I sometimes wonder if it Nietzsche is a bigger draw for people with religious dispositions. I myself grew up believing the world had purpose and meaning and that there was a real goal to my life. After the plane I was co-piloting with God crashed, there was definitely a hole, a yearning, etc... in my life. I hate to draw the inevitable conclusion that I replaced Christianity with Nietzsche. I am not dogmatic about Nietzshce...really, I'm not.....honestly.... It horrifies me when i deconstruct my interest in Nietzsche this way.
With all that said, I do feel, with the vehement language and war metaphors Nietzsche is intentionally trying to appeal to the emotions and passions of his readers - contrary to what normal academic philosophy can be. This is rightly considered repulsive for those who know that truth requires objectivity, etc., etc.. While there are many Nietzschean replies to this (that knowledge only goes so far and can only tell you so much - this gives you the "other" knowledge and should be coinciding, or more likely, objectivity is an illusion, the best perspective you can have is one where you take care of your passions), the main point I'd like to make is that Nietzsche wants to appeal to people with the "warrior spirit" and it is almost a marketing/propaganda concept of getting people riled up and ready to fight....for truth, for the Overman. He isn't competing with Kant, he's competing with Che.
He inspires, he motivates...when you are feeling lazy, bored, ennui to the darkest degree, Nietzsche counters your decadence with fighting words and purpose.
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1 comment:
This looks like a cool blog.
While Nietzsche used war metaphors a lot, I don't think he was doing it as some kind of propaganda tool to rile up readers. It's Nietzsche being the great poet that he was. And the war-like nature is a key characteristic of the higher types he envisioned.
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