tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post6195134832570699720..comments2024-03-11T10:32:34.217+00:00Comments on Conservative Tendency: Rewriting historyMark Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-64068577956659806372010-09-26T09:20:21.562+00:002010-09-26T09:20:21.562+00:00Then I should be careful what I become famous for....Then I should be careful what I become famous for. LOL.GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-63736111796405066272010-09-26T04:59:48.164+00:002010-09-26T04:59:48.164+00:00I'm inclined to think that people are (almost)...I'm inclined to think that people are (almost) always famous for the wrong things, GC, and (almost always) the wrong people are famous. :-)Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-86638406139482951982010-09-24T10:09:33.290+00:002010-09-24T10:09:33.290+00:00Eternal recurrence in Nietzsche disappointed me. I...Eternal recurrence in Nietzsche disappointed me. It's an ancient concept but it's so metaphysical it doesn't fit the rest of Nietzsche. Some call him a metaphysical thinker given this aspect of his thought. I can't remember where I picked this up (why I'm not an academic: terrible at notes LOL) but I agree with whoever (Kaufman? MacIntyre?) said "God is dead" means "metaphysics is dead. To this day I suspect "alas" is part of the message. But Nietzsche, "alas" or no, then gets on with it and tries to envision philosophy without metaphysics -- until he comes up with eternal recurrence. That just floors me.<br /><br />I agree with the idea that his positive constructions or prescriptions (ubermensch only one example) are nowhere near as good as his criticisms. The good part is, he uses the life-affirming benchmark for his criticisms, which gives us all a valuable anchor point both in assessing him and in making our own arguments. It is extremely powerful and potentially so positive, it's amazing he is not more famous for that, than "God is dead."GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-31894657677783254022010-09-24T06:20:29.442+00:002010-09-24T06:20:29.442+00:00SAM I'm not sure about Nietzsche and the every...SAM I'm not sure about Nietzsche and the every possibility notion - my recollection is that he focused on this particular life with all its imperfections and the point was that we should love it and live it (over and over!) with total conviction; which is indeed life-affirming. I don't buy the idea of eternal recurrence either and I think it came to Nietzsche fairly late, and I always wished he hadn't adopted it! I like your take on the every possibility idea - correcting mistakes, erasing regrets. If only!Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-46808534892303075502010-09-23T14:01:59.878+00:002010-09-23T14:01:59.878+00:00If I'm not mistaken, doesn't his theory of...If I'm not mistaken, doesn't his theory of eternal recurrence also involve the concept that every possibility would eventually also occur through the cycle? That would also mean that in some existences, mistakes would be corrected, regretted actions wouldn't happen, and you get to live through more possibilities than you could even dream about. Wouldn't it also imply that at one point the cycle would produce a perfect world? I don't personally buy the eternal recurrence theory, but I'm surprised at how often it is referred to as totally life-negating. I have to agree with GTChristie that Nietzsche (at least before his mental deterioration) is very life-affirming in his positions.S.A.M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17255528430968116395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-9844741845978205242010-09-22T06:57:47.654+00:002010-09-22T06:57:47.654+00:00GC, yes, that reference to his madness is a cop-ou...GC, yes, that reference to his madness is a cop-out, but I still think it's important to take account of traces of it (e.g. megalomania) in his later work.<br /><br />CONSVLTVS thank you, but I'll soon be boring you I promise! I like your notion of coherence being woven throughout his work, and the way you see the Ubermensch as what remains when ressentiment is subtracted. Rings true.<br /><br />Alan, I find lots of faults in FN, but overall I find the basic ideas (or a couple of them anyway) liberating.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-66468002109650412602010-09-22T01:44:04.390+00:002010-09-22T01:44:04.390+00:00I agree that Nietzsche was not motivated by a desi...I agree that Nietzsche was not motivated by a desire the counter the meaninglessness of a world reduced to physics. I doubt that physics bothered him at all. Clearly, what bothered him most was Christian morality and all other kinds of herd morality (as he viewed them).<br /><br />I find his positive remedies for this supposed disease far worse than the disease itself. Still, he's fascinating to read, in small doses.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-16011981778364748552010-09-21T22:13:15.957+00:002010-09-21T22:13:15.957+00:00I simply love this blog. The most amazing topics ...I simply love this blog. The most amazing topics come up, things I haven't thought about in years. Thanks! As for FN, the worrisome bit for me in Vedral's paragraph is the implication that Nietzsche somehow designed his Ubermensch as an anodyne for the Abyss. FN was an anti-system-builder. Where, say, Spinoza started with first principles and reasoned to conclusions that were consistent with the overarching system, FN was chaotic and aphoristic. There are large, coherent ideas woven throughout his work, but they have more to do with (lowercase) revelation than intellectual engineering. To some extent the Ubermensch is an outgrowth of the Genealogy of Morals and Beyond Good and Evil--what remains when ressentiment morality is subtracted. My guess is Vedral was going on someone else's summaries.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-42565023909686752952010-09-21T13:21:27.932+00:002010-09-21T13:21:27.932+00:00I do know that for Nietzsche, ethics (or good) was...I do know that for Nietzsche, ethics (or good) was grounded in whatever was "life-affirming" and he specifically stated that the idea "life is worthless" is decadent. His work contains arguments against nihilism and pessimism, so it's impossible to say he denied values or thought life is valueless or pointless. I read Nietzsche as life-embracing and his searing critiques of various philosophies and values repeatedly trace back to his contempt for anything life-defeating. <br /><br />I was just thinking about Fritz the other day, and how every discussion seems to work in the observation "but of course he went mad." Bleh.GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.com