Nietzsche's Ethics of the Creative Life
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2016 Creativity, Culture, and Genius: Nietzsche's Ethics of the Creative Life Puszczalowski, Philip Puszczalowski, P. (2016). Creativity, Culture, and Genius: Nietzsche's Ethics of the Creative Life (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25485 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3535 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Creativity, Culture, and Genius: Nietzsche's Ethics of the Creative Life by Philip John Puszczalowski A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN PHILOSOPHY CALGARY, ALBERTA DECEMBER, 2016 © Philip John Puszczalowski 2016 Abstract In my dissertation Creativity, Culture, and Genius: Nietzsche's Ethics of the Creative Life I aim to articulate what creativity means to Nietzsche. I present an account of Nietzsche in which creativity exemplifies the "highest potential power and splendour" (GM P: 6) of human beings. Specifically, I hope to demonstrate that what is best about us is creativity, and that to live a creative life is to have creativity as a governing principle. Although Nietzsche does not explicitly state that people should have creativity as a governing principle for organizing lives, I will show that this thought lies within his work implicitly. To do this, I use Aristotle as a foil for Nietzsche and contrast their thinking on the question, "What characteristic exemplifies what is best about humans?" Aristotle believed that there were three potential answers to this question: pleasure, noble action and politics, and contemplation. I put Nietzsche to work philosophically, contrasting these three possible answers with Nietzsche's philosophy, and showing that none of them are viable options. The positive portion of my project focuses on demonstrating the interconnectedness of creativity, culture, and genius for Nietzsche. The importance of these three concepts cannot be underestimated in Nietzsche's philosophy, and I show how they are vital to his thought – with creativity serving as the central focus and a governing principle for human beings. ii Acknowledgements It is impossible to express the amount of gratitude I have for all those who have helped me along the way while working on this project. And even if such expression were possible, I would lack the eloquence to adequately communicate it. With that said, I would like to thank my supervisor Mark Migotti for his tireless and unwavering commitment to my project. His belief in my project's aim and his extensive comments and support on the numerous drafts of this thesis are profoundly appreciated. Without his help, this project may have never progressed beyond the stage of mere contemplation. I would also like to thank the Department of Philosophy for funding me throughout the years in the form of scholarships and employment which has prevented me from being forced to live in a tub downtown. I would also like to thank Ishtiyaque Haji and Christopher Framarin for their comments on earlier drafts of the first two chapters. When you are submerged in any subject for too long, you begin to think that everyone intuitively understands what you are talking about. Their comments forced me to clearly articulate my project and it is all the better because of them. I also want to thank Shelley Ann Hulbert for organizing our weekly Nietzsche Group during the last year of writing. Her comments and suggestions proved to be invaluable. I would also like to thank Hardeep for her support, patience, and understanding throughout this entire process. Most importantly, I would like to thank my parents. Their patronage and support throughout the years is something for which I will always be grateful. iii Table of Contents Abstract. ii Acknowledgments. iii Table of Contents. iv List of Abbreviations. .v Epigraph. .vii Introduction. 1 Chapter 1 – Aristotle and After. 15 1.1 – Aristotle. .16 1.2 – After Aristotle. .34 Chapter 2 – Suffering and Contentment. 39 2.1 – Nietzsche's Comrades in Suffering. .39 2.1 – Two Kinds of Sufferers. .44 2.3 – Greatness and Suffering. 47 2.4 – A Meaning for Suffering. .52 2.5 – Suffering as Stimulus. 55 2.6 – Suffering and Hedonism. .59 Chapter 3 – Culture and Politics. 68 3.1 – Nobles and Higher Men. 70 3.2 – Style. 76 3.3 – The Vita Activa and Vis Creativa. 84 3.4 – Solitude. .89 3.5 – Politics. 93 Chapter 4 – Affirmation and Contemplation. .101 4.1 – Contemplation's Origin. .102 4.2 – The Contemplative Type. .106 4.3 – Reactivity and Passivity. 