Maxims by François de La Rochefoucauld
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rochefoucauld is an interesting guy. He provides some interesting meditations on the inconsistency of human behavior, asking that we consider in the formation of knowledge, not only what is presented to us, but what remains bracketed. What I mean is that inherent in Rochefoucauld is a dichotomy, in that if one presents one side to us, asking that we consider them in a given way, we can only really understand the fullness (in a Newtonian sense) by asking where did the opposing reaction for this presentation go?
It occurs to me that the main thrust in these maxims isn’t so much as a reversal of “natural philosophy” as far as common sense goes, but that Rochefoucauld merely asking us to look deeper into why people do what they do and why we reason the way we do. Often, if we carry our thoughts on to an extreme, we would find ourselves arguing against the very position we seek to support as the argument dissolves itself into insensibility. In that way, Rochefoucauld isn’t simply insisting that we are all greedy, self centered and narcissistic, but that we consider people may be so, and that in their innocent perpetuate lies about themselves through sheer vanity.
The most annoying part of dealing with another person, is having to deal with what is essential about that person, which from a position of an other, remains what is simply inessential to our own conception. People lie or bend the truth because they want to be liked, or want to think well of themselves. Often this is self defeating, especially when we see that being liked or not being liked often has less to do with ourselves than it does with the other person’s essentially inessential part of themselves. For who is anyone to us, but their role? And if they should fulfill that role, their esteem of themselves would be what is not required.
His extended thoughts on his maxims are less interesting as he has a tendency to twaddle on a point. His biography should be of interest. I think I will look for one.
