--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to…" description: "\"“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the Question. If a member of the audience were t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg" --- # Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition… ![“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the Question. If a member of the audience were to interrupt the play and ask him: "What are you doing? could not Iago answer with a boyish giggle, "Nothing. I’m only trying to find out what…” quote by W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg) > ““Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the Question. If a member of the audience were to interrupt the play and ask him: "What are you doing? could not Iago answer with a boyish giggle, "Nothing. I’m only trying to find out what Othello is really like"? And we must admit that his experiment is highly successful. By the end of the play he does know the scientific truth about the object to which he has reduced Othello. That is what makes his parting shot, What you know, you know, so terrifying for, by then, Othello has become a thing, incapable of knowing anything. And why shouldn’t Iago do this? After all, he has certainly acquired knowledge. What makes it impossible for us to condemn him self-righteously is that, in our culture, we have all accepted the notion that the right to know is absolute and unlimited. \[…\] We are quite prepared to admit that, while food and sex are good in themselves, an uncontrolled pursuit of either is not, but it is difficult for us to believe that intellectual curiosity is a desire like any other, and to realize that correct knowledge and truth are not identical. To apply a categorical imperative to knowing, so that, instead of asking, "What can I know?" we ask, "What, at this moment, am I meant to know?" – to entertain the possibility that the only knowledge which can be true for us is the knowledge we can live up to – that seems to all of us crazy and almost immoral. But, in that case, who are we to say to Iago – "No, you mustn’t.”” [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Iago’s manipulation illustrates the danger of unchecked curiosity and the moral limits of knowledge. **In simple terms:** Unrestricted curiosity can become harmful and immoral. Key Takeaway Balance curiosity with ethical responsibility. Themes knowledge ethics power manipulation Mood critical philosophical Type ethical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - political strategy - personal ambition - media probing Key Concepts scientific inquiry moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - When should curiosity stop? - Who decides ethical limits? A Different Perspective Unrestrained pursuit may cause harm and erode trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Categorical imperative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categorical-imperative/) [Iago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iago/) [Intellectual curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual-curiosity/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [“As his wife, Emilia must know Iago better than anybody else. She does not know, any more than the others, that he is malevolent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/as-his-wife-emilia-must-know-iago-better-than-anybody-else-she-does/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“The practical joker despises his victims, but at the same time he envies them because their desires, however childish and mistaken, are real to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/the-practical-joker-despises-his-victims-but-at-the-same-time-he/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“As for Iago’s jealousy, one cannot believe that a seriously jealous man could behave towards his wife as Iago behaves towards Emilia, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/as-for-iago-s-jealousy-one-cannot-believe-that-a-seriously-jealous/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Practical jokes are a demonstration that the distinction between seriousness and play is not a law of nature but a social convention which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/practical-jokes-are-a-demonstration-that-the-distinction-between/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“All practical jokes, friendly, harmless or malevolent, involve deception, but not all deceptions are practical jokes. The two men digging up the street, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/all-practical-jokes-friendly-harmless-or-malevolent-involve-deception/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) ## More by W.H. Auden > [“Part came from Lane, and part from D.H. Lawrence; Gide, though I didn't know it then, gave part. They taught me to express my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/part-came-from-lane-and-part-from-d-h-lawrence-gide-though-i-didn-t/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“As his wife, Emilia must know Iago better than anybody else. She does not know, any more than the others, that he is malevolent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/as-his-wife-emilia-must-know-iago-better-than-anybody-else-she-does/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“A child's reading is guided by pleasure, but his pleasure is undifferentiated; he cannot distinguish, for example, between aesthetic pleasure and the pleasures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/a-child-s-reading-is-guided-by-pleasure-but-his-pleasure-is/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“No poet or novelist wishes he was the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/no-poet-or-novelist-wishes-he-was-the-only-one-who-ever-lived-but/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Human "nature" is a nature continually in quest of itself, obliged at every moment to transcend what it was a moment before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/human-nature-is-a-nature-continually-in-quest-of-itself-obliged-at/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Cassio is a ladies’ man, that is to say, a man who feels most at home in feminine company where his looks and good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/cassio-is-a-ladies-man-that-is-to-say-a-man-who-feels-most-at-home-in/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Lay your sleeping head, my love, Human on my faithless arm; Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/lay-your-sleeping-head-my-love-human-on-my-faithless-arm-time-and/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“In any first-class work of art, you can find passages that in themselves are extremely boring, but try to cut them out, as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/in-any-first-class-work-of-art-you-can-find-passages-that-in/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Healing is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/healing-is-not-a-science-but-the-intuitive-art-of-wooing-nature/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“For a desert island, one would choose a good dictionary rather than the greatest literary masterpiece imaginable, for, in relation to its readers, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/for-a-desert-island-one-would-choose-a-good-dictionary-rather-than/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Sorry, my dear, one mustn't be bohemian!