order to

keep

it

responsible to the

public.

If there

are

to be compromise and

freedom,

then there must

be

moral

Burke 's Letter to the Sheriffs

indignation directed
that virtue
at

of

Bristol

93

the government from time to time. Burke thus suggests

is

rare

and weak,

liberty. He does backs

gusted

not want

but that belief in its possibility better insures the people to become misanthropists who turn their

on political

life completely because they

by

the greed, avarice, and

a

brutality

of

accepting of political men. The

as

are

though
people

dis

must,

therefore, have dence is

to time

degree

of public

spiritedness, just

the aristocrats

and parlia confi

ment must show some concern not

for

convenience and wants.

a

Unsuspecting

blind faith

or

apathy, but

trust that

is

called to account
and office.

from time

yet

does

not require the usurpation of

authority

Burke

preferred

unsuspecting

confidence to the rights of man, not so much

because he thought there

entailed

were no such

rights, but because he saw that

they
The
are

that each man be the judge of the means to his own preservation and
and

happiness authority

that he have an equal share in government to all other

men.

of the people

actually threatens the satisfaction of

wants.

They

competent

to judge their grievances

by

their

feelings, but they do

are

not possess

the character and mind to

demagogues,

who

ity

and who seek

They easily misled by blame everything on the inequality of property and of author to remedy all ills by bringing both under the rule of equality.
satisfy those grievances.
natural

Burke thought the

rulers.

function

of the people was

to be a brake on the

The

people are a visible strength that always puts

fear into the few

who

rule;

but,

should

the people rule, there would be no brake on

as

them (with the

exception of a preferred

military dictatorship),

they

are

too strong to oppose. Burke

the rule of gentlemen not only because of their education and expe
also

rience but
sidered

because

of

their relative weakness to the people. Burke con

guardian

their fear to be a that the

of their virtue.
an

Perhaps

most

important,

however, is

gentlemen

have

defending

the habits of continuity on

interest in property and, therewith, in which it depends. The issue of property

to that other
moderator of

takes Burke away from the

satisfaction of wants

partisanship

patriotism.

Every
edge that

nation must exist somewhere

to the exclusion of other nations. The the rights of

man

French Revolution's
it
was

claim

to

be

defending

fails

to acknowl

the rights of the French

with which

they

concerned themselves. not contradict

Even the

claim to global revolution and

liberation does

the fact

that the French would not recognize the claim of an Englishman to an equal
share of

French land. If be

a nation
and

is to be

more than a

band

of

robbers, it must
means

justify

its borders to itself

must

to others. This necessity of

justice

that

equality
The

understood as qualified

by

country.

The

people are

the product

of the constitution, rather than

connections of

its

sovereign.14

birth that form

own will or consent are not

continuity and community. on habits of continuity gains the

thought that
prescription gives

any basis in one's but also ennobling; they provide only necessary Burke's attempt to found attachments and authority
attachments without status of

morality in

prescription.

Some have

so much

authority to the past that Burke must

94

Interpretation
a

have been He did

traditionalist. But Burke did not equate the

ancestral with

the good.

not

think that the British constitution was the best form of government
origins and

because it had divine

because it

was

his

own.

To the contrary, he

thought it was the best form of government precisely because it came into being through a series of accidents over a long period of time. The origins are inferior

to the end product, but the end product does

cess

not exist

independent

of the pro

by
is

which

it

came

into being. The best

can

constitution

is

not the product of the of practice.

mind,
tion

or even an proven

idea that

be

conceived
greatest

independent

Prescrip

beneficence,
satisfies

and

its

benefits

are

those habits of virtue

and affection that preserve

the

constitution.

Prescription

Burke's ideas
a matter of

of political convenience and political pa process

triotism. Prescription the constitution

is

satisfying want, for the

a

leading

to

is the

does for

politics what

satisfying Adam Smith did for

result of

variety

of needs and

desires. He

economics.15

The hidden hand is not,

however, viewed by its beneficiaries as a series of accidents grounded in man's desires, rather, it is viewed as an unintelligible and superhuman force. Provi dence appears godlike in its mysterious dispensation, force, and beneficence. It
is something to be
Although He
respected.

It

gives the political

body

continuity

and

its

citi

zens a shared past and a shared providence

destiny.

brings

degree

of

the common good, Burke never thought

reality. never

harmony between natural desire and that history constituted a realm of

be real, because he never believed is not Hegel's state. Burke

believed that
rational.

history

could

that

it

could

be

The British

constitution

defends the equity of the law and recognizes how important it is to the common good, but he never allows the idea of impartiality or universality to dominate
politics.

He

was too

impressed

with

the

virtue to place so much emphasis on the

particularity of politics and its need for law and its form. History is so far from

being rational that it is turned to in order to support attachments that are threat ened by reason. Burke never lost sight of the conflict between the particular and
the universal.

CONCLUSION

The

spirit of equitable

justice that is
corpus

offended and

dissolved

by

the

partial

suspension of the

habeas

leads to the twin tendencies

of

tyranny

and

cynical

despair.

Liberty is in danger of being made unpopular to Englishmen. Contending for an imaginary power, we begin to acquire the spirit of domination and to lose the relish
of

honest

equality.

It is impossible that

we should remain

long

in

a situation

which

breeds

such notions and

dispositions
and

without some great alteration

in the
against

national character. all other

Those ingenuous

feeling

minds who are so

fortified

things,

and so unarmed to whatever approaches

in the

shape of

disgrace,

Burke 's Letter to the Sheriffs

of

Bristol

95

finding

these principles, which

will retire

they

considered as sure means of

honor,

to be grown

in disrepute,

disheartened

and

disgusted. (P.

223)

By fighting
prudent

a war with
with

laws

and

punishments, the British Parliament has in

fected justice

hatefulness

and expediency.

It

would

have been

much more universal

for it simply to only

the other
while

suspend

the habeas corpus

universally.

The

suspension would

outrage the public

if it

were abused at

home. The

partial

suspension, on

hand,

contains

its

abuses within

it. Prudence

makes the

former feasible,

the latter necessarily corrupts. to foster the love of

Furthermore,
country

a universal

suspension would serve

liberty

and

by

awakening

the sense of urgency amongst all the citizens.

Burke

offers no greater counter example to the extremes of

his time than

himself. He
age

gives an account of

himself

as a representative

in

order to encour

the belief in virtue and the love of liberty. He does not court power the prevailing opinions of the people; he
will not sacrifice

by

flattering
ment

his judge

to the majority and even

feels that it is for

what

he

owes them as a represen

tative.

So,

although

Burke

recognizes the power of public opinion and public opinion

the need to

work with

it, he

also recognizes the need

to

recognize virtue.

only because they have elected him, but because he loves virtue and country more than himself. The greatest fault of the partial suspension of the habeas corpus is that it
He is
not one of

the people, but

they

can

trust

him,

not

leads to tyranny and misanthropy by destroying an idea and a feeling of the common good. Burke constantly encouraged prudence in the governing, espe cially in the great, in order to guard against their authoritativeness and brutality; and he encouraged the people towards a measured jealousy of their liberty so
that

they

would not

become

either slavish or ambitious.

Burke himself is be
an example of judge of

yond the

salutary hopes to
virtue,
which

which

he lends

credence.

He is

ment and

goes

well

beyond the

presentation not godlike

himself

as

virtuous representative.

Unlike Parliament, he is

in his

self-right

eous

wrath, but

rather

in his beneficence

and wisdom. as an alternative to the

Burke did

not

citizen and of

portray the life of reason the statesman. In turning to

life

of

the

prescription and polemics against

theory, he
apathy

sought

to preserve the perspective and attachments of political life. In to preserve prudence and public spiritedness from cynical
politics was not that of a suspect

particular, he
and

sought

indignant fanaticism. His

Yet
one cannot of

visionary, a

God,
so

or a misanthropist.

but

that his portrayal of the problems

of politics and much art unless

his defense he had

its

perspective could not

perspective.

be

executed with

seen past

that

NOTES

Wang, 1980]) follows Marx in

1. Karl Marx, Capital I (Moscow, 1954) p. 260. C. B. Macpherson (Burke [New York: Hill and so far as Macpherson saw in Burke a bourgeois capitalist above all

96
else.

Interpretation
Paine thought that
all

hereditary

government was

ings of Thomas Paine [New York: Citadel Press, sympathize with Burke's ideas of prescription.

tyranny (Thomas Paine, The Complete Writ 1945], vol. 1, p. 364) and thus he could not

For Burke's
vol.

reflections on progress see

The Works of Edmund Burke (London: Bohn, 1854-89),

and the

2,

p.

279;

vol.

6,

p.

31;

vol.

8,

p.

439. Politics of Progress [Albany:

2. James Conniff (The Useful Cobbler: Edmund Burke State

University of New York Press, 1994]) argues that Burke's understanding of change was not informed by conservative opinions, but by thoughtful considerations about the protection of liberty,
although ment.

Conniff finds him too

cautious

for

not

advocating
vol.

a more

participatory form
vol.

of govern

3. Works,
101.

vol.

2,

pp.

282-83, 358, 431, 520, 533;

page number alone are

3,

pp.

15-16, 431-32;

7,

pp.

94,
W.

4. All

references

by

to the

Selected Writings of Edmund Burke,

remind one of the old man

ed.

Jackson Bate (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1960). 5. The mind and the disposition of the Sheriffs clearly character Burke writes A Vindication of Natural Society.

in

whose

6. Conor Cruise O'Brien (The Great

judgement
of the

French Revolution is

Melody [Sinclair: Stevenson, 1992]) argues that Burke's decisively determined by the fact that he was an Irish
Burke fails to
appreciate

Catholic. This
abound

psychological account of

the many political reasons that

in the Reflections.
and the

7. Stephen Browne (Edmund Burke Alabama Press,

portrait.

1993])

argues that one must read

Discourse of Vmue [Tuscaloosa: University of Burke as one would read a drama or look at a

makes a similar expense of

Stephen White (Modernity, Politics, and Aesthetics [Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994]) argument, but I think he emphasizes the aesthetic aspect of Burke's politics at the his
political thought. attempt

8. Burke's Despite their

to define a realm of political existence cannot but remind one of Aristotle.

ultimate

differences, they both

ideas. Burke's

criticize

the attempt to understand politics through

abstract and mathematical

criticisms of

the legislative science of the revolution are

Hippodamus'

best regimes. remarkably similar to Aristotle's criticisms of Plato's, Phaleas', and Aristotle criticizes Plato for trying to make the city a unity, Phaleas for advocating equality of property, and Hippodamus for his ambition and simplicity. The faults of Hippodamus are the most

important to both Aristotle damus

only.

and to

Burke. Aristotle draws

attention to the

importance

of

Hippo

calling him the first political scientist, and by looking at the man, rather than his ideas Hippodamus was ambitious, adorned himself with expensive ornaments and long hair, wore

by

cheap
whole.

and warm clothes

in both the
not

winter and the

summer, and wished to be learned in nature as a

Hippodamus did

his

ambitious

dress according to the different seasons, but according to his fancy. In desire to know nature as a whole, he failed to understand the unique nature of
on the

politics.

9. Edmund Burke, Reflections

Revolution in France

(Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin,

Glorious

1984),

pp.

282-83,
was

cited within the text as

Reflections. Old Whigs, Burke

says that the genius of the of the old regime.

10. In An Appeal from the New Revolution

that it pretended to

to the

11. Works,

vol.

2,

pp.

be legitimate according to the laws 287-300, 382-84; vol. 3, pp. 164, 350-52.
his
regime on the number

12. Hippodamus

models

three. There

are

three

classes of

citizens,

three sections of the city, and three kinds of legal suits.

Hippodamus thought that his

and

rulers would

be popularly elected, independent farmers

of the

and that all

the classes
not

(artisans, farmers,
artisans

the military) would be loyal to

and

the city as a whole. But

he did

give the

any property,

he

made

the military the

farmers

by

giving the army their

own property.

Furthermore, he denied

and the artisans

arms, therefore guaranteeing a military

dictatorship. In
from

looking

to the

number three

for order, Hippodamus failed to

understand the nature of political order. was so

He knew

nothing about the influence of force and interest. He he thought he was the first person ever to propose died in battle,
even though

far

removed

political practice that

who

public assistance

to the children of those

it

was a

law in Athens

anything

about

the nature of authority.

many other cities. Nor did Hippodamus know He thought that instead of voting innocent or guilty, jurors
and

Burke's Letter to the Sheriffs

should

of

Bristol

97

be

able

to

vote

in

shades of

grey, according to their

also proposed

authoritative verdict

impossible. He

honors for those

individual judgement, thus making an who improved the law, because

understand
on

he thought the law

that the

was

like the arts,

susceptible of of

infinite improvement. He failed to

and

law is

undermined

by

the

habit

changing it,

that its authority depends

habits

of

obedience, not

simply its evident usefulness. 13. Burke's emphasis on unsuspecting confidence,

as opposed

to natural rights, is taken from

Montesquieu. In the Spirit of the Laws, trans. Nugent (New York: Hafner Press, 1949), p. 77), Montesquieu argues that the opinion of one's own security is the end of the law. Like Burke, he
opposed a universal

understanding

of

justice, because he

thought it made prudence

impossible,

and

actually increased the harshness of tyranny where it threatened authority but could not Melissa S. Williams ("Burkean Descriptions and And Political Representation: A Canadian Journal of Political
representation can still serve

overcome

it.

Reappraisal,"

the

ruling majority and 14. Works, vol. 1, pp. 348, 470; vol. 2, pp. 294-95, 331-33; vol. 6, p. 29. 15. Harvey Mansfield (Statesmanship and Party Government [Chicago: University
p.

Science, March 1996) argues that Burke's understanding of virtual contemporary democracy by establishing confidence or trust between those who have been traditionally excluded from government.
of

Chicago

Press, 1965],
sanship.

224)
a

argues

that prescription supports

popular prejudice and

thereby

corrects parti

There is

tions of Burke and the

very interesting and illuminating controversy between the natural law interpreta Straussian interpretation of Burke as a precursor to Hegel. Stanlis (Edmund

Burke [New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1991], p.237), Frohnen (Virtue and the Prom ise of Conservatism [Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1993], pp.149-52), and Canavan (Ed
mund argue

Burke: Prescription
that Burke

and

is

a natural

particular, takes issue with

Providence [Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 1987], pp. 151-53) law theorist in the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Canavan, in Strauss concerning Burke's understanding of providence. According to
and

Leo Strauss (Natural Right

attempt to
another.

find

standard

of

History [Chicago: University legitimacy through providence

British constitution,

of

Chicago Press, 1954), Burke's

one

solves

problem

While Burke is

able to anchor the

and political

only to pose life in general, against

abstract

doctrine, he is

vulnerable to the problems connected to

his

providential god.

Strauss

claims

understanding of prescription undermines the idea of noble defeat. Strauss has in mind the realm of thought, rather than action, for men of action are often, and even expected, to hope against all odds in the heat of battle. The problem is that Burke's idea of fate could lead to or
encourage philistinism outside of the

that Burke's

because it

sanctions vulgar success and

argues that

deprives the law

or natural

mind of a standard

dominant. Canavan is

for Burke life.

natural

right is

an

indepen

dent

principle that

used as a standard

for

political

16. Mansfield's

analysis of the

difference between

presumptive and actual virtue

helps to

clar of

ify

Burke's

relation

to political life
pp.9-10).

(Harvey Mansfield,
case of the

Edmund Burke [Chicago:

presumptions

University

Chicago Press, 1984],

those presumptions
must
are

Presumptive

virtue rests on

about

justice. When

questioned, as in the

French

Revolution,

a person of actual virtue

defend the

presumptions against

dangerous theory. Thus, the

man of actual

virtue, who lives

according

to the actual, rather than the presumptive, uses his understanding to support men of

political prudence and virtue.

Works,

vol.

1,

pp.

406-7, 431, 432.

Interpreting

the Twofold Presentation

of

the Will to

Power Doctrine in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Steven Berg
Loyola

University, New Orleans

Next to the things themselves the

the greatest
what

writings of

the philosophers seem to pose

works

difficulties for interpretation. Within their

only
clue offered to the

things are never

they

seem and yet the

discovery

of what

is is

what

seems

to be. A genuinely philosophical book might to the golden bowl of

revealed

with some

plausibility be
of whose con

compared stitution

Henry

James's novel, the truth

observation surface.

is

fissure in

what appears to

only to those whose be a flawless

on

is keen

enough

to spot the
of

It is through the disruption

the continuity of the apparent

enter

the level of the apparent that we are invited to

new and strange and and

into

deeper

world that

is

that would otherwise be

peculiar char

sealed

to us with seven seals (Beyond Good

Evil, 289). The

acter of philosophical
readers of

his books
. . .

might

writing led Nietzsche to give voice to the wish that be possessed of the philological equivalent of "the
work

gold smith's art offer

his

gratitude

has nothing but delicate cautious in advance for some "subtlety of

which and

to

do"

and to

interpretation"

(Daybreak,
"deepest,"

Preface, 5; Beyond Good

Evil, 27)
seems to

The book that Nietzsche himself

have

considered

his

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, is

a work that

dramatizes the

attempt of a man to we are called

interpret
upon

the things

themselves.1

As

readers of the

book, therefore,

to interpret this drama. In our efforts to do so it is useful to begin with the

consideration that a

drama is

composed of two essential

aspects, argument and

action,

and

that

in its

composition

these aspects are not merely parallel or

complementary, but

are

inseparably
It is

joined. It is generally

recognized

that

Zarathustra

presents an argument will

according to which the essential core of all

somewhat

things is the

to

power.

presentation of this argument occurs

less commonly observed that the in two waves. The first crests at the end of
Song,"

Part One
origin

and

falls

decisively

in the "Night
to break

and

the second rises from its

the shoals of the
Redemption"

in "On
of

Self-Overcoming"

with violence upon

thought

the eternal
and

return as
Riddle"

it is developed first in "On

and

"The Vision
wave

the

and

finally

in "The

Convalescent."

In the first

Zarathustra's
to

unsuccessful attempt

to transmit
and

forces him
will to

reflect upon

this

teaching

his teaching to his disciples to realize that, as it stands, it is

incoherent. In

the second, Zarathustra offers a revised to his

teaching regarding
calls

the

power not

disciples, but to those

whom

he

"the

wisest."

