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The Wonders of Solitude in Nietzsche
By: Slodo

Throughout Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche outlines the basic tenets of his philosophy and attempts to articulate the nature of one’s relationship to the greater world. His emphasis is on rumination, meditation, and reflection; one is never done thinking about a problem, concept, or idea. He opens up his book by stating that arriving at truth involves a considerable amount of risk. Yet, he feels this type of venture to be of the noblest kind. In order to understand who and what we are, we must remove all prior prejudices that the philosophers throughout history have imparted us with. Along with these prejudices, we must also remove the restrictive and patterned European collective identity resulting from democratic enlightenment. This identity seems to have become inextricably bound with Christianity resulting in a herd mentality emphasizing meekness, assimilation, and intellectual submissiveness. The Platonism that has given Europe its supposed truths is a significant obstruction on the road to seeing life as essentially perspectival. Nietzsche sees untruth as a condition of life; to deny the perspectival is to deny life itself. In society, one is forced to grapple with the artificial equality of perspectives imposed by democratic enlightenment. In order to understand that there are no explanations of the world but only interpretations one needs the necessary optics; one must allow and even find solace in solitude.

The dissection of the European democratic enlightenment is seen as necessary if we are to break from the Christian and Platonic way of seeing things. Fundamentally, as indicated by the book’s title, the European view takes “good” and “evil” and assigns them strictly oppositional values. As Nietzsche understands the world, such a universal code defining good and evil is impossible. The dogmatic principles of previous philosophers- most notably the Stoics- have given unto Europe the collective identity which now literally defines good and evil in a manner applicable to all humans. If the new philosophers are ever to overcome this, we must break from tradition and find our own truths.

In Christianity there is no solitude. Nietzsche suggests it would be useful to think of Christianity as a large collective or community which shares a common body. There is a duality in this meaning- it can refer to either the body of Christ or the human congregation. Here we also see how Nietzsche often makes use of religions as subtly indicative of something inherently human. Since religion can manifest itself in various ways in society then there must also be various ways for the soul to insinuate itself in the world. Like morals, language, and politics, religion can be both binding and liberating. In a sense, Christianity has held Europe together for many years but now the Christian (European) belief in God is dying and largely unintelligible. Yet it still holds fast on the conscience of the masses. Therefore, it is an auspicious time now for the new philosophers to explore more deeply the “yet unexhausted possibilities” (45) of the human soul. This vast potential is found in the ever-expanding and ever-changing range of inner human experience. In section 214 Nietzsche asks whether there is anything more beautiful than a search for one’s virtues. The pall of democratic enlightenment seems to make it impossible to pursue virtue as part of this collective. One must risk isolation and solitude if one is to engage in the hunt for virtues. As Nietzsche regards in the early sections of part seven, it would be useful if one could secure help in this task but given the current dogmatic atmosphere of Europe this is unlikely.

To further understand Nietzsche’s favorable view of solitude we turn to his articulation of the “free spirit.” Nietzsche posits that truth and knowledge have been made artificial and accessible for the benefit of the common masses. There seems to be no need for anyone to suffer “for truth’s sake” (25) as most people find their truths easily reached and comprehended. Nietzsche accuses that philosophers have professed these common truths purely as an outgrowth of their own prejudices based on a narrow sphere of personal life experience. The French Revolution and Christianity are both examples of a deliberate misunderstanding of the past in order to “make it tolerable to look at.” (38). That which can be tragic in life, when viewed from the proper perspective, ceases to be tragic. Nietzsche is intentionally ambiguous whether this tragedy pertains to the theatrical stage or to real life. It is likely this ambiguity is pursuant to Nietzsche’s aforementioned view that there are no explanations of the world, only interpretations. The basic condition of life is the perspectival. If one failed to recognize this, one would fail to see that people make the world around them. The search for pure truth is fruitless; it is more useful to look at the origin of actions rather than just the outcomes. The actions we commit are resultant of deep drives which are rooted in many unconscious (perhaps biological) motives. Recognizing the many inner drives one possesses is the beginning of this perspectival way of being.

Nietzsche’s “free spirit” is an individual not tied down by any of these easily accepted and false “truths.” This new species of philosopher “is not free of danger” (42) because he will suffer many attempts and trials which other people cannot understand. It can be a solitary existence but it is important that one does not abstain from the society of others entirely and instead remain an “attempter” (42) staying constantly flexible and interpretative of the surrounding world. One ceases to remain a “free spirit” when one embraces a single rigid dogma like so many previous philosophers have done. Within the hardship of exploring the self deeply, the will to power that triggers all change in the world can eventually be discovered.

Nietzsche often equates art with suffering and wonder. He suggests throughout part seven that frequently the creative types of the world- artists, writers, and philosophers- will live with suffering. These people are the artificers of human experience and yet their relation to it is reciprocal. Man is both the artificer and the art since truth and beauty (like good and evil) are necessarily objective- perspectival. We each forge our own definitions. In a sense, suffering is the equivalent of a feeling of wonder- one is always unfulfilled and so one always pursues and creates. In addition to this willingness to suffer, one must be a skeptic but a courageous or even optimistic one. It would seem that throughout Beyond Good and Evil Nietzsche produces conclusions through criticism of others such as Kant, Plato, or Wagner. He uses antitheses to arrive at truths. It would seem that the best way to examine where one stands in the hierarchy of society is to place oneself away from or opposite to accepted ideas.

Another reason Nietzsche ponders solitude is that his is largely a philosophy of the future. There is heavy emphasis in Beyond Good and Evil on the temporal nature of the human condition. He posits that “the taste of the time and the virtue of the time weakens and thins down the will.” (212). In order to surpass current modes and fashions in thinking, one must become removed from the present. The new philosopher is necessarily a man of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and so he is solitary and in contradiction to the ideals of today. (212). Fundamentally, Nietzsche sees current Europe (and especially Germany) as not yet prepared for an overturning of present morality. Although he does predict the time is approaching, there is the overarching sense throughout Beyond Good and Evil that Nietzsche expects (and even embraces) the fact that his philosophy needs a significant passage of time to be understood. His work is lonely. He labors to lay groundwork for the philosophers of the future who will continue on this path someday.

The life of the free spirit is solitary because it requires the recognition of the untruth of life in order to be beyond good and evil. Religion and democratic enlightenment in Europe have forged a herd mentality of mediocrity which has rejected such a possibility. In this society, everyone’s thoughts and morality are given equal merit. Nietzsche despises this because it forces us to reject our nature; both the ugliness and the beauty of it. He tells us in part three that religion is able to teach even the lowliest of people how to place themselves in an illusory higher order of things so they may have the impression that they are content. (61). This herd mentality protects the pack and also makes life palatable. It is also the first enemy of anyone looking to discover their own truths. Nietzsche concludes his book by reflecting on the wonders of solitude. For the free spirit, solitude is life-affirming because the absence of the stifling dogmas of the herd allows for the greatest expansion of one’s sense of self. To be truly beyond good and evil one must be removed from grappling with the order and morality imposed by democratic enlightenment and religion. Only when one stands alone vis-à-vis the herd is greatness and nobleness possible. Upon being removed from the seething torrent of austere and rigid thinking now strangling Europe, the free spirit foments his own morality and thrives.

Article Source: http://journal.ilovephilosophy.com

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