The sun., 1908-01-12

The view taken Of woman and her place
IN nature by Arthur Schopenhauer, the
German philosopher, is we'll known. In
his Studies in PessimiEn' he accounts
for the actual limitations Of the women
observed by him in Germany by assuming
certain propositions as self-evident and
indisputable which since his time have
been contested. He said: women exist
a. a whole mainly for the propagation OF
the species. and are not destined for any
thing else Again. after stigmatizing
woman as an "undersized, narrow shoul-
dered, broad hipped and short legged
being" he adds that We need only to look
at the way she is formed to see that woman
Ia not made to undergo great labor, whether
Of mind or body. -She pays the debt OF
life not by what she does, hut by what she
suffers Considering woman next in her
iptellectual and moral aspects Schopen-
hauer found the fundamental fault OF the
female character to be the lack Of any
sense Of Justice This lack he attributed
mainly to the alleged fact that women are
defective in the powers Of reasoning and
dsliberation. but he also traced il in part
70 "the position which nature has assigned
to them as the weaker sex" Proceeding
comings he charged that throughout their
lives they are dependent not upon strength,
but upon craft, and hence their instructive
capacity for cunning and their ineradicable
tendency to say what il not true. For,
a. lions are provided with claws and teeth.
and elephants and boars with tusks, bulls
With horns and the cuttlefish with it's cloud
Of inky fiuid 80 nature has equipped woman
for her defence and protection with the
arts Of dissimulaIion; and all the power
which nature has conferred upon man in
the shape RI physical strength and reason
has been bestowed upon woman in this
form Hence. according to Schopen-
hauer, discrimination is innate in women
and almost as much quality OF the stupid
as OF the clever. II is as natural for them
70 make Use Of il on every occasion as il
is for the animals Just mentioned to en-
ploy their means Of defence when they
are attacked. Women have a feeling that
in 40 doing they are only acting within
their rights. Therefore a woman who is
perfectly truthful and not given 10 dis
stimulation is perhaps an impossibility,
and for this very reason the sex il 30 quick
in seeing through dissmulation in others
that II is not wise thing to attempt it with
women" Schopenhauer maintained that
this fundamental defect, habitual dis
stimulation inevitably gave rise in woman
60 faithlessness treachery and ingratitude
He asserted that perjury in a court Of JUS
tice il more often committed by women
than by mon. and deemed it. indeed, gem
orally questionable whether women ought
TO he sworn at all. Nor did he fail to recall
ahe numerous cases OF kleptomania on the
part of women who want for nothing.
but who will take things from shop counters
when they think that no one is looking.
Schopenhauer averred lastly that woman
as compared with man is non-socal, and
As regards her attitude toward members
Of her own sex incapable Of magnaninlity,
sunpathy or charity. He insists that
whereas the natural feeling between men
is one Of mere indifference the feeling
between women is one of actual enmity.
The reason OF this is that trade jealousy
which in the case OF men does not 20 beyond
the confines OF their own particular pursuit,
but wi'h women embraces the whole sex,
since they have only one kind Of business.
Schopenhauer adds that even when they
meet in the street az strangers women
look at one another like Guelphs and
Ghibeines. While a man will as a general
rule always preserve a certain amount
Of consideration and humanity in speaking
80 others. even co those who are in a very
inferior position. it is intolerable to see
bow proudly and disdainfully a fine lady
will generally behave toward one who is
IN lower social rank whenever she speaks
to her
In his comments on Schopenhauer's
ARA gnment Of woman DR.. Densmore
begins by reminding US that the German
philosopher wrote many years before Her
bert spencer. and that women have made
mark ed progress during the last seventy
five years. The fact ia also recalled that
SchOpenhauer's observations were made
10 Germany. where the status Of women