In

interpretation, Fall

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

100

Interpretation
to

response

his invitation to "seriously

the

test"

"wisest,"

this account, one of these

version of

a man called

Truthsayer,

thinks through this revised

Zarathustra's
The
Truth-

teaching further
ecy"

than Zarathustra
the essential

has himself

and reveals

to him in a "proph

(Weissagung)
sayer's
mind

incoherence

still nested at

its

core.

insights
the

articulate the

kernel

of what comes
return.2

to fruition in Zarathustra's

as

thought of the
a

eternal

This thought demonstrates to

Zarathustra in
takes as

final way the false character of his supposed wisdom which its first principle the doctrine of the will to power. It, therefore, demon

strates the

false

character of that

doctrine Four
a

as such and,
of

accordingly,

no mention

is

made

of

it in Parts Three
read not

and

the

work. of

Thus

when

Nietzsche's
utterances

Zarathustra is
through which

simply

as

collection

Zarathustrian

Nietzsche

gives voice to
understood

his

own

opinions, but as a drama in

of the

which each speech round

may be

only in the light

deeds that

sur

it

and

of what

its necessary place within a sequential order of presentation, much passes for the core of Nietzsche's philosophy, e.g., the will to power
proves to

doctrine,
like the

be merely

a superficial or partial aspect of

his thought. Once

deconstrucreturn

its deeper levels

are

taken sight of,

however, Nietzsche's philosophy looks less

"post-modern"

precursor of

Heideggerian

existentialism or

tionism and more like an attempt in the wake of

German Idealism to

philosophy to its
portrait of a

genuine core:

Socratic

or

Platonic thought. Nowhere is this

other than a

more apparent than

in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: the book is nothing in the

original

thinker's progress from self-proclaimed wise man or dogmatist to

sceptical philosopher

Socratic

sense.3

At the opening of the work it is made clear that Zarathustra not only takes himself to be wise, but as such to be more than human. Overburdened by its
superfluity, he
and

wishes to

"go

down"

to
again."

men

in

order

to distribute his

wisdom

thereby "become empty

is defined
dead."

But this his

means

"to be

again,"

man

since more

man

by

his lack

of wisdom or

ignorance.4

If Zarathustra is

human, however, he is not a god: part of his wisdom is his knowledge that "god is He is, therefore, the superman. Zarathustra will relinquish his
than
superhuman status

by

going down to ignorant

men and

distributing
man

his

wisdom

to them. This

under persuading live. Zarathustra relinquishes his superhuman status may then only ultimately to renew or reconfirm it. If it is primarily the fact that he is wise rather than ignorant that accounts for his superhuman condition, then the

distribution, however, is directed

to

to go

so that the superman

renewal of

this condition would have to

find its

source

in the

confirmation of

his

wisdom.

It

seems

that

Zarathustra
to

will

somehow attempt to confirm

his

wisdom

through

its distribution. As it is
attempt

presented

in "Zarathustra's

Prologue,"

however, his first

distribute his

wisdom to men

is

an utter

failure.

Appealing directly to the multitude, he is met with incredulity, ridicule and hatred. According to one auditor of his speeches he is lucky to have escaped
with

his life ("Zarathustra's

eschews all

Prologue,"

8). In the light

appeals and

of

this

failure Zarathustra
upon a novel
strat-

prudently

further

such

direct

fastens

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

egy:

-101

he

will make a new

beginning by transmitting

his

wisdom

to a cadre of

handpicked disciples who, acting in the light of its truth, will then turn their efforts to shaping humanity in such a way -as to prepare it to embrace Zara thustra's teaching and its final end, the life of the superman ("Zarathustra's
Prologue,"

9). Zarathustra
proceeds with

As the

narrative unfolds and

his

attempt

to initiate

his disciples into his teaching, the apparent: he believes that he is in

being,"

character of

his

alleged wisdom

becomes
of

possession of a causal own

knowledge
principle

"all

including
is the

the

being

of

his

knowing. The first

of this

wisdom

will to

power, since, according to Zarathustra's understanding,

root cause of all

the will to power

is the

things,

including
his

soul and mind.

Zarathustra's
presented

argument

for the truth

of

his first

principle as of

in the

speech that marks

the

beginning
must

attempt

genuinely first is to transmit his

reasons

wisdom

being

his disciples, "On the is to be interpreted or understood it

to
as man.
one

Afterworldsmen."

Here he

that if

be

made

to speak. But

being, he

insists, speaks to man only being, therefore, require that

beings
who speaks: man the rational animal.

The understanding and interpretation of interpret the speeches of that one being among

speaking believe it

being

or, in the Aristotelian phrase, the

Still, Zarathustra does

knowledge
of

not

possible

to

gain an

immediate

access to
since

being
is

through examining the speeches of

human beings,
which

those speeches are first and foremost concerned to articulate not what is

being,
em

but

rather what

good and evil.

power"

In that

speech of

Part One in

he

ploys the term

Goals,"

"will to

for the first time, "On the Thousand

authoritative speeches of the

and

One

Zarathustra

makes

the

claim

that the speeches about good and evil on

all men's

lips

are

derived from the

follow

laws

of various

peoples:
and evil

Greeks, Persians, Jews

because
all

and

Germans

all speak

differently

about good speeches

and are

formed

by

different laws. Since the

of

about good and evil are

derived from the laws

the various political commu

nities,

all of

of good and

them, despite their variety, agree in articulating an understanding evil as identical to virtue and vice. That is to say, the good for man

is

understood

by

the law to be

convertible with moral virtue.

Behind the
creator.

law,

however,
activity

stands the

legislator or,

as

Zarathustra

calls

him,

the

It is the

of the creator that

brings the law into

being

and, according to Zara

thustra,

this activity is directed to sustaining

people of which the people to gain

legislator

or creator

expanding the power of the is the founder. Thus whatever allows a

and

victory

or power over

itself,

the people,

in

accordance with

its

law,

calls

"praiseworthy,
its
things."

holy,"

or power over

neighbors

meaning
various
creation

of all

victory "the high, the first, the measure and the What Zarathustra believes he has discovered through his

good and

and whatever allows

it to

gain

it

calls

examination of the speeches of

the legislators or creators as embodied in their

laws is that is the

will

at

the origin and the end of the activity of legislation or

to

power.

102
We

Interpretation
see

that, according
in
what

to

Zarathustra,

man the

speaking

linked to
their root

man

the political

being

and that

both

aspects of man's

being is necessarily humanity find

the rational
an uncontroversial an

he

calls the will are

to power. That the

related

political and

aspects of claim.

human beings
seems

necessarily

is,

perhaps,

Zarathustra

to wish to establish not simply a

link, but

identity

between them, however, insofar as he takes the paradigmatically human speech to be the authoritative speeches of the law. The only thing that seems to fracture

identity is the variety of such speeches or the multiplicity Zarathustra himself has taken these laws and their multiplicity as the
this

of

laws.
to an

key

understanding

of the and

human

and taken the of

human

as the

key

to an understand

ing

of

being

in the light

the potentially

infinite
this

number of particular will

peoples and

laws has
plastic or

concluded that

the human at its core, the

to power,

is

indefinitely being
of

infinitely

malleable and that

is simply

a reflection of

the essential

being

of all

beings.5

But then Zarathustra's

perspective of

own speech about the

beings itself transcends the his

transcendence that marks

wisdom as more

any particular law. It is this than human.

nite

laws, as an expression of the indefi Zarathustra human, indicates, believes, that "humanity it plasticity self or in the proper sense does not in fact exist. Zarathustra, however, believes
of peoples and of the possible

The indefinite plurality

it

to produce or create

humanity

itself

on

the level of the political

transforming his transcendent or superhuman wisdom into a novel and comprehensive moral law, a law that is, as it were, divine. The indefinite or
through

plurality of peoples can be given definition if Zarathustra how impose a finitude upon this plurality and then bind this finite
unlimited peoples together

can some
number of

into

a genuine whole

by directing

each and

every

one of them

to a single

humanity itself,
that he
cities of men.

overarching then, is Zarathustra's

goal, the

coming to be of the superman. To create

great endeavor.

It is

with

this end

in

view

has descended from his his

mountain solitude

to offer his the same

a

That teaching, therefore, is

at one and
new

teaching in the time the distribu

as

tion

of

wisdom and

the promulgation of a

law,

law that is,

it were,

directed to producing a determinate number of subordinate legislations or, in Zarathustra's own words, to creating creators. At the close of Part One, in his farewell speech to his disciples Zarathustra looks forward to
a superlegislation

future in which his friends, longer disciples, but rather fellow creators, will have become the founders of a finite number of novel peoples and will themselves form what Zarathustra calls "a new chosen ("On the Giving 2), standing above and ruling a humanity they have helped to fashion. This new "light to the will itself recognize Zarathustra as the source of its light and, therefore, first
no
people"

the successful completion of this promulgation, to a

Virtue,"

nations"

among its brotherhood of equals. As both the laws of his fellow creators and his own law of laws will be the first to have been constructed on the foundation of
a

full

recognition of the truth of the

law

as rooted

in the

creative will or the will

to power, their

legislation

will also

be the first to have been

articulated

in

the

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

light
of

103
the

the truth of being. It

will

be

legislation in

perfect accord with man

nature of and man man's

things or, as it were, a

natural

law. Through it

the political animal

the rational animal will have been seamlessly joined and the law and
made one.

humanity being

If he is itself into

successful

for

the

in his endeavor, Zarathustra will, while bringing humanity first time, simultaneously confirm the truth of his wis
condition.
create

dom and, therefore, the authenticity of his superhuman if he is indeed able to make another like himself or
confirm

That is to say,
will

creators, this

his

account of the core of all

beings

as will to power and as

indefinitely
since

plastic, and the perfection of his wisdom will coincide with its successful trans
mission or with

the successful

legislation
have been
of

of

his law

of

laws. But

Zara
these

thustra

identifies the
have

perfect possession will

of wisdom with secured

happiness, by
and made
of

same means

his happiness
made

("Zarathustra's

Prologue,"

1).
a

He

will

his knowledge is

being

perfectly legal
a

himself

blissful horizon

divinity
of

who

at the same time

will

philosopher-king
will

kings. The
of

his knowledge

have become
of

coextensive with the

horizon

the

law. At this culminating moment hind his veil, reveal himself to a

his career, Zarathustra for his first

step from be
true
and

mankind prepared

advent as the

divinity
with calls

or the

highest

embodiment of the

his fellow

creators

it, "the Great

stand

Noon."

things, in celebrating the feast of this new epiphany or, as he At the moment of the Great Noon man will no
principle of all

join

longer is the

between

animal and

god, but animal

gods are

and

superman, since mankind

as a whole will recognize that

"all
of

dead"

and that

Zarathustra himself

living

and

incarnate truth

the novel superhuman ideal ("On the

of

Giving
man

Virtue,"

3). In acknowledging the transcendant superiority kind will at the same time acknowledge the justice of the

Zarathustra

new

law he has laid

the legitimate

down,
rule of

justice that is identical to

a certain

form

of

inequality,

the superhuman creator over his human creatures.

It

almost goes without

fails is

the question.

saying that Zarathustra fails in this endeavor. How he We can answer this question if we recall that Zarathustra's like himself is incumbent
upon the successful

effort to create another

sion of

transmis to

his

wisdom or

teaching

to his disciples. This

teaching is
is

engineered

produce within them the

freedom

of mind and will prerequisite

to the activity of
comprehensive:

creation.

But the freedom his disciples

are obliged to achieve

it

requires not

only

that

the understanding of

they liberate themselves from their former prejudices or good and evil instilled in their minds by the old law, but
teaching
as

from Zarathustra's
speech of command

own

teaching, it
and

as well.

Accordingly, in
of that

the final
a

Part One Zarathustra

to his disciples to

offers as the

last injunction
themselves"

teaching
that

reject

"find

in

order

they

may ultimately become his equals, friends and fellow creators ("On the Giving Virtue," 3). If Zarathustra's disciples are to fulfill this command to freedom it
would seem that

they

must proceed

in

one of two ways:

they may

either reject
teach-

his teaching

while

lacking

a sufficient

understanding

of

the truth of that

104

Interpretation
so

ing
The

that,

on the

basis

of their own or

ate this truth

for themselves;
of

latter,

of

course, appears

independent inquiries, they may appropri they may reject it in full awareness of its truth. to be absurd. Neverthless, it is precisely what
made clear at the awakes at

Zarathustra demands
Two. In "The Child
which a child

his disciples. This is

the
Mirror"

opening
within

of

Part in

with

Zarathustra

from

a nightmare

he

sees

holds up a mirror there is the "mocking

as

and asks

him to look
mask

himself

it. What

and grotesque

of a

devil."6

Zarathustra

interprets this dream

enemies and
ence

his teaching has been distorted signifying that have grown ashamed of their his disciples consequently
that

by his
adher

to it. This

interpretation, however, wholly

not

abstracts

from the fact that the

wishes

child of
reveal

the dream expressly asks Zarathustra to look at himself: he

to

to Zarathustra

something

about
on

author of

that teaching.

Nonetheless,
rushes

his teaching, but about himself as the the basis of his inadequate understand
mountain retreat

ing

of the

dream, Zarathustra
and

down from his

of what

to

rejoin

his disciples

practiced upon

purify his teaching it by his foes. It is not

or while

he takes to be the distortions

enough then that sufficient

his disciples knowledge

of

reject

his

teaching in
they

distorted form it
rather

lacking

its truth;

must reject

in full

awareness of what

it is they

are rejecting.

By

the seventh speech of

Part Two ("On the Tarantulas"),

which marks the cul

mination of a series of engagements with

his

"enemies,"

Zarathustra

seems to

believe that he has

at

Consequently, he
henceforth they

now

bids

last sufficiently prepared his friends for this rejection. them to become his enemies and suggests that from
another."

"divinely

strive against one

At the

same
or

moment,

however,
of
with

the particular enemy

claims a

he here confronts, the Zarathustra

as

"Tarantula"

"preacher

equality,"

victory

over

he bites him
of

and

infects him
as equal
revenge.

his

venom.

The

venom of the

Tarantula is his doctrine

justice

ity

at the center of

which, as

Zarathustra has argued, lies the desire for

suggests

This doctrine is,

of

course, opposed to Zarathustra's own doctrine of justice as

inequality. What this incident

another

is that Zarathustra's

attempt to

make
at

like himself, to

create

his

equals

in the form

of

fellow creators, has itself in

its
the

core the same vengeful passion

that Zarathustra

identifies
manifests

as the source of what

teaching

of the preachers of
sickness"

calls

"the turning

and

equality and that "the tyrant liberation

he

madness,"

in

other

words, that the

to pave the
of

teaching he believes

to be a path to

will

instead

prove

way to enslavement and self-enslavement. That Zarathustra is himself aware the implications of his encounter with the Tarantula is made clear in the first
three songs which punctuate the close of the
Song."

of

first half
his

of

Part Two, "The Night

In this song Zarathustra

which opposite of what

offers a portrait of

own

activity

of creation

in its fulfillment
cisely the

demonstrates that
it is

this

supposed to effect:
of mind

disciples

a more than
will

human freedom is "the song

activity far from producing in his and will, the distribution of his
author.

must accomplish pre

teaching

force them into

Song"

an all too

human bondage to its lover": it

"The Night

of a

expresses an

intense desire

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

105
that

(Begierde)
ate another

to give and receive love

effort to

with perfect mutuality. and

It thus

reveals

Zarathustra's

distribute his wisdom,

as

through such distribution cre

like

himself, has

its

motive not

wisdom and

thereby his

superhuman

simply a desire to confirm his but moreover a longing to share condition,

this condition with another, that

is,

to establish a community of
and reciprocity.

friendship

and

love
read

on a

basis

of perfect
of

equality

When "The Night

clear

Song"

is

in

the

light

"On the

Tarantulas"

it becomes

that Zarathustra's

equality in love relations indicates that his longing for love has been infected with the desire for justice as understood by the preachers
insistence
upon absolute
of

equality and, therefore, that his understanding of the just political order is incoherent insofar as the essential character of its ruling peak would of neces
this ruling peak itself, the com incoherent in its own terms, and this is men, munity is now apparent to Zarathustra, for he has come to perceive that the teaching he took to be the proper means to establish this perfectly reciprocal love must

sity

violate of

its fundamental

principle.

Moreover,

fellow

creators and wise

instead

result

in

one of two remain

his disciples may returning

equally unsatisfactory situations. On the one hand, disciples and, therefore, prove incapable either of

or even of

they may

reject their

properly receiving the gifts of his love. On the other hand, dependent position as disciples and attempt to become in their
own

autonomous creators

right,

that

is, they may

transform themselves
able neither to
cannot

from friends into

accept

enemies of

Zarathustra and, consequently, be

his love

nor

to offer love to him in return. That his disciples

but

fail in their his

enemies

efforts to

free

themselves

from Zarathustra's tutelage

by becoming
however, is
under

in pursuing
the

their own independent activity of creation,

made clear through stands

following

reflection.

Creation,

as

Zarathustra

setting up only law ("On the Way of the Creator"). In order for Zarathustra's disciples to become fellow creators, therefore, they must liberate
above oneself as one's

it, is perfectly

self-sufficient self-legislation or

one's own will

their wills from any

other.

dependency
disciples'

upon or subordinate status

to the will of an

Thus

the truth of Zarathustra's

teaching,

which reveals

Zarathustra to be

the legislator of his

reject

own supposed

self-legislation, requires that

they

his teaching as an external determination upon their wills. If they are to become his equals in creation they must reject that teaching in full awareness of its truth. But precisely in such rejection they obey the final command of, and adhere to and fulfill this teaching. In attempting to liberate their wills from
subordination so all

to the

will of another

they

subordinate themselves

to the

will of

Zarathustra. And in creating while rejecting the true teaching of creation they are determined not by the truth of the will alone, but by the falsehood of their
willful

ignorance. Thus Zarathustra's only

disciples'

attempts

to achieve an equality

with their master

serve to confirm their

inferiority
and

to him in terms of

both
will

knowledge

and

the freedom of the will. The distribution of his wisdom

create not equals capable of rior creatures of

his

will

properly receiving returning his love, but infe who will always fall short of his own perfection. It

106

Interpretation
be impossible for Zarathustra to
create another

proves to proves to

like himself because it

be impossible
love.7

either to command another

to be free or to will a

Consequently, Zarathustra's attempt to combine jus perfectly reciprocal tice and love, rather than confirming his happiness or bliss, will produce in his relations to his recalcitrantly inferior disciples the sad passions of envy, spite,
and the

desire for

revenge

within

his

soul.

