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In a reference to Pascal, Ernst Cassirer wrote in his book An Essay on Man that:what characterizes man is the richness and subtlety, the variety and versatility of his nature….Rational thought, logical and metaphysical thought can comprehend only those objects which are free from contradiction, and which have a consistent nature and truth. It is, however, just this homogeneity which we never find in man. The philosopher is not permitted to construct an artificial man; he must describe a real one. All the so-called definitions of man are nothing but airy speculation so long as they are not based upon and confirmed by our experience of man. There is no other way to know man than to understand his life and conduct. But what we find here defies every attempt at inclusion within a single and simple formula. Contradiction is the very element of human existence. Man has no ‘nature’—no simple or homogeneous being.
Flaubert once said that a theme imposes itself upon the writer, that it demands to be treated. And Curtius remarked that the choice of a theme reflects an author’s basic attitude toward the world, that it indicates his typical reactions to given situations. But he also pointed out that he who has only a theme will not necessarily create great literature. No doubt, the theme alone cannot assure literary value to any work; nor does the particular orientation, the point of view from which the theme is treated, endow the work with stature. Broadly considered, war is the theme of La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, and a despondent pacifism is its orientation. At first glance, the play appears to say either that war is in the hearts of men or that it is a pastime of gods indifferent to human will or human prayers.
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