HEALTH AND GREAT HEALTH: NIETZSCHE ON OVERCOMING SICKNESS BY ERIC RYAN SCHAAF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Emeritus William Schroeder, Chair Professor Emeritus Richard Schacht Associate Professor David Sussman Associate Professor Kirk Sanders ii ABSTRACT My dissertation was motivated by a desire to not only gain clarity in Nietzsche’s manifold use of the notion of sickness, but also to better understand the ideal of health that runs through his writings. Given this goal, I begin by identifying the primary kinds of sickness that animate Nietzsche’s critical project. Having identified three types of sickness in his writings, I then turn to offering an account of how Nietzsche attempts to address these forms of sickness. Finally, having completed the task of understanding health—which forms the three central chapters of the dissertation—I conclude by moving to what Nietzsche calls “the great health,” which can be understood as moving beyond mere health. In chapter one I identify three kinds of sickness—the sickness of bad conscience, the sickness of life negation, and the sickness of enervation—which I argue are the central to understanding Nietzsche’s critique of morality. According to this diagnosis, people suffer from several problems, including pervasive feelings of guilt and self-hatred, a tendency to devalue the world and life, and a false sense of human good that results in enervation. Nietzsche’s work can be read as an attempt to diagnose, understand, and address these problems. Chapter two begins my analysis of how Nietzsche works to treat the three forms of sickness identified in chapter one. I proceed by reconstructing an account of how to treat the first form of sickness, that of bad conscience, as well as the pervasive feelings of guilt and self- punishment that follow. Surveying several tentative ideas Nietzsche offers on how this problem might be addressed, I conclude by arguing that the path to a “good conscience” is paved via a kind of philosophical therapy, which aims to reorient how we look at guilt and failure, thereby initiating a psychic transformation. iii Chapter three turns to an examination of how to address the problem of suffering and meaninglessness, offering an account of how a person might learn to love life, despite what is strange, questionable, and terrible. I argue that with §334 of The Gay Science, Nietzsche offers a model of how a person might learn to love life. First, a person must work to understand life; then, through good will, patience, and openness to life, she becomes used to it; and finally, enchanted by life, she comes to love life for what it is. Chapter four turns to Nietzsche’s attempt to address the problem of enervation. The problem lies with a weakened will, which is attributed to the goal of eliminating suffering, as well as other values Nietzsche associates with modernity. The solution Nietzsche offers can be understood as an attempt to strengthen the will. Through his discussion of the will to power, which, following Reginster, can be understood as a will to overcome resistances, Nietzsche can be understood as advocating the need for appropriate forms of resistance and challenge in a person’s life. I conclude by examining what Nietzsche calls “the great health”, which he describes as “the ideal of a human, superhuman well-being” (GS 382). Health can be understood as the process whereby a person continuously works to eliminate the negative factors that undermine health. Nietzsche also recognizes a further process beyond mere health, which he calls “the great health.” This great health can be understood as the ongoing development of the positive elements of health. Among the notions that Nietzsche intimates are part of great health, I focus on four such elements: overflowing abundance, cheerfulness and laughter, living experimentally, and forgetting. iv To Elsie Grace Schaaf v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS That this project came to fruition after many years is due to the help of countless people. First and foremost, I owe William Schroeder many thanks, not only for his sharp critical eye, but also for sharing his deep understanding of Nietzsche, illuminating much I had not seen. I cannot thank him enough for steadfastly supporting and encouraging me when this project became repeatedly stuck in time. As I was revising the concluding chapter, I could finally see the fruits of having been continually pushed to become a better thinker. I must also thank the rest of my committee, Richard Schacht, whose understanding of Nietzsche is encyclopedic and awe-inspiring; David Sussman, whose critical questions never failed to make me reexamine what I was thinking; and Kirk Sanders, whose encouragement and friendship