As "The Night

Song"

predicts,

way to an in its turn to a envy of those to whom he distributes such gifts and this envy spiteful desire to afflict them with the pain of the longing that he himself expe
unsatisfied

Zarathustra's

longing

to receive the gifts of love

will give

riences:

he

will take revenge upon them

by

withholding his

gifts

from them

and

thereby making
his
superfluity. self-sufficient a

them

aware of

their own poverty and dependence

in

relation

to

He

will put them

to shame.
and

Having failed in his

with

effort

to unite
to

freedom

with

friendship

justice

love he

will succumb

desire to

punish

his disciples for the

inferiority longing

and

incapacity
within

of which

he is
Thus
time

the cause. The dominant passion of the preachers of equality, the

punishment or

desire for
soul.

revenge,

will supplant

the

for love

his

the perfection of Zarathustra's giving or creation proves to

be

at the same

its

undoing.

As he

puts

giving, my virtue grew

it in "The Night Song": "my happiness in giving died in tired of itself in its
overflow."

Through its distribution Zarathustra distribution distribution

proves to

sought to confirm
own terms. wisdom.
with

his

wisdom.

Yet that
thus

be impossible in its
of

This

impossibility
law,

demonstrates the incoherence

of

Zarathustra's

Given the fact that the

and

his

wisdom was to

be identical

its

promulgation as will

considering that the starting point of that legislation

end the enjoyment of

is the

to power and

its
of

love, it
is his

seems

to follow that

central to the

incoherence

Zarathustra's

wisdom

assumption

that in its highest expression love is

as the former finds its source perfectly in and is ultimately identical to the self-legislating will. ("On the Giving Vir 1). compatible with the moral

law insofar

tue,"

By
false
terized

"The Dance

Song"

of

Part Two Zarathustra has become

aware of the
charac

character of

his

by

bombast
he

to accompany the
Cupido,"

Consequently pedantry, but by self-mockery. dancing of a group of "lovely

wisdom. and

his

speech

is

no

longer

girls"

In the song that he sings with "the little god

portrays

himself

as

the inept lover of two ladies

by

the names

of

Life

and

Wisdom.8

ignorance
what after

by

In this song he makes manifest his knowledge of his own describing how he falls into perplexity when trying to fathom
"thirsts"

he takes to be Life's boundless depths and, consequently, how he the seductive and veiled figure of Lady Wisdom who persistently
In
an extended series of questions at the end of

eludes
speech

his he

gaze and grasp. confesses that

this

he In

no

longer knows

where

he is

or

how to

go

forward; he is in
useful

a state of aporia.
review

order to articulate the structure of

this aporia it is

to

the progress of

Zarathustra's thought in the his

wisdom

following
Zarathustra

terms. Through
wished to
pro-

his legislation

and the transmission of

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

vide a comprehensive solution or

107

to the

human problem, that

understood need on

is,

to secure the good

happiness for his fellows

with

and

himself. He

that good to

be

coinci

dent

the overcoming
would

of

human

both the final

rational and

the political

levels: ignorance
political orders

be

replaced

by

knowledge

and all partial and

transitory
its ruling

by

one that

is

comprehensive and

and that

had

as

peak

the

as the
rocal

loving community of creator-wise men. His understanding of the good overcoming of need thus divided into the beautiful as the perfectly recip love of the wise for the wise and the just as the structure of an overarch
final
political order.

ing

and

The

rational good and the political good were to

be

made

to coincide through the rale of the wise creator over

his

creatures.

But

Zarathustra's understanding came to ruin when he realized that friendship or love in the highest sense is incompatible with the justice of the political realm,
or

that love is incompatible with the self-legislating freedom of the will, and that, therefore, the rule of the creator over his creatures to the advantage of both is impossible. What Nietzsche suggests in "The Dance is that the inco
Song"

herence human
need as

of

Zarathustra's

wisdom points of need

away from

an

understanding

of

the

good as the

knowledge

overcoming of ignorance (cf. The

in

wisdom and

toward the awareness of

self-contradictory

nature of

Zarathustra's

Gay Science, 381). That is to say, the morally or legally determined under
and pursuit of wis
philosophy.9

standing of the good points to the life devoted to the love dom in erotic community through speech: it points to

In

significant contrast

to all of Nietzsche's other works, the

word

"philoso
por

phy"

nowhere appears within the speeches of

Zarathustra. Though in his

trayal in a dialogue with

his beloved Life

of

his

unsatisfied

thirst for and

ongoing
suit,

pursuit of

Wisdom Zarathustra

comes close of a

to the

ophy and, therefore, to the

career own

desirability

life informed
of the

discovery of philos by the love and pur

at this point

rather than the possession of

knowledge
sustain

good,

in his

his newly won awareness of his the ignorance because he finds perplexity into which he has been thrown he
misses

the mark. He cannot

painful

beyond

endurance.

As he

reveals at the close of

"The Dance

Song,"

he

cannot understand

his life to be

worth

living

if he

cannot

believe himself to be
Song"

wise, since, from the

perfect possession of speeches that

beginning, he has identified perfect happiness with the and the two wisdom. Accordingly, in "The Grave
attempts

follow he
of

to resolve his perplexity

by jettisoning both

his

understanding
understanding
and

the

political

good, the just as final political order, and his

beautiful as the loving community of the believes to be a new extramoral account what he instead wise, elaborating of the beautiful, in which the just is included as false appearance, and the good.
of the rational good, the

In

doing

so

he

considers

himself to have

stepped

beyond the limitations

of

the

political realm, that

false horizon
now

of

the

is, all human community established upon the basis of the law, and to have ascended to the naked truth of things. He
man as political and man as rational and

distinguishes sharply between

concludes that the

only

genuine good

is

a transpolitical good.

Thus if in Part

108
One

Interpretation
and

the

first half

of

Part Two Zarathustra his

moral

attempted

to enclose the sun of

knowledge
pretends

within

the cave of

law, in

the second half of Part

Two he

to have liberated himself entirely from the cave of the law and to

have
for

ascended
evil
what

into

the light of the sun of a

sense.

knowledge that his

stands

beyond

good and

in the

moral

Zarathustra

exchanges

refuted moral wisdom

he

understands

to

be

a new amoral wisdom and

wise

thereby

permits

himself to
the

persist

in the belief that he is

principle of

and, consequently, happy.

Nevertheless,

fundamental doctrine
ple of

both his He

original and

his

revised

teachings remains the

of the will to power. and

reaffirms the will

to power as the first princi

Song."

both his life

his

wisdom at the end of

"The Grave

"The Grave Island in

Song"

opens as

Zarathustra

retreats to the solitude of

the Grave
youth.

order to

lay

a wreath upon the tomb of the

lost loves

of

his

In

the course of the lamentations he offers

loved

dead,"

it becomes

clear that

up behind Zarathustra's days

over the silent graves of

his "best perfectly love that

longing

for

mutual

love

lay

a nostalgic

desire to
in the

recapture and perfect a species of

of

he knew but

all too

briefly

sunnier

the playful intercourse of "blissful

minds"

his youth, a love expressed in (seligen Geister). Zarathustra's la

angry
accusation as

mentation,
"enemies"

however, quickly devolves into

to

an

he

pretends

to discover the cause of the transience of

his

youthful

love in the
"rabble"

efforts of

his

destroy

him. Zarathustra's primary opponents, however,

rabble who

are those

whom

the Tarantulas or preachers of equality serve: the

of vulgar
or well

or the great

majority fountain

human beings. It is the

of

have his it

"poisoned"

the

(Borne)

life for Zarathustra

by bringing

youthful

loves to

a premature terminus
presence of

("On the Rabble"). In

other words,

was

the

lingering
he

the low or the vulgar within the souls of those whom Zarathustra
youth

loved in his

that

brought the

association

between them to

an end: even

could not stomach the persistent presence of the

low that he discovered

in

the

highest form

of

this link between the high

intercourse between human beings, and his revulsion before and the low extinguished his love. As is his habit,
and

however, Zarathustra blames his failures

position, his

difficulties
or

not upon

his

own

dis

longing
on the

for

"purity"

"cleanliness"

perfection and

(Reinheit [see
upon

"On the Tree

Mountainside"

and

"On the

Rabble"]), but
of

itself

personified as a malevolent

host

assembled to oppose and thwart

vulgarity him in

his

endeavors.

It

seems then that the recapture the

distribution

Zarathustra's
in his

wisdom was youth and

designed both to believes to be ful

love that he

experienced
of

to

overturn the political and

"spiritual"

dominance
polluted the

the vulgar majority that he

or well of

responsible

for

having

fountain

his

youth

joy

in

and

desire for life, that is, for

having

corrupted the souls of those

he

loved best
spite, and

by infecting them with the vulgar or base passions of, e.g., envy, the longing for revenge. His creation was supposed to guarantee both
"eternity"

the perfection and

of

his love. That is

love
were

to say, the conditions of possi

bility

and

his his

actual enjoyment of
will.

control of

The failure

of

be brought completely under the the distribution of Zarathustra's wisdom to

to

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

effect

109

this unification of

love

and will was made evident

own soul with

the passions of envy, spite, and the

of the

by the infection of his longing for revenge. His own

others

disgust

and

indignation before the traces be

low that he detects in In fact it

thus itself appear to

an expression of this same vulgarity.

seems
of

to

be this disgust
youthful enemy.

and

indignation that have led to the

premature

deaths

his

loves. Without himself

being

aware of

it, Zarathustra is his

a paroxysm of

own worst

It is only
over

after

he has
of

whipped

himself up into
perpetrated

indignation

the

"murder"

his loves allegedly

by

his foes that Zarathustra

lets
as

his perplexity and once again fastens upon the will to power doctrine the means to his salvation and the foundation of his knowledge. In doing so
go of
rest

he lays to
as the as

his desire for love

good.

and resurrects

the creative activity of the

can continue

will

highest

The

will

to power

doctrine, however,
after

to serve
rein

the cornerstone of

his

wisdom

only

having

been extensively

terpreted

in the light
speech

of

the collapse of his original understanding.

In the

immediately following
articulates

"The Grave

Song"

("On Self-Overcom
to power doctrine.

ing")

Zarathustra

his

revised version of the will

No longer addressing himself to his disciples, but to those whom he calls "you he now embraces precisely the unlimited character of the will and the
wisest,"

indefinite plurality
or virtue and all

of

its

creations that

he originally

sought

to limit. As a conse
good and evil

quence, he also concludes that any particular vice,

as well as relegated

teaching concerning
limited
and

any

particular

teaching
now

regarding the character of

being,

must

be

to the status

of a

transitory

and so

false

fabrication infinite

of the will

to

power.

For the will, he

realizes, in expressing its

or unlimited

character,

destroy
ster

such self-created

only perpetually create, but perpetually limitations upon its own activity. It is a protean mon
must not

that

hides its

essential

indeterminacy

in the

ceaseless production of

false in his

and ephemeral appearances.

Zarathustra thus

replaces

his dogmatic

moral wis

dom

with an amoral skeptical wisdom that nevertheless remains grounded of the will

fundamental dogma

to power. He adopts a dogmatic skepticism. His

cannot

skepticism extends to all

supposedly final knowledge. One

but

wonder

whether this new skeptical cate

teaching

regarding the will to power

of so

does

not

impli
as

itself in its

own critique of all comprehensive accounts of

being. Be that

it may, Zarathustra baptizes

the
name

this revised

understanding
that in
secret

the will to power with

"self-overcoming"

and claims

doing

the words in which

overcome
ever much

life itself

revealed

its

he is merely echoing to him: "I am that which must

create and

itself

again,"

again and soon

and, therefore, "whatever I

oppose

how

I love it
rooted

I have to

it

and

my love: thus my

win will

have

it."

Life,

in the infinite

power of

the will, manifests

itself in

an

infinite

becoming.10

At the

end of

this same speech Zarathustra offers his new extramoral ac

count of the good.

The

greatest

good, he says

is, "the

good."

creative

It is

identical

to the

creation of values as an

ongoing activity

or

to the ever-renewed

110

Interpretation
of

fabrication

transitory

teachings of good and

evil as virtue and vice.

But the

ceaseless creation of values requires the ceaseless

precondition.

destruction

of values as

its

Accordingly, Zarathustra is
understanding
and a

now able

to distinguish between a
of good and

(false)
evil. entails

moral

(true)

extramoral

understanding

He

argues that since the greatest

good, the

creation of

values, necessarily

the greatest evil, the destruction of values, it follows that the genuine
of the good as

understanding
moral

inseparable from

evil

is incompatible
virtue and

with

the

understanding

of good and evil as

identical to

vice,

for, from
opposites.

the

false

perspective of

the

moral

law,

virtue and vice are

immiscible

Zarathustra originally thought

of

that

he had, through the

examination of

the laws

the various peoples, ascended from the plurality of accounts of moral virtue
morality.

to the one true

He

now understands

himself to have

ascended and

from the

plurality

of moral virtues to the truth of the good as

distinct from

the source

of moral virtue and

its

plurality.

It is,

of

course, his desire for happiness as he

understands

it,

the possession of wisdom, that

moral

has

compelled

him to distinguish
the

the good

from

virtue,

which

he has

come

to

identify
of a

with

beautiful.

If the

creation of values requires the

legislation

morality, the

false

char

acter of which

is

fully

recognized

by

forth

renounce

any desire to

enlighten the minds of

its creator, then Zarathustra must hence his disciples and mankind his
wisdom.

as a whole through the transmission of

Consequently, he

no

longer

considers honesty to be the best policy and turns to concealment and prudential irony in the presentation of his thought: at the opening of his speech "On the
Sublime,"

he describes himself
depths."

as

"still

sea"

whose calls

riddling

surface

hides

"impenetrable
of the

The infinite, law

or

or as

he

it there,
will's

"sublime"

character

good,

must veil

itself in the false

the

appearances of wholeness and com

pleteness of the moral ation of

beautiful. But the

"values,"

self-concealing
above

cre

beautiful

moral

ideals,

or

itself

stands

the gloomy

seriousness of those

ideals. Zarathustra describes it "On the

Sublime,"

as a

form

of artful play.

As

he

puts

it

at the end of

behind the

serious or

heroic

moral

virtue of

the superman as the paradigm of the

highest life lies the Nietzsche himself

secret playful appears to

ness of what scribe

he

now calls

the

"superhero.""

de

Zarathustra's
of

new paradigm of

the

highest life in the

. . .

Gay

Science

when

he

speaks

"the ideal

of a mind who plays

divine"

hitherto If the

called

holy,

good

untouchable,

naively (The Gay Science, 382; Ecce

with all that was

Homo, "Thus Spake

Zarathustra,"

2).

will's creation of values as the greatest good

is

extra-moral and

in

charac

ter and those values themselves or the moral law a

beautiful

concealing

falsehood, it follows
minds and wills of now resigns

that the wise man must remain

since the creation of values that

liberates his

will

solitary in his activity, necessarily imprisons the Thus Zarathustra

of mind and will

those upon whom he

imposes his

creation.

himself to purchasing his its first principle, the

self-sufficient

freedom

at the expense of the enslavement of everyone else.

wisdom and

will and

And, in clinging to his its freedom, as the highest good, he

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

renounces

-111

his

longing

for love
such

or

for

genuine

community
are a

with another

like

himself

and

denies that

love

and

happiness.12

Yet if he has false

renounced

community necessary his desire for living together in the highest

condition of

still wishes to employ the promulgation of he has created, his old moral teaching, as a means not only to realizing the freedom of his will, but ultimately to the generation, in some indefinite future, of another like himself. He will attempt to direct the sense with another

human being, he
values

the admittedly

political

community, the

realm of

ing

the

life that is free

on

and

slavery and informed by the

of

falsehood,
truth.

to the end of reproduc words, Zarathustra

In

other

gives
dren."

up As he

the men of the present and turns his attention to producing "chil
proclaims

in "On the Land

Education,"

"now I love only my

children's

land,

the undiscovered in the furthest sea: after it I call my sails to

seek and

to

seek."

He

will produce

his

"children"

or reproduce
men within men will

his

own

activity

in
of

another

through convincing the

highest

the political community then become the bearers the conditions

the truth of his false moral teaching. These

of a new

Zarathustrian tradition that

will

ultimately

provide

for

the coming into

the

being

of a new

creator; this second Zarathustra will penetrate

as
as

riddling surface of the regnant Zarathustrian teaching, think through, Zarathustra himself has done, its fundamental incoherence, demolish it,
Zarathustra
of attempts

to demolish the tradition he confronts, and create

engendered.

anew out use

the rains he has

as

Zarathustra, therefore,

now wishes

to

the

beautiful

a means

to

"procreation"

("On Immaculate

Knowledge")

or the

activity in the person of another. As in the case of sexual intercourse, the beautiful becomes a kind of rase through which the 206a- 207a). The reproduction of the good is guaranteed (cf. Plato, Symposium
reproduction of

his

own

good,

however, is

now

understood

by
and

from the intercourse radically

of one

human

mind with another.

Zarathustra to be ultimately detached It is identical to the

self-sufficient

knowledge

freedom

of the

will of

the wise and

solitary creator of values. As we have already observed, one fers his revised account of the will to

of

the

"wisest"

to

whom

Zarathustra

of

power responds

to his invitation to "seri

his ously interprets them

test"

"word,"

as

he

calls

it. He listens carefully to these speeches,

with caution and of

subtlety, and, in
new

doing

so,

comes to understand

the implications
self.

Zarathustra's

Nietzsche indicates this fact

way
as to

such a

lead the

reader

by initially

teaching better than Zarathustra does him presenting the words of the Truthsayer in
to infer that

they

are the words of

Zarathustra ("The Truthsayer"). This fellow thinker is

name within the work,

never given a proper

sayer comes

but is simply called "the to understand is that Zarathustra's attempt to

of

Truthsayer."

What the Truth his initial

transcend

understanding
must of not

the just

political

order

by

reducing the political realm to a

mere means to the reproduction of

his

own

necessity fail. It
creating
on a

will

fail because

each of

activity in the person of another Zarathustra's successors can

predecessor.

help

lower level than his

The

reason

for this

112*

Interpretation
as

decline is
sibility
perfect of

follows. It is only by thinking through the incoherence and impos Zarathustra's beautiful and false account of the best regime and its
one

justice that

may

ascend

direcdy

beyond the falsehood

of

the politi

cal realm

to the peak of knowledge of the good. If Zarathustra's

successor must

destroy
cannot

the Zarathustrian tradition

even

in

order to clear

the way for the creation of

his own, however, then do

so

if he

attains

to Zarathustra's level in knowledge he

cannot

in his best

creation of values:
regime

he

found his

own

teaching

on an

account of the

that he
at

own new tradition must

have

has himself demolished. Consequently, his its core an account of the just political regime
cave of the political realm and

that

is

on a

lower

plane

than that of Zarathustra. This second Zarathustra will

be

obliged to seal off the exit

from the

its false The

cre

beliefs
ation

that

Zarathustra's

account of the

best

regime

had

opened up.

of

Zarathustra's his

successor

cannot, therefore, serve as a vehicle for the

reproduction of

own activity:

his

own

successor, Zarathustra the

Third,

as

it

were,

will exist on a still

lower level

and not

only in terms

of

creation, but in

terms of knowledge as well.

