Heβs typically not a historical figure thatβs brought up in socialist discussions, but I can speculate many of the things he writes about do echo leftist thinking somewhat.
He is a difficult philosopher to understand, even for other philosophers, and Iβm still learning more about him to this day, but he does come to my mind often whenever I learn more about socialism and how it contrasts with capitalism.
I do have some conclusions I drew from reading him but Iβm still not completely sure what to make of him from a socialist lens. What do you all think?
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."
β Friedrich Nietzsche [1844-1900]
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Commentary and questions: What is this mind, and how is it that all things are in existence? The truth of the matter is the truth of Emptiness: mind gives rise to form, and form gives rise to mind, and nothing beside remains. It is through interdependence that all things exist with mind to illuminate them, but if one thing depends on the other for its existence then it is not whole or complete, therefore merely an illusion. Mind is illusion and all form is illusion, and this must be understood in some way to see clear through.
There is no greater spiritual truth to understand beyond the fact that Void is already mind and mind is already Void, interdependently. It is in this way that there is really no coming or going, no birth or death. This is the Way beyond suffering and delusion, and leads towards wisdom and inner peace.
Nietzsche seemed to be non-ideological during his years of writing atheistic philosophy. He undoubtedly contributed to some excellent theories of the human experience, but his critiques of socialism have always puzzled me. In βOn the Genealogy of Moralityβ, he wrote,
> A legal system conceived of as sovereign and universal, not as a means in the struggle of power complexes, but as a means against all struggles in general, something along the lines of DΓΌhring's communist clichΓ© in which each will must be considered as equal to every will, that would be a principle hostile to life, a destroyer and dissolver of human beings, an assassination attempt on the future of human beings, a sign of exhaustion, a secret path to nothingness.
Context: Eugen DΓΌhring was a German socialist and positivist, Iβm not sure what work of DΓΌhring Nietzsche was responding to.
OTURDUΔU YERDEN ANNEME VER OKUSUN DΔ°YΔ°P BANA DΓNΓP OKU AMA OKUDUΔUN HER ΕEYE Δ°NANMA DΔ°YOR ΕAKA GΔ°BΔ° AMK NAPICAM (ATEΔ°ST OLDUΔUMU ΓΔRENΔ°RLERSE ANAMI SΔ°KERLER)
If we affirm one single moment, we thus affirm not only ourselves but all existence. For nothing is self-sufficient, neither in us ourselves nor in things; and if our soul has trembled with happiness and sounded like a harp string just once, all eternity was needed to produce this one eventβand in this single moment of affirmation all eternity was called good, redeemed, justified, and affirmed. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Aphorism #261 Part Nine: What is Noble? Beyond Good & Evil
Would like to hear some expert analysis on his musical ability (or lack thereof)
I have assumed this because he is German, has the similar mustache, and facial expressions, and because the Kurt Wagner song plays as his intro which Nietzsche was a big fan of. I could not find anything about this on Google though, so is there another German figure that he represents?
