“ Vital force is only an expression for the unknown remainder over and above what we know of the essence of life. ”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (1869). copy citation
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
|---|---|
| Source | War and Peace |
| Topic | expression life |
| Date | 1869 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2600/2600-h/2600-h.htm |
Context
“But just as the subject of every science is the manifestation of this unknown essence of life while that essence itself can only be the subject of metaphysics, even the manifestation of the force of free will in human beings in space, in time, and in dependence on cause forms the subject of history, while free will itself is the subject of metaphysics.
In the experimental sciences what we know we call the laws of inevitability, what is unknown to us we call vital force. Vital force is only an expression for the unknown remainder over and above what we know of the essence of life.
So also in history what is known to us we call laws of inevitability, what is unknown we call free will. Free will is for history only an expression for the unknown remainder of what we know about the laws of human life.”
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