107 4.4 – Passivity and History. 111 4.5 – The Problem of the Scholar. 118 4.6 – The Active-Contemplative: A Music Making Socrates. 126 Chapter 5 – Creativity and Ressentiment. .129 5.1 – Genius. .129 5.2 – The Problem of Mass Culture. .156 5.3 – The Task of Humanity. 161 5.4 – The Problem of Creative Ressentiment. 164 5.5 – The Formula for the Creative Life. .171 Bibliography. 175 iv List of Abbreviations Works by Nietzsche A The Antichrist BGE Beyond Good and Evil BT The Birth of Tragedy CW The Case of Wagner D Daybreak EH Ecce Homo GM On the Genealogy of Morality HH Human, All Too Human GS The Gay Science NCW Nietzsche Contra Wagner P The Philosopher PCP The Philosopher as Cultural Physician PHT Philosophy in Hard Times PTAG Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks TI Twilight of the Idols TL On the Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense UM Untimely Meditations WP The Will to Power WS The Wander and His Shadow Z Thus Spoke Zarathustra v References to Nietzsche's aphoristic works will cite the abbreviated title followed by the aphorism number (GS: 370). To his other works, references will be to the part and section number (GM II: 6). In the case of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, an abbreviated section title will be given instead of a number (Z II: "The Rabble"). Passages involving prefaces to Nietzsche's works will use "P" as the part number (GM P: 6). Works by Other Aristotle M Metaphysics NE Nicomachean Ethics POL Politics References to Aristotle will cite the abbreviated title followed by the book number, section number, and line number (NE I.1.1094a6-10). Works by Other Authors CJ Critique of Judgement (Kant) WWR The World as Will and Representation (Schopenhauer) Kant's Critique of Judgement is cited by the abbreviation followed by the section number (CJ: 47). Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation is cited by the abbreviation, followed by the volume number and page number (WWR I, 196). Works by Plato are cited by title and line number (Apology 69a). vi Epigraph "...even if his ideas had been as true and precious as those of Columbus or Newton, many would have counted this yearning, taking it as the sublime part for a man to say, "If not I, then another," and to hold cheap the meaning of his own life. But the fuller nature desires to be an agent, to create, and not merely to look on: strong love hungers to bless, and not merely to behold blessing. And while there is warmth enough in the sun to feed an energetic life, there will still be men to feel, "I am lord of this moment's change, and will charge it with my soul." George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Chapter 38. vii Introduction In Nietzsche: Life as Literature, Alexander Nehamas claims that Nietzsche "does not believe that there exists a single proper kind of life or person" (Nehamas 1985, 8). According to Nehamas, "any effort to attribute to Nietzsche a positive view of human conduct, consisting perhaps of a description of the right kind of life or of a set of principles for becoming the sort of person he admires, is bound to fail" (Ibid.). The problem with this claim is that it does not go deep enough and explores a somewhat superficial reading of Nietzsche. I propose that Nietzsche does provide a principle around which a life can be organized – creativity. What is significant is that Nehamas' reason for why he believes that there is no such principle is entirely compatible with my claim that Nietzsche endorses creativity as a principle which best exemplifies what is best about human beings. To see how this is the case, it is necessary to discuss Nehamas' argument. Nehamas acknowledges that Nietzsche admires people who are artistic, such as Goethe, Beethoven, and Shakespeare. Artists of this order of rank are deeply individual. Nietzschean individuals are those who separate themselves radically from "the herd"; they create their own values rather than following the values held by the rest of society. The problem as Nehamas sees it is that if Nietzsche's positive project is the creation of "individuals," then any set of principles or rules which describe how to become an individual are bound to fail. As Nehamas puts it: A true individual is precisely one who is different from the rest of the world, and there is no formula, no set of rules, no code of conduct that can possibly capture in informative terms what it is to be like that. There are no principles that we can follow in order to become, as Nietzsche wants us to become, unique..