Nietzsche and Other Exponents of IndividualismCarus, Paul
Philosophy
Nietzsche and Other Exponents of Individualism
Carus, Paul
Individualism; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900
A great number of Nietzsche's disciples share their master's
eccentricities and especially his impetuosity. Having a contempt for
philosophy as the work of the intellect, they move mainly in the field
of political and social self-assertion; they are anarchists who believe
that the overman is coming in labor troubles, strikes, and through a
subversion of the authority of government in any form.
The best known German expounders of Nietzsche's philosophy have been
Rudolph Steiner and Alexander Tille.[1] Professor Henri Lichtenberger
of the University of Nancy was his interpreter in France,[2] and the
former editor of The Eagle and the Serpent, known under the pseudonym
of Erwin McCall, in England. This periodical, which flourished for a
short time only, characterized its own tendency as follows:
"_The Eagle and the Serpent_ is a bi-monthly journal of egoistic
philosophy and sociology which teaches that in social science altruism
spells damnation and egoism spells salvation. In the war against their
exploiters the exploited cannot hope to succeed till they act as a
unit, an 'ego.'"
A reader of _The Eagle and the Serpent_ humorously criticised the
egoistic philosophy as follows:
"Dear Eagle and Serpent.--I am one of those unreasonable
persons who see no irreconcilable conflict between egoism
and altruism. The altruism of Tolstoy is the shortest
road to the egoism of Whitman. The unbounded love and
compassion of Jesus made him conscious of being the son
of God, and that he and the Father were one. Could egoism
go further than this? I believe that true egoism and true
altruism grow in precisely equal degree in the soul, and
that the alleged qualities which bear either name and
attempt to masquerade alone without their respective
make-weights are shams and counterfeits. The real
desideratum is balance, and that cannot be permanently
preserved on one leg. However, you skate surprisingly well
for the time being on one foot, and I have enjoyed the
first performance so well that I enclose 60 cents for a
season-ticket--ERNEST H. CROSBY. Rhinebeck, N. Y., U. S.
A."
A German periodical _Der Eigene_, i. e., "he who is his own,"
announced itself as "a journal for all and nobody," and sounded "the
slogan of the egoists," by calling on them to "preserve their ownhood."
Another anarchistic periodical that stood under the influence of
Nietzsche appeared in Budapest,[3] Hungary, in German and Hungarian
under the name Ohne Staat, ("Without Government") as "the organ of
ideal anarchists," under the editorship of Karl Krausz.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account