Thus,

the

high

point of

Zarathustra's best

moral

teaching,

self-overcoming that begins from the which has at its center his account
he
to be the

in

speech of the

political order or

regime, must initiate a process of decline

of what considers
worst

that will end

in the

realization

in deed

political order or regime: the rule of the

"rabble."13

It is the low despair

point of

this

necessary future in which those

process

of

decline that the prophecy

with

of will

the Truthsayer predicts: a

over

the capacity to create

the vanity of

consequently succumb to the belief that "everything is empty, everything is one, everything That is to say, the Truthsayer foresees that Zarathustra will engender not a second Zarathustra, but rather a
all efforts of creation and
was."

climate

in

which

"the best

grow

tired of their

works"

"harvested"

after

having
predominate or the multitude of vulgar

"rotten

fruit"

and, therefore, in which "shallow

swamps"

reins of political rule

men.14

have been handed

over to the

ignorant

Zarathustra is laid low

lapse he
priate

by

the

"prophecy"

of

the Truthsayer.

During his
draw the

col

experiences a second nightmare

in

which

he

seems to

appro

lessons from the Truthsayer's He is the

prophecy.

In his dream Zarathustra has

...

become the "night-watchman

death."

and grave-watchman

on

the hill
and

fortress

of

guardian of other

life that has been

"overcome"

that lies in
as

coffins around

him. In

words, in his dream Zarathustra sees that, just

the prophet had predicted, his own efforts at

through the transmission of a
enervation and paralysis of

reproducing the life of the creator Zarathustrian tradition must finally result in an

the will.

Nevertheless,

the conclusion of his dream that the Truthsayer has

appears to offer a suggestion as uncovered can entrance ment of

to how the

difficulty

be

resolved:

black

coffin appears

in the gateway that is the be that, despite the in

some

to this region of the

dead, bursts

open,

and regurgitates an odd assort

images

of resurrected

life. The implication

seems to

difficulties that the Truthsayer has

foreseen,

the

future

continues

way

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

1 13

to hold out the promise of a reprisal or recapitulation of the high point of the

activity

of the

will

that Zarathustra's
when

own

creation

represents.

Zarathustra,
of

therefore,

recovers

he

appears

to

fathom the full

significance

his
that

dream,

namely, that the finite

process of

decline in the

creations of

the

will

the Truthsayer predicts

cal regimes or

implies

a similar

finitude in

regard

to the

kinds

of politi

that no matter how

be,

all of them

fall

under one or

infinite the variety of particular peoples may another of a strictly limited number of possible

regimes

(see

note

5). This insight is

cause, when combined with

seems to suggest that a

initially encouraging to Zarathustra be his understanding of the will as self-overcoming, it finite process of decline in political orders must inevita

bly

be followed

by

an

tions and regimes were to

predictable circular rence

opposing process of renewal. If, then, the series of tradi follow in their decline and renewal a necessary and
need

course, Zarathustra

only

will

this repetition or recur

will as

in

order

to once again secure the self-sufficient activity of the

the

final

cause of the

becoming

of

the political community (cf.

the

Machiavelli, Dis

courses on

Livy, 1.2). By willing

will's

his

own superior existence as of the

inevitable in this way he would reproduce the highest good. Zarathustra traces this circular
at

trajectory
will as

willing

the point in the discourse

which

following
teaching
in

"The
of

Truthsayer"

("On

Redemption")

in

he

speaks of

his

own

the

liberator

and then

follows

this with an account of the decline of the will

"madness"

from this height in it

seeks to annul

several stages to the nadir of the will's

which we or

return once

itself in willing not-willing. From this low point, however, more to Zarathustra's own teaching that "the will is a height from
which we

creator"

ascend to the makes

began. The

suggestion

that Zarathustra

immediately following
seems

this account

that the will must

learn to "will in its

backwards"

to refer,

at

least

at this

point,

not

to willing all of the past,

but to willing this

willing.

circular process of the ascent and

decline

of the will

Willing

this circular recurrence

of

is the be

"sea"

in

which

Zarathustra be

He apparently shares his new insight with the Truthsayer at the dinner party to which he invites him immediately following his recovery. Much as we would like to know how the

lieves the difficulties

the Truthsayer

"drowned."

will

Truthsayer
posed

responds

to Zarathustra's ostensible

solution

to the problem

he has

for him, Nietzsche does

not afford us this pleasure.

Whatever the Truthsayer may have had

shared,

to say to Zarathustra at the meal

they

by

the

speech of

Part Three
realize

entitled

"On the Vision

and the

Riddle,"

Zarathustra has
the

come

to

that the apparent salvation of

his

revised ac

count of the will to power as the

perdition of creativity.

highest

good

has been bought in his

at the price of or unlimited of

his understanding
The latter according to
will

of the will to power as was

grounded

infinite

in its

proposition

analysis

the

political things

which the

potentially infinite variety

of peoples

implied

the corresponding infinitude of that which to

power.

is the

causal principle of number of

of

those peoples, the

peoples must of

Yet, if any

one

necessity fall

under one of a

among the infinite finite number of kinds

regime,

114-

Interpretation
his doctrine that
at the core of all

then Zarathustra must reconsider

unlimited power.

being

is

an

Accordingly, he

now concludes that the circular recurrence of

finite
finite
same.

regimes

implies

a circular recurrence on the cosmological scale or that a

power at the core of all

being

must give

rise to the
. . .

eternal return of
.

the

As he

says

in "On the Three Evils":

For my wisdom it has more
says:
""
force.'

"My

day-wisdom

mocks all

'infinite

worlds.'

'Where force

(Kraft) is,

there number
politi

becomes

master:

Zarathustra thus discovers that the

or

cal problem

has

certain

implications for cosmology

about the whole that

that the problem of

jus

tice and its relation to the beautiful and the good points to the problem of the
order of the whole.

The truth

Zarathustra believes himself

to undermine his

to have

discovered, however,

seems

fundamentally

teaching
first

concerning the freedom of the will, namely, that the liberation through acts of creation or by becoming
cause:

will can achieve genuine

truly

autonomous
recurrence

if the

cosmological

order

is defined
a

by

necessary

of all

things, then the

creation or
represented

will can never

be

first

cause and there can

be

no genuine

liberty

in this

sense.

Zarathustra's
Riddle"

own gloom over this

insight is
or

in "On the Vision

heaviness"

and the

by

the voice of the

.
.

"dwarf"

the "mind of
of wisdom!
fall!"

who mocks

You have thrown

yourself

you stone him, saying, "O Zarathustra high, but every stone that is thrown
.

must
past and

Accordingly,
one

when

Zarathustra

asks

him

whether

the paths of the

future that

stretch out

"contradict"

moment

in contrary directions from the gateway of the another eternally, the dwarf replies with the cos
"all
circle."

mological and necessitarian version of the thought of the eternal return:

truth

is crooked, time itself is

sees

Zarathustra, however,
implies the

that the recurrence of the past and the future

recurrence of the moment

in

which the eternal return

is known and,

therefore, in which it may be willed. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage the freedom of the will that he understands to be the highest good, he therefore
makes a virtue out of

this way the will

so the

becomes,
its
to

necessity by willing the eternal as it were, the first cause

own willing:

recurrence of all things.

In

of the whole of things and

first

cause of

it

wills

its

own will or

becomes

self-caused.

Thus, according
the

Zarathustra's

current

understanding, his

attempt to

becoming

of

the political

community in the

reproduction of the

employ highest

good requires

that he will not only the circular repetition of political regimes,

but the way

eternal recurrence of all

as to reproduce

it in the
or

things, since if he cannot will the past in such a future as his own creation, then he must submit to
secondary
cause within the nexus of causes

being
will

merely

dependent

deter

mining the necessity of recurrence.

cosmological whole that appears to

By

willing the recurrence of all things, the

to power as highest good transforms itself

into the best

causal principle of a

be both beautiful in its

wholeness and

just

in the riddle

relations of

its

parts

insofar

as the rule of the within

prevails within

it.

That there

are problems

lurking

Zarathustra's

apparent solution to the

presented

by

the eternal return of the same is made clear at the end of

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

"On the Vision
choking
upon a

-115

and

the

Riddle"

where

Zarathustra

sees a vision of a shepherd

"heavy

black

snake"

that has crawled into

his throat

and

there

bit itself fast. Zarathustra's

and spit

advice to the shepherd shepherd

is to bite
rises

off the snake's

head is

it far

away.

When the
no

does this he

up
one

laughing
day?"

and

"no longer shepherd,

"foreseeing"

longer

man."

Zarathustra

calls this vision a

"parable"

and a
Convalescent"

and asks

"who it is that

must come

In "The

it is

made clear that the shepherd represents

Zarathustra himself
picture that

insofar

as

he is

a ruler and

legislator

and

that, despite the rosy

"monster"

his
into

animals paint of
"snake"

it,

the thought of the eternal recurrence of all things is the

or, as Zarathustra now

describes it, the

that

has

crawled

his throat. This thought

proves monstrous and

nauseating to Zarathustra

when

he

realizes that the political and cosmological rule of

the best or his willing the

eternal recurrence of all

things means willing not only the reproduction of the

will's own goodness or superior petual

activity in the

person of

another, but the

per

recurrence of

the bad in the form of the lowest and smallest sort of the rabble. The presence of the low not only persists

human life, the life but is in

creative great effect

of

in,

the result of what he takes to be the highest human activity, the

of the
. .

freedom

will

at

its

peak.

Thus Zarathustra

explains

that "the
small

disgust

at man

choked me and crept

.

into my

throat."

That "the

man recurs realizes would

eternally

that was my disgust at all

creation"

existence."

Moreover, he

that the will's "free

of all a

things in willing the eternal return

or the universal

be indistinguishable from
of necessity: as and

thoroughgoing determinism
choke.16

dominion
would

the Truthsayer prophesied, all would be one, nothing

be profitable,

knowledge

would

Thus,

the thought of the

will

eternal return elaborates

precisely
the

what would

be

required

for the

to

attain

to a pure and perfectly

would

activity impure community of the highest with the lowest and the complete passivity of the will in submitting to a blind and inalterable "fate."17 In the thought of the eternal return the doctrine of the will to power as necessarily
entail

self-sufficient

and

shows, paradoxically, that this

the

first

and

final

cause of all

knowing
animals

and all

being

is

decisively

refuted

by

Zarathustra himself. Though his

insist that his

never
"spit"

"destiny"

is to become
this doc

the teacher of the eternal return, Zarathustra trine and in fact describes himself as
it.18

does
this

promulgate
"monster"

having
he is

from him,

that

is,

as

having

repudiated

He does

so

far away because he has come to

in his
attempt

understand that the same problem that

encountered

to trans

form his disciples into fellow

proves to

creators

embodied

in his

attempt to reproduce

the autonomous activity of his will: the path to absolute

freedom

of the will

be identical
the

with the path to or

its thoroughgoing
"tyrant-madness"

self-enslavement. of

It

is,
of

sickness"

therefore,
the
will

"turning

the low passion of

revenge that

lies behind the incoherent

metaphysical superlative

and unfulfillable
sense"

desire for "freedom

and

in

the
of

(Beyond Good

Evil, 21). At
equality

the bottom
will

Zarathustra's

attempt to

bring

all

things under the sway of his

lies the

same passion

that animates the efforts of the preachers of

116
to

Interpretation
all things under the

bring

political

realm, its law and

sway of the rabble. Far from having escaped the its justice, Zarathustra's revised version of the will
an expression of the most

to power doctrine
passion.

is simply

fundamental

political

The

self-refutation of

Zarathustra's doctrine

of the will

to power in the

thought of the eternal return of the same thus proves to be the refutation of the

fundamental
ration

premise of that philosophical school that

finds its

origin and

inspi

in Kant, namely, that the will is the primary phenomenon and its freedom being." the core of what it is to be a human Nietzsche's demonstration of the incoherent foundations
of

"German
and

Idealism"

is in
and

the service of a

philosophy in its original other words, Nietzsche's

primary Platonic

recovery of Socratic sense, however. In

figure

political presentation of the life of philosophy in the his Zarathustra is ultimately directed to showing that the principle of the political realm, the will and its desire for and i.e.,
of
"justice"

"freedom,"

revenge, is in the deepest tension

with

the

principle of

the life of philosophy.

"purification"

That the drama philosophy The three

can

Zarathustra is ultimately devoted to such be seen by reviewing its overall trajectory.

of

of

parts of

Zarathustra

as

it

was published under

Nietzsche's
attempts to

author

ity

may be

characterized as

follows. In Part One Zarathustra

found

political order that

principle of all

is truly just by structuring it in accordance with the true being. In doing so he unfolds an account of being or an ontol

ogy in which the highest good and the beautiful are one and the same. In Part Two he attempts to employ the becoming of the political community, the char acter of which he takes to be essentially indeterminate or fluid, as a means
through which to realize the the political community and
account of

highest good, a good that lies beyond the justice of its moral law. In doing so he offers a teleological
the beautiful and the good are
wherein

becoming

in

which

fundamentally
is

distinct. Finally, in Part Three,

the thought of the eternal return

developed, Zarathustra's understanding of the starting point and end of the po litical realm is shown to imply a complementary cosmology or an account of
the
will

being

of

becoming

according to

which the whole of

things is rooted in the

to power as both its efficient and its

final

cause.

character of grounded

the thought of the eternal return, which

this

The self-contradictory is the image of a cosmos

in

double causality

of

the will, shows such a cosmos to be impos

a
"rational"

sible, however. Therefore it shows both that

which a complete causal account could

cosmological order, of
not

be given, is

in

accord with reason,

but is ine

rather a projection of and

the political onto the natural realm, and that genu

knowing
will.20

freedom his

of mind are

incompatible
his
"wisdom,"

with

the absolute freedom

that

of the

Through the

refutation of own

Zarathustra discovers

the primary source of

tional constructions

thinking is

not

the will to power and

of

its inten

directed to the overcoming

chance.21

need,

but,

on

the one

hand,

love
and,
of

as on

the awareness of the goodness of need and the the other

hand,

In

other

desire (Lust) for eternity words, he discovers that the presence

within

philosophy in the

midst of

things is a good that cannot be made to fit

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

a

-117

beautiful
to the

whole of

justly

ordered

parts, but that

nevertheless conveys a good

ness

totality
is

of things which would made possible not

be

absent

from

such a perfect whole.

examination of

This

discovery

human
the

or political a

things, but

by

only by his community in

Zarathustra's

the

speech and

thought with

community based not upon the mutual possession, but the mutual pursuit of wisdom. The Truthsayer is obviously neither a disciple of Zarathustra's teaching nor a creature of his will. He is simply the most thought

Truthsayer,

ful

man

that Zarathustra has chanced that he has to a

friend.22

upon

in his

wanderings.

As

such

he is the

closest

thing

NOTES

1. See Letter to Karl Knortz 2. That the

made clear

of

speeches of the

Truthsayer

June 21, 1888; also see Ecce Homo, Preface, 4. are behind Zarathustra's thought of the eternal

return

is

in "On the

Convalescent."

3. That Zarathustra is to be first lines

of

read with

Plato

and
of

his Socrates in

mind

is

made clear

in the very

the book in which the

famous images

the cave and the sun from Plato's Republic are

conspicuously employed. 4. Zarathustra later specifies the ignorance

of

human beings
Virtue"

as

believing they
and

know New

what

is

they do not. See "On Cf. Beyond Good and Evil, 202.
good and evil when

the

Chairs

of

and

"On the Old

Tables."

5. Zarathustra
well

arrives at

this conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence: though it may

and

be the

case that

the

number of particular peoples

their particular laws

is potentially
strictly
the various

infinite, it is
limited kinds
of

nevertheless also

the case that these particular peoples and

laws

all

fall

under a

number of

kinds

or species of regime.
rooted

In neglecting to

perform an analysis of

regimes, Zarathustra has

aspect of

the political community that is recalcitrantly

his understanding of man, and therefore of being, in that irrational. In Part Three, Zarathustra, after

having

covered quite a

bit

of ground

in his thinking,

belatedly

offers

the most fundamental kinds of regime: rule of the one

and rule of

("despotism"),
Tablets,''

something like an analysis of rule of the few ("nobility")

and

the many ("mob-rule"): "On Old and New

"devil"

11. Writing"). Behind the

6. Zarathustra's
mind of

is the "mind

heaviness"

of

("On

Reading

heaviness, however, is "the

attempt

revenge"

mind of

("On Redemption").

7. Zarathustra's

to command his disciples to

Jesus'

free themselves from their belief in his

his disciples to love
one another

teaching is
and

the negative reflection of

on the

attempt to command

belief in his teaching and his divinity. 8. One of the most striking signs of Zarathustra's transformation is his temporarily abandoning The god in question his doctrine that "god is for a declaration that he is "god's

himself

basis

of their

dead"

advocate."

turns out to

be Cupido

or

Eros.

9. Of course, if the refutation of Zarathustra's claim to wisdom points to philosophy as the human good, it also points to the partial obstruction that the political community and its justice pose
to the acquisition of that good. It
points to the

Seth Benardete, 10. Zarathustra's

painted of

Socrates'

Second

Sailing
Song"

(Chicago:

distinction between the necessary and the good. Cf. University of Chicago Press), p. 153.
stands
of

claim to

have fathomed Life's depths

as the

in

stark contrast
and

to the portrait he

himself in "The Dance

ignorant lover

Life

Wisdom.
appears to offer a

11. Through the

twofold parody

twofold presentation of

Zarathustra's

"wisdom"

Nietzsche

of philosophy.