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/sorry-my-dear-one-mustn-t-be-bohemian/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Our hunting fathers told the story Of the sadness of the creatures, Pitied the limits and the lack Set in their finished features; Saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/our-hunting-fathers-told-the-story-of-the-sadness-of-the-creatures/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“After Portia has trapped Shylock through his own insistence upon the letter of the law of Contract, she produces another law by which any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/after-portia-has-trapped-shylock-through-his-own-insistence-upon-the/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“But round your image there is no fog, and the Earth can still astonish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/but-round-your-image-there-is-no-fog-and-the-earth-can-still-astonish/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“O dear white children casual as birds, Playing among the ruined languages, So small beside their large confusing words, So gay against the greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/o-dear-white-children-casual-as-birds-playing-among-the-ruined/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) [Explore all 89 W.H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) ## More Categorical imperative quotes > [A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-categorical-imperative-would-be-one-which-represented-an-action-as/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Kantian ethical theory distinguishes three levels: First, that of a fundamental principle (the categorical imperative, formulated in three main ways in Kant's Groundwork); second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/kantian-ethical-theory-distinguishes-three-levels-first-that-of-a/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [“Live and let live” was the famous Viennese motto, which today still seems to me to be more humane than all the categorical imperatives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/live-and-let-live-was-the-famous-viennese-motto-which-today-still/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Silence, silence.’ All the air of the fourteenth floor was sibilant with the categorical imperative. Fifty”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/silence-silence-all-the-air-of-the-fourteenth-floor-was-sibilant-with/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [There are moments in Life when keeping silent becomes a fault, and speaking an obligation. A civic duty, a moral challenge, a categorical imperative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/there-are-moments-in-life-when-keeping-silent-becomes-a-fault-and/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [“To most people any radical change is even more odious than cynicism. The only way between the horns of dilemma is to persist at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-most-people-any-radical-change-is-even-more-odious-than-cynicism/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“the passage on dignity is an addendum to the formula of autonomy: ‘act only so that the will could regard itself as at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sensen/the-passage-on-dignity-is-an-addendum-to-the-formula-of-autonomy-act/) Oliver Sensen > [Early on, I learnt from the Russian intelligentsia that the only meaning of life lies in conscious participation in the making of history. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-serge/early-on-i-learnt-from-the-russian-intelligentsia-that-the-only/) [Victor Serge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-serge/) > [All our knowledge begins with the senses,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/all-our-knowledge-begins-with-the-senses/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [If you say morality is just what you like, you lose the metaphysical level of what in the history of philosophy is called 'categorical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emir-kusturica/if-you-say-morality-is-just-what-you-like-you-lose-the-metaphysical/) [Emir Kusturica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emir-kusturica/) > [God's command 'Go ye, and preach the gospel to every creature' was the categorical imperative. The question of personal safety was wholly irrelevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/god-s-command-go-ye-and-preach-the-gospel-to-every-creature-was-the/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [“If now we attend to ourselves on occasion of any transgression of duty, we shall find that we in fact do not will that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/if-now-we-attend-to-ourselves-on-occasion-of-any-transgression-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [My conscience is informed by reason. It's like Kant's categorical imperative: behave to others as you would wish they behaved to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/my-conscience-is-informed-by-reason-it-s-like-kant-s-categorical/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [There is nothing higher than reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/there-is-nothing-higher-than-reason/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“This emphasis on responsibleness is reflected in the categorical imperative of logotherapy, which is: "Live as if you were living already for the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-emil-frankl/this-emphasis-on-responsibleness-is-reflected-in-the-categorical/) [Viktor Emil Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-emil-frankl/) [Browse all 27 Categorical imperative quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categorical-imperative/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the Question. If a member of the audience were to interrupt the play and ask him: \"What are you doing? could not Iago answer with a boyish giggle, \"Nothing. I’m only trying to find out what Othello is really like\"? And we must admit that his experiment is highly successful. By the end of the play he does know the scientific truth about the object to which he has reduced Othello. That is what makes his parting shot, What you know, you know, so terrifying for, by then, Othello has become a thing, incapable of knowing anything. And why shouldn’t Iago do this? After all, he has certainly acquired knowledge. What makes it impossible for us to condemn him self-righteously is that, in our culture, we have all accepted the notion that the right to know is absolute and unlimited. […] We are quite prepared to admit that, while food and sex are good in themselves, an uncontrolled pursuit of either is not, but it is difficult for us to believe that intellectual curiosity is a desire like any other, and to realize that correct knowledge and truth are not identical. To apply a categorical imperative to knowing, so that, instead of asking, \"What can I know?\" we ask, \"What, at this moment, am I meant to know?\" – to entertain the possibility that the only knowledge which can be true for us is the knowledge we can live up to – that seems to all of us crazy and almost immoral. But, in that case, who are we to say to Iago – \"No, you mustn’t.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W.H. Auden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to-bacon-s-definition-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Categorical imperative" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to-bacon-s-definition-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c17/w-h-auden-2-7412_categorical-imperati_iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to_441120.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the…” — W.H. Auden", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "W.H. Auden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to-bacon-s-definition-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to-bacon-s-definition-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```