Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editor's preface
- Editorial notes and references
- Introduction
- Notes on text and translation
- Chronology
- Bibliography
- PARERGA AND PARALIPOMENA, VOLUME 2
- Contents
- Sporadic yet systematically ordered thoughts on multifarious topics
- Chapter 1 On philosophy and its method
- Chapter 2 On logic and dialectic
- Chapter 3 Some thoughts concerning the intellect in general and in every respect
- Chapter 4 Some observations on the antithesis of the thing in itself and appearance
- Chapter 5 Some words on pantheism
- Chapter 6 On philosophy and natural science
- Chapter 7 On colour theory
- Chapter 8 On ethics
- Chapter 9 On jurisprudence and politics
- Chapter 10 On the doctrine of the indestructibility of our true essence by death
- Chapter 11 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the nothingness of existence
- Chapter 12 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the suffering of the world
- Chapter 13 On suicide
- Chapter 14 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the affirmation and negation of the will to life
- Chapter 15 On religion
- Chapter 16 Some remarks on Sanskrit literature
- Chapter 17 Some archaeological observations
- Chapter 18 Some mythological observations
- Chapter 19 On the metaphysics of the beautiful and aesthetics
- Chapter 20 On judgement, criticism, approbation and fame
- Chapter 21 On learning and the learned
- Chapter 22 Thinking for oneself
- Chapter 23 On writing and style
- Chapter 24 On reading and books
- Chapter 25 On language and words
- Chapter 26 Psychological remarks
- Chapter 27 On women
- Chapter 28 On education
- Chapter 29 On physiognomy
- Chapter 30 On noise and sounds
- Chapter 31 Similes, parables and fables
- Some verses
- Versions of Schopenhauer's text
- Glossary of names
- Index
Chapter 30 - On noise and sounds
from PARERGA AND PARALIPOMENA, VOLUME 2
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editor's preface
- Editorial notes and references
- Introduction
- Notes on text and translation
- Chronology
- Bibliography
- PARERGA AND PARALIPOMENA, VOLUME 2
- Contents
- Sporadic yet systematically ordered thoughts on multifarious topics
- Chapter 1 On philosophy and its method
- Chapter 2 On logic and dialectic
- Chapter 3 Some thoughts concerning the intellect in general and in every respect
- Chapter 4 Some observations on the antithesis of the thing in itself and appearance
- Chapter 5 Some words on pantheism
- Chapter 6 On philosophy and natural science
- Chapter 7 On colour theory
- Chapter 8 On ethics
- Chapter 9 On jurisprudence and politics
- Chapter 10 On the doctrine of the indestructibility of our true essence by death
- Chapter 11 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the nothingness of existence
- Chapter 12 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the suffering of the world
- Chapter 13 On suicide
- Chapter 14 Additional remarks on the doctrine of the affirmation and negation of the will to life
- Chapter 15 On religion
- Chapter 16 Some remarks on Sanskrit literature
- Chapter 17 Some archaeological observations
- Chapter 18 Some mythological observations
- Chapter 19 On the metaphysics of the beautiful and aesthetics
- Chapter 20 On judgement, criticism, approbation and fame
- Chapter 21 On learning and the learned
- Chapter 22 Thinking for oneself
- Chapter 23 On writing and style
- Chapter 24 On reading and books
- Chapter 25 On language and words
- Chapter 26 Psychological remarks
- Chapter 27 On women
- Chapter 28 On education
- Chapter 29 On physiognomy
- Chapter 30 On noise and sounds
- Chapter 31 Similes, parables and fables
- Some verses
- Versions of Schopenhauer's text
- Glossary of names
- Index
Summary
§378
Kant wrote an essay on the living forces, but I would like to write a dirge and a threnody on them, because their all too excessive use in knocking, hammering and ramming has been a daily pain to me my whole life through. Of course there are people, indeed quite a few who smile at this, because they are insensitive to sounds; but these are the same ones who are also insensitive to reasons, thoughts, poetry and works of art, in brief, to spiritual impressions of any kind, due to the tough and unyielding texture of their brain matter. On the other hand, in the biographies or other accounts of personal utterances of almost all great writers, for instance Kant, Goethe, Lichtenberg, Jean Paul, I find complaints about the anguish caused to thinking men by noise; indeed, if such information is missing in any one case, then it is merely because the context did not lead to it. I interpret the matter as follows: just as a large diamond cut into pieces is equal in value only to so many small ones, or an army shattered to pieces and dissolved into small units is no longer capable of anything, so too a great mind is no more capable than an ordinary one as soon as it is interrupted, disturbed, distracted and diverted, because its superiority is conditioned by concentrating all its powers on one point and object, as a concave mirror does all of its rays, and precisely this is prevented by the noisy interruption. This is why eminent minds have always abhorred every kind of disturbance, interruption and diversion, especially those of a violent nature through noise, whereas others are not especially bothered by this. The most sensible and intelligent of all European nations has even called the rule ‘never interrupt’ its eleventh commandment. But noise is the most impertinent of all interruptions, since it breaks up and indeed breaks down even our own thoughts. But where there is nothing to interrupt, noise is of course not particularly sensed. – Occasionally I am tormented and bothered by a moderate and constant noise before I am clearly aware of it, in that I sense it merely as a constant hindrance to my thinking, like dragging a weight with my foot, until I realize what it is.
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- Information
- Schopenhauer: Parerga and ParalipomenaShort Philosophical Essays, pp. 575 - 578Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015