Hegel in Hollywood's Hands
May 6, 2010 4:34 PM Subscribe
Hegelians, gather round and join in the greatest waste of an AskMeFi question since the previous greatest one. Did Hegel leave us with two very important concepts or just the one?
For years I've enjoyed a line from the movie Creator, written by Jeremy Leven. It was delivered by Peter O'Toole in response to a vulgarity by another character. O'Toole, in character as Dr. Harry Wolper, said: "Friedrich Hegel left us with two very important concepts. The first is that nothing great is ever accomplished without passion, and the second is 'sonofabitch.' One word, accent on the last syllable."
I am not familiar with most of Hegel's work and so, with some trepidation, I will ask: Did Hegel say anything at all concerning "sonofabitch"? Or is this, as I fully suspect, a little joke along the lines of Chandler telling Joey in a Friends episode, "In the words of A.A. Milne, 'Get out of my chair, dillhole'"?
Either way, thank you for not throwing rotten fruit.
For years I've enjoyed a line from the movie Creator, written by Jeremy Leven. It was delivered by Peter O'Toole in response to a vulgarity by another character. O'Toole, in character as Dr. Harry Wolper, said: "Friedrich Hegel left us with two very important concepts. The first is that nothing great is ever accomplished without passion, and the second is 'sonofabitch.' One word, accent on the last syllable."
I am not familiar with most of Hegel's work and so, with some trepidation, I will ask: Did Hegel say anything at all concerning "sonofabitch"? Or is this, as I fully suspect, a little joke along the lines of Chandler telling Joey in a Friends episode, "In the words of A.A. Milne, 'Get out of my chair, dillhole'"?
Either way, thank you for not throwing rotten fruit.
"One word, accent on the last syllable."
Now, that's passion! It's a good little joke.
posted by Lord Fancy Pants at 4:48 PM on May 6, 2010
Now, that's passion! It's a good little joke.
posted by Lord Fancy Pants at 4:48 PM on May 6, 2010
The two great things that Hegel did (imvho, which could be entirely f-ing wrong) is to say Kant is an pompous ass, without ever saying those words, and to preserve and protect the duality of nature and spirit. I don't thing he invited that dichotomy, and since I read all that stuff long ago, when I was smarter than I am now, and I had a guy who dated undergrads (female, no private tutoring for the likes of me) and published lots of books about existentialism, explaining it to me at ten am every MWF for fifteen weeks, I don't fully trust all this but, from my on reading, I do think he tops Kant, and Nietzsche, and I'm glad for it.
From reading two of his books, I'm ready to assert positively that he never literally said sonofabitch, but that I was left with that thought after reading many passages, and that the word was often implied.
posted by Some1 at 5:01 PM on May 6, 2010
From reading two of his books, I'm ready to assert positively that he never literally said sonofabitch, but that I was left with that thought after reading many passages, and that the word was often implied.
posted by Some1 at 5:01 PM on May 6, 2010
I'm pretty sure that Hegel never argued that thing about nothing great being accomplished without passion, either, for what it's worth. At the very least I can't for the life of me think of a time when he said anything remotely similar. But I'm only familiar with Phenomenology of Spirit.
posted by koeselitz at 5:08 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by koeselitz at 5:08 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am not familiar with most of Hegel's work and so, with some trepidation, I will ask: Did Hegel say anything at all concerning "sonofabitch"? Or is this, as I fully suspect, a little joke along the lines of Chandler telling Joey in a Friends episode, "In the words of A.A. Milne, 'Get out of my chair, dillhole'"?
Is this really the question? You're seriously asking whether or not Hegel used the word "sonofabitch"? Um, your suspicion is right: the comment in the movie (the movie!) is and was meant as a joke, and not as some cryptically learned insight into Hegel's philosophy.
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 5:14 PM on May 6, 2010
Is this really the question? You're seriously asking whether or not Hegel used the word "sonofabitch"? Um, your suspicion is right: the comment in the movie (the movie!) is and was meant as a joke, and not as some cryptically learned insight into Hegel's philosophy.
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 5:14 PM on May 6, 2010
"Friedrich Hegel left us with two very important concepts. The first is that nothing great is ever accomplished without passion, and the second is 'sonofabitch.' One word, accent on the last syllable."
This sounds like a good thesis paper. In fact, I'm sure you could take some of Hegel's jibberish and come up with a valid explanation for the quote. Maybe Leven is part of the Hollywood Hegelians?
In seriousness, it does sound like Leven was reaching for a quote a smart person would say. Sort of like saying, "George Washington left us with two very important concepts. The first is that you need freedom to drive men, and the second is 'Nuts!'"
posted by geoff. at 6:41 PM on May 6, 2010
This sounds like a good thesis paper. In fact, I'm sure you could take some of Hegel's jibberish and come up with a valid explanation for the quote. Maybe Leven is part of the Hollywood Hegelians?
In seriousness, it does sound like Leven was reaching for a quote a smart person would say. Sort of like saying, "George Washington left us with two very important concepts. The first is that you need freedom to drive men, and the second is 'Nuts!'"
posted by geoff. at 6:41 PM on May 6, 2010
Philosophy of History:
posted by AlsoMike at 10:54 PM on May 6, 2010
"...we may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the World has been accomplished without passion."But I think koeselitz is still sort of right, since Hegel probably means something more like, it's necessary to be engaged and involved to do anything, don't be a Cartesian skeptic and doubt that the world exists. He wouldn't have said what what we today would take this to mean, where "passion" codes for being true to your own subjective sense of pleasure. It seems like he doesn't think too highly of this, since it shows up in Phenomenology of Spirit under "The Law of the Heart and the Frenzy of Self-Conceit".
posted by AlsoMike at 10:54 PM on May 6, 2010
"the second is 'sonofabitch.' One word, accent on the last syllable".
This refers to the German habit of concatenating words to a new noun. Especially to coin a ponderously Germanic phrase for an abstruse philosophic concept. And then the concept is the passionate outcry 'son of a bitch'. The joke is in the superposition of these widely different registers.
posted by joost de vries at 7:27 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
This refers to the German habit of concatenating words to a new noun. Especially to coin a ponderously Germanic phrase for an abstruse philosophic concept. And then the concept is the passionate outcry 'son of a bitch'. The joke is in the superposition of these widely different registers.
posted by joost de vries at 7:27 AM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Of course, there are many here on MeFi who know a lot more Hegel than me, so please correct me if I'm wrong - because if he did say something about sons of bitches, well, I might just have to reconsider my views of Hegel.
posted by Lutoslawski at 4:42 PM on May 6, 2010