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4. Norms and Expressions of Life
- University of Notre Dame Press
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F O U R Norms and Expressions of Life Task and character We are normally unaware of what it is that sustains us in our actions and enterprises. Initially, and for the most part, it is hidden, so preoccupied are we with the things we want to accomplish through our actions, so preoccupied are we with the goals and plans we have for our enterprises. Not until we experience a failure or a crisis do we realize what sustains us in our actions and enterprises. If something goes wrong, we become conscious of that which we should have been led by, but were not. When that which we had aimed to accomplish comes to nothing, even though the external obstacles were far from insurmountable, we are forced to admit that what let us down was our perseverance. The failure stirs up into consciousness our own weakness of character, and through the contrast made visible by this failure, we realize that what sustains us and fails us in the completion of our tasks is our character. To take an example: many begin academic studies without having learned to work thoroughly. Let us imagine such people attending a course on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. They 123 Beyond the Ethical Demand 124 prepare well. They also find the thoughts in Kant’s work intriguing, and lack neither diligence nor interest. Nevertheless, after a while they must concede they haven’t the slightest idea of what it all means. Everything they have read and heard has been in vain, a waste of time. They must either give up or begin again. But they have no real choice, for they are too captivated by philosophy to let it go. They must therefore begin again on their own, determined not to leave a single sentence until they have understood it, no matter how long that takes. Not until reaching this stage— perhaps years into their studies—do they learn to work thoroughly. It took a crisis (although the word may seem a bit inflated) to make them conscious of the fact that what a person’s work rests on is either thoroughness or superficiality. Crisis having revealed either thoroughness or superficiality, either strength or weakness of character, it is equally important that these once again return to their hidden existence. What is decisive is that a person should work thoroughly not for the sake of thoroughness, but for the sake of Critique of Pure Reason. Personal character traits can certainly be trained, but not for their own sake, and not without an element of pleasure . Presumably very few people possess a natural proclivity to work thoroughly. Most require practice and training. From an educational and self-educational point of view it is important that character traits are not trained and developed by paying attention to them and worrying about them. If a character trait is to develop, one must shift one’s attention away from it and focus on the task it is meant to benefit, and which may be impossible to complete without it. Continuing along the lines of our example , there is only one way to learn to work thoroughly, and that is to become sufficiently preoccupied with the task at hand. This alone intensifies both the satisfaction of having succeeded because one has worked thoroughly, and the dissatisfaction of having failed because one has worked superficially, and that is the essence of the character trait we call thoroughness. Thus, there is an important difference. While we grapple with a task, we develop the character trait upon which its performance depends. This trait takes root because of the pleasure we experience at achieving a successful outcome, and even earlier as we struggle to overcome the obstacles. But the shift is fatal if one turns away from the task and focuses on the character trait in order to take pleasure in it. This very quickly becomes [3.235.139.122] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 02:53 GMT) Norms and Expressions of Life 125 destructive, and in more ways than one. The character trait stiffens and becomes a caricature of itself, and one’s self-satisfaction begins to swell. Something similar applies to discontent. It is one thing to feel dissatisfied after taking a superficial approach, but quite another to become immersed in one’s own lack of character. The latter only makes one sink even deeper into it. When it comes to character—either one’s own or someone else’s— it...