On the

simplest

level,
of

this

In the

original

dogmatic
and

and

legislative

version

parody may be Zarathustra's

characterized as

follows.
parodies

"wisdom,"

Nietzsche

philosophical
version

writing

its

artful completeness or

finitude. In its

revised sceptical and extramoral

he

parodies

the incompleteness and

infinitude

of philosophical speaks

inquiry

as of

the pursuit of "the

fundamental

(Beyond Good

and

Evil, 23). He

explicitly

Zarathustra

as

118

Interpretation
preface

parody in the
"'Incipit

to

The

Gay Science,

where

he

makes reference to the

last

aphorism of

the

original edition of the

tragoedia'

latter work,

an aphorism

it

says at the end of

virtually identical to the opening of Zarathustra: take caution! Something this doubtful-undoubting book

There is no doubt. paradigmatically bad and mischievous declares itself: incipit parodia Heidegger's understanding of Nietzsche's philosophy as essentially tragic in character measures the depth
of

his

misunderstanding.

trans. David Farrell Krell (San Francisco: Harper and

sense

See his Nietzsche, Vol. II, The Eternal Recurrence of the Same, Row, 1984), pp. 28-31. His odd lack of a
give an adequate

for the One

comic made

it impossible for him to it did

not stand

interpretation

of

Nietzsche's
of

thought.

wonders whether

in the way

of

his understanding the thought

This
renunciation

certain other philosophers as well.

12. See "The

port of

Wanderer'

and

"On Blessedness Against the This thrice-reiterated

Jesus

Will."

is the im "On

Zarathustra's three headshakes before his disciples in Part Two:

and

see

"On the

Poets,''

Great

Events,"

"The

Truthsayer."

renunciation

is the

negative reflection of

Peter's thrice-repeated

renunciation of

immediately

before his death.

13. What the preceding argument seems to show is that a solution to this problem of reproduc tion cannot be found on the level of political legislation, but only on that of philosophical writing. Nietzsche's "On
publication of
Truthsayer."

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

represents

his

attempt at such a solution.

14. "The
speech

Self-Overcoming."

The Truthsayer has simply drawn these conclusions from Zarathustra's There Zarathustra indicated that although moralistic human beings
procreation or

may believe
amoral secret

all

willing to be directed to
a

"a

goal"

or

"something

higher,"

Life's be

is

self-overcoming
weaker steals.
.

lacking
.

any final

end the

direction

of which can

just

as well

down

as up:

"The

into the

castle and even

the heart of the more powerful and

power."

steals the
of the mob

That the Truthsayer's

reference

to "shallow

swamps"

is

meant

to indicate the rule

is

made clear

in "On Old
to

and

New

Tablets,"

1 1.

15. Zarathustra limited in

seems

discover

that the protean transformations of the will to power are

number or

that

they fall

within a

determinate

number of

kinds. Cf. Homer, Odyssey, IV,

Matter."

360-425

and

Bacon, The Wisdom of the Ancients, XIII, "Proteus,

or
Zarathustra,"

16. In his

"Irony

and

Affirmation in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra's thought

and

Robert Pippin de
Chicago
of

scribes this self-refutative aspect of

of the eternal return with some clarity: see

Nietzsche's New Seas,

ed.

Michael Gillespie

Tracy Strong

(Chicago: in

University
with

of

Press, 1988),
what

53-54. Unfortunately, he then goes on to Zarathustra concludes from this self-refutation that is
pp.

"historicist"

offer a
not

interpretation

accordance

Nietzsche's "the

philosophical

intention,

namely, to uncover that

which

is unchanging in the

nature of things or

fundamental

problems": see

Beyond Good
and

and

Evil, 23. The fundamental

problem that the

incom
of

patible combination of

freedom

necessity in the thought

of the eternal return points to

is that

the relation

community and philosophy: the political community, the realm of ignorance and falsehood, turns out to be a necessary precondition for the life that is preeminently free because it is devoted to the pursuit of truth. As Nietzsche's Zarathustra makes clear, the
political

between the

philosopher's

pursuit of the truth

must

include

an

examination of the

false

appearances of the

political realm.

17. In the

words of

dictory: I
myself am phie

myself cause

Karl Lowith, it would require "something double, divided and self-contra for all eternity the fatality of all existence and its eternal return and: I
world"

only one conditioned fatality in all the circling of the natural der Ewigen Wiederkunft des Gleichen [Berlin: Kohlhammer, 1935],
to articulate

(Nietzsches Philoso 197). Zarathustra's

p.

overcoming of need, his revised wisdom in which mind and the unconditional freedom and self-suffi ciency of the will were to be perfectly combined, reproduces at its peak the contradiction that stands at the center of the traditional morality he had hoped man-god decisively to transcend: is, as man, in community with the lowest of the low and submits to suffering the greatest of passions and, as god, is the perfectly active and self-sufficient creator of the whole of from
understanding the freedom of the
an of

second attempt

of the good

in terms

the

Jesus'

being

out of the

infinite

power of

his

will.

It

should come as no

surprise, therefore, that Nietzsche

the thought of the

places eternal

the one aphorism in Beyond Good

return

and

Evil dedicated to
of

an elaboration of

in the

context of the

third part

that work, the topic of which is "the religious

essen

This fifty-sixth

aphorism concludes

by

suggesting

that the thought of the eternal return would be

circulus vitiosus

deus

a vicious circle as god.

The Will to Power Doctrine in Zarathustra

18. Maudemarie Clark is
ceives

119
per and

one of the

few

commentators on

Nietzsche's

work who

the problematic character of the doctrine of the will to power: see

pp.

Nietzsche

on

clearly Truth

Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990),

chooses

to treat
which

Nietzsche's
are

arguments

213-27. Unfortunately, she for that doctrine in abstraction from the contexts of the

works

in

each work
squared

found and, therefore, from the complex motion of the larger argument that in its entirety unfolds. This leads her to attribute to Nietzsche an attitude that cannot be

they

with

his

own

definition,

sceptical

in

character and so

insistence that he is, above all, a philosopher free of all attachment to moral
asserts the cosmological

and that

philosophy is,

by

"convictions"

("Antichrist,"

54): Clark insists that Nietzsche

recognition

that there are no good arguments to support

teaching of the will to it, on account of his

227). She

power, despite his

commitment

to

particular set of moral values or convictions

(see Clark,

p.

comes closer

to the truth in her

treatment of

Nietzsche's

differing

presentations of the thought of the eternal return

(see Clark,

p.

264).

If both Zarathustra and, therefore, Nietzsche himself ultimately

will

repudiate

the

doctrines

of the

to power and the eternal return,

however,

one can

legitimately

wishes

to appear in the guise of a teacher and promoter of

why it is that Nietzsche these doctrines. One can answer this

ask

observing that according to his own testimony Nietzsche was the practitioner of an art writing (see Beyond Good and Evil, 27, 29, 30, 40, 283-85, 289, and The Gay Science, 381) that is directed to (a) overtly appealing to while at the same time covertly undermining the dominant prejudices of his time, (b) proffering a morality while simultaneously demonstrating that the genuine life of philosophy is in the deepest tension with the moral law, and
question

by

of esoteric

"philosophical"

(c) providing
of

the proto-philosophical reader with a propaedeutic

teaching

that both seduces

him

to

the pursuit of philosophy and points the way to the transcendence of that

teaching in

the direction

fitting

philosophy in the proper sense. Within Thus Spoke Zarathustra the animals of Zarathustra are the spokesmen for the doctrine of the eternal return in that the eagle and the serpent represent
pride and

Zarathustra's
godlike

his prudence,

and

the prideful account of the thinker as endued with a

out

responsibility for the whole of things turns Nietzsche according to the dictates of prudence in the 19. "Kant depths felt
of

to be a concealing surface adopted

by
the

presentation of

his thought.
too

too
soul

had been bitten idea

by

the moral tarantula

Rousseau, he

harboured in
of

his

the

of that moral

fanaticism

whose executor another

disciple

Rousseau

and confessed
et

de la justice

de la

himself to be, namely, Robespierre, 'de fonder sur la terre l'empire de la sagesse, (Speech of 7 June, 1794)": Daybreak, Preface, 3.
vertu'

20. That Nietzsche

return of all

understands a

the incoherence of Zarathustra's attempt to will the eternal

of

things to be

demonstration

the

impossibility

of a complete causal account of

the

whole of things are all

is

grounded

founded 11. See

"Before

upon the

in his understanding of the general character of causal accounts: they belief in the causality of the will: see Beyond Good and Evil, 36 and 87.
the ill-constituted.
Song,"

21. "All
Song,"

eternal

desire longs for

"The Other

For

all

desire

wants

itself: "The Drunken

Eternity,"

also

Dancing

4;

Sunrise."

and

22. In "On the

Convalescent"

Cf. Seth Benardete, Zarathustra

Socrates'

3; Dithyrambs of Dionysus, "Fame and Second Sailing, pp. 152 and 192.

characterizes world

following
that

terms. "Where chattering is there the

community in speech and thought in the lies before me like a garden. How lovely it is

words and sounds exist: are words and sounds not rainbows and

bridges

of appearance
soul

(Schein)

between

the eternally divided. To every soul belongs another world;

bridge.''

for every

is an afterworld. Between the most alike appearance (Schein) lies most Within the wholeness of this community Zarathustra seems gap is the most difficult to beautiful and within the genuineness of its community the truth truth of the to discover the finally
of the

every other soul beautifully; for the smallest

just.
bumped into Zarathustra him: he simply
Need,"

Having
pears

by

chance, the Truthsayer proves to be very persistent in

alone.

his

attachment to

will not

leave Zarathustra he
and

In Part Four

of the work

in "The

Cry

of

in

which

Zarathustra have become

so close as

he reap to be able to

guess each other's thoughts

when

to

you."

merely by looking into each other's faces. This closeness is confirmed Zarathustra declares to the Truthsayer that "whatever in my cave belongs to me also belongs where he reminds Zarathustra of We last hear from the Truthsayer in "The Last
Supper,"

necessity in the form

of

bodily

need:

he insists

on a meal

before

indulging

in

speeches.

Review Essays

Heidegger,
University

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

Frank Schalow
of New Orleans

John D.

Caputo, Demythologizing Heidegger (Bloomington: Indiana University

Press, 1993), xi + 234 pp., $15.95 paper. Berel Lang, Heidegger's Silence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996),
xii

129 pp., $19.95.

Tom

Rockmore, Heidegger's Philosophy and Nazism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), xi + 382 pp., $47.50 Hans Sluga, Heidegger's Crisis: Philosophy and Politics in Nazi Germany (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), x + 285 pp., $33.50 cloth,
$15.50
paper.

Leslie Paul Thiele,

itics (Princeton: Princeton

Timely Meditations: Martin Heidegger and Postmodern Pol University Press, 1995), xii + 263 pp., $49.50 cloth,

$14.95

paper.

Julian Young, Heidegger, Philosophy, and Nazism (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni versity Press, 1997), xv + 232 pp., $49.95. Michael E. Zimmerman, Heidegger's Confrontation
ogy, Politics, Art (Bloomington: Indiana
with

Modernity: Technol
xxvii

University Press, 1990),

+ 306

pp.,

$19.95

paper.

Since Victor Farias

published

his book

detailing

Heidegger's involvement in

National Socialism (1987), a wave of books have appeared which develop this theme. One might expect that this trend of Heidegger criticism would produce
such

dark

revelations about

his fascist tendencies have had the

as to

dampen

all enthusiasm

for his thought. Yet

these works

reverse effect of

interest in his
for his

philosophy, even to the point of

at

"apologetics,"

spawning

stimulating new if not

as

actions

least for his

perhaps

philosophical

vision.

Indeed,

this century

comes to a close,
greater notoriety.

the greatest thinker of

his time has

never received

Precisely for
has
never

this reason the need

for balanced books

criticism of
will

Heidegger's

thought

been

more urgent.

In this essay, I

develop
to
un-

such an approach

by

examining

a wide spectrum of

which seek

interpretation, Fall

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

122

Interpretation
his fascist ties. In the process, I
will point

cover the truth about

to a theme

which remains dormant throughout the majority of those analyses, namely, the interconnection between Heidegger's concept of freedom and the example of

his

politics.

We

can appreciate a

thinker's politics only

even when

by

lary

treatment of

freedom,

the scope

considering his or her corol of that freedom remains un

clear.

When

scholars

analyze

Heidegger's philosophy,

however, they
a conclusion

often

subordinate

their explication of

his

concept of

freedom to

already
the

drawn

about

his

politics.

In

order

to discern this tendency, we

must examine

different interpretive
the polity
ger's
sion

strategies which scholars

employ to outline the place of

in Heidegger's
and

thought.

Among
first

the

various

books addressing

Heideg

Nazism

politics,

we must

consider

those which explore the ten

between his innovative development

political views.
Farias'

attempt

ontology and his reactionary outstanding example, which follows on the heels of to re-examine Heidegger's involvement in National Socialism,
of

One

such

is Michael Zimmerman's Heidegger's Confrontation

"immanent"

with

Modernity. From this

a more
radical

spirit

of

an
of

criticism

of

Heidegger

arises

ex

his presuppositions, which is exemplified in John Caputo's Demythologizing Heidegger. Unlike Zimmerman, Caputo develops "deconamination
structive"

strategies as practiced

by

the luminaries of postmodernity,

"Teutonic-Hellenism"

including
Ju-

Levinas, Lyotard,
of

and

Derrida,
we will

to expose Heidegger's thought to the criticisms

of
work

those traditions which

his brand

excludes, e.g.,

daeo-Christianity. As
bridge between
reject

discover, Caputo's

forms

an

important

those scholars who sit on the

Heideggerian fence

and those who

his philosophy because of his politics. Although Farias champions this position,
world comes

a more recent example within the

English-speaking
and

from Tom Rockmore's Heidegger's

a method of

Philosophy
Hans Sluga

Nazism. Rockmore implements

criticism,

which

also exemplifies
historical."

in Heidegger's Crisis, that may be described This fact-gathering enterprise is crucial in order to
embraced

as "sociologicalsupport the con and never

clusions, for example, that Heidegger

recanted

National Socialism

its ideology, that he

exhibited antisemitic provides

silence about the ual allegiance evaluate

horrors

of

Auschwitz

tendencies, implicit evidence

and that
of

his

his

contin

to National
ways of

different

Socialism. Given this historical archaeology, we can making inferences from Heidegger the man-politician
and vice versa. of

to Heidegger the

intellectual-thinker
darkest implications

Not surprisingly,
politics.

several

books

paint the

Heideggerian

Among

these

books is Richard Wolin's The Politics of Being, along with the literature detail ing the atrocities of the Holocaust, including Berel Lang's Heidegger's Silence. Wherever the
terpret
criticism of

Heidegger becomes
which

most

severe,

attempts to rein vision

his thought in
such

ways more compatible with our

democratic

become
Julian

inevitable. One
point

example,

implements
his

an

"analytic"

method to refute

by

point the

damning

evidence

critics gather against

him, is

Heidegger,

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism
also

123

Young's Heidegger, Philosophy, Nazism. We Thiele's Timely Meditations. This work stands
motifs of

must apart

include Leslie Paul

by

reinterpreting the
which undercuts

key
the

Heidegger's thought in
he

order

to outline a politics

Nazi

ideology

initially

embraces.

II.

Even
been

prior

to

Farias'

book,
of

most proponents
with

of

Heidegger's thought had

when

aware of

his brief flirtation

"official

National Socialism
and

he became

rector of the
power.

University
overall

Freiburg

in 1933

supported

Hitler's rise to
the phi

Yet the

story"

has been to

separate

Heidegger

losopher from Heidegger the politician, thereby creating a buffer between the brilliance of his ontological insights and whatever myopia he may have shown

in his

political

judgment. The

Farias'

effect of

revelations,

however,
of

was

to tear

away this buffer and foreclose the all too convenient option

insulating

Heidegger's thought from the

surrounding his life in Germany. As poignant as revelations were, they would not have had the impact they did upon many Anglo-American scholars if a transition were not already under way to engage Heidegger's thought with an area of philoso
catastrophic events
Farias'

historical

phy he seemingly ignored: namely, ethics. If the inquiry into being is to have its root in the historical situation of human beings, then any such investigation must speak to those ethical dilemmas which distinguish perhaps the most turbu lent
period

in

world

history. As Zimmerman, Caputo,

and

Charles Scott began

Heidegger's

to recognize in the

1980's, it is just

as

necessary to
of

approach

thought as an occasion to question the possibility of ethics as to present his

philosophy

as an esoteric narrative on the

meaning

being. This
work,
which

shift

in the

emphasis on

provides the climate

Heidegger scholarship not only parallels for hearing the troubling allegations

Farias'

but, indeed,
raises.

he

If

concrete praxis orients the question of

being,

then practical concerns, e.g.,

of ethics and

politics,

must

help

to shape the landscape of ontological

inquiry.

While

in capturing the interest of many importance been etched in Heidegger's thought with its had scholars, already the publication of his magnum opus, Being and Time (1927). In this work, he
this correlation may have been slow

in ontological inquiry only by participat in being's disclosure; hence, philosophy originates from the concrete situa ing tion in which the inquirer places him- or herself in question and owns up to his
emphasizes that a thinker can engage
or

her

unique existence as a

finite it

self.

The thinker's

commitment

to authentic

existence

fosters

the openness of philosophical

appears

between

thought and existence,

inquiry. Given this reciprocity hypocritical to suggest that philoso

phy of human

can secure a
action.

sanctuary for truth apart from its exemplification in the realm As Herbert Marcuse argues in a famous letter to his teacher:

124
'.
.

Interpretation
.

we cannot make

the

distinction between the he

philosopher and

the

human be

being
be
were

Martin Heidegger

it

contradicts your own philosophy.

philosopher can

mistaken about politics

then

will

openly

admit

his

error.

But he

cannot

mistaken about a regime that murdered millions of

Jews merely because they

that made terror part of everyday life really tied to the concept of spirit and freedom (Quoted in Kettering and Neske, pp. xxiii-ix)

Jews,

and turned everything that ever was and truth

into its

opposite.'

bloody

In Heidegger's Confrontation

with

Modernity, Michael Zimmerman

and

em

braces this

statement as the

leitmotif for his discussion. Thus the

question

he

asks is not simply whether his thinking became juxtaposed

Heidegger had Nazi ties, but instead how

with such a

why
what

destructive ideology. That

is,

were the set of variables which shaped

Heidegger's interest in National Social

ism

and seduced

press

him into the misunderstanding that Nazi ideology could ex the political implications of his thought? To answer this question,
considers

Zimmerman

the interface between the intellectual Zeitgeist

emphasis

in Ger

many
concern

from Spengler's for

on

the "decline of the

West"

to Jiinger's

the worker's encounter with the global

of

forces

of

industrialization
as a

and

Heidegger's interpretation

the crisis of Western

history

descent into

nihilism, the
which unique

forgetting

of

being,

and the end of metaphysics.

