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Contradiction index

Opponent pairs across the 21 corpora: axis of conflict + each side's thesis in
one phrase + grounding slugs. The slugs are notes in the author's own base:
fetch them via federated_search(kb_id="<author>", ...). Pairs are sorted by
richness of material; sources are the "Direct opponents" sections and the
see-also dispute graphs of each base, bridges are debate_bridge notes.
Each pair appears once.

nietzsche ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: the futility of the will and its renunciation vs its affirmation and self-overcoming.

  • nietzsche: takes the will from Schopenhauer but inverts the conclusion — not to extinguish it, but to affirm it. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, samopreodolenie
  • schopenhauer: the will is blind and insatiable, striving is doomed; the way out is denial of the will. Grounding: otritsanie-voli, futilnost-stremleniya
    Bridge: nietzsche-predtecha (in the schopenhauer base).

goethe ↔ nietzsche

Axis: work and measure vs the will to power.

  • goethe: strength owes a debt to measure and the acknowledgement of limits — otherwise bankruptcy. Grounding: deyatelnost-i-mera, priznanie-granits-osvobozhdaet
  • nietzsche: an excess of strength is its own justification; limits are torn for the sake of growth. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, pafos-distantsii
    Goethe has 13 concepts with a "Contrast for debates" block against Nietzsche (istina-i-zabluzhdenie, svoboda-i-samoobladanie, kharakter, etc.).

goethe ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: active this-worldly fullness vs pessimism and freedom from pain as the goal.

  • goethe: give up existence in order to be; renunciation in the service of life, not against it. Grounding: otrechenie, dolg-trebovanie-dnya
  • schopenhauer: life is a pendulum of pain and boredom; the highest goal is freedom from pain. Grounding: tsel-svoboda-ot-boli, mayatnik-boli-i-skuki
    Goethe has 10 concepts with a contrast against Schopenhauer (chastnoe-i-obshchee, prafenomen, etc.).

schopenhauer ↔ wattles

Axis: creating wealth vs the futility of the will.

  • wattles: the will is creative, "getting rich is an exact science". Grounding: bogatstvo-est-tochnaya-nauka, myslyashchaya-substantsiya
  • schopenhauer: the will is blind and insatiable; desire is the source of suffering, not abundance. Grounding: volya-k-zhizni, futilnost-stremleniya
    Bridge: schopenhauer-kontrast (in the wattles base).

epictetus ↔ wattles

Axis: externals are not in our power vs externals are brought about by thought and action.

  • epictetus: a hard boundary of control — power only over judgment. Grounding: dihotomiya-kontrolya, bezrazlichie-k-vneshnemu
  • wattles: there is no boundary of control — thought plus personal action bring about external conditions. Grounding: mysl-plyus-lichnoe-deystvie, chetkiy-mentalny-obraz
    Bridge: epictetus-kontrast (in the wattles base).

tolstoy ↔ wattles

Axis: renunciation of property vs getting rich by causal law.

  • tolstoy: life is procured by labor not for oneself; wealth is parasitism. Grounding: trud-dobyvanie-zhizni, dobyvay-zhizn-ne-dlya-sebya-a-dlya-vsekh
  • wattles: desire is God seeking expression; getting rich is right. Grounding: zhelanie-est-bog-ishchushchiy-vyrazheniya, bogatstvo-est-tochnaya-nauka
    Bridge: tolstoy-kontrast (in the wattles base).

larochefoucauld ↔ wattles

Axis: self-interest dressed up in metaphysics vs gratitude and giving more use value than you take.

  • larochefoucauld: behind generosity and gratitude stands self-love in disguise. Grounding: amour-propre, interes-govorit-vsemi-yazykami
  • wattles: give more in use value than you take; gratitude keeps you on the creative plane. Grounding: blagodarnost, otdavat-bolshe-polzy-chem-berosh
    Bridge: la-rochefoucauld-kontrast (in the wattles base).

goethe ↔ tolstoy

Axis: renunciation through work vs renunciation through faith and simplification.

