| Literature type | Articles |
| Author | Barbeau Gardiner, Anne |
| Title | 'Be ye as the horse' - Swift, Spinoza, and the Society of Virtuous Atheists |
| Title of magazine / anthology | Studies in Philology |
| Counting | 97, 2 |
| Year | 2000 |
| Pages | 229-254 |
| Language | English |
| Thematic areas | Theology / biblical hermeneutics / philosophy of religion, Reception history, Literary or artistic representation |
| Subject (individuals) | Swift, Jonathan |
| Autopsy | yes |
| Complete bibliographic evaluation | no |
| German commentary |
Jonathan Swift: Gullivers Reisen Gullivers Begeisterung über die Vorrangstellung des Pferdes gegenüber dem Menschen führte zu der Annahme, er sei damit in die Nähe atheistischer, spinozischer Gemeinschaft gerückt: Auf seiner vierten Reise gelangt er in ein Britannien der Zukunft, in dem vernunftbegabte Pferde, die 'Houyhnhnm', seit langem die Gesellschaft anführen. - Warum Pferde? - In Psalm 32:9 heißt es: " Seid nicht wie die Pferde oder die Maulesel, die keinen Verstand besitzen." Augustinus erklärt das Pferd hier als Repräsentanten der Philosophen, die sich weigern, Gott zu preisen und seine Vorsehung anzuerkennen [...], das Pferd galt als Symbol des Atheisten. Doch wo die Bibel sagt "Seid nicht wie die Pferde", fordert Gulliver auf, so zu sein wie die Pferde. (Anne Barbeau Gardiner) Vgl. http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=17-08-034-f |
| English commentary |
Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels Gulliver's exaltation of the horse above the human has been considered as placing him in atheistical Spinozan company: In the fourth voyage, Gulliver travels to the Britain of the future, a society where reasoning horses, the Houyhnhnm, have long been the ruling class. - Why horses? - Psalm 32:9 states, “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding.” St. Augustine explained that the horse in this verse represents the philosophers who refuse to worship God or acknowledge his providence [...], the horse was a known symbol of the atheist. But where Scripture exhorts, “Be ye not as the horse,” Gulliver tells us, “Be ye as the horse.” (Anne Barbeau Gardiner) Cf. http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=17-08-034-f |
| URL | http://ZDB - Zeitschriftendatenbank |
| Link to this page | http://spinoza.hab.de/detail.php?id=574&LANG=EN |
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