15000-05

What, then, does this outward appearance of the "neighbour" say about the way things “really are to him" (not that they are simply external to his perception, but that they are his gaze into the world)? There is a maxim of condescending perversity best captured by the idiom of the high-flown spirit as interpreted by Max Horkheimer: The sharpest of spirits, I have in every situation appeared as a mere passive medium of their uplifting influence. . . . The fact that I have ever said anything against my will and even dictated evil for the sake of preserving freedom of will and achieving my ends serves as a piece of potent evidence that my tongue has not withered away into the dogmas of charity and self-sacrifice.