  • goethe: the nearest task is the worthiest; an answer without a metaphysical advance. Grounding: otday-sushchestvovanie-chtoby-byt, trebovanie-dnya
  • tolstoy: first an answer about the meaning of the whole of life; the faith of the people, giving up property. Grounding: obrashchenie, smysl-narodnoy-very

goethe ↔ pascal

Axis: this-worldly fullness among phenomena vs the abyss and the hidden God.

  • goethe: stay with the phenomena; the nearest task is not a distraction but the substance. Grounding: ostavaysya-pri-fenomenakh, dolg-trebovanie-dnya
  • pascal: the nearest tasks are divertissement, flight from the abyss of the two infinites. Grounding: divertissement, sokrytyy-bog

epictetus ↔ montaigne

Axis: the patchwork soul vs the Stoic citadel.

  • epictetus: an inalienable ruling faculty, always to will one and the same thing. Grounding: proairesis, dihotomiya-kontrolya
  • montaigne: the soul is inconstant and patchwork; live by the common measure, not by a system. Grounding: nepostoyanstvo-dushi, zhivi-po-obshchey-mere

epictetus ↔ nietzsche

Axis: peace through renouncing what is not in our power vs the pathos of the will and affirmation.

  • epictetus: it is the opinion that wounds, not the thing; tranquillity is freedom. Grounding: nevozmutimost, sudzhdeniya-ne-veshchi
  • nietzsche: apathy is a refusal of life; suffering is the material of self-overcoming. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, distsiplina-stradaniya

confucius ↔ laozi

Axis: ritual vs non-action.

  • confucius: form cultivates the inner — ritual, learning, the rectification of names. Grounding: li, zhengming
  • laozi: form is violence against the flow; things grow of themselves through non-action. Grounding: wuwei, ziran

epictetus ↔ lebon

Axis: control-within vs power-over-the-mass.

  • epictetus: inalienable power over one's own judgment — immunity to the crowd. Grounding: razlichay-podvlastnoe, proairesis
  • lebon: within minutes the crowd dissolves personality, will, and judgment. Grounding: v-tolpe-lichnost-ischezaet, vlast-derzhitsya-prestizhem

epictetus ↔ machiavelli

Axis: what is in our power vs the effectual truth.

  • epictetus: power only over judgment; externals are indifferent. Grounding: dihotomiya-kontrolya, svoboda-cherez-otkaz-ot-vneshnego
  • machiavelli: power over circumstances and people; the effectual truth of the thing. Grounding: effektivnaya-istina, virtu

franklin ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: effort pays off vs the futility of the will.

  • franklin: well-ordered habits yield happiness out of small comforts. Grounding: metod-vmesto-poryva, prosveshchenny-egoizm
  • schopenhauer: the will is insatiable, striving is futile, optimism is an illusion. Grounding: futilnost-stremleniya, mayatnik-boli-i-skuki

hill ↔ tolstoy

Axis: getting rich vs renunciation.

  • hill: desire is the starting point of everything; do more than you are paid for, for the sake of growth. Grounding: desire, doing-more-than-paid-for
  • tolstoy: giving up property and living simply; success is not wealth. Grounding: obrashchenie, dobyvay-zhizn-ne-dlya-sebya-a-dlya-vsekh

laozi ↔ smiles

Axis: self-help vs non-action.

  • smiles: Heaven helps those who help themselves; perseverance builds character. Grounding: self-help, nebo-pomogaet-tem-kto-pomogaet-sebe
  • laozi: "resolute determination" destroys what grows of itself. Grounding: wuwei, pu

franklin ↔ nietzsche

Axis: self-overcoming vs self-adjustment.

  • franklin: virtue is a habit; modesty and reputation work. Grounding: dobrodetel-kak-navyk, speckled-ax
  • nietzsche: utility and looking over one's shoulder at reputation are herd morality; pathos against irony. Grounding: samopreodolenie, stadnaya-moral

larochefoucauld ↔ smiles

Axis: self-love behind virtue.

