Pride and Sexual Friendship: the Battle of the Sexes in Nietzsche's Post-Democratic World
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PRIDE AND SEXUAL FRIENDSHIP: THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES IN NIETZSCHE’S POST-DEMOCRATIC WORLD Lisa Fleck Uhlir Yancy, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2008 APPROVED: Steven Forde, Major Professor Ken Godwin, Committee Member Richard Ruderman, Committee Member Milan Reban, Committee Member James Meernik, Chair of the Department of Political Science Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Yancy, Lisa Fleck Uhlir, Pride and sexual friendship: The battle of the sexes in Nietzsche’s post-democratic world. Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science), August 2008, 191 pp., bibliography of 227 titles. This dissertation addresses an ignored [partly for its controversial nature] aspect of Nietzschean philosophy: that of the role of modern woman in the creation of a future horizon. Details of the effects of the Enlightenment, Christianity and democracy upon society are discussed, as well as effects on the individual, particularly woman. After this forward look at the changes anticipated by Nietzsche, the traditional roles of woman as the eternal feminine, wife and mother are debated. An argument for the necessity of a continuation of the battle of the sexes, and the struggle among men and women in a context of sexual love and friendship is given. This mutual affirmation must occur through the motivation of pride and not vanity. In conclusion, I argue that one possible avenue for change is a Nietzschean call for a modern revaluation of values by noble woman in conjugation with her warrior scholar to bring about the elevation of mankind. Copyright 2008 by Lisa Fleck Uhlir Yancy ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who supported me through the long years of working on this dissertation. My mother, who taught me to dream and to know that dreams take effort, was the continual thread of encouragement throughut this process. Thanks to all the members of my current and past dissertation committees and Dr. Reban for lasting through them all. I would especially like to thank Dr. Forde and Dr. Godwin for their unwavering guidance and encouragement. Special thanks to Dr. Ruderman for being my moral support and advisor. To a friend Nietzsche would be proud of, thank you Dr. Julie Harrelson-Stephens for her unwavering loyalty and advice. To Dr. Lori Fowler, Shirley, Larry, and all my TCC colleagues I really appreciate the encouragement. Thank you to Chris, who through the years had to take on so much extra responsibility so that I could read, write, and rewrite some more! Thank you Brendan, Connor, and Kathleen for your support when I was locked away to write. Rainer and James, I want to thank you for the original push down this road. Most importantly, to my daughter Ayden, thank you for being my inspiration and motivation. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................iii ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................vi INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 9 Section 1: The Realities of a Nietzschean Past Section 2: The Main Themes of a Nietzschean Philosophy A: Truth and Knowledge B: Nihilism C: Will to Power D: Eternal Recurrence E: The Philosophy of Art F: The Ubermensch Section 3: Woman A: Nietzsche’s Women B: Nietzsche and the Feminists CHAPTER II: NIETZSCHE FORESHADOWS: THE EFFECTS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT, CHRISTIANITY AND DEMOCRACY ................................. 59 Section 1: History and the Changing Man Section 2: Christianity Section 3: The Enlightenment Section 4: Democracy Section 5: The Time of Decadence CHAPTER III: THE THREE ROLES OF EVE..................................................... 79 Section 1: The Biology of Rank Section 2: The Eternal Feminine Section 3: The Feminine as Wife Section 4: The Feminine as Mother Section 5: The Role of Love CHAPTER IV: THE BODY CONTROL: TENSION AS A BUILDER.................. 115 Section 1: The Struggle iv Section 2: A Nietzschean Analysis of Love CHAPTER V: SEDUCTION WITH PRIDE........................................................ 141 CHAPTER VI: A POTENTIAL HORIZON ......................................................... 169 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................... 