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Otto Weininger Quotes (1880-1903)
Philosopher, Writer
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About Otto Weininger
Otto Weininger (April 3, 1880 β October 4, 1903) was an Austrian philosopher of Jewish descent. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Today, Weininger is generally viewed as misogynistic and antisemitic in academic circles, but was held to be a great genius by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the writer August Strindberg.
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βIdiocy: crudenessβ intellectual equivalent.β
βGenius declares itself to be a kind of higher masculinity.β
βMan must act in such a way that the whole of his individuality lies in each moment.β
βA man is himself important precisely in proportion that all things seem important to him.β
βWoman, in short, has an unconscious life, man a conscious life, and the genius the most conscious life.β
βNo one can understand himself, for to do that he would have to get outside himself; the subject of the knowing and willing activity would have to become its own object.β
βThere are men who are willing to marry a woman they do not care about merely because she is admired by other men. Such a relation exists between many men and their thoughts.β
βMemory, then, is a necessary part of the logical faculty. β¦ The proposition A = A must have a psychological relation to time, otherwise it would be At1 = At2.β
βNo two moments in the life of an individual are exactly alike; there is between the later and the earlier periods only the similarity of the higher and lower parts of a spiral ascent.β
βThat is why man can also never understand himself: For he is himself a timeless act; an act which he performs continuously, and there is no moment in which he might not perform it, as there would have to be to understand himself.β
βPsychologism is the most comfortable conception of life, because according to it there are no longer any more problems. That is why it also condemns all solutions from the outset, since it acknowledges the actual problems as little as the idea of truth.β
βColour-blindness always extends to the complementary colours. Those who are red blind are also green blind; those who are blind to blue have no consciousness of yellow. This law holds good for all mental phenomena; it is a fundamental condition of consciousness.β
βMan is alone in the world, in tremendous eternal isolation. He has no object outside himself; lives for nothing else; he is far removed from being the slave of his wishes, of his abilities, of his necessities; he stands far above social ethics; he is alone. Thus he becomes one and all.β
βIn the case of complex personalities the matter stands thus: one of these can understand other men better than they can understand themselves, because within himself he has not only the character he is grasping, but also its opposite. Duality is necessary for observation and comprehension.β
βThe logical axioms are the principle of all truth. These posit an existence towards which all cognition serves. Logic is a law which must be obeyed, and man realises himself only in so far as he is logical. He finds himself in cognition. All error must be felt to be crime. And so man must not err. He must find the truth.β
Otto Weininger Quotes by Topic
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Otto Weininger on Logic 2 quotes
βLogic is a law which must be obeyed, and man realizes himself only in so far as he is logical. He finds himself in cognition.β
Otto Weininger on Law of Identity 2 quotes
βMemory, then, is a necessary part of the logical faculty. β¦ The proposition A = A must have a psychological relation to time, otherwise it would be At1 = At2.β
Otto Weininger on Genius 2 quotes
βIf it really were the case, as popular opinion has tried to establish, that the genius were separated from ordinary men by a thick wall through which no sound could penetrate, then all understanding of the efforts of genius would be denied to ordinary men, and their works would fail to make any impression on them. All hopes of progress depend on this being untrue. And it is untrue. The difference between men of genius and the others is quantitative not qualitative, of degree not of kind.β
Otto Weininger on Refusal of work
βThe great genius does not let his work be determined by the concrete finite conditions that surround him.β
Otto Weininger on Freedom
Otto Weininger on Free will
Otto Weininger on Determinism
Otto Weininger on Identity
βMemory, then, is a necessary part of the logical faculty. β¦ The proposition A = A must have a psychological relation to time, otherwise it would be At1 = At2.β
Otto Weininger on Memory
βMemory, then, is a necessary part of the logical faculty. β¦ The proposition A = A must have a psychological relation to time, otherwise it would be At1 = At2.β
Otto Weininger on Nature
Otto Weininger on Ageing
βNo two moments in the life of an individual are exactly alike; there is between the later and the earlier periods only the similarity of the higher and lower parts of a spiral ascent.β
About Otto Weininger
Otto Weininger (April 3, 1880 β October 4, 1903) was an Austrian philosopher of Jewish descent. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character), which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23. Today, Weininger is generally viewed as misogynistic and antisemitic in academic circles, but was held to be a great genius by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the writer August Strindberg.