  • larochefoucauld: virtue that pays is self-love in disguise. Grounding: dobrodeteli-pereodetye-poroki, amour-propre
  • smiles: character is the crown; a gentleman not by rank but by honesty. Grounding: character-the-crown, istinnyj-dzhentlmen-ne-po-rangu

adler ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: amour-propre vs social feeling.

  • adler: social feeling is the real and only measure of the good. Grounding: chuvstvo-obshchnosti, chuvstvo-obshchnosti-edinstvennyy-kriteriy
  • larochefoucauld: the common good is the best mask of self-love. Grounding: amour-propre, samolyubie-dvigatel-vsego

epictetus ↔ pascal

Axis: the wager on God vs conformity with nature.

  • epictetus: peace through reason and agreement with the cosmos. Grounding: soglasie-s-prirodoy, nevozmutimost
  • pascal: reason is no support; the hidden God, the anxiety of the abyss, and the wager. Grounding: pari, serdtse-i-razum

franklin ↔ tolstoy

Axis: renunciation vs virtue-as-advantage.

  • franklin: virtue on rightly understood interest; mistakes are corrected like errata. Grounding: prosveshchenny-egoizm, errata
  • tolstoy: virtue out of interest is not virtue; repentance is needed. Grounding: obrashchenie, vera-sila-zhizni

adler ↔ nietzsche

Axis: striving upward out of deficit vs out of surplus.

  • adler: the engine is the inferiority feeling and compensation; the criterion is social feeling. Grounding: chuvstvo-nepolnotsennosti, kompensatsiya-i-sverkhkompensatsiya
  • nietzsche: striving comes from a surplus of strength; social feeling is herd morality. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, poryadok-ranga

montaigne ↔ pascal

Axis: one skepticism — the tranquil "que sais-je?" vs the abyss and the wager.

  • montaigne: not-knowing is accepted calmly, judgment stays in the balance. Grounding: chto-ya-znayu, pirronizm
  • pascal: from the same skepticism — wretchedness without God, and the wager. Grounding: dva-beskonechnykh, pari

nietzsche ↔ tolstoy

Axis: slave morality vs master morality.

  • nietzsche: renunciation, compassion, and "useful labor" are symptoms of a weak will. Grounding: moral-rabov-i-gospod, sostradanie-zhalost
  • tolstoy: humility and labor are the strength of life, not weakness. Grounding: vera-sila-zhizni, trud-dobyvanie-zhizni

larochefoucauld ↔ nietzsche

Axis: everything reduces to self-love vs to the will to power and rank.

  • larochefoucauld: a single motive — amour-propre; the motive measures the deed. Grounding: samolyubie-dvigatel-vsego, motiv-meryaet-postupok
  • nietzsche: an ally in unmasking, but deeper than self-love lie the will to power and rank. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, poryadok-ranga

franklin ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: virtue-as-habit that pays off vs self-love in disguise.

  • franklin: no shame in virtue being profitable — it is none the worse for it. Grounding: prosveshchenny-egoizm, art-of-virtue
  • larochefoucauld: the virtues are vices in disguise; interest speaks all sorts of tongues. Grounding: dobrodeteli-pereodetye-poroki, interes-govorit-vsemi-yazykami

larochefoucauld ↔ tolstoy

Axis: sincere faith vs repentance as self-love in another costume.

  • larochefoucauld: both remorse and humility are stratagems of self-love. Grounding: smirenie-kak-ulovka, amour-propre
  • tolstoy: conversion and the judgment of the heart are genuine; faith is tested by life. Grounding: obrashchenie, sud-serdtsa

machiavelli ↔ tolstoy

Axis: force and necessity vs conscience and non-resistance.

  • machiavelli: know how not to be good; better to be feared than loved. Grounding: umet-postupat-ne-po-dobromu, luchshe-strakh-chem-lyubov
  • tolstoy: killing is incompatible with faith; power rests on evil. Grounding: ubiystvo-nesovmestimo-s-veroy, voyna-i-kazni

schopenhauer ↔ tolstoy

Axis: a shared diagnosis of futility — the way out in faith vs in renouncing the will.

