The ancient Chinese I Ching, the Book of Changes, and the philosophy of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) both assert that the universe exists in a state of change. The I Ching, originally a book of divination, illustrates the changing phenomena of the natural world in terms of sixty-four hexagrams, which are figures composed of six lines  yielding and firm lines, representing actual conditions and relationships existing in the world and caused by the interplay between two primordial forces, yin and yang. The I Ching shows that on the macro level the Tao works in the universe, in heaven and on earth, and on the micro level it applies to man. The I Ching teaches harmony with Tao and its power (natural law and moral law), so that its reader may take appropriate action in any given situation with reference to the hexagrams and their appended judgments as revealed by the oracle. Nietzsche, however, regards the world as the Will to Power, ‘a monster of energy’, like a storming and flooding ocean eternally changing, where harmony and order seems impossible. His mouthpiece, Zarathustra, who teaches the Übermensch, encourages a war-like attitude towards life. Zarathustra’s second metamorphosis of an evolving spirit, the warrior lion, marks the difference between the Nietzschean Übermensch and the Chinese sage who attains harmony and balance within and without, a mysterious union with heaven. Zarathustra’s third metamorphosis, a playing child, creates itself as its own ‘bridge’ through a process of self-overcoming, whereas the I Ching indicates order to be the ‘bridge’ over chaos, the order of the human world being expressed in the five cardinal relationships. Whereas the I Ching advises its reader to follow their own nature and fate in order to lead a harmonious moral life, Nietzsche’s Übermensch is ‘the annihilator of morality’ and paradoxically ‘the designation of a type of supreme achievement’ (EH Books 1). With his idea of the Übermensch, Nietzsche indicates that morality is a pose (BGE 216). He seeks to make us become aware that we should invent our own virtue and create our own way in order to become what we are. He criticizes Christian morality, calling himself ‘the first immoralist’. His shocking approach attempts to make us become aware of the possibility that a ‘noble morality’ and ‘higher moralities’ ought to be possible. His Übermensch represents such a higher mode of existence. Zarathustra also teaches the doctrine of eternal recurrence, implying that moment is eternity, changelessness within change. Multifarious manifestations are the expression of the Tao. Everything is interconnected and interdependent. Whereas ordinary men see the continuity of phenomena as real, enlightened beings are aware of the transitory and illusive nature of the self and all things. The Nietzschean Übermensch embodies the characteristics of an enlightened being, a Buddha or Bodhisattva in Buddhist terms, characteristics such as wisdom and compassion. Therefore, the practice of the Bodhisattva is explored as a feasible way for actualizing the Nietzschean hypothetical Übermensch. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Philosophy / unrestricted

Zugl.: Frankfurt, Main, Univ., Diss. / Literaturverz. S. 255 - 271

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:12:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EdrisiAF.pdf: 1541764 bytes, checksum: 57d0acc86cc8327693016d73a3335f0b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-09-29 / Through a careful examination of the relationship between Zoroastrianism and the Western tradition, and a detailed and critical reading of the writings of Nietzsche, this work aims at showing to what extent the character Zarathustra , his discourses and poetical-philosophical thoughts, and related passages from many distinct Nietzschean works, directly or undirectly reflect a philosophy that harvests contributions from the Zoroastrian tradition or its headways (in the Judeo-Greco-Christian tradition, and furthermore in the whole Western philosophical tradition). Supplied with this provisions, and with the interpretation cast upon them, Nietzschean philosophy questions the entire Western tradition of thought, and proposes its replacement by a new attitude towards life. This work also intends to show the way the Nietzschean Zarathustra was built up, in the writings of the German philosopher, together with the idea of making, out of the namesake character of the ancient Iranian prophet (Zarathushtra or Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism), the herald of that important text that intended to bring the German language to its highest perfection , clumping together, and leading to a prophetic-poetic climax consonant with the meaning of the Earth , Nietzsche s key ideas about the rectification of the most fatal of errors and about the death of God . An elaborate investigation has been pursued after the reasons and manners of the building up of Nietzsche s Zarathustra mirroring its Iranian namesake (sections 1.1 to 1.6), and a survey of the works of Nietzsche has suggested unquestionable relations with the Zoroastrian tradition, mostly through the Jewish, Greek or Christian repercussions of this tradition. These relations have been put in context, in many framings (sections 2.1 to 2.3.2), in the ambit of the most fatal of errors - the - creation of morals in the very occasion of its transposition to metaphysics (Ecce Homo, Why I am a destiny , 3). Through an evaluation of the possible circumstances and repercussions of the death of God , the relations between Nietzsche s writings and Zoroastrian tradition have been investigated (sections 3.1 to 3.7), allowing the understanding of this event as an essential component, and tragic outcome, of the rectification of the most fatal of errors / A partir de um atento exame das rela??es do Zoroastrismo com a tradi??o ocidental, bem como a partir de uma detalhada e cr?tica leitura da obra nietzscheana, este trabalho pretende mostrar o que o personagem Zaratustra , seus discursos e pensamentos po?tico-filos?ficos e passagens correlatas de diversas obras de Nietzsche, espelham enquanto representa??es de uma filosofia que colhe, direta ou indiretamente, contribui??es da tradi??o zoroastriana ou das suas deriva??es (na tradi??o judaico-greco-crist?, e ademais em toda a tradi??o filos?fica ocidental). Municiada com essas contribui??es, e com a interpreta??o que delas se faz, a filosofia nietzscheana questiona toda a tradi??o de pensamento do Ocidente, propondo a sua substitui??o por uma nova atitude diante da vida. Esse trabalho pretende mostrar tamb?m de que maneira a constitui??o do Zaratustra nietzscheano ganhou corpo, nos escritos do fil?sofo alem?o, junto com a id?ia de fazer, de um personagem hom?nimo do antigo profeta iraniano (Zaratustra ou Zoroastro, o fundador do Zoroastrismo), o arauto daquele importante texto que pretendeu levar a l?ngua alem? ? [sua] m?xima perfei??o , enfeixando e levando a um cl?max prof?tico-po?tico condizente com o sentido da Terra as id?ias-chave de Nietzsche sobre a corre??o do mais fatal dos erros e sobre a morte de Deus . Procedeu-se a uma minuciosa investiga??o de raz?es e modos de a constitui??o do Zaratustra nietzscheano ter se espelhado no seu hom?nimo iraniano (se??es 1.1 a 1.6), e um levantamento da obra nietzscheana sugeriu inquestion?veis rela??es com a tradi??o zoroastriana, no mais das vezes atrav?s das repercuss?es desta. Essas rela??es foram contextualizadas, em diversas inst?ncias (se??es 2.1 a 2.3.2), no ?mbito do mais fatal dos erros , a cria??o da moral na ocasi?o mesma de sua transposi??o para o plano metaf?sico (Ecce Homo, Por que sou um destino , 3). Mediante uma avalia??o das poss?veis circunst?ncias e repercuss?es da morte de Deus , as rela??es da obra nietzscheana com a tradi??o zoroastriana foram investigadas (se??es 3.1 a 3.7), permitindo a compreens?o desse acontecimento como componente essencial e tr?gico desenlace da corre??o do mais fatal dos erros

