Max Scheler Quotes on Knowledge
Max Scheler (1874–1928), the leading German phenomenologist of the generation after Husserl, gave the early twentieth century two of its founding works on the sociology of knowledge: Problems of a Sociology of Knowledge (1924) and the larger Die Wissensformen und die Gesellschaft (1926). The framework distinguishes three forms of knowledge — knowledge for salvation (Heilswissen), knowledge for cultivation (Bildungswissen), and knowledge for power (Herrschaftswissen) — and analyzes the changing social conditions under which each has been produced and transmitted. Scheler's earlier Formalism in Ethics (1913–16) supplies the corresponding material value-ethics on which the analysis rests.
Quotes
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Attributed to Max Scheler:
“The hierarchy of values is intuited, not deduced.”
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“It is peculiar to “ ressentiment criticism” that it does not seriously desire that its demands be fulfilled. It does not want to cure the evil. The evil is merely the pretext for the criticism.”
L. Coser, trans. (1973), p. 51 -
“L. Coser, trans. (1973), pp. 52-53”
Existential envy which is directed against the other person’s very nature, is the strongest source of ressentiment . It is as if it whispers continually: “I can forgive everything, but not that you are— that you are what you are—that I am not what you are—indeed that I am not you.” This form of envy strips the opponent of his very existence, for this existence as such is felt to be a “pressure,” a -
“L. Coser, trans. (1973), pp. 54-55”
The “noble” person has a completely naïve and non-reflective awareness of his own value and of his fullness of being, an obscure conviction which enriches every conscious moment of his existence, as if he were autonomously rooted in the universe. This should not be mistaken for “pride.” Quite on the contrary, pride results from an experienced diminution of this “naive” self-confidence. It is a way -
“The ultimate goal of the arriviste’s aspirations is not to acquire a thing of value, but to be more highly esteemed than others. He merely uses the “thing” as an indifferent occasion for overcoming the oppressive feeling of inferiority which results from his constant comparisons.”
L. Coser, trans. (1973), pp. 55-56 -
“L. Coser, trans. (1973), pp. 55-56”
The ultimate goal of the arriviste’s aspirations is not to acquire a thing of value, but to be more highly esteemed than others. He merely uses the “thing” as an indifferent occasion for overcoming the oppressive feeling of inferiority which results from his constant comparisons. -
“The medieval peasant prior to the 13th century does not compare himself to the feudal lord, nor does the artisan compare himself to the knight. … From the king down to the hangman and the prostitute, everyone is “noble” in the sense that he considers himself as irreplaceable. In the “system of free competition,” on the other hand, the notions on life’s tasks and their value are not fundamental, th”
L. Coser, trans. (1973), p. 56