helped get me through the low points of my work. Additionally, I owe tremendous thanks to Paul Eisenberg at Indiana University, who, during the final month of my undergraduate studies taught Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morality; Paul’s lectures were riveting, eye-opening, and tremendously influential. To my fellow graduate students at Illinois: you were the bedrock of a stimulating and welcoming intellectual environment. I owe infinite thanks to Aaron Harper and Joe Swenson, two “Nietzschean friends”. Aaron read through the vast majority of the dissertation, offering invaluable commentary, criticism and encouragement. The discussions we had about Nietzsche were always deeply rewarding and never failed to improve what I had been trying to say, but frequently missed. At the same time, our many contests—on the basketball court, the track, the tennis court, or playing ping pong—were always welcome respite from our intellectual work. Similarly, the endless conversations about Nietzsche I had with Joe, whose philosophical acumen and attention to subtle nuances is second to none, always left me with a renewed sense of just vi how exciting a thinker Nietzsche was, and thus inspired me to return to Nietzsche’s writings with gusto. Then there is Uwe Plebuch, who may be an Übermensch in the flesh. His friendship and unassailable good heart continues to inspire. Additional thanks are due to Michael Scoville, Brendan Shea, Brandon Polite, Justin Remhof, Krista Thomason, Ty Fagan, Ingrid Albrecht, Steve Calderwood, and Todd Kukla. Others in the department—Scott Bartlett, Peggy Wells, Carla Vail, and Erin Tarr—were wonderful sources of assistance and friendship. Without them the department would come to a standstill. I would be remiss not to thank Christy Ann Foster, whose immense help as I prepared to defend was greatly appreciated. Finally, special thanks are due to my family, who not only offered infinite support, but never failed to put up with me when I was sullen and moody. My parents—Steve and Kathy— have always nourished my intellectual curiosity and provided an unwavering model of goodness. If one can speak of being infinitely indebted to others, then I am infinitely indebted to my parents. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM OF SICKNESS ………………………………………………..1 1.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….... .1 1.2 Preliminaries ………………………………………………………………………... 4 1.3 The Sickness of Bad Conscience ……………………………………………… ……11 1.4 The Sickness of Life Negation ………………………………………………………17 1.5 The Sickness of Enervation ………………………………………………………... 24 1.6 Whither Humanity? …………………………………………………………………30 CHAPTER 2: NIETZSCHE ON INNOCENCE, GOOD CONSCIENCE, AND RELATED MATTERS ………………………………………………………………………………………33 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….33 2.2 Preliminaries ………………………………………………………………………...36 2.3 Guilt in Nietzsche’s Writings ……………………………………………………….38 2.4 A Survey of Strategies ………………………………………………………………45 2.5 Philosophical Therapy ………………………………………………………………61 CHAPTER 3: LEARNING TO LOVE LIFE ………………………………………………….. 80 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………80 3.2 Learning About Life ………………………………………………………………...82 3.3 Patience, Good Will, and Openness to Life ………………………………………...99 3.4 Loving Life ………………………………………………………………………...103 3.5 Conclusion: A New Love of Life ………………………………………………….124 CHAPTER 4: THE WILL TO POWER, OVERCOMING RESISTANCES, AND THE VALUE OF SUFFERING ……………………………………………………………………………….133 4.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………...133 4.2 The Will to Power in Nietzsche’s Published Works ……………………………….135 4.3 Reginster and “The Will to Overcoming Resistance”…………………………….. 146 4.4 A New Understanding of Enervation; A New Prospect of Treatment ……………..151 4.5 The Therapy of Suffering and Resistance: Attempt at a Solution …………………157 CHAPTER 5: THE GREAT HEALTH ………………………………………………………..172 5.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………. 172 5.2 From Health to “The Great Health” ………………………………………………..173 5.3 “The Great Health” ………………………………………………………………...179 5.4 Elements of “The Great Health” …………………………………………………...187 5.5 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………200 viii BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………...209 [1] CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM OF SICKNESS 1.1 Introduction "What is it that I in particular find utterly unbearable?" Nietzsche asks. "That something deformed comes near me; that I should have to smell the entrails of a deformed soul!" (GM I.12). Nietzsche’s rhetoric may surprise us here. But as he continues, he expresses his basic worry: "the reduction and equalization of the European human conceals our greatest danger" (ibid). Nietzsche makes it