[p. 263]
|263| have as their ground the giving up of vanity, self-conceit and selfishness in the face of that which is in and for itself and necessary.
Explanation. The calling is something universal and necessary and constitutes some side of human living together. It is thus a part of the whole work of mankind. When man has a calling, he enters into a share in, and co-operation with, the universal. He thereby becomes something objective. The calling is indeed a single, limited sphere, yet constitutes a necessary member of the whole and is also in itself again a whole. If man is to become something, he must know how to limit himself, i.e. to make his calling wholly his own affair. Then it is no limit for him. He is then at one with himself, with his externality, his sphere. He is a universal, a whole. – When man makes something vain, i.e. inessential, void, his purpose, what lies at the ground of this is interest not in a matter but in his own matter. The vain is nothing that subsists in and for itself, but is sustained only by the subject. Man sees in it only himself; e.g. there can also be a moral vanity, when man in his acting is altogether conscious of his excellence and has the interest more in himself than in the matter. – The man who faithfully fulfils minor businesses shows himself capable of greater ones, because he has shown obedience, a giving up of his wishes, inclinations and fancies.
§ 46
Through intellectual and moral culture man acquires the capacity to fulfil the duties towards others, which duties may be called real, whereas the duties that relate to culture are more formal in nature.
§ 47
Insofar as the fulfilment of duties appears more as the subjective
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.