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Single Idea 19638
[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 1. Nature of Metaphysics
]
Full Idea
Every metaphysic begins with an anguish of the body, which then becomes universal.
Gist of Idea
Metaphysics is a universalisation of physical anguish
Source
E.M. Cioran (A Short History of Decay [1949], 6 'Underside')
Book Ref
Cioran,E.M.: 'A Short History of Decay', ed/tr. Howard,Richard [Penguin 2010], p.158
A Reaction
Not sure if I understand this, but anyone who registers the physical aspect of abstract thought gets a nod of approval from me.
The
47 ideas
from 'A Short History of Decay'
19627
|
Opportunists can save a nation, and heroes can ruin it
[Cioran]
|
19622
|
The pointlessness of our motives and irrelevance of our gestures reveals our vacuity
[Cioran]
|
19602
|
You are stuck in the past if you don't know boredom
[Cioran]
|
19619
|
To live authentically, we must see that philosophy is totally useless
[Cioran]
|
19620
|
Great systems of philosophy are just brilliant tautologies
[Cioran]
|
19621
|
Originality in philosophy is just the invention of terms
[Cioran]
|
19618
|
I abandoned philosophy because it didn't acknowledge melancholy and human weakness
[Cioran]
|
19624
|
Intelligence only fully flourishes at the end of a historical period
[Cioran]
|
19625
|
The ideal is to impose a religion by force, and then live in doubt about its beliefs
[Cioran]
|
19615
|
I want to suppress in myself the normal reasons people have for action
[Cioran]
|
19614
|
Lovers are hateful, apart from their hovering awareness of death
[Cioran]
|
19599
|
Ideas are neutral, but people fill them with passion and weakness
[Cioran]
|
19600
|
When man abandons religion, he then follows new fake gods and mythologies
[Cioran]
|
19623
|
Circles of hell are ridiculous; all that matters is to be there
[Cioran]
|
19616
|
As the perfect wisdom of detachment, philosophy offers no rivals to Taoism
[Cioran]
|
19617
|
Evidence suggests that humans do not have a purpose
[Cioran]
|
19611
|
No one has ever found a good argument against suicide
[Cioran]
|
19610
|
Religions see suicide as insubordination
[Cioran]
|
19626
|
Our instincts had to be blunted and diminished, to make way for consciousness!
[Cioran]
|
19603
|
Why is God so boring, and why does God resemble humanity so little?
[Cioran]
|
19605
|
Despite endless suggestions, no one has found a goal for history
[Cioran]
|
19604
|
Unlike other creatures, mankind seems lost in nature
[Cioran]
|
19606
|
We can only live because our imagination and memory are poor
[Cioran]
|
19612
|
The universe is dirty and fragile, as if a scandal in nothingness had produced its matter
[Cioran]
|
19613
|
It is pointless to refuse or accept the social order; we must endure it like the weather
[Cioran]
|
19608
|
Wisdom is just the last gasp of a dying civilization
[Cioran]
|
19601
|
Life is now more dreaded than death
[Cioran]
|
19609
|
If you have not contemplated suicide, you are a miserable worm
[Cioran]
|
19628
|
At a civilisation's peak values are all that matters, and people unconsciously live by them
[Cioran]
|
19631
|
The history of ideas (and deeds) occurs in a meaningless environment
[Cioran]
|
19629
|
A nation gives expression to its sum of values, and is then exhausted
[Cioran]
|
19630
|
No great idea ever emerged from a dialogue
[Cioran]
|
19633
|
We use concepts to master our fears; saying 'death' releases us from confronting it
[Cioran]
|
19632
|
An axiom has no more authority than a frenzy
[Cioran]
|
19634
|
Man is never himself; he always aims at less than life, or more than life
[Cioran]
|
19637
|
History is wonderfully devoid of meaning
[Cioran]
|
19636
|
Truth is just an error insufficiently experienced
[Cioran]
|
19641
|
If you lack beliefs, boredom is your martyrdom
[Cioran]
|
19640
|
No one is brave enough to say they don't want to do anything; we despise such a view
[Cioran]
|
19645
|
Some thinkers would have been just as dynamic, no matter when they had lived
[Cioran]
|
19638
|
Metaphysics is a universalisation of physical anguish
[Cioran]
|
19642
|
Eventually every 'truth' is guaranteed by the police
[Cioran]
|
19644
|
History is the bloody rejection of boredom
[Cioran]
|
19643
|
A religion needs to motivate killings, and cannot tolerate rivals
[Cioran]
|
19646
|
Values don't accumulate; they are ruthlessly replaced
[Cioran]
|
19639
|
We all need sexual secrets!
[Cioran]
|
19607
|
The mind is superficial, only concerned with the arrangement of events, not their significance
[Cioran]
|