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Human, All Too Human, Part 110 summary

Part 110 of 152 · 4 min to read the part

In 110, the argument rejects the view that religion preserves ancient truths which science merely expresses differently, and criticizes Schopenhauer for defending that view. It traces religion to fear, need, and mistaken reasoning, separates it from scientific knowledge, and denies that widespread agreement establishes truth.

What happens

  1. Enlightenment undervalues religion, but its opponents go too far by treating religion as profound knowledge expressed through allegory.
  2. Schopenhauer defends this mistaken view under the influence of teachers who favor romanticism over enlightenment.
  3. The argument traces religion to fear, need, and faulty reasoning, and treats borrowed philosophy as a means of religious survival.
  4. Philosophers mistake inherited religious feelings for universal human traits, then marvel that their systems resemble religious teachings.
  5. Religion and genuine science occupy separate spheres, while religious elements make a philosophy's scientific claims suspect.
  6. The closing argument rejects popular agreement as proof and invokes Goethe's verse to distinguish wisdom from collective folly.

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In this part

SchopenhauerThe philosophers

Quick check

Why do some religions incorporate philosophical doctrines, according to the argument?

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