The Life of Samuel Johnson

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1791

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Themes

Hierarchy and Inequality Are Necessary for the Good of Society

As a committed Tory, Johnson believes that social order depends on the existence of a clear hierarchy in society, with distinct social classes, which Johnson terms “subordination.” For Johnson, these social ranks are fixed and part of the just order of things; any “deviation from rank” (601) is a “perversion” that should be punished. His social philosophy is thus opposed to democracy and egalitarianism of the sort proposed by the American independence movement.

Johnson argues that inequality in society leads to happiness, because society can only improve when some people work for others, rather than when everybody is on the same level. Total inequality would result in a “brutish” existence defined by mere “animal pleasure” (313). Further, Johnson insists that high-born people have a higher sense of morality as well; those who are socially underprivileged are generally “grossly ignorant, and [think] viciousness fashionable” (996).

Johnson argues that his motives for holding these views are pure and disinterested, since he himself is not from privileged circumstances (and indeed was poor during part of his life). As Johnson sees it, he has no particular personal stake in arguing for this side.

However, Johnson’s views on inequality in general contrast with his argument for the wrongness of slavery. Johnson states at one point that men are not naturally equal (360); yet, when making the case against slavery, he states that “it is impossible not to conceive that men in their original state were equal” (877).

Further, in his comments on Johnson’s political opinions, Dr. Maxwell emphasizes that although Johnson “asserted the legal and salutary prerogatives of the crown,” he also “respected the constitutional liberties of the people” (435). Johnson himself shows this when he argues, with reference to the British government’s policies in Ireland, “Let the authority of the English government perish, rather than be maintained by iniquity” (439). Thus, Johnson pursued a balance in his political thought between the power of government and the rights of the governed. Johnson also emphasizes the need for society to find ways to help the poor (see Important Quotes #14).

On the subject of how to use money to benefit society, Johnson argues that it is better to spend it than either to hoard it or to give it away. This is because by spending money people contribute to “industry” which has the power to improve general welfare, whereas by simply giving money away there is no telling where the money goes. One who hoards his money does nobody good except himself (1201).

Although Johnson respects social rank, he is also aware that he himself came from a humble background and achieved his status as a great writer through study and hard work. Too impoverished to finish college, Johnson becomes arguably the most celebrated writer in England and receives at last an honorary degree from his college. Johnson’s achievements are won through sheer merit and hard work and involved also overcoming a number of physical and psychological handicaps.

Melancholy and Fear of Death

Boswell states that Johnson inherited from his father a propensity to melancholy, dark thoughts, and low spirits. This is often related to a fear of death, resulting in part from Johnson’s uncertainty about his own salvation. Indeed, Johnson often castigates himself for perceived failings, especially in his journal; these include idleness and disinclination to work. While at university, Johnson feels melancholy combined with hypochondria, foreshadowing his later health problems. On another occasion, Johnson is so depressed and physically sick that he says to a friend, “I would consent to have a limb amputated to recover my spirits” (Page 342).

Sir Joshua Reynolds connects Johnson’s melancholy with his physical tics, claiming that he performs these actions in order to “escape from himself” (106) and his past actions, and seeks the company of other people to avoid the misery of solitude. Concerning death, Johnson goes so far as to say that “the whole of life is but keeping away the thoughts of it” (416). When Boswell brings up the subject of death in one conversation with Johnson, Johnson becomes upset and angry and tells Boswell to leave. This causes a brief rift between the two men (427), with Boswell regretful of having brought up a subject so sensitive for Johnson.

While at Oxford for the last time, Johnson engages with a clergyman in an agitated discussion about death and possible punishments of hell (1296). During the same conversation, Johnson states his view that life is predominantly miserable and that nobody would want to repeat it. Throughout the rest of the Life, however, the reader sees Johnson’s gloom tempered by a religious hope in happiness in the afterlife. Johnson’s melancholy is also considerably modified by his love for pleasure, food, drink, and companionship, and by his laughter.

