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Nietzsche's Philosophy of Immanence

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Nietzsche's Philosophy of Immanence A Genealogy of Immanence: From Democritus to Epicurus and Nietzsche Jonathan Brian Egan A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of Staffordshire University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2012 Dedicated to my father from whom I have learned so much and continue to do so Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the support given to me by my academic supervisors Professor Doug Burnham and Dr. David Webb for their encouragement, support and guidance throughout my time at Staffordshire University. Thanks also to my peers for their continual encouragement throughout. Particular thanks go to Georgios Papandreopoulos for his assistance and support, to Harvey Young for the many informative discussions over the years and to Adonis Frangeskou for his guidance and encouragement. I would also like to thank my many friends for their support and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my family: Brian, Susan, Daniel, James and Rachel Egan, Roy and Iris Bailey for their love, support, encouragement and financial aid throughout. I could not have done this without you. i Table of Contents Acknowledgements..........i Table of Contents..........ii Abstract..........v Abbreviations..........vi Introduction..........1 Notes and References..........8 Part 1: The Emergence of Immanence from Democritus to Epicurus..........11 Democritean Materialism..........12 Ontology..........13 Epistemology...........16 Epicurus..........19 The Testimonial Idiosyncrasies..........20 First Canonic: Sensation..........22 False Judgements & Verification..........23 Second Canonic: Preconceptions..........26 Ex Silentio..........28 Third Canonic: Feelings (pathê)..........30 Feelings and Sensations..........31 Feelings and Mind..........33 Method of Inference..........34 The Problem of the Non-Evident and the Evident..........37 The Nature of the Universe (The Letter to Herodotus)..........39 ii Desire..........42 The Atomic Swerve: The Problem of Determinism..........46 The Nature of the Gods & Blessedness..........53 Blessedness..........55 Blessedness & Friendship..........57 Notes and References..........59 Part 2: Nietzsche’s Epicurus The Foundation of Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Immanence..........67 Nietzsche and Greek Materialism..........70 Note on Cause..........87 Nietzsche’s Admiration of Epicurus..........89 The Problem of Representation..........94 The Problem of Sensation..........96 The Problem of Materialism and Science..........97 Untimeliness..........101 Affects..........105 Force..........106 Note on Consciousness & Communication..........110 Note on Truth..........111 Illusory Homogeneity of the Will..........113 The Development of Immanence in The Gay Science..........116 Book 3 of The Gay Science: The Incorporation of Truth..........116 Book 4 of The Gay Science: A New Approach to Cheerfulness..........131 Book 5 of The Gay Science: Unmasking Epicurus..........137 Notes and References..........147 iii Part 3: Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Immanence..........159 Nietzsche’s System of Psychology..........160 Grounding Psychology in Physiology..........162 Note on Spirit..........169 Of the Three Metamorphoses..........172 The Origin of God and the Afterworld..........175 Despisers of the Body..........179 Summary..........183 Asceticism and the Ascetic Ideal..........185 The Origin of Asceticism..........186 Note on Socrates..........190 Ascetic Ideal..........192 Spirit of Gravity (backward willing)..........199 Of the Vision and the Riddle..........205 Summary..........208 Notes and References..........210 Conclusion..........217 Notes and References..........229 Bibliography..........230 iv Abstract The relationship between Epicurus and Nietzsche is an increasingly popular research topic. There are a number of publications that attempt to detail the nature of this relationship by investigating specific aspects of their writings that interrelate. Such research is valuable because it reveals an otherwise hidden dynamic to Nietzsche studies, however, all previous discourse on Epicurus and Nietzsche are limited because they fail to recognise both thinkers as philosophers of immanence. This thesis proposes that ‘immanence’ is the central concept that allows the influence of Epicurus upon Nietzsche’s thought to be revealed most appropriately. Furthermore, it proposes to account for the development of ‘immanence’ within the works of Epicurus and Nietzsche in order to disclose the nature of immanence itself. By following Nietzsche’s genealogical method, this thesis will demonstrate that Epicurean immanence emerged through the conceptualisation of all existence within the cosmos and nature. Moreover, immanence developed as an atomistic response to the transcendent