Author: Ollie (82.93.21.---)
Date: 12-16-05 21:37
Blah, blah, blah. The only interesting part of your post is about imposing the character of being on a world of becoming. Let us examine the section that refers
to, section 617 of The Will to Power.
'To impose upon becoming the character of being--that is the supreme will to power. [No mention of the eternal recurrence as of yet - just a general remark. This, then, concerns the imposition of the general idea of being - unchangeability and absolute unity - on becoming - 'the meaningless flux of becoming', as Nietzsche calls it elsewhere. We are reminded thereby of Heraclitus' famous refutation of being, his remark to the extent that we cannot step into the same river twice, as it is not the same water into which we step, nor the same 'us' doing the stepping, the second time. This goes for all cases except the eternal recurrence, where the water and the 'we' are, of course, the same - or rather, as Gilles Deleuze observes: it is not the same water and the same 'we' recurring, but the recurrence of the processes we call 'water' and 'we' which is the same.]
'Twofold falsification, on the part of the senses and of the spirit, to preserve a world of that which is, which abides, which is equivalent, etc. [Still no mention of the eternal recurrence. With the eternal recurrence, this twofold falsification is not necessary, as it is not a world of that which is, which abides, which is equivalent, etc., which is preserved, but a world of that which becomes, which is transient, which is changing, etc., that is: it is a preservation of the world as it is (becoming, transient, changing, etc.).]
'That everything recurs is the closest approximation of a world of becoming to a world of being:--high point of the meditation. [An approximation, not an imposition. No 'being' is imposed on any part of the great ring that the meaningless flux of becoming forms; nor is it imposed on the ring as a whole, as it already has being! As I have said before, the All - the sum of all flux, the ring of recurrence itself - is the one and only true Ding an sich: it is unchangeable, finite, and one.]
'From the values attributed to being proceed the condemnation of and discontent with becoming, after such a world of being had first been invented. [Not the case with the eternal recurrence.]
'The metamorphoses of what has being (body, God, ideas, laws of nature, formulas, etc.)
'Beings' as appearance; reversal of values; appearance was that which conferred value--. [We can see clearly here how rough a sketch this is.]
'Knowledge-in-itself in a world of becoming is impossible; so how is knowledge possible? As error concerning oneself, as will to power, as will to deception.
Becoming as invention, willing, self-denial, overcoming of oneself: no subject but an action, a positing, creative, no 'causes and effects.'
Art as the will to overcome becoming, as 'eternalization,' but shortsighted, depending on the perspective: repeating in miniature, as it were, the tendency of the whole. [Excellent! For does this not mean that great art, farsighted art, overcomes becoming on a grand scale, eternalising - the whole? Is that not the art of a God?]
'Regarding that which all life reveals as a diminutive formula for the total tendency; hence a new definition of the concept 'life' as will to power.
Instead of 'cause and effect' the mutual struggle of that which becomes, often with the absorption of one's opponent; the number of becoming elements not constant.
Uselessness of old ideals for the interpretation of the totality of events, once one knows the animal origin and utility of these ideals; all, moreover, contradictory to life.
Uselessness of the mechanistic theory--it gives the impression of meaninglessness.
The entire idealism of mankind hitherto is on the point of changing suddenly into nihilism--into the belief in absolute worthlessness, i.e., meaninglessness.
The destruction of ideals, the new desert; new arts by means of which we can endure it, we amphibians.
- Presupposition: bravery, patience, no 'turning back,' no haste to go forward. (N.B. Zarathustra adopts a parodistic attitude toward all former values as a consequence of his abundance.) [This speaks for itself.]
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