WHEN
THE LIE BECOMES TRUE
THE
HERO
Baltasar
Gracián y Morales.
On this occasion I
present to you one of the great works of Spanish political literature, The Hero
of Baltasar Gracián y morales, I will present a brief summary of the most
important aspects of politics, written for King Don Fernando of Spain in 1637;
It is very much a political treaty, as a recommendation for the art of
governing.
The first two
chapters of the Hero draw from the beginning the frame in which the conception
of the prototype of the hero according to Gracián is developed. This frame is
the distinction between being and look, reality and mask, thing and sign, that
is, a split universe in which the trap, trap, illusion and deception are its
constituent data. This conception would develop in all its extension in the
critic. In this text, the universe changes its appearance and form according to
the vision it has of the two characters that go from pilgrims to the great
theater of the world.
The world in
general, both natural and social, is a mobile and deceptive façade, which
undergoes a general inversion of values. The whole problem for each of them
lies in not falling into the trap of seeming deceptions, vain ostentation, and
even language, which is also encrypted: "When you talk, it is often said
more or different than what that seems to be said. "
In this realm of
Deception, which totally penetrates the relations of men, the rule of the
hero's permanent conduct is to hide the extension of his capacity from others
and, at the same time, to try to penetrate into the heart of the other. This
rule is not a principle of duplicity proper to the hero, rather it is a means
to use universal duplicity for his own purposes. The first two maxims of the
art of behavior are understood: to become impenetrable, never to show itself as
it is; 2. And, in particular, to hide the feelings of the heart, not to let the
passions be known, because without this the heroism will suffer a mortal blow.
In effect, to show passion is to give others weapons that will turn against us.
These maxims suppose an interpretation of the interhuman relations in terms of
power and domination: a man who has understood another is in a position to
dominate him; On the contrary, the one whom nobody understands escapes the power
of others.
It is understood
that heroism is defined above all as a self-control that must seek an advantage
and a superiority over others. This self-control has two aspects: One
practical: One practical, because it is a technique that consists of an art of
speaking and acting; the other aesthetic, which deals with a style of ways, of
grace or of that indefinable "I do not know what" without which all
the techniques of the world would be ineffective. But before addressing some
aspects of this technique of self-mastery and style aesthetics, it is important
to say a few words about the qualities and the exceptional perfections that
distinguish the hero and, when grouped together, make him an extraordinary
being.
At the root of all
greatness is the spirit first, or more exactly the understanding. This main
part is composed of two others: a fund of judgment and an elevation of
ingenuity that, according to Gracián, form a prodigy when they meet. The
harmony of these attributes is essential to the hero. Note in passing that
Gracian gives to this division of the understanding of wit and judgment the
aspect of a true philosophical category form of the faculties of the soul.
Spirit and
judgment depend on nature and art. On the one hand, the strength, promptness
and subtlety of the spirit are a gift of nature or of God and as they are like
flashes of divinity.
But the spirit
also makes art intervene, even artifice. This explains the monumental
development in Gracian of an art of the spirit or of an art of ingenuity, which
opens the rhetoric to a field that, if you had not ignored, at least it had
been neglected.
Establishes as
characteristics of this art of the spirit: 1. In Discourse III of his work
Agudeza y arte de ingenio, Gracian imposes as an objective the acuteness of
artifice, which refers to subtle beauty, as opposed to sharpness of insight,
that gives access to complex truths, discovering the most secret. 2. The tropes
or figures, which are forms of traditional rhetoric, become subject matter in
the framework of their analysis of ingenuity.
This discourse on
the soul of politics and the way to achieve success in it only preserves from
Machiavelli's prince the aspects discarded by the theorists of the reason of
state, to elaborate some modes of rationalization of the governmental practice
that has for object the power of the state and not that of the prince.
I hope you have
been to your liking, this wonderful work of political theory, risk yourselves
to live the adventure of reading it, because you will find great contributions
to the way of doing politics, of course we can find differences, but without a
doubt it is a great bulwark for the exercise of political power, even on a next
occasion.
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| Written: Omar Colmenares trujillo |
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