Boswell also experiences melancholy from time to time, and this is a frequent subject of his letters to Johnson; for example, in one letter Boswell refers to his melancholy as “[t]he black dog” (1044). Johnson frequently advises Boswell to ignore his melancholy through study and activity and sometimes goes so far as to chide Boswell for overemphasizing his condition. Boswell in turn resents Johnson being tough on him about this issue, given that Johnson himself experiences melancholy. Melancholy is a trait that brings Johnson and Boswell together, although Boswell generally maintains a more upbeat attitude toward both life and death.

Conversation as Contest

The Life is filled with animated, passionate, and intellectual conversation. Boswell tells us that Johnson relished conversation and debate and thought of them in combative terms. Although Johnson can engage in clear and careful reasoning, he is also frequently aggressive in asserting his views and “shouting down” the views of others, as when vociferating against Americans (946).

Boswell says that Johnson was animated by a “spirit of contradiction” (1402), sometimes arguing on both sides—including “the wrong side”—of a question at different times. A good example of this is Johnson’s views of Roman Catholicism; on several occasions, he argues in favor of Catholic beliefs, yet another time he takes the opposite side and claims that many of their positions are wrong. Johnson delights in argument and intellectual ingenuity for their own sake. His strong conversational personality is “aided by his having a loud voice, and a slow deliberate utterance” (1402). A woman remarks that with Johnson “every sentence is an essay” (1285), pointing to the literary quality even of Johnson’s off-the-cuff statements.

Boswell argues that Johnson could at times be “the greatest sophist” (someone who uses faulty reasoning) and points out what he considers Johnson’s bad reasoning on a number of occasions. Johnson’s friends agree that when he sensed that he was losing an argument, he would simply attack his opponent with sarcasm. On the other hand, Boswell points out that Johnson’s “real opinions could seldom be fathered from his talk” (1402); instead, Johnson enjoyed being a gadfly and a somewhat theatrical personality. A good example of this is Johnson’s jocular dismissal of the art of acting (863), which has more humor than reason in it. When conversing, Johnson was “exulting in his intellectual strength and dexterity” (1402) and sometimes let the force of his personality overwhelm both the subject matter and his conversation partners. While Johnson’s conversations did not always represent his true, settled opinions, his writings did.

The Importance of Sound Reasoning and Principles

As a deeply intellectual person, Johnson regards exercising sound reasoning and acting from principle as core values. Johnson “warmly admired every man who acted from a conscientious regard to principle” (1288), even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with the principle. Boswell argues that Johnson’s roughness in conversation was due to the fact that he had a zeal for sound principles and didn’t like to see them violated. Boswell notes frequently that Johnson holds truth and accuracy in high regard, especially for writers and historians; for example, Johnson examines the evidence for the authenticity of the Ossian poems and decries their “discoverer” as an imposter. Boswell shows that he too has a high regard for accuracy as he faults other Johnson biographies for their inaccurate statements.

The English language is an area of reasoning and principle in which Johnson sets himself up as an arbiter. Throughout the book, he criticizes or prescribes various usages. He tends to reject linguistic changes which he regards as departures from the purity of the language (such as saying “making money” instead of the more correct “getting money”). Johnson’s status as an arbiter of language standards is ultimately expressed in his publication of his Dictionary, which maintained a certain authority in linguistic matters for generations. The Dictionary embodies Johnson’s belief that words have precise meanings and that, if we depart from those meanings, we risk falling into confusion and untruth.

Johnson tries to instill these principles of sound reasoning in Boswell. He furnishes Boswell with several long legal arguments about cases he is defending, thus teaching Boswell how to argue well and how he (Johnson) would argue. Throughout their conversations, Johnson “shoots down” various of Boswell’s arguments as unsound and urges him to “clear your mind of can’t” (see Important Quote #22).