  • schopenhauer: existence is futile; salvation is the denial of the will. Grounding: otritsanie-voli, tshcheta-sushchestvovaniya
  • tolstoy: cites Schopenhauer among the sages, but finds the way out in the faith of the people. Grounding: otvet-mudretsov, vera-sila-zhizni

epictetus ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: freedom from suffering through judgment vs through extinguishing the will.

  • epictetus: it is the opinion that wounds; the right use of appearances gives peace. Grounding: tebya-ranit-suzhdenie, dihotomiya-kontrolya
  • schopenhauer: the root of suffering is the will itself; its metaphysics and extinction are needed. Grounding: tsel-svoboda-ot-boli, otritsanie-voli

epictetus ↔ goethe

Axis: peace from renouncing externals vs from an active acknowledgement of limits.

  • epictetus: freedom through renouncing the externals not in our power. Grounding: svoboda-cherez-otkaz-ot-vneshnego, bezrazlichie-k-vneshnemu
  • goethe: freedom without self-mastery is ruinous, but peace lies in work within limits. Grounding: svoboda-i-samoobladanie, priznanie-granits-osvobozhdaet

goethe ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: Bildung and active virtue vs self-love at the root of growth.

  • goethe: self-cultivation through work really does shape character. Grounding: bildung-samovospitanie, poznanie-cherez-deystvie
  • larochefoucauld: behind self-cultivation lies a hidden self-interested motive. Grounding: amour-propre, my-zamaskirovany-ot-samikh-sebya

larochefoucauld ↔ machiavelli

Axis: self-love within vs the technique of power without (allies in sobriety).

  • larochefoucauld: dissects the soul's motive behind the deed. Grounding: amour-propre, motiv-meryaet-postupok
  • machiavelli: dissects the technique of power and appearances; the motive does not matter. Grounding: kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt, effektivnaya-istina

confucius ↔ machiavelli

Axis: rule through virtue and example vs through fear and appearance.

  • confucius: the ruler rectifies the state by his own uprightness. Grounding: zheng, de
  • machiavelli: seeming matters more than being; fear is more reliable than love. Grounding: luchshe-strakh-chem-lyubov, kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt

confucius ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: filial piety and ritual vs propriety as the costume of self-love.

  • confucius: ritual and reverence cultivate genuine humaneness. Grounding: xiao, li
  • larochefoucauld: propriety is the same homage vice pays to virtue. Grounding: litsemerie-dan-poroka-dobrodeteli, amour-propre

ignatius ↔ montaigne

Axis: the strict method of retreat and obedience vs the patchwork soul and skepticism.

  • ignatius: exercise, discernment of spirits, discipline of the will. Grounding: dukhovnye-uprazhneniya, razlichenie-dukhov
  • montaigne: "I do not teach, I relate"; distrust of any system. Grounding: nepostoyanstvo-dushi, essai-kak-metod

ignatius ↔ pascal

Axis: exercise and obedience vs the wager and the heart (one Catholic tradition).

  • ignatius: the conversion of the will is achieved by method and the examination of conscience. Grounding: dukhovnye-uprazhneniya, ispytanie-sovesti
  • pascal: faith enters through the heart and the wager, not through method. Grounding: pari, serdtse-znaet-nachala

ignatius ↔ tolstoy

Axis: faith within the church's method vs faith against the church.

  • ignatius: obedience and thinking with the Church frame conversion. Grounding: chuvstvo-tserkvi, dukhovnye-uprazhneniya
  • tolstoy: the church lies; faith is sought outside institutions. Grounding: razryv-s-tserkovyu, lozh-tserkvi

franklin ↔ ignatius

Axis: one technique of self-examination — for God vs for this-worldly happiness.

  • franklin: a daily audit of virtue for the sake of happiness in this world. Grounding: daily-examination, human-felicity
  • ignatius: the examination of conscience serves the end for which man is created. Grounding: ispytanie-sovesti, chelovek-sozdan-dlya-tseli

lebon ↔ montaigne

Axis: dissolution of the person by suggestion vs the "back shop" of private judgment.

