The art of insulting (in German: The art of insulting) is a posthumous anthology of insults and controversial remarks left by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in his published and unpublished writings. The book contains 216 passages and is presented in alphabetical order starting with a title by the curator that highlights the main theme. It was first published directly in Italian translation in 1999 by Franco Volpi.
Schopenhauer lives up to his misanthropic and pessimistic attitude by unleashing his insults towards other philosophers, writers, women, social institutions, the human race and life itself. In addition to insults in the strict sense, the collection contains observations and polemical judgments that the philosopher presents as truths but which are offensive.
The work can be considered as a complement to The art of being rightIn it, the philosopher believed that by following a few steps it was possible to always be right, however, he recognized that there is a limit to the argumentative technique. That is, the opponent can be smarter and more skillful than us. In this case, according to him, one must become offensive, scandalous and rude, that is, one must start insulting.[1][2]
A literary discussion in the second galleryLithograph by Honoré Daumier published in The Charivari1864.
According to Franco Volpi, The art of insulting It is presented as a complement to this work by the philosopher.[1] In The art of being rightin which he lists the stratagems that are intended to succeed in a discussion, Schopenhauer arrives at the end of the list, the thirty-eighth, in which he recognizes a problem when the opponent turns out to be more intelligent or more skillful. In order not to be hit, and therefore to be reasoned with, in these cases according to the philosopher it is necessary to resort to insults. “Insults, according to Schopenhauer, do not derive from coarse and vulgar concepts, nor with the purpose of insulting, but serve as a resource when the art of argumentation does not prosper and is annulled.”[1]
When you realize that your opponent is superior and that you will not be able to be right, you become personal, you become offensive, you become rude. Personalizing consists of moving away from the object of the discussion (because it is a lost game) and attacking the opponent and his person in some way: this could be called argument to the personUnlike argument to man: this starts from a purely objective object in order to stick to what the adversary has said or admitted about it. By personalizing, however, the object is completely abandoned and one directs one’s attack at the person of the adversary: one thus becomes insulting, malignant, offensive, rude. It is an appeal from the faculties of the intellect to those of the body, or to animality.[2][3]
Schopenhauer’s personal copy of the Encyclopedia of philosophical sciences from Hegel with a drawing of a donkey and the comment “Quelle betise!” (“What stupidity!”).
Schopenhauer did not look favorably on the use of insults, which he considered a vulgar means that should be avoided. In fact, in The art of being respected describes the insult as:
“a summary slander, without giving reasons: this could be well expressed in Greek [el insulto es una calumnia abreviada]… Undoubtedly, the one who insults in this way clearly reveals that he cannot assert anything real or true against the other. Otherwise, he would in fact provide this as a premise and have the listeners calmly draw the conclusions, with the insult instead he provides the conclusion and remains beholden to the premises: he wants to give the impression that this happens only for the sake of brevity.”
Insult is sometimes a danger because there is a risk of a dangerous escalationand Schopenhauer advises against it whenever possible.[4]
“As Vincenzo Monti says, insults are like religious processions: they always return to where they started”
At the same time, insulting turns out to be a very popular technique since, in general, even the most impassive personalities are dragged into circumstances that require it.
Likewise, it must be effective and achieve its purpose by becoming the object of study. Indeed, it is often associated with a lack of self-control; in fact, thanks to Schopenhauer’s words, insult becomes a real art.
The collection covers a variety of themes, from the most comical, such as current fashion, to the most tragic, such as death, exploitation and animal abuse.
Important figures are mentioned, including many philosophers who become the subject of direct insults. Among them is Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who receives most of Schopenhauer’s attention. Other important philosophers are also mentioned, such as Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, Baruch Spinoza, Johann Gottlieb Fichte.
Children, the animal world, nature, the Church, the female gender, and the marginalized are also taken into consideration; but the essay also includes religions, philosophies, and numerous abstract concepts.
Collection of quotes
[editar]
The birth
“The only happiness is not having been born.”
Nationalism
“The salvation of any poor devil who has nothing in the world to be proud of is to be proud of the nation to which he belongs; this comforts him so much that in gratitude he is ready to defend πύξ καὶ λάξ [con manos y pies] “all the defects and nonsense characteristic of their nation.”
The French
“Other parts of the world have monkeys; Europe has French. One thing compensates for the other.”
The world
“[…] The world is hell, and men are both the tormented souls and the devils who torment them. This world is the worst possible. One should not expect much from the world: want and pain fill it, and those who have managed to free themselves from the latter are lurking around every corner, boredom. Moreover, evil usually rules it and foolishness has the last word in it. […] Among the evils of such an establishment would be included the society itself, which one encounters in it, and which anyone worthy of a better understanding will be able to judge very well without my help. The world is dominated by rabble. Is this the world that God has created? No, it is the one that the devil has created.”
Nature
“Natura is a correct but euphemistic expression; it could just as rightly be called mortura.”
Women and their achievements in art
“The most eminent minds of the entire female gender have never attained a truly great, authentic and original achievement in the fine arts, and in general, have not been able to create a single work of permanent value. […] Isolated and partial exceptions do not alter this fact.”
The religion
“Humanity grows within the garment of religion like a child within its clothes; do what you will, and the clothes will fall apart. Religions are the children of ignorance that do not outlive their mother.”
Protestantism
“Protestantism, by rejecting celibacy, and even true asceticism and its representatives, the saints, became a blunted, or rather, truncated Christianity, which lacked the edge of the blade, and which therefore ended up losing all meaning. […]”
- ↑ a b c Serra Pfennig, Isabel (2022). «Arthur Schopenhauer’s discourse on the art of insulting. Translation as an aesthetic experience». Transfer: electronic journal on translation and interculturality (17): 17-35. ISSN 1886-5542. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
- ↑ a b Schopenhauer, Arthur (2022). «An alphabet of insolence, by Franco Volpi». The art of insulting (Fabio Morales, trans.). Madrid: Alianza Editorial. ISBN 978-84-206-4332-8.
- ↑ A. Schopenhauer, The art of being rightcit., p. 70. Cf. also, from the same, Parerga and Paralipomenain Works in five volumes, edited by Ludger Lütkehaus, Haffmans, Zurich, 1988, vol. IV, p. 370 ff.
- ↑ Schopenhauer, Arthur (1999). «An alphabet of the insolent». In Adelphi, ed. The art of insulting (in Italian). Milan: Piccola Biblioteca Adelphi. ISBN 978-88-459-1480-5..
