Lichtenberg's Paraclete Fragments

Lichtenberg conceived his Paraclete satire originally against the excessive exuberance of the Sturm und Drang, but gradually his focus shifted, and the work never materialized. As the disconnected, surviving fragments give only vague impressions of his intentions, they have attracted little attention, and have been mostly dismissed as negligible and lacking in merit. Yet the complexities of Lichtenberg's vision emerge when his scattered sketches are integrated with related remarks in his voluminous notes. Then the enigmatic hints, allusions and incomplete memoranda appear as integral parts of the consistent attitude which Lichtenberg invariably directed towards practical applications in everyday life.The title, Paraclete, is taken as key to his design. Greek for advocate, comforter, intercessor, it is a synonym for the Holy Ghost, translated by Luther as Spirit of Truth. Lichtenberg secularized this term to convey the ideals of the Enlightenment, against which he gauged the inadequate reality and the intellectual failings and abuses that aroused his disapproval and apprehension. Thus, while his targets changed, this focus remained steady. Interpreted in light of the title, these fragments demonstrate Lichtenberg's consuming concern about the misuse of human potential through disregard of the spirit of the Enlightenment and truth.