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?

No comments: