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: : REPLY AT BOTTOM OF MESSAGE! :-) : : : In section 296 of BGE, the last entry of the book, Nietzsche : : wrote the following: : : "Alas, what are you after all, my written and painted thoughts! : : It was not long ago that you were still so colorful, young, and : : malicious, full of thorns and secret es--you made me : : sneeze and laugh--and now? You have already taken off your : : novelty, and some of you are ready, I fear, to become truths: : : they already look so immortal, so pathetically decent, so dull! : : This page, I think, speaks volumes about Nietzsche himself, : : as a thinker, and his thought itself. : : Nietzsche position regarding truth was, I believe, one of : : perspectivism. He argued that each of us understands the : : world through our own interpretations; that all there is is : : interpretations upon interpretations. If so, then there can be : : no single perspective or interpretation that is "correct" or : : "true." Each of us will say, if we are free and strong thinkers, : : that our perspective is correct. But where is that judge to : : objectively decide who is correct, you or I? There is, of course : : no one. On such a view as this, then, truth becomes what the : : powerful say it is (whether that power is manifested in the : : noble souls or the herd - the latter being what Nietzsche : : disdained so fervently. : : Yet, what is solidified as truth by the powerful is not truth at : : all, but interpretation. There can be no truth. That Nietzsche's : : thoughts were becoming acceptable, that they were coming : : into season, was something he feared greatly. His bitter : : thoughts were becoming flavourable. His thoughts, once so : : novel and controversial, were becoming dull and conventional. : : The mes, the herd, which he so ferociously disparaged, : : were giving their approval. : : If Nietzsche was to abolish truth from the philosophical : : landscape, then his own thoughts could not become truth! : : How can the statement, "There are no truths," be true? The : : statement is instantly self-refuting. So he legitimately feared : : that his own perspective should become solidified dogma. He : : asks: "What things do we copy...?" And he answers thus: : : "Alas, always only what is on the verge of withering and losing : : its fragrance! Alas, always only storms that are ping, : : exhausted, and feelings that are autumnal and yellow! Alas, : : always only birds that grew weary of flying and flew astray : : and now can be caught by hand--by our hand! We immortalize : : what cannot live and fly much longer--only weary and mellow : : things!" : : His "wicked" thoughts, as he calls them, are losing their sting, : : their potency, their "wickedness." How ironic it is that the : : mes he disdains and ridicules should take him as truth! How : : ironic it is that scholars, dry, old, complacent scholars, whom : : he also despises, should make their living teaching Nietzsche : : to mes of students in university! How ironic it is that there : : should be a forum dedicated to him on the internet, where the : : plebeian mes can foolishly attempt to tell others what : : Nietzsche meant, to interpret his interpretation! : : Was Nietzsche's fears not legitimate? : : This page is also important in regards to Nietzsche : : psychological nature (as is much of what he wrote). He : : wanted his thoughts to be wicked, controversial! Why? He : : wanted his thoughts to be difficult, to be profound. He feared : : that he would be interpreted easily. He feared that he would : : be quickly understood. Was he afraid that his thoughts, once : : understood, should lose their value? : : Whatever! I offer this page for all of you to discuss. Yet, : : the proviso should be that it is all interpretation, including : : Nietzsche! We should not dogmatize that which so : : pionately resisted and repudiated all dogma! : : Thanks, : : PhilosopherX : Hello, : Very good post, Mr.x. I feel that Nietzshe indeed, had a fear of being accepted because he feared the nihilism that underlined many of his thoughts. No matter how much he deemed Christianity and its inherent morality as nihilistic, his personal philosophy and affirmations were quite similar because they denied so much of what is supposedly 'good'. But he always employed clever reason, especially when refuting ideas such as 'truth'. What experience can be truly conveyed within the written word? Let us think of eternal reecurrence - What 'truth' could not become 'dull'? What 'truth' is immortal? I think Nietzsche would have rather chosen death to normalcy in his lifetime...He despised 'herds' and never wanted to be used for their benefit. and being the 'posthumous' philosopher, he was ever weary of according 'truth' to anything (....possibly because he believed that the herd could be coeherced into believing anything i.e. Nietzsche's philosophy?...I doubt it). : Futher on in the page that Mr.X. quoted, Nietzsche clarifies his reluctance to settle upon 'truths'....we as thinkers can only illuminate "what is on the verge of withering and losing its fragrance! Alas, always only storms that are ping, exhausted, and feelings that are autumnal and yellow!.....We immortalize whAT cannot live and fly much longer...' : Nietzsche's longing to be immortal drives him away from 'truths' because like man, truth changes. This, to me, is why his writings are overflowing with contradictions. Nietzsche was possibly beyond 'truth'. Thanks. : Andrew

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