Friedrich Nietzsche (Selections)
At the end of class in our second day on Schopenhauer, I summarized where I think Schopenhauer gets things wrong. He thinks we’re driven by desires which we want to satisfy, and we pursue those desires because we think satisfying will make us happy, or at least content, or at least at peace. I don’t think we want peace, or happiness. I think Schopenhauer is right that we get tricked by our drives to chase after shadows, just like we get drawn into the market by the false promises of consumer capitalism. But we also want striving, work, and purpose.
If we choose our striving without making our ataraxia dependent on its success, we can enjoy our chosen purpose (Cf. Enchiridion XXIX). Here, the satisfaction of the desire is not fleeting and less than the strain of getting there because the purpose is internal to the activity, not external (Cf. Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Chapter 1). It’s just this sort of consideration that lets us imagine Sisyphus happy (Cf. The Myth of Sisyphus).
And Nietzsche’s response to Schopenhauer fits with this approach. Nietzsche the will to live isn’t our primary driver, but is secondary and derivitive, and our fundamental drive is the will to power. I’ll say more about this in the annotations in the reading, but embracing and pursuing the will to power isn’t seeking power over others, or wealth, or praise, or any of that, but something more like the feeling of strength, determination, and vitality. It fits very well with Sisyphus happy.
I hope you enjoy these readings! Of philosophical and religious texts, Nietzsche’s works are among those most frequently read for enjoyment. They are however easily misinterpreted, so it may be helpful to try to forget anything you may have heard about him or his views, and try to read with a “Beginner’s Mind” (初心), and we’ll talk through things together.
Related music
For those of you who are interested in influences from and on music, here are a few connections!
I mentioned Rossini was Schopenhauer’s favorite composer. Here’s his Barber of Seville. It’s music like this that he would have had most in mind when discussing music as ‘will seen from the outside’.
I also mentioned that Richard Wagner was strongly influenced by Schopenhauer. His Ring der Niebelungen is the Gesamstkunstwerk (total/complete art work) that I mentioned in class, and a fine place to check in to hear how he’s trying to compose work that feels like the will, if it were a thing we could observe objectively. There’s a full recording here, but it’s just the music. To get a better sense of the full piece, here’s a trailer of the Met’s production.
Nietzsche became friends with Wagner through their mutual interests in Schopenhauer and in music, and for a time, praised Wagner’s music as an expression of the joyful and wild striving that could bring the best future to humanity. But he eventually rejected Schopenhauerian pessimism, and rejected Wagner around the same time, disillusioned by Wagner’s increasing self-importance, anti-semitism, and German nationalism. Following this break, Nietzsche’s favorite composer was probably Georges Bizet. Here’s Bizet’s Carmen; or you can skip straight to one of the most famous songs, “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle.” And Nietsche composed work of his own as well!
Finally Richard Strauss wrote this famous piece, Also Sprach Zarathustra, loosely based on Nietzsche’s book of the same name, which we are reading the very beginning of.
Supplementary/Alternate access
Here’s an audiobook of The Gay Science. The part we’re reading is in Book Third, Part 1, at 35:46.
Here’s an audiobook of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The part we’re reading is from the Prologue, so you can start from there!
These are both different translations, so some of the phrasing and terminology will be different, but it’ll be fine.
Selections from The Gay Science and Thus Spoke Zarathustra Reading+Response
Read the first part of this selection (leave off anywhere after the part from The Gay Science) for Tuesday and listen to the commentary when indicated by the black arrow on the side, then submit your Response.
Your Response should have three parts:
a. Words: Write down three words you learned (or learned more about) from the reading.
b. Ideas: Write down three ideas or concepts you learned about (or learned more about) from the reading
c. Prompt: Write a short response (100–200 words, minimum 100 words required) to the prompt in the reading.
Nietzsche Activity
Starting after you finish the first reading, Monday or Tuesday, each day do the daily practices below. On Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, after about a week of daily practice, write a reflection according to the instructions below.
Pay attention to when you feel most vital and alive through this week. Keep an open mind—these moments may not be when you would expect! Jot down a couple notes to yourself about these moments at the end of each day.
At the end of the week, look through your notes and think about what gives you a feeling of power, strength, and purpose. In a minimum of 400 words, start by explaining Nietzsche’s ideas of the will to power, the overman (and the last man, if you find that a useful contrast) using specific reference to our texts and class discussion, and then use them to interpret or explain your experience.
Selections from Thus Spoke Zarathustra Reading+Response
Read the rest of this selection for Thursday and listen to the commentary when indicated by the black arrow on the side, then submit your Response.
Your Response should have three parts:
a. Words: Write down three words you learned (or learned more about) from the reading.
b. Ideas: Write down three ideas or concepts you learned about (or learned more about) from the reading
c. Prompt: Write a short response (100–200 words, minimum 100 words required) to the prompt below.
For the prompt, please 1. tell me something that’s making sense after Tuesday’s class discussion that wasn’t making sense before, and 2. connect something from that discussion (e.g. will to power, becoming our own source of values/direction/purpose) with either the overman or the last man.
“Tightrope walker” by koalie is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0