The

inquiry by

he

can address all of these

configuration, of

"enframing,"

the process of
aspects of

issues simultaneously and distinguish their As course, is "the question concerning all domination over exerts control and technology
technology."

nature, granting

humanity

the power to impose

its

will on

the diver

sity of being's manifestation. One can debate the sociological factors

ment

which surround

Heidegger's involve

in National Socialism, but the

of technology. us

most

basic
global

consideration of all remains the

problem

Because

of

its

solicits

from

equally

radical responses

destructive power, technology in social organization in order that we

can combat ger saw

and

this

potential

both Western

capitalism and communism as

for destruction. As Zimmerman emphasizes, Heideg instruments of technology,

as the political movement which sum

hence turned to National Socialism

epochal challenge. The audacity of the politi decision became the corollary to the philosopher's attempt at original thinking. "Heidegger claimed that only authentic thinking and poetry could
mons
cians'

human beings to face this

save

Germany

in its hour

of crisis.

By

'thinking,'

he did

not mean rational

calculation,

but instead the

mode of comportment which opened one

awesome and

dreadful presencing

(p. 84). On the surface, the

our

need to

day, let

alone the turmoil of

including develop a new politics Germany in the 1930's, is

of political which

things,"

up to the its darkness and horror

to

face the

crisis of

not

far fetched. Yet

could

Heidegger
verted

went

astray

by

underestimating how

leaders

be

sub

by

the powers of

technology

they

seek to

harness, i.e.,

spearhead

ing

violence and mass

destruction themselves. As Zimmerman

states:

Heidegger,
Unfortunately,
what

the

Polity,
the

and

National Socialism
'dark'

125

the Nazis meant

by

'unrestrained'

and

was not the

of

being of entities, but instead blood and instinct, frenzy and violence, domination humanity and nature. As reactionary modernists, the Nazis united instinct with technology in a way which led to unparalleled devastation. (P. 84)
In the end, Heidegger may flawed realm of politics could
cal vision person of

succumb to a ever yield a

kind

of

hubris in
it is
one

believing

that the

leader its

with

the kind of world-histori

to match technology's global reach. Yet

hubris

and quite another

to trace

origin.

According

thing to accuse a to Zimmerman,

Heidegger's hero
sense of

combines a nostalgia

for the Greek

origins with a grandiose

"destiny"

(Geschick)

as reflected

in Schelling's thought.

The self-mythifying Heidegger believed that he had been destined to proclaim the saving vision of his hero, Holderlin, and that he himself was thus the worldhistorical figure
who would transform the
'destiny'

fate

of the

West. Consider Heidegger's

. .

[emphasis on] the The grandson of the linking him with Holderlin. man born in a manger in Holderlin's beloved Swabian countryside knew that he
was

destined to

change the course of

history! (P. 132)

The heroic leader

must exhibit

the creative power to transform tradition, that

is,

to seek in the strife of the present the possibility of

transmitting

one's

heri

tage to

future

generations. elements of
must

Art becomes the

vehicle

incompatible

harmony
revered

and

strife,

conflict and resolution.

for joining these apparently The ar

tist's ex-centricity
convention and

be

in

contrast

to the complacency of bourgeois

the self-serving politics of the modem enlightenment. Sacrifice the

rather than comfort provides

key

to motivate individuals to place their trust

in

a new political regime.

But the

question

becomes

whether

the artist's way

of

begetting creativity from chaos, harmony from strife, tion can provide even the barest recipe for politics.
Once

and

destiny

from destruc

having

understood

tractive,
his

we must still ask where a rift emerges

why Heidegger found National Socialism to be at these revelations leave us as scholars. Not

surprisingly,
gerians"

between the

status as a thinker attuned to the

who

"right-wing voice of being

Heideggerians"

who uphold and the

"left-wing Heideg

employ deconstractive tactics to expose incongruities within the Heideggerian text (Schurmann, p. 127). For those who still espouse Heideg
gerian at the

themes, it becomes forefront

of

increasingly

evident

that the question of politics

lies

any future appropriation of his philosophy. On the one hand, Zimmerman pinpoints the dissonance between Heidegger's grasp of the Westem crisis and the prospect of action.

translating

that insight into guidelines of political

arises to take

On the

other

hand,

a new

opportunity

Heidegger's

short

fall

as an occasion to re-examine the perennial problem of the relation

and

between

theory

praxis, philosophy and politics.

recast

Going forward,
a

the greatest chal the

lenge is to
possibility

Heidegger's thought through

dialogue

which examines

of politics

in the contemporary

world.

126

Interpretation
past

Within the have

decade,

there

have been two

major

breakthroughs

which

dramatically

changed

the face of Heidegger studies. The first involves the

emergence of the political question and the revelations of

ment

Heidegger's involve

in National Socialism. The

second pertains

to the

discovery

of

Heideg

ger's thought
uncovers an and

in the early 1920's; in his youthful "hermeneutics of he ethos which includes motifs from primordial Christianity, e.g, love
otherwise
absent

facticity,"

community,

in his

stark

concept

of

Dasein. In
a

De-

mythologizing
which plays against

Heidegger, John Caputo blends

his

these two

developments in

way

the compassionate spirit of Heidegger's early religious orientation

subsequent commitment major

the callousness of

to totalitarian politics.

Thus Caputo distinguishes the two

dislocations in Heidegger's thought

from

which a new

According
commitment

to

topography of questioning can emerge. Caputo, Heidegger's turn to National Socialism

thought. "His

parallels

his

to specific volitional categories of strength, self-affirmation, and

heroism, all of which stem from Hellenic the Holocaust, the scandalous comparison
culture
. . .

baffling

silence about

of the gas chambers real

to modem agri
pain

these are all scandalously

suffering"

insensitive to

'factical'

and

concrete

human

(p. 73). The exclusivity

with which

holds the Greco-German

other set of categories of and was

virtues amounts to

dismissing

Heidegger up the importance of an

Christian origin, the

categories of

tenderness, charity,

love. Despite the

deaf to the

religious orientation of

solicitousness about

Heidegger's early thought, "he the flesh in the biblical narratives (p.
. .

72).

The deconstruction
unfold

of

Heidegger's thought

requires an alternative axis

to

the

key

motifs of

But

an appropriation of
"myth"

Greco-Germanic
arises and

his ontology, including care, truth, and temporality. Heidegger's thought cannot occur without undoing the of a privileged origin from which Western philosophy
"homecoming"

the nostalgic search for it through a

with

(Holderlin). In his
'being' "

advancing this criticism, Caputo concurs

teacher

Karl Lowith,

who rebuked

for his "self-stylization into

p.

(Lowith,
become

68).

Only by

possible

a shepherd, thinker, and sayer of Heideggerian thought of this tendency does it purging to cultivate another ethos whose roots spring from the Judaeo-

Christian heritage. Ironically, the German

seem

people's

Christian heritage does

not

deterrent in preventing the atrocities of National Socialism. As Caputo indicates, Heidegger abandoned his early theological ori
entation

to have been much of a

in favor

of

Holderlin's
to express

mythic-poetic
of other

vision

of

the gods. To open

Heidegger's thought to the

ralistic

"piety"

traditions,

we must cultivate a plu

forum in

which

various criticisms of

his

philosophy: the need

to

heed the
the

and

disenfranchised (Levinas), the dissident (Derrida). According to Caputo, a new

voice of

the

persecuted
"justice"

(Lyotard),
in

must emerge
"singular,"

which speaks contrast

to the

suffering
"truth"

of the
of

individual,

to the radically

to the generic

being's

claim upon

Dasein (p. 207).

Heidegger,
III.

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

127

Heidegger's

most vehement critics converge

in

a single attempt

to counter

the wholesale attempt

ment

by

"Heideggerians"

to whitewash their mentor's involve

and

in National Socialism. In Heidegger, Philosophy,

stance,
as

Nazism, Rockmore
schol

exemplifies this critical

does Sluga in Heidegger's Crisis. Both

in Heidegger's texts
and more as

ars proceed

less

as

disciples
in

steeped

histo
"guilt"

rians;
and cial

their strategy is to uncover unusual facts about Heidegger the person and

then weave them together

"innocence."

story"

detective story assessing his As Rockmore states, the time has come to combat the "offi that Heidegger briefly flirted with National Socialism in 1933 only
an ultimate

to reject it shortly thereafter upon resigning from the post of rector in

1934,

and

that, despite
a

whatever personal shortcomings

man, these

have
is

no

bearing

on our assessment of

Heidegger may have exhibited as his thought. "What I call the

'official'

view students.

propagated not view

only

by

Heidegger but

by

some of

his

closest

It is the

between Heidegger's
political"

philosophical position and

that, roughly speaking, there is no, National

or no

important, link
(p. 74).

Socialism"

Rockmore's overarching thesis is that Heidegger's thought is "intrinsically (p. 54). Rockmore thereby closes the loophole by which Heidegger's
seek an escape of

defenders

purity to his "Spiegel

"political"

his thought in

over against

from confronting his Nazism, namely, maintaining the its contamination by his behavior from 1933

Interview"

a narrower

in 1966. Rockmore, however, construes the term sense to mean the implementation of a kind of ideol
rather

ogy

aligned with

Heidegger's thought,

than a reflection upon the

princi

ples of the polity.

This distinction becomes important, for Rockmore

"hero,"

maintains

that the

key

motifs of

"conscience,"

Heidegger's philosophy (e.g., the "destiny") are adaptable to Nazism and only Nazism. Thus Rock
philosophy"

"resoluteness,"

more makes a stronger claim than most

Nazism

was

based in his

in suggesting that Heidegger's "turn to (p. 54). This is a different position than

maintaining that Heidegger outlines the ontological presuppositions of the polis and hence his thought can be interpreted as implicating various political
stances.

Because Rockmore
way, he

couches

the Heideggerian problem of this polis in this

which supposedly hold be National Socialism. Thus Rockmore makes

can then establish

the complex synergies

and

tween fundamental ontology

the relevant associations between Heidegger's emphasis on the elitism of au

thentic philosophy

and

his

leadership
his

as rector of the

German university, the

self's exercise of resolve and sion of

political

decision
and the

of

1933, being's

transmis

its

destiny
most

to

a chosen

intellectual

German

people's emergence

as a vanguard of world

history. Yet

even given

the plausibility of these connec

tions,
ties

the

element

compelling question which Rockmore poses is whether some in Heidegger's philosophy prohibited him from recognizing the atroci
the banner of National

perpetuated under

Socialism.

128

Interpretation
to

According
dient

Rockmore, Heidegger
speaking

sanctified the role of silence as an

ingre

of authentic existence

to the point that when the time came

out against the

he had

a built-

in
be

excuse

for

not

forces

of totalitarianism.

But it may

more accurate

to suggest that Heidegger acknowledged

political

develop

ments

only

on a macro power

level

proper

to thought and

not on

the micro level of this disso

concept of

conflicting

interests. The
"tragic

question then

becomes, Why does

be that Heidegger's Greek
sense

nance occur?

And
a

one possible answer might

dimension"

destiny

includes

in the

purest of

of strife and

reconciliation,

of

illumination

and

blindness,

freedom

and necessity.

While

the macrocosmic events of the Western crisis can be

lines, the Holocaust may be of such a singular darkness, unlike the nihilism Nietzsche envisioned,
gories of

interpreted along these character that the depths of its

cannot

be fit into the

cate

Greek tragedy. Of course, there

which

are

different interpretations But it is

safe to

of the

degree to he

Heidegger

was or was not antisemitic.

never saw

the persecution of the Jews as a philosophical problem

say that in its own

right.

In Heidegger's Silence, Berel Heidegger ignored the

retrospect,
stitutes
plight of

Lang

points

to

double fault

by

which

the Jews

during

Hitler's uprising, insofar

as the

and

then, in
con

again neglected the

"Jewish

question"

Holocaust

the most abominable

maintains

Rockmore, Lang
ger

history (pp. 5-8). In agreeing with that it is necessary to "see a connection in Heideg
act of

human

between the domains

of the political and the

philosophical, the public and

occasional"

the private, the professional and the thesis

(p. 5). In this

clear

sense

Lang's
the

is

not altogether novel.

What

stands out

is his

question

for

which even

Heidegger's detractors do Heidegger

not

way have a

of

focusing

simple answer:

How

can we continue to grant

such premier stature

in

the

history

of

philosophy when his indifference to the plight of humanity appears so obvious? The irony is that "Heidegger attempts to break the very notion of the limits of

thinking

but in
thought"

ignoring

the "Jewish

question"

continues to

"settle for

limits to his forces life he

(pp. 100-101).

Yet Heidegger
of

was not the was

Nazism. What

shared with

only German intellectual to align with the dark it about not only Heidegger, but the intellectual others, which made the politics of National Socialism attrac

tive and which allowed

scale?

intolerance toward the Jews to

which

develop

on such a

broad

This is the

question

Hans Sluga

raises.

In Heidegger's Crisis,

Sluga
tional
more

reconstructs the

historical

environment which precipitated the

rise

of

Na
and

Socialism. He

emphasizes

less the intricacies

took in

of

Heidegger's thought philosophy does

can

the unique role which

cal action.

philosophy While Zimmerman and Rockmore

Germany
show that

as a catalyst of politi
not

develop
a single

in

a political

vacuum, Sluga illustrates how thought

transform the

fragmented tradition

of the German Volk and its uncertain future into a vision of destiny. Ironically, philosophy assumes such a leadership role as com pensation for a floundering economic and political life characterizing Germany

Heidegger,
in the 1930's. Given this
philosophy
politics

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism
the

129
a

condition of social

instability,

link between

which proclaims a new

destiny

and

the rhetoric of a totalitarian

the resurgence of

becomes

more than accidental.

Indeed,
which

philosophy

prefigures
cumbed.

the brand of Nazi politics to

the Germans ultimately suc

While Heidegger may have embraced Nazi ideology, he nevertheless upheld Greek view of politics as involving the determination of the polis as a
"site"

(topos). dient in In
a

According
an overall where

to

Sluga,

this sense of the polis

formed

one

important ingre

Gestalt

of politics which are on

took shape

in National Socialism.
action,

setting

institutions

the

decline,

a voluntaristic sense of prevails.

an opportunism
"timely,"

forged

through the will,

inevitably

The

action must as a

be

but in
among

order not

to appear arbitrary it

must project

"common
of

descent"

all of

its

proponents

(p. 19). And because the determination

this ancestry involves both establishing a

as

hierarchy

among its

members as well

excluding those who do not belong, a process occurs. "Politics is thereby always a process of
ticular priorities

of self-legitimation
self-legitimation

necessarily
which par

in

for

action and particular social structures must

be

justified"

(p.

22). In outlining this Gestalt addressing to

political, but
what extent a political crises of

of

the political, Sluga takes

an

thinker's thought arises through a

important step in dialogue with the

"reduced"

his

or

her time.

Philosophy

cannot

then

be

to the

rather a philosopher

may inculcate
to
show

within

his

or

her

enterprise a

questioning

attitude which speaks

to the possibility of politics (pp. 245-48). We

order

need to make this sights

distinction in

that a philosopher

harbors in

into the

nature of the polis which or

political

beliefs he

she

upholds.

be translated into any specific may For example, Heidegger understood the
not

Greek

polis as a site that combines the

human

concern

for the

good with an

occasion to

act,

which unfolds within the

historical

compass of

being's

mani

festation. And
ger's

while one

may try

vision, it may be

possible

which conflict with the specific politics proves

Heideg develop other inferences about the polity ideology of fascism. To preserve the question of
to extract totalitarian elements to

from

to be

one of

the greatest strengths of

Sluga's

careful analysis.

IV.

There

are

many different

philosophers

to

whom we might

turn to provide

insight into
and

the nature of the polis

Plato

and

Hegel, Mill

and

Kant, Arendt
that he quali

Marcuse. But despite Heidegger's Nazi ties, it is

"political"

not obvious

fies

as one of these
of

thinkers.
not

Because fascism is

so

tenets

Western democracy, it is
uncovers

especially

provocative

to claim that
polis:

contrary to the his

e.g.,

ontology

some of the

basic

components

integral to any

freedom,

community, and the possibility of

law, for

most critics construe these

130

Interpretation
formal
which concepts whose

motifs as stances

meaning

can

in

Heidegger first

articulated

circum only be derived from the them, his commitment to National

Socialism. Richard Wolin is hyperbolic Wolin

prospect

one such critic we must address

before entertaining the

of a

"Heideggerian

politics."

paints a grim picture of what

happens

when a philosopher

In The Politics of Being, breaks with

the enlightenment tradition of political checks and balances and seeks to recre
ate
of

the polis ex

nihilo

from

"decision"

a single of

(Entscheidung). The
analogue

abruptness

Heidegger's

political

decision

1933 has its

in his

concept of most ob

resoluteness

(Entschlossenheit). While this

most problematic.

vious, it is perhaps the

is among the For Heidegger, resolve is

correlation

way

of

bringing oneself can develop those

in

concert with what the situation

possibilities which speak

demands, in

order

that one

to the dilemma in question.

Ac

singular character as to render cording to Wolin, however, resolve is of such a indeterminate any prescription of the good within that decision (pp. 35 ff.). The

indeterminacy
port

of

Heidegger's

concept of authentic

selfhood

implies that

one

could exhibit the steadfastness of resolve and yet

do terrible things, e.g., sup

emphasizes

the inhumane

ideology

of

National Socialism. Thus Wolin

concept of resolve. anyone sympathetic

the

lack

of ethical content pinpoints

in Heidegger's
which

Wolin

a problem

to the prospect of
on

developing
experience.

Heideggerian

politics must confront.

Heidegger believed that

tological concepts must

be developed

out of the ontic stream of

concrete, factic
plane, how

But

once

having
a

developed

concepts on an ontological

can their scope

be

readjusted

to include the diverse variables of ontic concern

of truth and the
on

so that action

becomes

locus

language
and

of thought provides a

sanctuary
addresses

of

freedom? In Heidegger

Being

Acting, Reiner Schurmann

this problem

by
of

explicating the insights

suggesting that praxis constitutes the domain for Heidegger's thought; hence only praxis can illustrate

the mode of governance which thought seeks

principles

in

divesting
and

itself

of all rational
unfolds at such a

(arche)
must

and models of presence.

An "anarchic

praxis"

the

forefront
that

of a new epochal relation

between

being

thought, in

way

thinking
and

be informed

by

action and not

simply

the other way around.

In many respects, Schurmann

problem

stands alone as a scholar who tackles a tenacious a solution.

offers

steps

toward

Anarchic be

praxis

"will be di

ametrically cilably 14). Yet his

opposed to the

Fiihrerprinzip; it

would

a type of action

irrecon
(p.

alien to all reduction

to the uniform, action hostile to the

standard"

solution operates on a plane of

generality, it holds only if

we accept

the deconstructive paradox that governance arises from overturning pre-existing

models of political rule.