176 v ABBREVIATIONS (A) The Anti-Christ (BGE) Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music or Hellenism and (BT) Pessimism (CW) The Case of Wagner: A Musician’s Problem (D) Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality (EH) Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is (GM) On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic (GS) The Gay Science (HAH) Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits (PT) Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (RWB) Richard Wagner in Bayreuth (TI) Twilight of the Idols: Or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (TSZ) Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One (UM) Untimely Meditations: On the Use and Abuse of History for Life Unpublished Writings: From the Period of Unfashionable (UW) Observations (WP) The Will to Power *Primary sources are noted in the body of the work by aphorism number unless otherwise noted specifically as a page number. vi INTRODUCTION Few philosophers have been as controversial as Friedrich Nietzsche. Endless amounts of literature repeatedly interpret Nietzsche’s views on topics from the will to power to nihilism. Furthermore, after a half century, heated debates are rekindling about Nietzsche’s work and how its self-proclaimed disciples have used his teachings in the annihilation of millions. With all this intense scholarship, strangely Nietzsche faces little integrated debate, in one area of his works. This overlooked theme is that of his observations on women. This is perplexing given that few writers can claim to have made the impact on modern politics and social and moral culture as Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche “challenged all the social and moral valuations and bases of contemporary western civilization with his proclamations…he set the individual completely free…as he had never been before…from all bondages of this world and beyond.”1 Similarly, he has been noted by Walter Kaufmann, in the translator’s preface to Beyond Good and Evil (BGE), as “not only a great thinker but also a fascinating human being of exceptional complexity and integrity.” Even Ellen Kennedy, one of Nietzsche’s detractors, states, “Nietzsche’s cultural 1 Kashyap, Subhash. The Unknown Nietzsche: His Socio-Political Thought and Legacy. Delhi: National, Delhi, 1970. Page 263 1 and political analysis pushed through the socially accepted boundaries of good and evil and sought to transvaluate all values in bourgeois society.”2 Thus, Nietzsche scholars and detractors alike argue for the depth of the impact of his work on culture, politics and the individual. His influence is explored and examined from nearly every aspect. Why, then, is it generally accepted, even among Nietzsche scholars, that while he was a philosopher of deep insight into the human psyche, it is simultaneously argued that “in matters touching women and sensuality… (he) no longer has anything to tell us?”3 Even Walter Kaufmann, one of Nietzsche’s most ardent revisionists, in his attempt to un-demonize Nietzsche, specifically cordoned off the topic of women from the entire body of Nietzsche’s works. Kaufmann notes “[BGE] is one of the great books of the nineteenth century, indeed of any century [he equates it to Plato and the Bible!]…but there are some passages that strike me as blemishes without which the book would be better; for example, the tedious remarks about women.” Furthermore, in several footnotes on these blemishes he says “fortunately for Nietzsche, this is surely wrong…at these points Nietzsche’s deliberate ‘untimeliness’ now seems time-bound, dated, and as shallow as what he attacked.”4 Is he sure that the remarks were ‘tedious’ and did not constitute 2 Kennedy, Ellen and Mendus, Susan ed. Women in Western Political Philosophy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987. Preface 3 Krell, David Farrell. Postponements: Women, Sensuality and Death in Nietzsche. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986. Preface 4 Nietzsche, Friedrich ed. By Kaufmann, Walter, BGE: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. New York: Random House, 1989. footnote number 31 of part seven, Our Virtues 2 part of Nietzsche’s overall philosophy? Does he propose to have better insight into Nietzsche’s philosophy than Nietzsche himself? Richardson states “most of Nietzsche’s interpreters have found his remarks about women simply embarrassing. Hence the common effort of scholars to dismiss them from the field of inquiry by branding them just personal idiosyncrasies, lying quite apart from his philosophical thought.” 5 One of Nietzsche’s own contemporaries, German feminist Hedwig Dohn, characterized Nietzsche’s comments on women as ‘Gedanken-Tro: delmarkt’ …[an intellectual flea market]…where the dregs and sediments of centuries of half thoughts which have crept around the corners and wrinkles of the human brain for countless generation occasionally come to light.”6 Thus she argued that he was merely restating pieces of filth that had been present in the minds of men for generations—he just stated them aloud. Kelly Oliver