What It Is
Humanitism is the doctrine of Quincas Borba, the childhood friend of Brás Cubas who reappears as a beggar and later as an heir. The name comes from Humanitas, the principle of all things, which the doctrine defines as the same man divided among all men. From it the philosopher draws that war, hunger, and envy are necessary functions and that pain is an illusion. Brás learns of it through a letter, hears it expounded at the table, uses it for himself and for others in the chapters that follow, and sees its inventor die mad, still repeating the thesis of pain.
Where It Appears
The doctrine has an antecedent in chapter LIX. In the Passeio Público, Brás meets Quincas Borba, the rich former classmate, now in worn clothes. Quincas kisses the five-milreis note Brás gives him, refuses to work, and announces the philosophy of misery.
In chapter XCI, Brás receives from Quincas a new watch, in place of the one the latter had borrowed, and a letter announcing Humanitism, a system that would suppress pain. He reads it without understanding and takes the letter as a sign of sanity.
Chamo-lhe Humanitismo, de Humanitas, princípio das coisas., I call it Humanitism, from Humanitas, the principle of all things.
In chapter CIX, Quincas visits Brás, now in a frock coat and patent leather boots, heir to an uncle from Barbacena, and says that frugality is not necessary to Humanitism, which makes room for table, spectacle, and love affairs. Brás, his mind tossed about like a shuttlecock, asks that the exposition be left for later.
Gregos, subgregos, antigregos, toda a longa série dos homens tem-se debruçado sobre o poço, para ver sair a verdade, que não está lá, Greeks, sub-Greeks, anti-Greeks: the whole long series of men has leaned over the well to watch the truth come up, and it is not there
The central exposition is chapter CXVII. At the table, between the chicken and the coffee, Quincas Borba expounds Humanitism to Brás, and days later reads him the four manuscript volumes of the work. Brás confesses that he was stupefied and that his objections were so feeble that the philosopher destroyed them without effort. The thesis fits in one sentence.
Humanitas, dizia ele, o princípio das coisas, não é outro senão o mesmo homem repartido por todos os homens, Humanitas, he would say, the principle of all things, is none other than the same man divided among all men
From it the philosopher draws that man, at once vehicle, coachman, and passenger, must worship himself, that envy is a virtue, and that pain is an illusion.
ele é ao mesmo tempo veículo, cocheiro e passageiro; ele é o próprio Humanitas reduzido; daí a necessidade de adorar-se a si próprio, he is at once vehicle, coachman, and passenger; he is Humanitas himself, reduced; hence the need to worship himself
a inveja não é senão uma admiração que luta, e sendo a luta a grande função do gênero humano, todos os sentimentos belicosos são os mais adequados à sua felicidade. Daí vem que a inveja é uma virtude, envy is nothing but an admiration that struggles, and since struggle is the great function of the human race, all warlike feelings are the most suited to its happiness. Hence envy is a virtue
A dor, segundo o Humanitismo, é uma pura ilusão, Pain, according to Humanitism, is pure illusion
The chicken at lunch enters the demonstration as the result of a multitude of efforts, and the only misfortune is not being born.
este frango, que eu almocei agora mesmo, é o resultado de uma multidão de esforços e lutas, executados com o único fim de dar mate ao meu apetite, this chicken I have just eaten for lunch is the result of a multitude of efforts and struggles, carried out for the sole purpose of quelling my appetite
Porquanto, verdadeiramente há só uma desgraça: é não nascer, For there is truly only one misfortune: it is not to be born
The philosopher closes the volumes by defending the optimist that Voltaire ridiculed.
Pangloss, dizia-me ele ao fechar o livro, não era tão tolo como o pintou Voltaire, Pangloss, he would tell me as he closed the book, was not as foolish as Voltaire painted him
In chapter CXX, when Sabina decrees that Brás must marry, Quincas encourages him, says that Humanitas stirs in his breast, and claims that the gospel parable of the invitation was a foreshadowing of Humanitism.
In chapter CXXI, going down the hill with Nhã-loló, Brás calls a kiss given under the parasol a page added to the philosophy of Quincas Borba.
inclinei-o por modo que ajuntei uma página à filosofia do Quincas Borba: Humanitas osculou Humanitas, I tilted it just so, adding a page to the philosophy of Quincas Borba: Humanitas osculated Humanitas
In chapter CXXVI, Nhã-loló dies of yellow fever, and Quincas explains that epidemics serve the species and asks Brás whether he does not feel a secret charm in having escaped. Brás does not answer.
