#121: Life no argument
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Marcellus
Jun 20, 2008, 12:05:20 PM6/20/08
to Cripe Quandry
121: Life no argument.-- We have arranged for ourselves a world in
which we can live--by positing bodies, lines, planes, causes and
effects, motion and rest, form and content; without these articles of
faith nobody now could endure life. But that does not prove them.
Life is no argument. The conditions of life might include error.
115: The four errors.-- Man has been educated by his errors. First,
he always saw himself only incompletely; second, he endowed himself
with fictitious attributes; third, he placed himself in a false order
of rank in relation to animals and nature; fourth, he invented ever
new tables of goods and always accepted them for a time as eternal and
unconditional: as a result of this, now one and now another human
impulse and state held first place and was ennobled because it was
esteemed so highly. If we removed the effects of these four errors,
we should also remove humanity, humaneness, and "human dignity."
quotes from Nietzsche, "The Gay Science"
which we can live--by positing bodies, lines, planes, causes and
effects, motion and rest, form and content; without these articles of
faith nobody now could endure life. But that does not prove them.
Life is no argument. The conditions of life might include error.
115: The four errors.-- Man has been educated by his errors. First,
he always saw himself only incompletely; second, he endowed himself
with fictitious attributes; third, he placed himself in a false order
of rank in relation to animals and nature; fourth, he invented ever
new tables of goods and always accepted them for a time as eternal and
unconditional: as a result of this, now one and now another human
impulse and state held first place and was ennobled because it was
esteemed so highly. If we removed the effects of these four errors,
we should also remove humanity, humaneness, and "human dignity."
quotes from Nietzsche, "The Gay Science"
arassefaw
Jun 20, 2008, 6:46:51 PM6/20/08
to Cripe Quandry
Leave it to Nietzsche to make you feel insignificant
Patrick
Jul 9, 2008, 1:23:09 PM7/9/08
to Cripe Quandry
What is meant by the first error...of man seeing himself only
incompletely? I assume Nietzsche means that man is ignorant and thus
only knows half-truths. For that man is incomplete or only sees
himself as incomplete is one of the basic premises of any
existentialism.
incompletely? I assume Nietzsche means that man is ignorant and thus
only knows half-truths. For that man is incomplete or only sees
himself as incomplete is one of the basic premises of any
existentialism.
Josh
Jul 9, 2008, 3:37:44 PM7/9/08
to Cripe Quandry
I think I prefer 121: Life no argument. It sort of speaks of the way
we continuously project our ideas and meaning onto life without ever
bothering to wonder where it came from.
we continuously project our ideas and meaning onto life without ever
bothering to wonder where it came from.
Marcellus
Jul 12, 2008, 11:26:42 AM7/12/08
to Cripe Quandry
I'm glad you pulled this out of the archives, Patrick. Of this first
error, I had three ideas:
1. Essentially what you said, that man is ignorant of his own
potential, especially of the fact that God is really dead and we have
become the gods ourselves (125 The Madman). Man has so much potential
but he does not realize.
2. In the context of 121 (Life No Argument), man sees himself
incompletely as material body and mind in a material world with laws
of nature, etc. This is brought up in several of the aphorisms in
this section.
3. In the context of the immediately following aphorisms, man could
see himself incompletely because he sees himself as a function. He
looks for a purpose and devotes his life to it. "Examples include
those women who transform themselves into some function of a man that
happens to be underdeveloped in him, and thus become his purse or his
politics or his sociability. Such beings preserve themselves best
when they find a fitting place in another organism..." (119 No
altruism!).
As for which is the best answer, I am uncertain. Perhaps one does not
even need to select just one, and he truly meant two or all three of
these. What do you think?
error, I had three ideas:
1. Essentially what you said, that man is ignorant of his own
potential, especially of the fact that God is really dead and we have
become the gods ourselves (125 The Madman). Man has so much potential
but he does not realize.
2. In the context of 121 (Life No Argument), man sees himself
incompletely as material body and mind in a material world with laws
of nature, etc. This is brought up in several of the aphorisms in
this section.
3. In the context of the immediately following aphorisms, man could
see himself incompletely because he sees himself as a function. He
looks for a purpose and devotes his life to it. "Examples include
those women who transform themselves into some function of a man that
happens to be underdeveloped in him, and thus become his purse or his
politics or his sociability. Such beings preserve themselves best
when they find a fitting place in another organism..." (119 No
altruism!).
As for which is the best answer, I am uncertain. Perhaps one does not
even need to select just one, and he truly meant two or all three of
these. What do you think?
Patrick
Jul 20, 2008, 7:10:54 PM7/20/08
to Cripe Quandry
Well, it is interesting to tie it back into 121. Life is no argument,
because if it was it would just valorize our own way of seeing things
and provide no corrective to thinking that our way of live is the only
way of life. We necessarily have to accept that we are incomplete in
a more authentic sense, otherwise we would fall into the more grave
error of thinking that the world and its inhabitants were just static
objects that can be reduced to any function or some law of physics as
you suggest. That is one way of trying to make sense of the world,
but we realize it is woefully lacking in many
regards.
> > > quotes from Nietzsche, "The Gay Science"- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
because if it was it would just valorize our own way of seeing things
and provide no corrective to thinking that our way of live is the only
way of life. We necessarily have to accept that we are incomplete in
a more authentic sense, otherwise we would fall into the more grave
error of thinking that the world and its inhabitants were just static
objects that can be reduced to any function or some law of physics as
you suggest. That is one way of trying to make sense of the world,
but we realize it is woefully lacking in many
regards.
>
> - Show quoted text -
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