HEGEL AND ARISTOTLE
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loginDuring the meal Goethe was comparatively quiet.No doubt so as not to disturb the free speech ofhis very voluble and logically penetrating guest,who elaborated upon himself in oddly compli-cated grammatical forms. An entirely novel ter-minology, a mode of expression overleaping it-self, the peculiarly employed philosophicalformulas of the ever more animated man in thecourse of his demonstrations – all this finally re-duced Goethe to complete silence without theguest even noticing. The lady of the house like-wise listened in silence, no doubt somewhat takenaback, and glanced at “father” – as she alwayscalled Goethe. After the meal had ended and theguest departed, Goethe asked his daughter: “Nowdid you like the man?” “Strange,” she replied, “Icannot tell whether he is brilliant or mad. Heseems to me to be an unclear thinker.” Goethesmiled ironically. “Well, well, we just ate with themost famous of modern philosophers – GeorgWilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