  • lebon: the sentiments of crowds are simple and exaggerated; an idea is implanted by repetition. Grounding: chuvstva-tolpy-prosty-i-preuvelicheny, ideya-vnedryaetsya-utverzhdeniem-i-povtoreniem
  • montaigne: keep a back shop of one's own and hold judgment in the balance. Grounding: sokhrani-zadnyuyu-lavku, derzhi-suzhdenie-na-vesah

lebon ↔ machiavelli

Axis: the mechanics of mass psychology vs the prince's technique (allied diagnosticians).

  • lebon: prestige paralyzes judgment — that is why appearance works. Grounding: vlast-derzhitsya-prestizhem, prestige
  • machiavelli: the prince manages appearance and fear without hatred. Grounding: kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt, vnushat-strakh-bez-nenavisti

lebon ↔ smiles

Axis: a nation's strength from individual characters vs from the irrational soul of the masses.

  • smiles: character and self-help build the man and the nation from the bottom up. Grounding: character-the-crown, self-help
  • lebon: in the mass, character drowns; history is made by the soul of the masses. Grounding: istoriyu-tvorit-dusha-mass, bessoznatelnoe-pravit-tolpoj

lebon ↔ tolstoy

Axis: leaders driving the crowd by suggestion vs the conscience of the lone individual.

  • lebon: the crowd thirsts for a leader; a belief implanted by repetition multiplies its force tenfold. Grounding: tolpa-zhazhdet-vozhdya-i-rabstva, ideya-vnedryaetsya-utverzhdeniem-i-povtoreniem
  • tolstoy: conscience is surrendered neither to a leader nor to the mass; collective suggestion is the root of evil. Grounding: sud-serdtsa, ne-lgi-sebe-dazhe-radi-svyatyni

montaigne ↔ nietzsche

Axis: the common measure of man vs the Übermensch.

  • montaigne: "even on stilts we must walk on our own legs"; live by the common measure. Grounding: obshchaya-mera-cheloveka, zhivi-po-obshchey-mere
  • nietzsche: greatness lies in apartness and self-surpassing. Grounding: sverkhchelovek, velichie-v-otdelnosti

larochefoucauld ↔ montaigne

Axis: the motley soul accepted vs reduced to self-love.

  • montaigne: judge a man piece by piece, accepting inconstancy. Grounding: nepostoyanstvo-dushi, sudi-o-cheloveke-po-kuskam
  • larochefoucauld: behind all the motley of the "I" stands a single self-interested motive. Grounding: samolyubie-dvigatel-vsego, my-zamaskirovany-ot-samikh-sebya

hill ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: desire as the engine of success vs the source of perpetual suffering.

  • hill: burning desire is the starting point of all achievement. Grounding: desire, zhelanie-nachalo-vsego
  • schopenhauer: desire itself destroys the happiness it strives for. Grounding: futilnost-stremleniya, mayatnik-boli-i-skuki

james-allen ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: right thought builds destiny vs the will is blind and hope an illusion.

  • james-allen: a man is what he thinks; the vision is realized. Grounding: chelovek-est-to-chto-dumaet, visions-and-ideals
  • schopenhauer: the will is blind and insatiable; the optimism of thought is self-deception. Grounding: volya-k-zhizni, futilnost-stremleniya

schopenhauer ↔ smiles

Axis: persistent labor and hope vs the futility of striving.

  • smiles: it is will, not talent, that decides; work should be done cheerfully. Grounding: reshaet-volya-a-ne-talant, rabotat-nado-bodro
  • schopenhauer: happiness is negative, striving is futile. Grounding: schaste-otritsatelno, futilnost-stremleniya

franklin ↔ laozi

Axis: method and bookkeeping vs non-action.

  • franklin: a scheduled day and virtue measured by the week. Grounding: metod-vmesto-poryva, virtue-chart
  • laozi: effort and bookkeeping destroy what grows of itself. Grounding: wuwei, ziran

hill ↔ laozi

Axis: desire and a definite aim vs desirelessness and soft strength.

  • hill: the aim must be definite; drifting is defeat. Grounding: definite-chief-aim, tsel-dolzhna-byt-opredelennoy
  • laozi: know contentment, be satisfied with your lot; the soft overcomes the hard. Grounding: zhizu, rouruo

james-allen ↔ laozi

Axis: willful cultivation of the mind vs things grow of themselves.