We

must recall

that

Schurmann
Farias'

published

his book in French five former

years

before the
gers ger's

publication of

book;

and while the

addresses the

dan

involved in totalitarianism, he Nazism

nor an apologetic

makes neither an encounter with

Heideg

for it

primary.

As

our

discussion

of the previous

Heidegger,
books

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

131

indicates,
on

the ensuing

decade

would produce more caustic criticisms of

Heidegger's Nazi based

extreme, it
tion and a

allegiances than attempts at academics

defending
every

a political

his thought. Because in is

not

movement

pushes

philosophy to its

surprising that the pendulum would swing in the other direc defense of Heidegger would emerge. In Heidegger, Philosophy, and

Nazism Julian
as well

Young

counters

the criticisms of the scholars mentioned above,

as

those of a wide spectrum of European thinkers from Levinas to

to

Lyotard, Lacoue-Labarthe

Derrida.
philosopher

Young
refutation claims

proceeds
of

like

"analytic"

an

to provide a point
and

Heidegger's

opponents.

Against Rockmore
was

by point Wolin, Young

a sudden and

that Heidegger's turn to

National Socialism
adopted a almost

far from

momentous which

decision; instead, Heidegger

had been percolating in

Germany
and

for

reactionary form of politics two decades (p. 50). Against

that Heidegger was

Hugo

Ott, Farias, Rockmore,

but

Wolin, Young

maintains
of

not antisemitic

rather exhibited concern

toward many

his Jewish

students

(pp. 38-41). Moreover, Heidegger logical

categories such as
"inferior"

was skeptical of

any

attempt

to apply bio
"superior"

"blood-line"

to designate a

people as

or

(p. 41).
which claims

In
ogy,

way

is

couched more

in the language

of

logic than in

phenomenol

Young
as

that Heidegger's critics commit a

and

nection

between his thought

the
claim
implicate"

Nazism. The

fallacy fallacy works

inferring

a con

itself

out on two

fronts

that either Heidegger's philosophy

harbors

concepts which

"positively
Nazism

National Socialism

or

his thought

"negatively implicates
(p. 79). On the first promoting
selfhood as

by failing front, Young appeals

a sense of epitomized

to provide grounds

for its

rejection"

to Heidegger's concept of authentic

which

responsibility

in

totalitarianism.

is contrary to the demand toward conformity On the second front, Young argues that Heideg for the other, for his
or

ger's concept of solicitude promotes a concern

her

own

integrity, in
regime.

way

which condemns

the exploitation of people

and

under a

fascist for

Young
in
a

concludes missed

that

Being

Time harbors

an ethic of respect
critics"

persons

way

by

Heidegger's

" 'decisionist'

(p. 104).
not answer

Young
all of

makes a case against

Heidegger's

critics

which,

if it does

their objections, at least exposes some of their

one-sidedness.

Young, Fred
ger"

Dallmayr

crystallizes a perspective

that there

Along with is "another Heideg

example

beyond the Nazi ideologue.

provides

According

to

Dallmayr, Heidegger's

of

injustice

sights

into the

nature

ironic way of re-examining his texts to discover in of justice. By drawing upon Heidegger's eclectic interests
an

in Anaximander
stood anew as a

and

Schelling, Dallmayr

suggests that

justice

can

be

under others with great

"juncture"

(Fuge)

or measure which
care"

disposes

us

"to let

be

and to attend to them with considerate

emphasis on

(p. 125). When joined

Young's

solicitude, Dallmayr's appeal to

"letting

be"

holds

promise as a either case a

key

for

developing

our political obligations

toward others. But in

further

exploration of

the parameters of human

freedom may be

132

Interpretation
in
order to

required

rectify the Heideggerian Gelassenheit lacks As

much as

omission which

Lang identifies,
"tolerance"

namely, that

moral emphasis on can

(pp. 48-49).
can also

Heidegger's texts

be directed

against

him, they

yield nuances to enhance our reflections on the polis.

Yet the fact that

Heideg

ger's thought can take this novel turn

right to about
"vindicate"

him

either

may not be sufficient evidence in its own for his Nazi allegiance or subsequent silence be taken
which can alien

it. A

still more unorthodox approach must motifs within a political context order

transpose

Heideggerian

presumably

to them, e.g.,

Western democracy, in Such

an approach refrained

to articulate the democratic precepts we uphold.

harbors

a concession which most of

Heidegger's

critics

have

from making, namely, that

democracy

includes its

own presupposi

tions which, if
government as

fully
we

articulated, may

exhibit shortcomings

in

our system of

know it. Of in

all the scholars who appropriate

Heidegger's

insights into

politics

a positive

way, Leslie Paul Thiele follows this lead.

reorient phi speak

In Timely Meditations, Thiele raises the question which would losophy within a practical context, although in a way which can
assumptions about of

to the
naive

contemporary democracy. If
an

our

democratic

system on

is

its assumptions, then

tional concepts

ontology implemented in our democratic

an original
freedom"

must

be

able to cast practices.

of

light

the opera

Thus,
facets

as as

Thiele indi

cates, Heidegger develops

understanding may

freedom

"letting

be."

Correlatively,
we

this "disclosive

evoke other

of the

liberties

assume,

including

"right"

as a constitutional

resetting the parameters of free speech which we accept (pp. 81-83). As Thiele emphasizes, the key to devel

oping a democracy lies in safeguarding maximum participation among its mem bers. In this way a community develops. What Heidegger recognizes, however, is that the power which permits political participation, namely, language, simul

taneously allows for the cultivation of individuality with a communal setting, that is, the self's unique way of dwelling with others. Language is not simply
an

instrument

of verbal

expression, but calls

each of us

to submit to it as a

place of

dwelling. In the proximity community

action

of this place we receive the guidance to act

as

members of a

and

thereby

engage

in dialogue
"word"

over the most

equitable mode of governing.

As Arendt suggests, the

a

first inserts

us

into the
speakers)

space within

of

in

way

which

gathers

together each of us

(as

community (The Human Condition, p. 198). the between logos and community, language and dwell By tracing synergy Thiele develops a "postmodern Yet this perspective remains ing,
the nexus of
politics."

rather abstract unless

it

can

develop

a critical edge to match

liberal

thinkers'

criticism of

Heidegger's language

political views.

Thiele locates this

power of

critical
which

fulcrum in for

the way that

ger

exhibits the

disclosive
other

truth,

Heideg

is

synonymous with

freedom. In

words, there is

a more primordial

connection
"free"

between freedom

and speech
"speech"

than appears in how the adjective

a

qualifies the
"right"

not a

by

which one

activity of individual

in

democratic
or

sense.

Free

speech

is

asserts

his

her

self-interest over against

Heidegger,
another

the

Polity,

and

National Socialism

133

participate

through which contrary voices can in serving the good of the community as a whole. "The justly hal lowed right to free speech might be grounded not only in the speaker's preroga
tive to utter opinions and

person, but rather is the

"openness"

beliefs, but
as

also on the

listener's

duty

to remain open
and

to,

even solicitous

of, the ontological difference these opinions

harbor"

(p. 128). While freedom

"letting

be"

can admit

beliefs may discord among its

participants,
will which

it

cannot allow speech to

become

a self-indulgent expression of

is

rooted

in

concealment rather than unconcealment.

Through his
predicated upon

clever

extrapolations, Thiele

shows

how

the spirit of

dwelling

in Heidegger's

sense.
. . .

democracy can be "Democracy is a

to link

journey

toward freedom that remains ever under way.

challenge"

Disclosive freedom

beckons to the democratic

ger's thought with

(p. 167). Thiele's

attempt

democracy

as

Charles Sherover does

with the pp.

Heideg help of a

Kantian framework

merits serious consideration

(Sherover,

5-12, 60-63).
While

Yet, in recalling Sluga's

unclarified about ger construes reverse

criticisms, there is

subtle enigma which remains and politics.

the

interface between philosophy

as the vanguard of

Heideg

in

philosophy democratic setting: the free

exchange.

politics, the situation is almost the

polis sanctions the philosophical enterprise a motif

as an enterprise of could provide

Is there

in Heidegger's thought

which

the linchpin for such a reversal, and

"implicate"

thereby

suggest

that

his

philosophy may

the opposite political stance

which

his

own

fascist

ideology

condemns? on

In his 1930 lectures

with previous

human
must

freedom, Heidegger
take the

argues that

his

exchange

philosophers

form

of

Auseinandersetzung
to "set
apart"

(Vom

Wesen,

p.

292). Literally,

Auseinandersetzung
Heidegger,

means

or

"place in
on such

opposition."

According

to

philosophical exchange

thrives

controversy to the extent that the invitation in freedom welcoming

serves states
a of speech: of

of conflict reveals what

is

at stake

namely,

inviting
not

contrariness

is

contrary response from the other. The arbitrary, but like philosophical dialogue
a

greater

master, the process of unconcealment

freedom"

itself. As Heidegger

in the Basic Problems of Phenomenology, philosophical inquiry is a "work of human (p. 16). But freedom takes shapes within a forum of
exchange which safeguards the voice of the other.

While

philosophical

inquiry

depends

upon

Auseinandersetzung,
is
a

the voice of the other can resound only

because

there

forum in

reserved

for it itself
at

within

the polis. Thus Heidegger's

philosophy free speech how

comes

conflict with

the

point where

its

commitment a

to
of

yields to an

ideology
was see

prominent

censorship

supporting in Nazi Germany

pp.

censorship.

(For

discussion

and

its

connection with

the

persecution of the

Jews,
it

Sluga,

86-100.)
is iconoclastic, controversial, where freedom of speech assumes Heidegger discounts
when

Since

by

its

nature the philosophical enterprise

and even subversive,

thrives within a polis

the

greatest

importance. Although in his

as weak

rectoral address
can

"academic

freedom"

spirited, philosophy

flourish only

it is

134

Interpretation
to the challenge of freedom.

reawakened

challenge not

by

accepting the

elitism

Ironically, philosophy of its task, but, on the

words

responds

to this

contrary,

by

re

locating
ticity

itself

within

the polis and the tradition as a whole, in which the fac-

eloquently suggest, philosophy can then flourish through the "tradition [which] is a delivering into been" the freedom of discussion (die Freiheit des Gesprdches) with what has
of each citizen
rooted.

is

As Heidegger's

so

(What Is Philosophy?, In this spirit,

when such a

pp.

33, 35).
politics would then a

Heideggerian
could

become

possible at which

the time

freedom

be translated into

"multivocality"

facilitates
than we

dialogue among diverse traditions. Perhaps this time

think.

will arrive sooner

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Quarterly

Ott, Hugo. "Heidegger's Catholic 69, no. 2 (1995): 137-53.

Origins."

American Catholic Philosophical

Martin Heidegger: A Political Life. Trans. A. Blunden. London: Fontana, 1994.

Petzet, Heinrich Wiegand. Encounters

Parvis Emad. Trans. Parvis Emad

and

Dialogues

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Kenneth Maly. Chicago:

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Richardson, William J. "Heidegger's Truth
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In A. Dallery, C. Scott,

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Schalow, Frank, "Heidegger

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Concerning Heidegger's Involvement in National Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 24, no. 2 (1993): 121-39. "Revisiting Anarchy: Toward a Critical Appropriation of Schumann's Philosophy Today 41, no. 4 (1997): 554-62. Schurmann, Reiner. Heidegger on Being and Acting: From Principles to Anarchy. Trans. Christine-Marie Gros. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.
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Scott, Charles. On
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30-35.

the

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Nazi."

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Sheehan, Thomas. "A Normal

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Sherover, Charles E. Time, Freedom,

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Van Buren, John. The

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Socialism."

Whose Pluralism?
Bruce W. Ballard
Stephens College

Conscience

Francis Canavan, The Pluralist Game: Pluralism, Liberalism and (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995), xi +
Michael

the

Moral

192 pp., Public

$22.95.

Sandel, Democracy's Discontent: America in Search

xi

of
+

Philosophy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996),

$24.95.
Michael Walzer, On Toleration (New Haven: Yale
xii

417 pp.,

University Press, 1997),

126 pp., $16.50.

versions of pluralism pretend to a

Typical liberal

fairness, inclusiveness

and

neutrality liberal versions

which

they do not, indeed could not, possess. Like other pluralisms, must and do include and exclude according to criteria which
commitments,
and

reflect their own philosophical

historical development. This

fact is

perhaps clearest and most

damaging

to liberal pluralist claims when we

consider question

the particular forms of life and thought liberalism excludes. Thus the

is

not whether a particular

intellectual tradition is exclusive, but

what

it excludes, why it excludes, and whether it is transparent to itself about its exclusivity. While some liberals have become more conscious of the partic
ularities and continue

limits

of

their tradition (cf. Rawls's Political

Liberalism),

others
with

simply to assert liberalism as an overarching social framework

little to

supporting justification. On the other hand, liberals have

no

rightly
of

called

for their

communitarian chal

lengers

to offer not only critique their

but

alternative scenarios.

Three

recent works

do both. Within
sketches

larger

pictures

the good society, each author also

his
of

own alternative version of pluralism.

Francis Canavan, Emeritus

offers a

Professor insightful

Political Science
of

at

Fordham University,

penetrating

and

analysis

the last few decades of liberal pluralism in the United

States in his
pluralism

collection of essays written

between 1963

and

1993, The Pluralist

Game. He successfully exhibits important contradictions of American liberal in theory and practice while sketching an alternative vision of politics and morality drawn primarily from classical and religious communitarian
sources.

Harvard

political scientist

Michael Sandel

refines and applies

his in-depth

philosophical critique of

liberalism

and offers a

fullblown

republican alternative

in his long-awaited
interpretation, Fall

second

book, Democracy's Discontent: America in Search

1998, Vol. 26, No. 1

138
of
a

Interpretation
Public Philosophy. His
an updated critique of
of

liberalism

as a public

philosophy, in

Rawls in Political Liberalism, surely ranks cluding the best among very contemporary treatments. His identification and recovery of a republican strand in American history and politics recasts the question of
pluralism

discussion

for

public

discussion.
of

Social theorist Michael Walzer,

the Institute

for Advanced
work

Study

in

Princeton,

attempts

to put communitarian emphases to

in

support of a

larger left liberalism in his On Toleration. Since Walzer

mented version of

still supports an

aug

liberalism,
and

aspects of

his

version of pluralism are vulnerable

to the critiques

Sandel

Canavan

provide.

All three

volumes

survey

a wide range of
renewal of

issues including, but

or

not

limited

to,

pluralism and

toleration, the

the effects of recent Supreme

secondary mediating institutions, Court decisions on freedom of speech and reli

gion, and the relations between economy and polity.

Naturally, it
challenges to

would

be

impossible to
sion and

cover

these topics in this short space, so I thematize the discus two

main

by focussing
its pluralism,

on

dimensions:

authors'

liberalism

and

how

and

why

ing

pluralism as

it does. As

might

each approach ends up defining and limit be expected, the background philosophizing

which

leads

each author to

his

conclusions about the

limits

of pluralism varies

in cogency and completeness. In Canavan's account, the purported neutrality and inclusiveness of the lib eral pluralist state in matters of religion and morality is bogus, indeed impossi

ble. Law

society. separate religion from morality and morality from politics are misleading. The categories overlap. By seeking the lowest common denominator agreeable to the many and making law and policy accordingly, the state in fact establishes secular individualism as ultimate, ex

policy unavoidably express Hence, typical liberalist moves to

and

some view about what

is

good

for

cluding the
over the

outlook of citizens who

strongly

identify

themselves in terms of

religious commitments.

Canavan

cites a number of

Supreme Court decisions

last thirty

years which support

this contention. As Canavan clearly

perceives,
norms

by

privileging

the autonomous

individual,

the state

"necessarily

sets

for

a whole

society, creates

an environment on social

in

which everyone

has to

live,

and exerts a powerful

influence
has

institutions"

(p. 76). Statecraft is

soulcraft whether

it

appreciates or wills this result or not. also subverted a consensus which

Increased
West

secularization

had

circum

scribed earlier

American

pluralism.

lost unity of shared. Earlier American pluralism, however conflictual, had at least been more intelligible because the majority held a common biblically based faith and mo
reflects a

The lost unity of moral perspective in the biblical religion which Jews and Christians had

rality.

Those

who earlier championed pluralism

did

so against

this

biblically

informed background, whether or not they were consciously aware of its func tion. In Canavan's account, the dissolution of this unity "left millions of other

Whose Pluralism?
Americans 65-66).
Canavan
particular. with

-139

the

feeling

that

they

are now strangers

in their

land"

own

(pp.

sees a

drift toward
secular state
private

secular monism over the

last three decades in

social-welfare
regulation and

As the

increasingly

took

over various

functions, it displaced

institutions.

By increased federal
private religious at

the appropriation of taxes

for

public

education,

schools, hospi

tals and social services were

injured. These institutions,

their

best, had helped

to flesh out religious community life. So liberal pluralism again turns out not to

be neutral, but hostile toward conditions which make for thriving community. A main means by which liberal pluralism attempts neutrality is by taking
controversial choice.
what

areas out of the political realm and

as

leaving

them to individual

But again,

to public

Canavan notes, what shall be left to private choice and judgment is itself a political decision. It can only be made on the

basis

of an antecedent moral of

judgment, but

the lack of moral agreement in

creasingly typical
acceptable

American

pluralism makes such

judgments necessarily

un

to many.
neutral and

Apparently
fail to

democratic
yet

values such as

liberty

and

equality

also

resolve pluralist

conflict,

they have

come to

define the

range of

controversy between contemporary liberals and conservatives. Understood in individualist terms, such values quickly reduce to discussions of rights. This
reduction

is itself
the

incessantly
of a

reiterated

in

the media and wider popular culture.

Again for

lack

commonly
and

acceptable moral or

the tension between

ments over

liberty

equality

basis for resolving for specifying their content,

"celebrate"

either argu

rights

We
and

are nevertheless

"diversity."

equally faced with ever-increasing calls to In Canavan's reading, pluralism as a norm is

the ultimate
value of

remain

unresolvable.

pluralism

being

urged

be

cause
ual

it is

a condition which supports so

liberalism, individ

liberty. Cultural liberalism is

even

determined

by

this pursuit that it can no

longer judge identifies

the

the most outrageous wrongs. The author very perceptively

economic counterpart of

ideal

liberalism

as capitalism and the

free

market, but without developing the point at any length. He does note that argu ments in favor of abortion which treat a mother's womb as private property

from

which

the unborn

"tenant"

may be

evicted at will

follow the logic between

of

capitalist ownership.

