Nietzsche's Greek pessimism
Date
Authors
Editor(s)
Advisor
Supervisor
Co-Advisor
Co-Supervisor
Instructor
BUIR Usage Stats
views
downloads
Citation Stats
Attention Stats
Series
Abstract
Despite his opposition to Schopenhauerian pessimism, Nietzsche repeatedly characterizes himself as a pessimist of sorts. Here I attempt to take this assertion seriously and offer an interpretation of in what sense Nietzsche can be called a pessimist. I suggest that Nietzsche's pessimism has to do not with life in general, but with life in its common form: such life is bad because it is characterized by meaningless suffering, and lacks aesthetic value. Against the Christian tradition, Nietzsche denies that there is a value inherent to life itself, and thinks instead, that value must be achieved, but rarely is. This form of pessimism is rooted in Nietzsche's engagement with the ancient Greeks, and bears important affinities to the thought of Burckhardt on Greek pessimism.