HUMANITIES PAPERBACK LIBRARY
Published
Commentary to Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”
Norman Kemp Smith
‘The Foundations of Metaphysics in Science
Errol E. Harris
Fundamentals of Philosophy
Errol E. Harris
Hegel’s Science of Logic
Translated by A. V. Miller
Karl Jaspers: Basic Philosophical Writings
Karl Jaspers; edited and translated by Edith Ehrlich,
Leonard H. Ehrlich, and George B. Pepper
Philosophy and Truth: Selections from
‘Nietsche’s Notebooks of the Early 1870's
Friedrich Nietzsche; edited and
translated by Daniel Breazeale
‘The Principal Upanisads
Edited with Introduction, Text, Translation
and Notes by S. Radhakrishnan
Reason and Revolution
Herbert Marcuse
‘The Worlds of Existentialism:
A Critical Reader
Edited, with Incroductions and
Conclusions by Maurice Friedman
Hypothesis and Perception
‘The Roots of Scientific Method
Ervl E. Harris
PHILOSOPHY AND TRUTH
Selections from Nietzsche's Notebooks of the early 1870's
Friedrich Nietzsche
Edited and Translated
with an Introduction and Notes
by
DANIEL BREAZEALE
HUMANITIES PRESS
New JERSEYVv
On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense!
1
Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe
which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there wee a
star upon which clever beasts invented knewing. That was the moc
arrogant and mendacious minute of “world history,” but nevertheless
was only a minute. After nature had drawn afew breaths the star cooled
and congealed, and the clever beasts had to die? One might ineent
such a fable, and yet he still would not have adequately illustrated how
miserable, how shadowy and transient, how ainess and asbiurary the
human intellect looks within nature. There were etemnities during ehich
it did not exist. And when itis all over with the human intellect Sothing
will hve happened. For ths intellect has no additonal sisson aehick
ould lead it beyond, in life. Rather, it is humm and only iis pos-
SSO an Bega: ake SSSA TE a Only is pow
turned within i, But if we could communicate withthe gras we ould
learn that he likewise flies through the air with the same elemaniy® that
he feels the fying center ofthe universe within himael There ie thing
so reprehensible and unimportant in nature that it would not ine
mediately swell up like a balloon atthe slightest pul of this power of
Knowing. And ust as every porter wants to have at admirer vofeven the
proudest of men, the philosopher, supposes that he sees onl sides the
yes of the universe telescopically focused upon his action and thoughe
tis remarkable that this was brought about by the intellect, which was
certainly alloted to these most unfortunate, delicate acl cohoneral
beings merely as a device for detaining them minute within existence.
"A more literal, though less English, translation of Uber Wahrheit und Liige im