The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IVNietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
PhilosophyPhilosophy
The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
Nihilism (Philosophy); Power (Philosophy); Values
The phenomenon, "artist," is the easiest to see through: from it one
can look down upon the fundamental instincts of power, of nature, etc.,
even of religion and morality.
"Play," uselessness--as the ideal of him who is overflowing with power,
as the ideal of the child. The childishness of God, παῑς παίζων.
798.
_Apollonian, Dionysian._ There are two conditions in which art
manifests itself in man even as a force of nature, and disposes of
him whether he consent or not: it may be as a constraint to visionary
states, or it may be an orgiastic impulse. Both conditions are to be
seen in normal life, but they are then somewhat weaker: in dreams and
in moments of elation or intoxication.[9]
But the same contrast exists between the dream state and the state of
intoxication; both of these states let loose all manner of artistic
powers within us, but each unfetters powers of a different kind.
Dreamland gives us the power of vision, of association, of poetry:
intoxication gives us the power of grand attitudes, of passion, of
song, and of dance.
[Footnote 9: German: "Rausch."--There is no word in English for the
German expression "Rausch." When Nietzsche uses it, he means a sort of
blend of our two words: intoxication and elation.--Tr.]
799.
Sexuality and voluptuousness belong to the Dionysiac intoxication:
but neither of them is lacking in the Apollonian state. There is also
a difference of tempo between the states.... _The extreme peace of
certain feelings of intoxication_ (or, more strictly, the slackening
of the feeling of time, and the reduction of the feeling of space) is
wont to reflect itself in the vision of the most restful attitudes
and states of the soul. The classical style essentially represents
repose, simplification, foreshortening, and concentration--the _highest
feeling of power_ is concentrated in the classical type. To react with
difficulty: great consciousness: no feeling of strife.
800.
The feeling of intoxication is, as a matter of fact, equivalent to a
sensation of _surplus power_: it is strongest in seasons of rut: new
organs, new accomplishments, new colours, new forms. Embellishment is
an outcome of _increased power._ Embellishment is merely an expression
of a triumphant will, of an increased state of co-ordination, of a
harmony of all the strong desires, of an infallible and perpendicular
equilibrium. Logical and geometrical simplification is the result of an
increase of power: conversely, the mere aspect of such a simplification
increases the sense of power in the beholder.... The zenith of
development: the grand style.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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