In Goethe's FAUST, in return for using Frau Schwerdtlein's garden as a
meeting place for Faust and Gretchen, Mephistopheles suggests that he
and Faust will formally attest that Herr Schwerdtlein is dead and
buried in Padua--never mind that they know nothing about it and the
attestation is fraudulent.
When Faust refuses at first, Mephistopheles answers with heavy
sarcasm:
Mephistopheles.
O saintly man! Then you would be a saint indeed!
Is it the first time in your life
You've borne false witness? Well, I wonder!
Of God, the world, and what therein is rife,
Of man, what stirs within his heart and brain,
Have you no definition given with might and main?
With brazen brow and dauntless breast?
And if you'll only probe things truly,
You knew of them - you must confess it duly -
No more than of this Schwerdtlein's death and place of rest!
Faust.
You are and you remain a liar, sophist too.
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FROM: Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
translated by George Madison Priest
A STREET
[FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.]
Quoted from <http://www.levity.com/alchemy/faust12.html>
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In the German original, the passage is of course even more forceful:
MEPHISTOPHELES:
O heil'ger Mann! Da waert Ihr's nun!
Ist es das erstemal in Eurem Leben,
Dass Ihr falsch Zeugnis abgelegt?
Habt Ihr von Gott, der Welt und was sich drin bewegt,
Vom Menschen, was sich ihm in Kopf und Herzen regt,
Definitionen nicht mit grosser Kraft gegeben?
Mit frecher Stirne, kuehner Brust?
Und wollt Ihr recht ins Innre gehen,
Habt Ihr davon, Ihr muesst es grad gestehen,
So viel als von Herrn Schwerdtleins Tod gewusst!
FAUST:
Du bist und bleibst ein Luegner, ein Sophiste.
* * * * *
QUESTION: Is Mephisto's sarcastic argument of any relevance in today's
science and philosophy?
Greetings! Rudi Borth <[log in to unmask]>
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