Verirrung und Vergänglichkeit des Individuums (English shop)

im Lichte der Gestalt des Dr. Faustus, eines Abendländers, betrachtet, im Drama dargestellt und im Essay reflektiert

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What is truly human is freedom of choice. Every relationship restricts this freedom of choice. Resistance arises against this; this resistance must be preserved, not broken by force.

In Goethe’s Faust drama, this event is reduced to its simplest formula in the Prologue, when the LORD says at the end to the archangels:

Das Werdende, das ewig wirkt und lebt
Umfass´ euch mit der Liebe holden Schranken

From this perspective, Mephisto is that archangel who rejects such limits and insists on his freedom, which he defends to the very end. If the Jewish-Christian tradition paints terrifying visions of the consequences of this decision (existence in hell, damned for all eternity), this may well be understood as a warning to those people for whom the freedom they have only just become aware of (in the Axial Age) has become so important that they forget the necessity of relationships in their lives.