  • james-allen: aimlessness is a vice; the straight line of effort. Grounding: bescelnost-eto-porok, thought-and-purpose
  • laozi: strained purpose-setting is violence against the flow. Grounding: wuwei, pu

laozi ↔ nietzsche

Axis: the soft strength of the yielding vs the will to power.

  • laozi: water overcomes the hard; strength lies in yielding. Grounding: water, rouruo
  • nietzsche: life is will to power; hardness and self-overcoming. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, samopreodolenie

laozi ↔ machiavelli

Axis: the ruler who rules least vs power by force and cunning.

  • laozi: the sage rules by non-action; the people say "we did it ourselves". Grounding: shengren, wuwei
  • machiavelli: power rests on one's own arms, virtù, and grip. Grounding: virtu, svoyo-oruzhie-osnova-vlasti

epictetus ↔ james-allen

Axis: the boundary of control — judgment only vs thought as cause reaching body and circumstance.

  • epictetus: body, circumstances, health are not in our power — "indifferent". Grounding: razlichay-podvlastnoe, bezrazlichie-k-vneshnemu
  • james-allen: thought shapes both body and circumstance. Grounding: thought-and-circumstance, thought-and-body

james-allen ↔ nietzsche

Axis: sacrificing the animal for righteousness vs forging it into will to power.

  • james-allen: no achievement without sacrifice; serenity is power. Grounding: net-dostizheniya-bez-zhertvy, serenity
  • nietzsche: respectable righteousness is herd morality. Grounding: stadnaya-moral, samopreodolenie

nietzsche ↔ smiles

Axis: the pathos of distance vs Victorian respectability.

  • nietzsche: the "useful man" and looking to examples is the herd's sidelong glance. Grounding: pafos-distantsii, stadnaya-moral
  • smiles: the true gentleman, and labor that trains character. Grounding: true-gentleman, trud-vospityvaet

hill ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: a pleasing personality as a tool vs self-love in masquerade.

  • hill: a pleasing personality and self-confidence are honest tools of success. Grounding: pleasing-personality, self-confidence
  • larochefoucauld: this is pure self-love in the costume of virtue. Grounding: dobrodeteli-pereodetye-poroki, litsemerie

hill ↔ machiavelli

Axis: honesty as strategy vs effective appearance with deception allowed.

  • hill: honesty and the golden rule are a mandatory part of the method. Grounding: pleasing-personality, golden-rule
  • machiavelli: appearance without any obligation to be honest; the lion and the fox. Grounding: kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt, lev-i-lisa

larochefoucauld ↔ pascal

Axis: self-love as the last word vs the same self-love leading to God (allies in diagnosis).

  • larochefoucauld: amour-propre and self-deception are a dead end without salvation. Grounding: amour-propre, samoobman
  • pascal: flight from oneself proves man's wretchedness and pushes him toward God. Grounding: amour-propre, begstvo-ot-sebya

pascal ↔ tolstoy

Axis: the wager and dogma vs the faith of the people and deeds.

  • pascal: the wager is reasonable; faith enters through custom and the automaton. Grounding: pari, avtomat-i-ubezhdenie
  • tolstoy: faith is tested by the life of the believer, not by a wager. Grounding: smysl-narodnoy-very, veru-proveryay-zhiznyu-veruyushchego

franklin ↔ pascal

Axis: both distrust reason — the dotted notebook vs the abyss and God.

  • franklin: from distrust of reason — method, daily life, this-worldly happiness. Grounding: ne-doveryay-razumu-na-slovo, virtue-chart
  • pascal: from the same distrust — the heart, wretchedness without God. Grounding: serdtse-i-razum, nichtozhestvo-bez-boga

franklin ↔ wattles

Axis: frugality and measurable virtue vs the metaphysics of a creative substance.

