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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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Or at least give it a savory try. Well put.
Quixote came to mind.
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humean
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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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I apologize for not replying sooner. First, the quotation:
"The entire comedy of art is neither performed for our betterment or education nor are we the true authors of this art world. On the contrary, we may assume that we are merely images and artistic projections for the true author, and that we have our highest dignity in our significance as works of art--for it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified--while of course our consciousness of our own significance hardly differs from that which the soldiers painted on the canvas have of the battle represented on it."
I think what is going on here is that he is proposing looking at one's life as an aesthetic phenomenon as a remedy for our incapacity to determine the significance of our lives. Beauty instead of truth. It seems to me that Western philosophy, at least until the 18th Century, prioritized the pursuit of truth when beauty and goodness seem to be more important to human beings.
It is hard to define the practical significance of aestheticism. I think a good start is to simply pay more attention to appearances, the surface of things, the raw sense data we receive. Allow yourself to stop reasoning at times (not for good, though). Recognize the limits of reason and the usefulness of pleasure.
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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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to answer your original question, i'm not sure what it means to pursue truth anyway. what does Nietzsche have in mind there?
en vino veritas ... verum
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humean
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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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As far as my understanding of Neitzsche goes, I believe that he held a rather poor opinion of our ability to identify a truth. Instead, he viewed truth as a function of subjectivity ("perspectivism"). It is my position (not Nietzsche's) that a dominant chord of Western philosophy seems to be the pursuit of truth. The question I'm trying to answer for myself is this: assuming a constitutional inability of humans to know the true nature of reality, is it a remedy to pursue beauty (however that is defined)?
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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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[quote1249178780=humean]
In Birth of Tragedy, Neitzsche says that the only way to redeem life is to view it aesthetically (or something to that effect). What do you think this means?
More generally, do you think that there is benefit to seeking beauty (or perhaps goodness) instead of ever-elusive truth?
Thanks for considering.
[/quote1249178780]
I recommend "Nietzsche - Life as Literature" by Alexander Nehamas, who makes the case that Nietzsche looks at the world as if it were artwork, in particular a literary text. This aesthetic strain of thought reflects Schopenhaeur's influences. My own personal view is that truth and beauty are not mutually exclusive
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humean
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Re: Nietzsche Question 2 Years, 9 Months ago
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Thanks, Motorcyclist. I'll take a look at Nehamas' book. And, yes, Schopenhauer has much to say about this issue, too--adopting an aesthetic attitude.
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