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第122章

phenomenology of mind-第122章

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its bone; but is surreptitiously foisted on it like a changeling child。 But here enlightenment is entirely
foolish; belief experiences it as a way of speaking which does not know what it is saying; and does
not understand the facts of the case when it talks about priestly deception; and deluding the
people。 It speaks about this as if by means of some hocus…pocus of conjuring priestcraft there
were foisted on consciousness as true Reality something that is absolutely foreign; and absolutely
alien to it; and yet says all the while that this is an essential reality for consciousness; that
consciousness believes in it; trusts in it; and seeks to make it favourably disposed towards itself;
i。e。 that consciousness therein sees its pure ultimate Being just as much as its own single and
universal individuality; and creates by its own action this unity of itself with its essential reality。 In
other words; it directly declares that to be the very inmost nature of consciousness which it
declares to be something alien to consciousness。 

How; then; can it possibly speak about deception and delusion? By the fact that it directly
expresses about belief the very opposite of what it asserts of belief; it ipso facto really reveals
itself to belief as the conscious lie。 How are deception and delusion to take place; where
consciousness in its very truth has directly and immediately the certitude of itself; where it
possesses itself in its object; since it just as much finds as produces itself there? The distinction no
longer exists; even in words。 

When the general question has been raised; whether it is permissible to delude a people; the
answer; as a fact; was bound to be that the question is pointless; because it is impossible to
deceive a people in this matter。 Brass in place of gold; counterfeit instead of genuine coin may
doubtless have swindled individuals many a time; lots of people have stuck to it that a battle lost
was a battle won; and lies of all sorts about things of sense and particular events have been
plausible for a time; but in the knowledge of that inmost reality where consciousness finds the
direct certainty of its own self; the idea of delusion is entirely baseless。 

Let us see further how belief undergoes enlightenment in the case of the different moments of its
own conscious experience; to which the view just noted referred in the first instance only in a
general way。 These moments are pure thought; or; qua object; absolute Being per se (an und für
sich); then its relation; as a form of knowledge; to absolute Being; the ultimate basis of its belief;
and finally its relation to absolute Being in its acts; i。e。 its 〃worship〃 and service。(5) Just as pure
insight has failed to recognize itself in belief as a whole and denied its own nature; we shall find it
taking up in these moments; too; an attitude similarly perverted and distorted。 

Pure insight assumes towards the absolute Being of the believing mind a negative attitude。 This
Being is pure thought; and pure thought established within itself as object or as the true Being; in
the believing consciousness this immanent and essential reality of thought acquires at the same time
for the self…existent consciousness the form of objectivity; but merely the empty form; it exists in
the character of something 〃presented〃 to consciousness。 To pure insight; however; since it is pure
consciousness in its aspect of self existing for itself; this other appears as something negative of
self…consciousness。 This might still be taken either as the pure essential reality of thought; or also as
the being found in sense…experience; the object of sense…certainty。 But since it is at the same time
for the self; and this self; qua self which has an object; is an actual consciousness; for insight the
peculiar object as such is an ordinary existing thing of sense。 This its object appears before it in the
picture…presentation found in belief。 It condemns this idea and in doing so condemns its own
proper object。 It really commits a wrong; however; against belief in so apprehending the object of
belief as if it were its own object。 Accordingly it states regarding belief that its absolute Being is a
piece of stone; a block of wood; having eyes and seeing not; or again a bit of bread…dough; which
is obtained from grain grown on the field and transformed by men and is returned to earth again;
or in whatever other ways belief may be said to anthropomorphize absolute Being; making it
objective and representable。 

                       (2) The Doctrine of Enlightenment

Enlightenment; proclaiming itself as the pure and true; here turns what is held to be eternal life and
holy spirit into a concrete passing thing of sense; and contaminates it with what belongs to
sense…certainty — with an aspect inherently worthless and one which is not to be found at all in the
worshiping attitude of belief; so that enlightenment simply calumniates it by introducing such an
aspect。 What belief reveres is for belief assuredly neither stone nor wood; nor bread…dough; nor
any other sort of thing of time and sense。 If enlightenment thinks it worth while to say its object all
the same is this as well; or even that it is this in its inherent nature and in truth; then belief also
knows that something which it is 〃as well〃; but for it this something lies outside; its worship; on the
other hand; however; belief does not look on such things as stones; etc。; as having an inherent and
essential being at all; the essential nature as grasped by pure thought is alone for it something
inherently real。 

The second moment is the relation of belief as a form of knowing consciousness to this ultimate
Being。 As pure thinking consciousness belief has this Being immediately before it。 But pure
consciousness is just as much a mediate relation of conscious certainty to truth; a relation
constituting the ground of belief。 For enlightenment this ground comes similarly to be regarded as a
chance knowledge of chance occurrences。 The ground of knowledge; however; is the conscious
universal; and in its ultimate meaning is absolute spirit; which in abstract pure consciousness; or
thought as such; is merely absolute Being; but qua self…consciousness is the knowledge of itself。
Pure insight treats this conscious universal; self…knowing spirit pure and simple; likewise as an
element negative of self…consciousness。 Doubtless this insight is itself pure mediate thought;; i。e。
thought mediating itself with itself; it is pure knowledge; but since it is pure insight; or pure
knowledge; which does not yet know itself; i。e。 for which as yet there is no awareness that it is this
pure process of mediation; this process seems to insight; like everything else constituting it; to be
something external; an other。 When realizing its inherent principle; then; it develops this moment
essential to it; but that moment seems to it to belong to belief; and to be; in its character of an
external other; a fortuitous knowledge of stories of 〃real〃 events in this ordinary sense of 〃real〃。 It
thus here charges religious belief with basing its certainty on some particular historical evidences;
which; considered as historical evidences; would assuredly not even warrant that degree of
certainty about the matter which we get regarding any event mentioned in the newspapers。 It
further makes the imputation that the certainty in the case of religious belief rests on the accidental
fact of the preservation of all this evidence: on the preservation of this evidence partly by means of
paper; and partly through the skill and honesty in transferring what is written from one paper to
another; and lastly rests upon the accurate interpretation of the sense of dead words and letters。
As a matter of fact; however; it never occurs to belief to make its certainty depend on such
evidences and such fortuitous circumstances。 Belief in its conscious assurance occupies a na?ve
unsophisticated attitude towards its absolute object; knows it with a purity; which never mixes up
letters; paper; or copyists with its consciousness of the Absolute Being; and does not make use of
things of that sort to affect its union with

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