Living and Being

Friday, 25 May 2007

Nietszche and Dog Copulation

I've been doing some reading on Nietzsche of late, which reminded me of some drawings I did a few years ago. Went and dug a few out of my portfolio. Apparently we are on the same wavelength. It's like this:Schopenhauer (who precedes Nietsche) thinks that the world is made up of "I" and how I see the world. But there's one thing more. The world is really made up of "Will" and it is this will that I am constantly striving with: condemned to struggle in life to conform the world to my will. The Will is purposeless and irrational; don't ask me why it is, it just is. All my life, I must struggle against this will, suffering results.Nietzsche agrees, with a big difference.

You see, Schopenhauer thinks we do get occasional respites from this struggle. For instance, when we contemplate art, without "interest", we can get moments where our will cancels itself out. But Nietzsche says that suffering is part of life, so why try to avoid it. Swallow it instead, incorporate it, experience it as part of who you are.Nietzsche also thinks that, for a long time, in Europe, rational, bright, decent "Apollonian" thinking has been promoted at the expense of an equally important compliment: the dark, sexy, irrational "Dionysian" side.We need both sides, thinks Nietzsche, to have a semblance of balance.