philosophies of Socrates and Aristotle which opposed Democritean materialism. Nietzsche recognised that the increasing popularity of Platonism in late antiquity led to the event of Christianity, which dominated Western thought until its success eventually destroyed the conditions that maintained it. Nietzsche predicted that in the light of Christianity’s demise, mankind would be plunged into a state of crisis and unparalleled nihilism. In response, he proposed that the body and spirit must be reunited in an act of overcoming, and those capable of that act would ‘inherit the earth’. Immanence for Nietzsche is this unifying act and inheritance, and he demonstrates that redemptive doctrines such as Epicurus’ ataraxia, modelled on nihilism, must be rejected and overcome by a philosophy modelled on ‘cheerfulness’. It is in this respect that his philosophy from The Gay Science onwards can be recognised as a discourse on immanence. v Abbreviations Translations of Epicurean works are abbreviated as follows (unless otherwise stated): DL Diogenes Laertius, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers / In Two Volumes – Volume II, translated by R. D. Hicks (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950). This also includes: Her.DL Letter to Herodotus, Pyth.DL Letter to Pythocles and Men.DL Letter to Menoeceus L Lucretius, On The Nature of The Universe, translated by R. Melville (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) Translations of Nietzsche’s works are abbreviated as follows (unless otherwise stated): A The Anti-Christ, in Twilight of the Idols / The Anti-Christ, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1975). BGE Beyond Good and Evil, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (London & New York: Penguin Books, 2003) BT The Birth of Tragedy, translated by S. Whitehead (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1993). D Daybreak, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). EH Ecce Homo, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1992). GM On the Genealogy of Morals, translated by C. Diethe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). GS The Gay Science, translated by W. Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, 1974). vi HH Human, All Too Human, translated by M. Faber & S. Lehmann (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1984). NCW Nietzsche Contra Wagner / The Case Of Wagner, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, and Selected Aphorisms, translated by A. M. Ludovici (London & Edinburgh: T. N. Foulis, 1911). NLN Writings from Nietzsche’s Late Notebooks, translated by K. Sturge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). OTL On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense / The Nietzsche Reader, translated by D. Breazeale (London: Blackwell, 2006). TI Twilight of the Idols, in Twilight of the Idols / The Anti-Christ, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1975). WP The Will to Power, translated by W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale (New York: Vintage Books, 1967). WS The Wanderer and his Shadow / Human all too Human, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). Z Thus Spoke Zarathustra, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1993). vii What is the purpose of those lying concepts, the ancillary concepts of morality ‘soul’, ‘spirit’, free will’, ‘God’, if it is not the physiological ruination of mankind?...When one directs seriousness away from self- preservation, enhancement of bodily strength, when one makes of greensickness an ideal, of contempt for the body ‘salvation of the soul’, what else is it but a recipe for decadence? – Loss of centre of gravity, resistance to the natural instincts, in a word ‘selflessness’ – that has hitherto been called morality... Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo INTRODUCTION Introduction The relationship between Epicurus and Nietzsche is an increasingly popular research topic. There are a number of publications that attempt to detail the nature of this relationship by investigating specific aspects of their writings that interrelate.1 Such research has value because it reveals an otherwise hidden dynamic to Nietzsche studies, however, all previous accounts of Epicurus and Nietzsche are limited because they fail to recognise both thinkers as philosophers of immanence. This is evident in Arthur Knight’s ‘Nietzsche and Epicurean Philosophy’ which introduces the various moments in Nietzsche’s work that emphasise his affinity to Epicurus. Knight highlights the positive reading that Nietzsche gives to Epicurus during his middle or ‘second’ period. This is a consistent theme that is apparent in the majority of texts that investigate the influence of Epicurus on Nietzsche’s thought. For example Bornmann (1984), Kimmich (1993), Choulet (1998), Konigshausen and Neumann (2000), Ebersbach (2001) and Baloudé (2003)
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