Monday, August 11, 2008

Being and Becoming

The pre-Socratics nearly universally believed in the unchanging, constancy of the world and its objects. Plato idealized this belief by positing the idea of the 'forms,' or the other-worldly, spiritually perfected versions of the earths objects and ideas. From the other extreme came Heraclitus's position that the world was in a state of continuous flux where objects retained no permanency and no absolutes existed. Nietzsche took a median on this idea, as far as one could possibly be conceptualized.

Nietzsche posited that there were two forces at work here, the Apollonian and the Dionysian, the former referring to the Greek god of order and stability, the latter the god of wine and ecstasy. These forces are constantly at work in an individual, the Apollonian driving the individual to find a 'self' or being, and the Dionysian moving the individual to find newness and to experiment with unknown aspects of oneself.

The Will to Power is essentially the Will to Being. To carve a place in the ever expanding universe for one's being to occupy. Apolliniansm is needed to give ones power physical form in a world of ceaselessly unending change. A creative spirit without this Apollinian ability would be like a Michelangelo without hands.

The force that enables one to create new 'sculptures' is the Dionysian. His power urges one to seek new horizons; the stronger he is in an individual, the more restless he will be. While the Dionysian is the force of creation, it is also the force of destruction. No matter how strong the Apollinian in a man, his image fades and strength decays. Only the creative force can counter the force of decay. Degeneracy triumphs eventually; the only way it is stopped: physical annihilation. Eventually a clean slate for creation is needed.

Consciousnesses is mental Apollianism; unconsciousnesses mental Dionysianism. Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious. Conceptualize the world as a river. Each individual a drop. The river flows as it wills, yet each drop resists this flow. Every individual, as a conscious being, resists the flow of the collective. Most are washed away, some will stick to the bank and watch as the mass goes by, but every now an accumulated resistance manages to the change the whole direction. Perfection exists when a man's Dionysian and Apollinian elements are balanced in such a way as to give maximum 'free will' to both at once. One who's overcoming reaches these heights not only can cause a new flow but decide how the new map will be drawn.

The Creator is the the Destroyer. The Destroyer is the Sculptor. The Sculptor, the Creator.

The Apollinian and Dionysian are to physics Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy. The greater the possibility of one, the greater possible other.

Dionysianism rises. Kinetic Energy without direction. One must take this overwhelmingly powerful force, pause, jump. A new Potential comes into frution, the greatest ever conceived. Or could it really be that the upwards path is not found, and we are driven six feet under?

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Nihilism

When realizing the implications of the Death of God, a thinker who grasps this idea to its fullest extent is overcome by a profound sense of Nihilism, or the idea that one's life and actions are valueless. The reason for this is the arbitrary source of Christian values, the purely contrived God.

With this realization, one becomes aware of the Abyss. This Abyss, which is an often used phrased in Zarathustra, is a metaphor for the truth that at bottom life is devoid of meaning, and all that one does has no discernable point of reference.

Values are constructions, and there are different types of values. Gods are figures that valuers claim to be somehow above this abyss. One can derive one's values from them. Idols are the statues that seem to stretch down into the Abyss, but their is no bottom to this Abyss, so what holds them up? The hands of God! But with the death of God, these idols have no base and collapse. One can no longer defer to these idols as valuations of life.

One then asks how one can find meaning without idols? The answer lies in earthly values. These values come from man, and Nietzsche hopes one day Overman. Nietzsche sees potential in the Death of God, believing that the era has potential to reverse the Slave Rebellion in Morals. The Christian Idols were rooted in life-denying values, and Nietzsche urges man to become a tightrope walker in order to reestablish life-affirming values as the dominant system of valuation. The man who takes this walk faces jeering from crowds and the Joker, the Active Nihilist who seeks to stop the walker out of hatred for those who try to find value. The Ubermensch is the being fit for succeeding in this monstrous task.

An overmanly aspirer must first experience full-fledged Nihilism; yearning for non-entity, the utmost desire for self-annihilation. Without this experience, one does not have deep enough roots for a Revaluation of all values. There are two types of reactions to this feeling, one becomes either a Passive Nihilist or an Active Nihilist, both paths leading ultimately to self-destruction. The realization of absurdity leads one to withdrawal or destruction. The Passive Nihilist represents a being with collapsed spiritual strength and he . He either adopts life-denying values of preservation or commits suicide. The enhanced spiritual strength of the Active Nihilist leads him to destruction of the world around him. He either adopts life-affirming values of preservation, he is killed, or the whole world is destroyed.

The basis of all creation is destruction. Up to now, man has devised all sorts of ways to try to escape Nihilism. As such, we are willing our own suicide. Would you have man return to Ape?
What is now needed is a higher species to bring back faith in man. Many of the herd will resist this creation; the bungled and botched cannot survive a revaluation. Well then...