  • franklin: frugality is freedom; virtue is measurable. Grounding: frugality, berezhlivost-eto-svoboda
  • wattles: a descendant in method, but drops frugality and adds metaphysics. Grounding: bezformennaya-substantsiya, bogatstvo-est-tochnaya-nauka

nietzsche ↔ wattles

Axis: will to power over others vs "will applied only to yourself".

  • nietzsche: growth is will to power, including rank and mastery. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, zhizn-est-volya-k-vlasti
  • wattles: apply the will only to yourself; create, do not compete. Grounding: volyu-primenyay-tolko-k-sebe, tvorit-a-ne-konkurirovat

confucius ↔ franklin

Axis: form cultivates — tradition and filial piety vs experiment and utility.

  • confucius: the supports are ritual, learning, reverence for elders. Grounding: li, xue
  • franklin: the supports are experiment, utility, virtue as calculation. Grounding: prosveshchenny-egoizm, metod-vmesto-poryva

confucius ↔ nietzsche

Axis: the superior man of duty and ritual vs rank by strength.

  • confucius: the junzi — nobility by duty and tradition. Grounding: junzi, xiao
  • nietzsche: the order of rank comes not from tradition but from strength; revaluation of values. Grounding: poryadok-ranga, pereotsenka-tsennostey

confucius ↔ epictetus

Axis: man within the web of relations and ritual vs the inner citadel.

  • confucius: humaneness is realized in relations and ritual. Grounding: ren, li
  • epictetus: the role is performed, but the support is proairesis and the dichotomy of control. Grounding: proairesis, dolzhnoe-i-rol

adler ↔ franklin

Axis: starting from the anxiety of the weak child vs from confident calculation (allies in self-improvement).

  • adler: the movement upward begins with the inferiority feeling; the criterion is social feeling. Grounding: chuvstvo-nepolnotsennosti, stil-zhizni
  • franklin: the movement is method and utility, enlightened self-interest. Grounding: prosveshchenny-egoizm, metod-vmesto-poryva

ignatius ↔ nietzsche

Axis: obedience and submission to an end vs the will to power.

  • ignatius: act against yourself; humility is the highest degree. Grounding: deystvuy-naperekor, tri-obraza-smireniya
  • nietzsche: obedience and indifference of the will are a renunciation of self-assertion. Grounding: volya-k-vlasti, pereotsenka-tsennostey

ignatius ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: purification of intention vs spiritual zeal as self-love.

  • ignatius: a thought is judged by its trajectory; intention can be purified. Grounding: razlichenie-dukhov, sudi-pomysel-po-traektorii
  • larochefoucauld: even pious zeal can be self-love. Grounding: smirenie-kak-ulovka, amour-propre

smiles ↔ tolstoy

Axis: self-improvement and accumulation vs renunciation and repentance.

  • smiles: labor trains; self-denial for the sake of accumulation gives freedom. Grounding: trud-vospityvaet, samootrechenie-daet-svobodu
  • tolstoy: thrifty accumulation is no virtue; property must be given up. Grounding: obrashchenie, dobyvay-zhizn-ne-dlya-sebya-a-dlya-vsekh

epictetus ↔ larochefoucauld

Axis: the Stoic contempt of death vs the final showcase of vanity.

  • epictetus: keeping death before your eyes liberates; tranquillity is genuine. Grounding: predvarenie-smerti, nevozmutimost
  • larochefoucauld: contempt of death is pride's last pose (maxim 504). Grounding: prezrenie-k-smerti, gordost-i-tshcheslavie

ford ↔ tolstoy

Axis: renunciation vs a productive ethic.

  • ford: the machine frees people for living; work, don't make money. Grounding: mashina-osvobozhdaet-dlya-zhizni, rabotat-a-ne-delat-dengi
  • tolstoy: giving up property; industry enslaves, labor is the procuring of life. Grounding: trud-dobyvanie-zhizni, parazity-zhizni

ford ↔ schopenhauer

Axis: labor inevitably yields good vs effort is futile.

  • ford: honest work is a law of nature that gives health and happiness. Grounding: trud-eto-zakon-prirody, ne-bojsya-neudachi
  • schopenhauer: the will is blind, hope an illusion, effort futile. Grounding: futilnost-stremleniya, mayatnik-boli-i-skuki

ford ↔ laozi

Axis: active improvement vs non-action.

