Our Ontological Interest

"...Again one may think of the different kinds of interest we have distinguished. There are not only 'physiological' and 'psychological' interests in the useful and agreeable: man also has an 'ontological' interest in another state of being -- and Nietzsche 'teaches us to differentiate between the real and apparent advancements of human happiness: how neither riches nor honors nor scholarship can raise the single one out of his profound discouragement over the worthlessness of his existence, and how the striving for these goals can receive meaning only from a high and transfiguring over-all aim.'"

-Pg. 279 from Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist 4th edition, by Walter Kaufmann

This is something that has been on my mind for a while. (A) the false sense of advancement in human happiness. While contemporary life has no doubt allowed us to advance our ability to attain psychological or physiological "happiness" (or atleast momentary pleasures) the overall happiness of our innermost being knows that the best thing for humans to do is die. Camus said, "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide." The first time i heard it I really didn't know what to make of it, but when such a bold statement is made by a man reputed to be great I was unwilling to dismiss it and rather hold on to it, chew it over, and at the very least figure out what he could mean (but, of course, not necessarily agree with it). I've led a pretty priveleged life and my upbringing taught and trained me how to be "happy." I never once considered suicide (until I broke up with my first serious girlfriend, and this desire for suicide i was able to quickily see as nothing more than an irrational attempt to get back at her or win her attention). This "happiness" though is extremely superficial and its appeal crumbles when you attempt to look past it. Not even including the great amount of willfull illusions that seem to accompany most happiness (not the least of which is "love" - what most people consider their "raison d'etre"), the problem with this happiness is expressed by these two quotes:

"Man loves, and loves what vanishes, there is nothing else to say" - W.B. Yeats

and

"...A hypothetical world from which the sacred had been swept away would admit of only two possibilities: vain fantasy that recognizes itself as such, or immediate satisfaction which exhausts itself. It would leave only the choice proposed by Baudelaire, between lovers of prostitutes and lovers of clouds: those who know only the satisfactions of the moment and are therefore contemptible, and those who lose themselves in otiose imaginings, and are therefore contemptible. Everything is then contemptible, and there is no more to be said." - Leszek Kolakowski

This I now see as exemplifying the "problem of suicide" that needs to be adressed.

For a while my solution to the question of suicide was simply "I am guaranteed to one day experience death and non-existence, I might as well try life." This is, of course, rather insufficient and doesn't do anythin to escape the verdict of the above quotes.

I think what Nietzsche proposes --that we have ingrained in our nature an "ontological interest" that needs to be fulfilled to attain happiness (whatever that might be) -- is right on and is really the heart of his philosophy. Since "God is dead" what purpose, MEANING, does life have. God used to give us meaning and purpose (and quench our ontological desire), but we killed (the illusion of) God. It seems in his place, if the world is as purposeless and meaningless as it seems and our modern science seems to tell us, the only thing that will quench our ontological desire, the only route we have to attaining a TRUE advancement in happiness is a different illusion.

Truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is not a good thing. In fact, the drive to turn over every rock and destroy every illusion seems to me to guarantee that one will not attain true and real happiness.

Coming to this point a few questions arise though. Can an illusion be effective if you know it is an illusion? What type of illusion should we strive for? This is the point where existentialist say we must create the meaning of our lives.

I propose that the meaning we give our lives be one of discovering human nature and experience, living in harmony with our innermost drives and instincts. This harmony though, is no doubt a changing one and most likely not always a peaceful one. We must create a utopian vision that we can continually strive for. Yes we will eventually be dust in the ground, but before that happens let us experience life and experience it to its highest degree of "happiness."

This, of course, still does little to escape the verdict established above and what i think nietzsche hints at in his philosophy, which my explanation basically shadows, is that if we have a "cloud to strive for" we will have more "prostitutes" along the way and our interaction with these prostitutes (momentary pleasure) will have an enhanced meaning. Goals both give us something to strive for and in the striving the moments of pleasure we have gain additional significance.

The next step, and only way to truly and fully satisfy the ontological interest is to create an "after-life" myth on top of this.....Nietzsche attempts to deny this and ground everything in "this life" and attacks the "afterworldly" but I don't see how it is possible (he relies mostly on the faulty "eternal recurrence") I think one can be created so that one can be on one's death bed and be ontologically happy - I just don't know what that would be...and it seems like it would require you to create it forget that it is contrived and have unquestioning belief in it.

The more science discovers about the world that narrower the possiblity for myth is, but it is still out there, atleast for the "masses" who would not be able to, nor always have the desire to, turn over every rock. This might lead to a class of mythmakers who basically sacrifice their own happiness (they know its an illusion) for the good of the rest of humanity.