Certainly
and

American liberal

pluralism

is

hardly

neutral as

capitalism

any

other model of economy.

Given his A

would

presumably

reject capitalism as well.

liberalism, Canavan With Sandel and Walzer, he does

rejection of

commend cooperatives

in

passing.

sustained analysis of the

liberalism

and capitalism would go a

long

way toward he

affinity between completing Canavan's

treatment. The

communitarian vision of pluralism

supports also needs

fur

ther development of an appropriate range of economic arrangements congruent

with that vision.

Yet

of the three

volumes,

Sandel's

alone offers a sustained

140

Interpretation
of the

relationship between economy and community flourishing. But Canavan's identification of the affinity between liberalism and capitalism development

by

itself nicely divides so-called economic ism) from the socially moral conservatism
supports.

conservatism

(economic libertarian
the biblical religion

congruent with

Canavan

Taken to its logical terminus, things look

neutrality.

even more

desperate for

pluralist

For the liberal

pluralist

claiming full equally

and neutral

inclusiveness has to
or groups which

admit, on pain of contradiction, that the

reject

views of

individuals

the celebration of pluralism are

as valuable as their contradicto

ries. Thus the

not

pluralist must also celebrate not

celebrating

pluralism.

One

can

but be

reminded

here

of

other

forms

of

scepticism, so Canavan is

again on

target

when

self-defeating relativism and he identifies actual contempo

rary plurality as a dilemma rather than a cause celebre. That current liberal pluralism is in fact quite intolerant of strongly committed positions (particularly
again underlines its own very inconsistent nonneutrality. Given his very critical assessment of the recent drift of affairs, we might have expected a note of despair in Canavan's conclusion, but Canavan con
"divisive"

religious)

as

by urging orthodox Catholics (Canavan is Catholic), Protestants and devout Jews, to join in the struggle, both
cludes

with conservative

intellectually
reasserting for private

and

legislatively,
mon gious

to

help

stem the tide toward secular monism and

by

a com reli

biblically

based morality institutional life.

creating
accords

greater social space

Of the three authors, Canavan

nities

"secondary"

or

the greatest primacy. Groups with spiritual, cultural, and

mediating commu intellectual tradi

not the state.

tions to pass on are the essential and most

defining
role

community,

If

anything, the

state

should reduce

its direct

etc., to make room for

such groups

in education, social services, to flourish. Genuine pluralism for Canavan

qua

is

not

primarily

protection of the

individual

individual from group

or

state,

but

a situation

in

which

individuals
Here

as members of various

communities can
who provides

pursue essential

human

goods.

again

it is Michael Sandel

the more detailed philosophical explanation of the nature of the relation tween self-identity and

be
pic

community

which would

help

motivate

Canavan's

ture.

On the

other

hand,

those outside the wider

biblical tradition Canavan

com

mends will

likely

reject

his

pluralism.

always reflects some moral vision, so

vision ought

Canavan argues, public policy his critics have to argue why their moral
as

But

to take precedence over the

biblical tradition

of

to American cultural

formation. The fact that Canavan's

treatment of
needs supplementation often provides.

morality so central volume is a set of

papers rather than a systematic

a problem poses a

different kind

of

limitation. His treatment

analysis of the sort

by

more

in-depth

argument and

Sandel

In Sandel's account, two main forms of contemporary social anguish demon strate the failure of the liberal project in America: fear that the moral fabric of

Whose Pluralism?

141

family, community,
with regard

and national

and collective control over

life is unraveling and fear about lost individual life-goveming forces. Liberal ideals of neutrality
citizens,
rights apart

to moral

and religious views of

from the good,

and a notion of ends all

capacity block the way, both conceptually

a

freedom

as the

of

the individual self to choose

its

own

and

practically, to a solution to these

problems.

Through

detailed historical

account of

American

public

life from the foun

ders to the contemporary scene, Sandel recovers an alternative and republican way of genuine self-government from which liberalism can be seen as a de
cline.

As Sandel notes, the

politics a

neutral

ideal

of

liberalism is

not

timelessly

natural.

Ancient
also

had

aspired to cultivate virtue

goal of

been

longstanding

in its citizens, and this goal has American public policy, as Sandel documents Failure

through numerous primary sources.

by

the neutral liberal state to either

identify

or cultivate the virtues

necessary for

self-government

helps

account

for

the current crisis over

lost

control. of citizens

In the liberal conception, the freedom

tive.

is

seen

primarily

as nega

They

need protection

from the

state and each other

in

order to pursue

their

private ends.

ing

of

Again, for Sandel and the republican tradition, this asocial render human good is misleading. People are born for citizenship. They natu
common affairs. whole and good
of

rally desire to govern their own and identification with a larger

They

find there

fulfillment

than is available to isolated

individuals. When they tion,

even

are

deprived

this sort of active community participa

whatever elites

their negative freedom is at the mercy of

and participation

do

govern.

As identification
more alien

in the

whole

decline

and citizens

become

to each other, motivation for the mutual respect liberalism calls for

is

also undermined.

As in Liberalism

and

the Limits of Justice,

Sandel

emphasizes

the mislead

ing

and

alienating idea

of

the self offered

above all

cording to that theory, the self is value resides in its capacity to

by contemporary liberal theory. Ac else a pure individual whose highest

own ends.
we no

choose

its

Choice longer

of one's respect

ends

becomes
views

kind

of end

in itself. Consequently,

others'

based

have

chosen them.

explicit or use

in

by deliberating

but simply for the fact that sovereign individuals As Sandel notes, popular psychology manuals make this promoting a virtual religion of the self in which there is no incentive
on their content,
with others about what

is true any

or good.

But the

self conceived as unencumbered

by

prior moral

definition is

an

abstraction which
of

is falsified

by

liberalism, for instance,

cannot

everyday do justice to the

moral experience.

Kantian

versions obliga

phenomena of

family

tions, religious duties, or even citizen obligation, since these all require description of the self. The minimalist political liberalism Rawls now
explicitly
calls upon citizens

a thick argues

to

bracket thick
and

moral and religious selves

for the

purposes of public question of

deliberation

decision-making. Sandel

raises the crucial

why

we should suspend such

identity-making

aspects of our selves

142
when

Interpretation
it
comes to questions of
cooperation

justice, rightly observing

respect

that a practical

interest

in

social

and mutual

does

not

automatically defeat any

that "We cannot
without

other moral

interest. regarding toleration. Sandel toleration is justified in any given in

question"

He

raises the same point

whether

notes

determine
moral ment

case

passing

judgment
in the

on the practice

(p. 20).

Suspending

moral

name of

toleration

does

not effect a neutral pluralism.

judg Using the

legal

example of

abortion, Sandel observes that if the Catholics

were correct about

human life
abortion,

beginning
would

"bracketed"

at conception and

their view to accept

they

in

effect

advocates are also to

"bracket"

be countenancing murder. In principle, prochoice their views for public purposes, but legal abor Sandel
cites a provocative and against

tion

in

effect

simply

grants their position.

telling
on the of the

parallel argument against moral

bracketing

from Lincoln

Douglas heart

issue

of slavery.

In both cases, Sandel

gets to the philosophical

matter

of

by emphasizing that whether or competing views is true. The argument for liberalism from
is
self-defeating.

not we should

bracket depends

on which

relativism

is

no

help

either.

As Sandel

correctly argues, to
relative

say that we should all respect each other because the truth is
If "all truth is
relative"

is absolutely true, then there is for

are
others'

at

least

one truth which

is

not

relative, a contradiction. But even if we substi

views need

tuted some other version of the relativist claim, respect

not

follow. We

might

just

as well

say that

all

views

equally worthy

of

disrespect it
How

since none

is true. Or

we could relativize

the

value of

respect, seeing

as one nonprivileged attitude

and

why

would

among other possibilities. Sandel limit pluralism differently than liberalism? His
of self-fulfillment

civic and republican

cision about

ideal

in

communal

deliberation
is

and

de

the social good

certainly

sets a

different
of

parameter which

for the discus

constituted

sion

of pluralism. and

His

alternative

version

the self,

thickly

commitments

unabashedly by family relations, community, moral, and religious leads him to reject forms of pluralism primarily based upon, and

promoting, virtueless abstract

vorce and

individualism. The devastation divorce

society
supports
and

and a

di

law have
"choice"

wreaked upon our

virtue-based

way

of

understanding

Sandel's recovery of dealing with family law promoting

would

role-

which

brings
good

to moral

accountability
form

and aims at

the

family

as a

for its

members and the republic. question of what

of

By

raising the

economy

best

serve republi
shows a

can aims of self-government and

the virtues which support

it, Sandel
advocate
ends

willingness to curb the pseudopluralism of

hegemonic business interests. His

him to
morally
advocat

seriousness about ethical

rationality

and truth allows

and

transparent public policy deliberation

decision. So Sandel
pluralism,"

up

ing

what

he terms

"mutual

appreciation goods

which would affirm peo

ple and communities

for the distinctive

or other.

they

express,

not

their simple

capacity to

choose

something

Whose Pluralism?

143
a

Altogether, Sandel's
order.

program and

its

associated pluralism make

for

tall

Sandel himself
chapter.

raises and responds to a number of relevant objections questions are possible.

"narrow"

in

his final
further

But further
rejects the

In the

arguments

Sandel

moralism of

his closing the fundamentalist without

course of

qualification.

Yet he had

acknowledged and
of

highlighted the importance

of ethical
rejects

truth when

it

came to the

content-neutrality position expression. To the liberal objection that if

the

bracketing. Indeed, Sandel rationality of recent Supreme Court decisions on free

an ordinance could

ban the Nazis

from marching in Skokie, it could as easily have banned King and his fol lowers, Sandel replies, "The answer may be simpler than liberal political theory permits: the Nazis promote genocide and hate, while Martin Luther King
sought civil

rights

for blacks. The difference

the
cause"

consists

in the

content

of

the

speech, in the

nature of

(p. 90).

Presumably, Sandel is arguing

account of moral content

that public deliberation can and should take

permits are

before marching

handed

out.

There way

would
or

be

no

foregone in

conclusion about the outcome of of public

deliberation

one

the

other.

Yet the decisions

a

deliberation
questions

can

be philosophically shallow,
and

partisan

way
to

which

ignores

of truth

rationality, or even

malicious.

To
with a

return

Sandel's

abortion

example, why

should

the prolife advocate

murder?

compelling And why

and

argument recognize a public should the religious

decision tantamount to allowing

porate goods

Sandel enumerates,

and which

community which realizes the very cor is convinced of the truth of its
"common"

beliefs
with

practices, care to subordinate itself to

reject

public

deliberation sup In a

those who

it? What does

such a

community lack
of criteria

which needs

plementing by word, Sandel needs in morality It

could and

national republican

more elaboration and

community defense
religion

other than noninterference?

for

"narrowness"

"fundamentalism"

in

in

order

to save some of his

own

moral positions and certain examples which also

illustrate them.

be

added

Sandel
the

offers about civil

here that, in general, the substantive conclusions rights for blacks and protection against harassment of
to proceed from a

Jews in Skokie do

seem

biblically
older

informed

moral sensi

bility. Arguably, the same could be said about his ily law. That is, Sandel may depend more on an

substantive positions on

fam

American

consensus of

biblical morality
recognizes.

than

his
of

open-ended republican

deliberation ideal explicitly

moral agreement upon

The hope

across a range of public as

reaching the sort of policy issues that Sandel

substantive
calls

for may depend

stands

it,
be

Canavan

suggests.

Michael Walzer

agrees that

liberal

pluralism as

it

does

need to

resituated to address the

increasing fragmentation

of

both

personal and

group

life in the United States. With Sandel, Walzer

of toleration and coexistence.

notes the

insufficiency

of appeals problems

to rights and abstractly fair procedures alone to address

contemporary

These

problems

vary

depending

upon the histori-

144

Interpretation
societies, so Walzer develops a suggestive
regimes

cal and political situation of various

and useful

typology

of

five tolerance
analysis

historical

examples.

This

highlights the

social

abstracting from a variety of dynamics which inevita

bly

shape

the possibilities and problems of toleration

acknowledges that the

in

particular societies.

With Sandel, Walzer

kind

of

hyperindividualism

cele

brated in

postmodern conceptions of

the self is both alienating and corrosive of

sees a part of the solution

citizenship.

With both Sandel

revival of various

and

Canavan, Walzer

here in the

secondary

associations.

Yet

by keeping

to the

larger liberal

pluralist

picture, together with

leaves intact the

current crisis. common

roots of alienation and claim that

its strong individualism, Walzer fragmentation which have led to the

neither

Walzer's

Americans

have is

nor need

anything in

but

certain political principles and

toleration

more

like

a restatement

of the problem than a

key

to

its

resolution.

To his credit, Walzer

acknowledges

that liberalism is

a substantive and par

its own, with early roots in Protestant and English history. Yet his recognition that liberalism is one tradition among others does not lead Walzer to offer a philosophical defense of it. In the face of contempo
ticular political culture of

rary

critiques

like

those of

Sandel, Canavan, Maclntyre,

of

and

others, this is

an

omission which pluralism.

seriously many It lends particular judgments the

and

weakens

Walzer's
same

proposals

for American
which

ad

hoc quality
agendas

be

leaguered Just

Unjust Wars.
attempts

While Walzer
everyone's

rejects

by

groups

with

moral

to "control

behavior
of

in the

name of a

supposedly

common

(Judeo-Christian,
is right

say) tradition,
and

'family

values'

or of their own certainties about what

(p. 70), Walzer largely responds by simply asserting his own secu lar liberal dogmatism. Religious parties, for example, ought to be barred from running in elections, according to Walzer. To the fears
state-mandated versions of tolerance education
error,"

wrong"

of orthodox parents that

ant of religious and that parents send

the public

"toler may Walzer responds that, "one hopes that they are justified schools will have exactly the effects that orthodox
make their children
. . .

(p. 77). Naturally, Walzer is willing for these orthodox parents to their children to private schools (if they can afford it), but is unwilling to
them of taxation

fear"

relieve would

for

state

education.

He doubts that liberal

politics

be

sustained were all children

to go into private sectarian schools, so he

opposes a voucher system.

and social

Where then, life

are we of

to uncover the resources necessary for a revived

political

the sort Walzer wants, of a pluralism which isn't simply

cannot

fragmentation? We farious
a population. as an

harbor

republican

hopes,

since

we

are too multi

United States

In his typology of toleration regimes, Walzer identifies the immigrant society rather than a nation-state with republican

foundations like France, so the unity which comes from that richer foundation for citizenship is unavailable to us. (It would be intriguing to see a published debate between Sandel
and

Walzer

over

this question.) Nor can we repair to

Whose Pluralism?
what remains
"intolerant."

145
be

of a

biblically

informed liberal

moral

consensus,

since

that would

Within the
cannot

confines of the

position

Walzer embraces, rationality in

about

we

do

not and after

seriously

engage questions of truth and

we

ethics.

But

reading

Sandel,

have less
to assert

reason than ever to relinquish that good, and the

alternatives

for liberalism

are either

to lack

transparency

its

own particu

lar

value-structure or see

it

without philosophical

defense. Altogether then,

it is difficult to
overcome

how Walzer's slightly revised liberal pluralism could either the problems Canavan and Sandel elaborate or provide genuine hope

for

revived public

life.

VERLAG

J. B. METZLER

LEO STRAUSS
COLLECTED WRITINGS

IN SIX VOLUMES
Edited

by Heinrich

Meier

ISBN 3-476-01222-0

This
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critical edition will

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and
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previously unknown writings and letters. It study of Strauss's philosophy in the future.
Volume 1: Die Religionskritik Spinozas 1996. XIV, 434 pp.,
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Das

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Der

(1935),

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Maimunis

(1937),

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(1936), Tendency
Eine

Ort der Vorsehungslehre

and

der Ansicht
Das

Political Teaching

(1937),

Erkenntnisproblem in der

philosophischen Lehre Fr. H. Jacobis

(1929),
The

Religiose

Lage der Gegenwart

(1932),

(1921), Der Erinnerung an Lessing (1937),

Schriften 1936

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and more.

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Jacob

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Studien

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The

Living Issues of German Post-War Philosophy along

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NATURE AND CULTURE

A Social Research Conference
November 5-7, 1998
What
and

we

eat; the ceremonies surrounding

mythic and symbolic
and

it; how food

for

marks our sameness

differences; its
of

importance;

the

joy

of

plenty; the

fear

famine
makers with

deprivation
forum

all are occasions

reflections on

the human

condition.

This

conference
a

brings together

scholars and scientists as well as about

policy

in

linking discourse
the significant

hunger,
of

diet

and

food
to
and

security

the

history,

culture and political

economy

food in

an effort

elicit new perspectives on abundance.

problems created

by

scarcity

1:

Everyday

Life: Food life

as a major

4: Food
not

as

Symbol

or

Sign: Food is
as

component of

only

what we eat

but figures

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Paul Rozin, Raymond Sokolov, Aristide Zolberg (Moderator)

2: Case Histories:
ways

Barbara

a symbol

in

most religions and as

a marker of

identity

and

difference

Maurice Bloch, Wendy Doniger, Theodore Zeldin, Barbara

Examining

the

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (Moderator)
5: Food in Art/ Food as Art: Food is both an object of art and a
medium

in

which

migrated, and important way

foods have emerged, been assimilated is an

of

understanding

our

histories William McNeill, Sidney Mintz, Robert Adams (Moderator)

for

artistic expression

Betty Fussell,

Leonard Barkan, Steven Heller, Marc Shell, John Hollander (Moderator)

6: Abundance
and

3:

Key

Note Addresses

Scarcity:
equal

Sustainable Agriculture: Ismail Serageldin Food

and

Access to food is far from

Culture: Margaret Visser

Richard Goldman, Anne Murcott, Marion Nestle, Robert Herdt

(Moderator)
7: The Future: Prospects for the
global

availability of food and ways to increase it Gordon Conway, David Pimental, Per Pinstrup-

Andersen, Kenneth Prewitt (Moderator)

This

conference

is

organized

by Arien Mack,
at

editor of

Social Research.

All

conference sessions will

please call

be held

The New School.

or e-mail

For

more

information

and

reservations,

(21 2) 229-2488

socres@newschool.edu

Further

details coming to the World Wide Web soon! http://www.newschool.edu/socres/food.

Keep checking

for

link

at

ISSN 0020-9635

Interpretation, Inc.
Queens College

Rushing

N.Y. 11367-1597 U.S.A.

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