  • ford: eliminating waste, redesign, decisive intervention. Grounding: nachni-s-izdeliya-ubiraj-lishnee, konveier-protiv-lishnego-dvizheniya
  • laozi: "improving" destroys what grows of itself. Grounding: wuwei, ziran

ford ↔ machiavelli

Axis: service vs seizing position.

  • ford: taking a rival's business away is a crime; prices down, not margins up. Grounding: sluzhba-a-ne-borba-s-konkurentom, ceny-vniz-a-ne-marzha-vverh
  • machiavelli: effective possession of position and appearance. Grounding: effektivnaya-istina, kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt

rockefeller ↔ tolstoy

Axis: administering wealth vs giving it away and repenting.

  • rockefeller: the rich man's duty is to keep the title and give scientifically. Grounding: uspeh-nalagaet-obyazannosti, davat-nado-nauchno
  • tolstoy: "effective philanthropy" is the rich man's self-justification. Grounding: obrashchenie, dobyvay-zhizn-ne-dlya-sebya-a-dlya-vsekh

larochefoucauld ↔ rockefeller

Axis: service and generosity vs self-love in disguise.

  • rockefeller: honesty pays as real capital; service to the world. Grounding: net-korotkoj-dorogi-k-uspehu, davat-nado-nauchno
  • larochefoucauld: both service and generosity are amour-propre in costume. Grounding: amour-propre, dobrodeteli-pereodetye-poroki

machiavelli ↔ rockefeller

Axis: patience and trust vs a swift strike at fortune and fear.

  • rockefeller: nursing things along, the long horizon, the business is its people. Grounding: terpenie-i-dlinnyj-gorizont, delo-eto-lyudi-a-ne-zavody
  • machiavelli: fortune is taken by assault; do not trust — hold by fear. Grounding: fortuna, luchshe-strakh-chem-lyubov

machiavelli ↔ smiles

Axis: an honest reputation as capital vs effective appearance.

  • smiles: one's word must be as reliable as a bond; counterfeits of character are exposed. Grounding: istinnyj-dzhentlmen-ne-po-rangu, character-the-crown
  • machiavelli: appearance without any obligation to be honest. Grounding: kazatsya-vazhnee-chem-byt, lev-i-lisa

Asymmetries

Pairs where one side holds rich contrast material while the other is nearly silent:

  • goethe → everyone: Goethe has ~19 concepts with "Contrast for debates" blocks (13 mentions of Nietzsche, 10 of Schopenhauer, 7 of Tolstoy, 6 of Pascal) plus the note goethe-v-debatakh; in the Nietzsche and Schopenhauer bases Goethe is a single see-also line. Goethe's blocks against Confucius (4), Ignatius (4), Machiavelli (3), and Laozi (2) are entirely one-sided — those bases do not mention Goethe, and the index has no such pairs.
  • wattles → opponents: 4 full debate_bridge notes (schopenhauer-kontrast, tolstoy-kontrast, la-rochefoucauld-kontrast, epictetus-kontrast); the answering side is everywhere a single see-also line.
  • schopenhauer → nietzsche: Schopenhauer has the bridge note nietzsche-predtecha; Nietzsche has no answering note.
  • montaigne → epictetus: Montaigne has 5+ concepts with a contrast against the Stoics (nauchitsya-umirat, zadnyaya-lavka, pirronizm, etc.); for Epictetus, Montaigne is a single see-also line.
  • epictetus → franklin, tolstoy: Epictetus has contrast blocks against Franklin (3) and Tolstoy (3), though these pairs are nowhere declared "direct opponents" — the material exists, the index pair does not.
  • lebon → opponents: full opponent articles with slugs for both sides; Smiles and Tolstoy do not mention Le Bon in their bases.
  • Uncollected opponents (pairs missing the second base): adler ↔ freud, epictetus ↔ aurelius, rockefeller ↔ tarbell (a hard rule of the rockefeller base: the memoirs' truthfulness is a dispute with Tarbell, not a fact).