Goethe was being unintentionally prophetic when he anticipated the fragmented philosophies of Descartes, Nietzsche, and Marx

The Richness of the Word

by Donald DeMarco

A most remarkable scene unfolds in Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s great drama, Faust, in which Dr. Faustus labors to translate the opening sentence of St. John’s Gospel. It is important to note that at this juncture of the play the translator’s mind is in a state of confusion. Faust has rejected the true meaning of the Joannine Prologue and has become susceptible to the suggestions of the Tempter who harbors a special hostility towards the words of St. John.

Faust reflects on the opening sentence: “In the beginning was the Word” (In principio erat Verbum). He substitutes Thought for “Word,” reasoning that a word is an expression of thought and therefore must be prior to it. His preference does not last very long and replaces “thought” with Power, since, upon further reflection, he realizes that thought by itself is powerless to create the world. But “power” is also unsatisfactory for him because it is a mere potency as contrasted with Act. So he then writes: “In the beginning was the Act.”

The three substitutions that Dr. Faustus makes, in his confused state, bear interesting associations with three of the most influential, though dangerously one-sided, thinkers of the modern world: René Descartes, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Marx.

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