Article Title

"Part of that force that always wills the evil and always produces the good" On a Devilish Incoherence

Authors

Peter Baumann, Swarthmore CollegeFollow

Abstract

When Mephisto was asked by Faust, "Well now, who are you then?" (“Nun gut, wer bist Du denn?”), he gave the well-known answer, "Part of that force that always wills the evil and always produces the good" (“Ein Teil von jener Kraft, die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft”: Goethe, Faust, 1334-1336). This answer raises some important questions which in turn lead to interesting answers. Let us start by looking at the content of Mephisto's utterance.

Keywords

Mephistopheles (Legendary character); Faust (Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von); Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832

Recommended Citation

Baumann, Peter (2016) ""Part of that force that always wills the evil and always produces the good" On a Devilish Incoherence," Sophia and Philosophia: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 2.
Available at: https://repository.belmont.edu/sph/vol1/iss2/2