In chapter CXXXVII, crushed, Brás hears from Quincas that it is the age to govern, and the philosopher's consolation works as an order.
a pior filosofia é a do choramigas que se deita à margem do rio, the worst philosophy is that of the crybaby who lies down on the riverbank
In chapter CXL, Quincas calls Brás's ambition a whim, and Brás sends him to the devil, Humanitism included, because he is fed up with philosophies that get him nowhere.
In chapter CXLI, the philosopher tells Brás to found a newspaper and stops in ecstasy before two dogs quarreling over a bone with no meat.
Vida é luta. Vida sem luta é um mar morto no centro do organismo universal, Life is struggle. Life without struggle is a dead sea at the center of the universal organism
In chapter CXLII, Quincas answers an objection from Brás with Pascal, and outdoes him in the same sentence.
“Sabe que morre” é uma expressão profunda; creio todavia que é mais profunda a minha expressão: sabe que tem fome, "He knows he will die" is a profound expression; I believe, however, that my expression is deeper: he knows he is hungry
In chapter CXLVI, Brás drafts the newspaper's program as Humanitism applied, without citing Quincas's unpublished book, which demands a confidential declaration of authorship and calls him his beloved disciple.
Humanitas queria substituir Humanitas para consolação de Humanitas, Humanitas wanted to replace Humanitas for the consolation of Humanitas
In chapter CXLIX, Quincas rejects the accusation of ingratitude against Cotrim with the theory of benefit.
é que o prazer do beneficiador é sempre maior que o do beneficiado, it is that the pleasure of the benefactor is always greater than that of the beneficiary
Nem o remorso é outra coisa mais do que o trejeito de uma consciência que se vê hedionda, Remorse itself is nothing more than the grimace of a conscience that sees itself as hideous
In chapter CLIII, after Brás tells that he dreamed of being a nabob, Quincas takes him for mad and sends an alienist, who declares Brás sane and casts suspicion on the friend. To Brás's objection that Quincas is a philosopher, the alienist replies.
Não importa, a loucura entra em todas as casas, No matter, madness enters every house
In chapter CLVI, Quincas calls a servant's gesture pride of servility, a noble sentiment of Humanitism, and not a mania.
prova cabal de que muitas vezes o homem, ainda a engraxar botas, é sublime, conclusive proof that man, even while polishing boots, is often sublime
The philosopher's end comes in chapter CLIX. Quincas returns from Minas demented and aware of it, and dies in Brás's house repeating that pain is an illusion.
Quincas Borba não só estava louco, mas sabia que estava louco, Quincas Borba was not only mad, he knew he was mad
a dor era uma ilusão, e que Pangloss, o caluniado Pangloss, não era tão tolo como o supôs Voltaire, pain was an illusion, and that Pangloss, the slandered Pangloss, was not as foolish as Voltaire supposed
In chapter CLX, Brás's final reckoning lists, among what luck spared him, the semidementia of Quincas Borba.
What It Means
Humanitism has three uses in the book. In the mouth of Quincas Borba it is an explanation that draws a function out of every pain: envy becomes a virtue, hunger proves necessary, a dogfight becomes life. In Brás's hands it is an improvised tool: it christens a kiss (chapter CXXI), backs a newspaper's threat to the ministry (chapter CXLVI), and is sent to the devil when it stings (chapter CXL). In the end, it is what remains of a man who knows he is mad and keeps repeating that pain is an illusion.
The book does not discuss Humanitism as a philosophy; it shows who uses it and to whose advantage. The procedure is always the same, renaming what is condemned until it fits among the virtues. Brás recognizes it in Cotrim, in chapter CXXIII, and applies it to himself in chapter CXXXIII, when he saves Helvetius's theory by stretching the word interest. In chapter CXVII two readings are possible: the system really seduces Brás, or he transcribes it with the seriousness of someone who has noticed that every doctrine concludes what suits whoever expounds it. The phrase that the only misfortune is not to be born stands between the philosopher's thesis and the last sentence of the book, in which Brás says he passed on to no creature the legacy of our misery, and the text does not decide which side he is on.
Relationships
- Work: The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas.
- Standard themes: Madness, Ambition, Meaning of life.
- Characters: Quincas Borba, who formulates it, Brás Cubas, who hears it and uses it, Cotrim, whom the theory of benefit absolves, Sabina and Nhã-loló, at the engagement.
- Next novel: Humanitas takes up the principle in the book Quincas Borba, where the heir Rubião receives the doctrine from the philosopher and repeats it after his death.