Wednesday Wisdom

WHO 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced GUR-tuh) was born on August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, into a wealthy and educated family. He showed a talent for writing at a young age and was interested in literature, science, and philosophy. He studied law at the universities of Leipzig and Strasbourg but pursued his literary ambitions alongside his legal education. was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, and philosopher, and one of the most significant figures in German literature and European Romanticism. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that emerged in the late 18th century in Europe, reaching its height in the early 19th century. It was characterized by a profound shift away from the rationalism of the Enlightenment, placing instead a strong emphasis on emotion, individualism, nature, and the sublime. Romanticism celebrated the human experience, imagination, and personal expression and influenced nearly every aspect of culture, from art and literature to music and philosophy by highlighting emotion over reason.

What he produced

“Alas! I’ve studied philosophy, jurisprudence, and medicine, too, and worst of all, theology, with keen endeavor, through and through—and here I am, for all my lore, the wretched fool I was before.” Goethe’s main character Dr. Heinreich Faust is a highly intelligent man and an accomplished scholar, yet his ambition and thirst of knowledge drives him towards depression.

In 1808, Goethe wrote, as a play/poem, the retelling of a story from German folklore about a man looking for unbridled knowledge as his only solution to find happiness. Realizing he can never have complete understanding he contemplates suicide but is halted by the sound of church bells celebrating Easter, which rekindles his hope. Seeking an escape from his existential crisis, Faust turns to magic and conjures Mephistopheles, a devilish figure who offers him a dangerous bargain: in exchange for serving Faust and providing him with boundless experiences and unbridled knowledge, Faust must surrender his soul to Mephistopheles if he ever reaches a moment of total satisfaction and fulfillment. Confident that such a moment will never come, Faust agrees a pact now known as a “Faustian bargain” or “Faustian gamble”. Although Faust gains temporary rewards, the consequences are ultimately destructive as the pact is unreversible.

This bargain refers to a deal or decision in which a person or group sacrifices core values, ethics, or long-term well-being in exchange for immediate gain, power, or success.

What we can learn in 2024

Faustian bargains appeal because they promise immediate rewards that seem to outweigh the often vague or distant downsides. While not literally making deals with the devil, we do make these deals every day without ever properly evaluating their negative effects or tradeoffs. Whether its technology, the environment or politics, there will be both good and bad consequences for a decision and perhaps even an ethical dilemma.

The allure of a Faustian deal can be strong, but as in Faust’s tale, the consequences often reveal that such short-term gains are ultimately hollow or even ruinous.

As any good carpenter would tell you, measure twice and cut once. When it comes to decision making, we can operate on the same premise, think twice before making that deal.

And now you know:

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity.

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.