Nietzsche & Arnold
Both Friedrich Nietzsche and Matthew Arnold condemned the ideals of their middleclass contemporaries. Nietzsche used his emergent example of asceticism to relay the essential evils that lie in the theology of his colleagues. Arnold manipulated his definitions of the classes to censure the tribulations he sought to contest. Together, in different writings to different societies, they illuminated attitudes that would be the root of what they thought to be the problem. In the third essay in On the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche questions ascetic ideals. He begins by discussing the meaning to philosophers. He decides that philosophers can achieve their best work in isolation. This takes them out of a social environment and almost places them at the beginning, where they can discover their own origins. The bulk of Nietzsche's psychological theory focuses on origins. His definition of "perspectivism" helps us understand his writing. Because we commonly assume that ideas are just ideas, we miss the true meaning. This "perspectivism" shows the reader that there is not only one truth, but also different perspectives that we can use to understand the same idea. Nietzsche uses this to understand everything. If we want to appreciate and un
Nietzsche leads the reader to see that asceticism is actually a confirmation of life. Through the struggle that the ascetic takes, they actually affirm life. It is from man's defensive nature that this craving for severe perfection arises. Man protects himself from a deteriorating life. It is this fight that made man sick. It is caused from human pity, which in turn arouses nihilism. Protection for the healthy in mind and spirit is to avoid the sick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Understanding Nietzsche's criticism of ascetic ideals helps the reader understand his criticize of the fundamental attitudes among his middle class contemporaries. There is a certain enigma to asceticism and how people can emphasize nihilistic views. Nietzsche explains this for philosophers when he says that asceticism for philosophers emphasizes their feelings of power. Ascetic ideals increase the desire for knowledge and understanding. This growth in return increases their power. In the first part of the third essay, Nietzsche states that we would "rather will nothingness than not will." Understanding this statement is essential to understanding Nietzsche. To will nothingness is still to will. Without a will to power or a nihilism doctrine, the belief in nothing, life is meaningless. Nietzsche feels his contemporaries share this nihilistic belief. The people of the 19th century presume that life is meaningless and is governed by timeless principles. derstand something, we cannot only think of it in terms that we know, but try and understand its previous meanings. Often they are contrary to what we now believe. He points to the fact that most great philosophers ! Subsequently, Nietzsche discusses the ascetic priest in which we find the most severe depiction of the ascetic ideal. Like the philosopher, life holds too many distractions for the priest to be successful. He must deny himself of earthly pleasures and live an ascetic life. Nietzsche imagines if one were to view earth from a "distant star" they would see "a nook of disgruntled, arrogant, and o
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Approximate Word count = 1414
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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