Brecht's Philosophical Tales (and II)

PalmThe experiment is Brecht's short story starring the philosopher Bacon and is a very appropriate title for a philosopher with a scientific vocation and a systematic attitude of observation of natural phenomena. In fact, Brecht presents Bacon as a scholar of natural sciences and a researcher concerned with practical issues in the field, who seeks to dominate natural forces and invent useful things. Simultaneously, it shows Bacon's darker side, linked to a series of cruel, arbitrary, and unjust decisions he made while serving as Lord Chancellor, which led him to imprisonment, albeit for a short time. Thus, Brecht completes the portrait of a two-faced Bacon, known worldwide for being a humanist and philosopher, and also for being a vengeful and unscrupulous criminal.

From there, Brecht's literary invention begins and goes on to describe the master's relationship with a young stable boy, enthusiastic about learning from the philosopher. He often intersperses comments on Bacon's utilitarian doctrine, which pays attention only to that which is of some use, and which formulates a scientific method based on observation and experimentation that he applies to the study of the universe and everything that inhabits the Earth, in order to obtain knowledge that contributes to well-being, happiness, and human progress. There is a fragment that is worth quoting, because it reflects that spirit of the time consisting of not taking anything for granted until it has been verified and demonstrated experimentally, and it is the one that says: "It was not what one believed that was important, but what one knew. Too many things were believed and too few were known."

Learning

Brecht echoes the rumor that Bacon was a bad person and has the character of an old grandmother convey this opinion to the stable boy. But the boy pays little attention and attentively follows his master's lessons, making rapid progress. Thus, the young man learns that the words he should use must correspond to material objects, that there are words that are better left unused because they mean nothing, such as 'good,' 'bad,' and 'ugly,' and that these "discarded words" should be reserved for objects created by humans for a specific purpose. He also learns that if you wish to live up to your master, you must learn to read. Unfortunately, the learning process is abruptly interrupted by his master's fatal illness. Before he can finish his days spent agonizing in the chamber, a decisive event occurs for the development of the story. It turns out that while returning by sleigh from a winter visit, they run over a hen that had escaped from a farmyard. Bacon gets off the sleigh, forgets about his illness and the cold, and orders the boy to pick up the chicken, clean it, and fill it with snow until it is completely full. The old philosopher anticipated the hypothesis that this way the chicken would stay fresh and not decompose. Therefore, he entrusts the young man with reporting back to him promptly on the progress of the experiment. From then on, the young man took charge of keeping the bird cold, but the master could no longer see the final result, which was just as he had predicted, because he died beforehand. And while the farewell ceremony was being held in honor of his master, the sandwich decides to boil the animal and eat a wing, in this way he thought to demonstrate that the meat had been preserved in good condition and was not poisonous.

The stories described about Socrates, Bruno, and Bacon have several points in common. They are imaginary and false stories, with a minimum content of truth linked to a specific biographical event. Interestingly, Brecht chooses Socrates and Bruno as protagonists, two philosophers condemned to death. Perhaps he was struck by the inner serenity with which they accepted the traffic. Another circumstance common to the biographies of all three philosophers is the fact that they were in prison. Furthermore, all three philosophers appear entangled in problematic, yet comical and ridiculous situations, which push them to make some kind of decision. Generally, the concerns arising from the plot are trivial and unbecoming of a philosopher. In all cases, the narrative tone adopted by the author is the same, characterized by being ironic and paradoxical.

Brecht adopts the persona of Mr. Keuner (Mr. K.) and stars in a set of short stories, through which he shares his ideas on relevant philosophical, ethical, and moral issues. Thus, he speaks about God, friendship, responsibility, love, hospitality, nature, property, originality, patriotism, justice, among others. He questions whether belief in God would change behavior. His conclusion is that if God does not influence behavior, then there is no point in questioning his existence. When it comes to love, he tries to make the person he loves resemble his ideal. Regarding nature, he says that it should be left to rest and that it should be used in moderation. He thinks that justice is meaningless if social inequalities are not resolved, and that injustices should be denounced. He is in favor of doing favors for friends that do not entail any special sacrifice, being responsible and committed, and being faithful to one's word, despite the inconveniences and unforeseen events that may arise.

Reproaches or criticisms

In this collection of minor tales, he refers to philosophers on several occasions, most often to address them with some kind of reproach or criticism. He generally accuses them of being overly concerned with form and neglecting content; of philosophy professors, he says that they speak in confusing and unclear terms, and that this tone prevents the listener from knowing the purpose of the discourse. From this, he draws the lesson that "the wisdom of the wise man lies in his conduct." He speaks of Socrates in contemptuous terms, as a sophist who only knew that he knew nothing because he had not, in fact, studied anything. He refers to the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi to praise his writing, composed of numerous quotations, and to acknowledge that original ideas should be distrusted because they have often been formulated by other people's minds. He also adds that "there has never been any idea that was not the child of a wish." And he is in favor of interrupting conversations that contribute nothing to reason.

Furthermore, Brecht conveys some universal lessons drawn from Eastern wisdom through a parable of Buddha and a legend about the origin of the book. Daodejing of philosophical aphorisms by the wise Lao Tzu. Thus, Buddha teaches us to abandon all ambitions and desires to achieve a state of harmony and unity with all things, equivalent to nothingness, since not only are there unanswered questions, but "when a house is on fire" it is no longer time to ask, but to take action and make a revolution; while from Lao Tzu, he draws the following lessons: that even what is harder than a stone can be overcome with persistence, perseverance, and willpower, and that the wise man must share the knowledge he has acquired, but that "we must wrest from the wise man what he knows."

If you are interested in reading these stories by Brecht directly, you will find them collected in the book Calendar Stories (Adesiara, 2018).