Nietzsche as Cultural Physician

373 Pages·2013·13.96 MB·English

by  Daniel Ahern

NIETZSCHE AS CULTURAL PHYSICIAN
NIETZSCHE AS CULTURAL PHYSICIAN
BY
DANIEL AHERN
A Thesis
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies
in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements
for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
McMaster University
--._---.-----
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1990) McMASTER UNIVERSITY
(Philosophy) Hamilton, Ontario
TITLE: Nietzsche as Cultural Physician
AUTHOR: Daniel Robert Ahern, B.A. (St. Thomas University}
1"1.A. (University of New
Brunswick)
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Jakob Amstutz
NUMBER OF PAGES: xii, 360.
ii
ABSTRACT
From Nietzsche's early writings to those marking
the end of his intellectual the dynamics of what he
life~
called "physiology" ~ermeate virtually every facet of his
philosophical enterprise. In the following investigation~
these dynamics are explored as an interpretive key to not
only the dominant themes but also the philosophical motive
underlying Nietzsche's philosophy. This motive is described
in terms of his diagnosis and attempted cure for the disease
of nihilism. In this we maintain that Nietzsche's foremost
philosophical task is that of a cultural physician.
In pursuit of this theme, Nietzsche's "clinical
standpoint" is explored and applied with regard to Socrates
and Jesus Christ as two case studies in decadence. These two
"cases" are a simultaneous physiological investigation into
both the ancient Greek and Hebrew cultures.
This investigation concludes with a detailed anal
ysis of the physiological significance of the Revaluation of
all Values, Eternal Recurrence, the Overman and Dionysus as
integral to curing the sickness of nihilism.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Expressing my gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Jakob Amstutz
is not possible. Without his support, suggestions, knowledge
of nineteenth century European literature and philosophy,
and most important, his hospitality, I would still be
writing this thesis. I want to thank Dr. Gary B. Madison for
his invitation to come to McMaster University, his help,
interest and willingness to talk about Nietzsche, and
finally, for the many hours of conversation in his good
company. Thanks also to Sam Ajzenstat for his patience when
I tried to understand Kant, his help in dealing with chapter
four, his generosity and the confidence he had in the
direction of this thesis.
Thanks to John van Buren for all the hours on Weilerberg,
his friendship and the conversations zu and around the
HaL~
campfire.
Thanks to Joan Houlding for her friendship, support and
generosity from the day I arrived at McMaster University.
Thanks to Anne Levitt for her friendship, enthusiasm for
Greek antiquity and her lucidity.
Thanks to my son Brendan for sleeping through the nights and
our happy days together.
And last but foremost I thank my wife Annette Ahern, without
whose love, criticism, generosity and support I could nat
have written this thesis.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT • • • • • • iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • • • • • iv
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS • • vii
INTRODUCTION . • • 1
CHAPTER ONE: THE PHILOSOPHICAL PHYSICIAN: LIFE AS
WILL TO POWER • •
· 9
A. The Will to Power as Cosmological Doctrine ••• 12
B. The Physiology of the Will to Power: Organics. • 22
C. The Physiology of the Will to Power: Man • • 26
CHAPTER TWO: THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SPIRIT . . . 52
A. Culture as a Social Organism • • 54
B. The Children of Night • 62
C. Spirit . 67
D. The Greek Spirit.
· 73
E. The Harvest • • 87
CHAPTER THREE: PHILOSOPHY AS WILL TO POWER: SOCRATES . • 98
A. Consciousness 99
B. Tyrants of the Spirit · • 115
C. The Case of Socrates • . 125
v
CHAPTER FOUR: JESUS CHRIST AND THE ORIGINS OF
CHRISTIANITY _ _ 165
A. Master and Slave Morality _ 168
B. The Ancient Jewish Culture. • 175
C. The Case of Christ • • 188
D. Christianity • • 213
CHAPTER FIVE: VISIONS OF INNOCENCE • • 228
Introduction • 228
PART I: Nihilism • 241
A. The Infection • 241
B. The Absurd • • • 245
PART II: Revaluation of all Values · 264
A. In Search of Faith • • • 264
B. The Devil's Innocence • 273
PART III: Eternal Recurrence • 282
A. A Cosmic Therapy • • • 282
B. The Survivors · 298
C. The Redeemer • • • 3H'1
D. Dionysus • • 314
CONCLUSION . · 339
BIBLIOGRAPHY 355
vi
KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS
I. Nietzsche's Published Works
A. The Antichrist
B. Beyond Good And Evil
BT, The Birth Of Tragedy; BT:S, refers to the "Attempt at
a Self-Criticism."
C. The Case Of Wagner
D. Daybreak
E. Ecce Homo. The first three and final sections of this
work are cited in the text as E:ll, E:l11 and
E:l~
E:IV. In those sections wherein Nietzsche comments on
his earlier works, I have abbreviated these as E:BT,
E: Z, E:GS, etc.
6:1 an The Genealogy Of i'1orals, the first essay; G:II, the
second essay, etc.
GS. The Gay Science
HH:I Human, All Too Human, Vol. I.
HH:II Human, All Too Human, Vol. II.
T:I Twilight Of The Idols, part 1; TWI:II, part 2, etc.
U:S Untimely Meditations: "Schopenhauer As Educator."
U:HL Untimely Meditations: "an the Uses and Disadv'antages
of History Tor Life,"
Z:I ~lso Sprach ZarathL~tra, Book 1; Z:II, book 2, etc.
Since all sections of Z have separate titles, I have
numbered each section per book to save room within the
bracketed references in the text. The first section of
each book is number 1. For example, a reference to
book II section 8 is Z:II,8.
vii
II. Works
N~etzsche"s Unpubl~shed
HC. "Homer"s Contest"
P. "The Last The Philosopher. Reflections on
Ph~losopher.
the Struggle between Art and Knowledge"
PAC. "The Philosopher as Cultural Physician"
PH. "Thoughts on the t1edi tation: Phi losophy in Hard Times"
PTA. "Philosophy In The Tragic Age Of The Greeks"
SSW. "The Struggle between Science and Wisdom"
TL. "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense"
III. Nietzsche"s Collected Works
WKG. Nietzsche Werke: Kritische ed. Giorgio
GesamtaL~gabe,
Colli and Mazzino Montinari. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
1967-1984.
BKG. Nietzsche Briefwechsel: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, ed.
Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari. Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter 1972-1984.
N. Friedrich Nietzsche Gesammelte Werke, Musarionausqabe,
Munchen: Musarion, 1920-29.
IV. Texts used for the translation of Nietzsche"s Letters
and Early NotebooKs
SPL. Nietzsche: Self-Portrait from His Letters, ed. and
~
trans. Peter Fuss and Henry Shapiro. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1971.
SLN. Selected Letters Of Friedrich Nietzsche, ed. and trans.
Christopher Middleton. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1969.
PT. Philosophy f.ind Truth: Selections from Nietzsche"s
Notebooks of the early 187fa"s, ed. and trans. Daniel
Breazeale. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1979.
PN. The Portable Nietzsche, ed. and trans. Walter Kaufmann.
New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
viii
In the text all abbreviations for published texts are in
italics and those for unpublished texts are not italicized.
* *
The references to Nietzsche's published works are
found in brackets within the text. The brackets contain
three items the first of which is a volume number of the
Nietzsche Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, ed. Giorgio Colli
and Mazzino Montinari. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1967-1984.
Here the reader is referred to the German text the transla-
tions of which, unless indicated otherwise, are taken from
Walter Kaufmann"s tr~nslations of Nietzsche. The second item
in the brackets is an abbreviation of the title of the pub
lished work (see part I of the list above), and the third
item is the number of the aphorism or section from which the
reference is taken. For example, (V2,GS,377) refers first to
Volume V, section 2 of the Kritische Gesamtausgabe, second
to The Gay Science as the specific text in question and
third to aphorism 377 of The Gay Science.
The German text of Nietzsche"s letters is found
in the Nietzsche Briefwechsel: Kritische Gesamtausgabe, ed.
Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari. Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter 1972-1984. All references to the letters are found
in endnotes indicating the recipient, the abbreviation BKG.
(see part III of list above), the volume number of BKG and
the page number. Following this page number, is a slash (I)
after which is an abbreviation of the text from which
translations of the letters are taken (see part IV of list
above), along with the page number. For example, a reference
to Nietzsche"s letter to Franz Overbeck on February 11thf
1883 would appear in an endnote as:
Letter to Franz Overbeck, Feb. 11. 1883. BKG. 1111 , p. 324 1
SLN. p. 206.
' ..
l h