Le présent mémoire de maîtrise a pour but d'expliciter l'idée de Volonté de Puissance chez Friedrich Nietzsche. Pour ce faire, le livre Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra sera au centre de l'étude sur la Volonté de Puissance. Dans un premier temps, nous introduirons la notion du Surhomme. Ensuite, le lecteur sera amené à travers les différentes formes du nihilisme telles que développées dans le Zarathoustra. Ces trois formes du nihilisme sont : le nihilisme réactif de l'homme; le Dernier Homme; l'Homme Supérieur. La compréhension du nihilisme est très importante car il fait obstacle à l'accomplissement de la Volonté de Puissance, c'est-à-dire à vouloir la vie sincèrement. Enfin, après une maîtrise de l'idée du nihilisme, les notions d'Éternel Retour et de Volonté de Puissance seront expliquées.

Cette thèse veut réactualiser les Séminaires dirigés par C. G. Jung de 1935 à 1939 sur la lecture de l'œuvre maîtresse de Nietzsche, Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra. Nous présentons, comme élément préalable d'investigation, un examen des méthodes des deux auteurs concernés. Le lecteur sera à même de saisir à quel point il est opportun de prolonger dans la psychologie analytique de Jung le projet initié par Nietzsche, ce dernier admettant lui-même être guidé par l'investigation psychologique, si ce n'est avoir écrit le Zarathoustra sous la pression des archétypes. Notre recherche nous amène à réévaluer le projet réformateur de Nietzsche à la lumière de ce qui se présente au départ comme une projection de l'homme/Nietzsche dans la figure du dieu/Zarathoustra. Nous établissons dans quelle mesure le concept de spiritualisation devient plus fondamental que celui d'esthétique lorsqu'il s'agit d'interpréter le fond de l'intention philosophique de Nietzsche; puis nous voyons comment s'associe l'ensemble du système nietzschéen à la perspective jungienne du quaternion, ce qui révélera le rôle essentiel que joue le corps dans un ensemble qui veut dépasser une tradition philosophique dominée par l'idée chrétienne de trinité. Cette réflexion éclairera ce qu'il convient d'appeler la pensée la plus abyssale de Nietzsche, soit l'Éternel retour, dans la dynamique des manifestations de l'inconscient. Nous résumons l'essentiel des volumineux Séminaires et présentons, en annexe, un lexique des concepts philosophiques importants qui s'y trouvent ainsi qu'une description contextuelle des symboles utilisés par Nietzsche, travail essentiel d'investigation de Jung qui se laisse porter par cette "rivière de figures" qu'est le Zarathoustra. À travers la lecture de Nietzsche, nous découvrons certaines motivations obscures que peut cacher l'intention philosophique. Nous verrons en quoi l'essentiel du processus d'identification entre Nietzsche, Zarathoustra et le Surhomme fait état de la présence irrépressible de la figure du Vieil homme sage; et comment la recherche du "sens de la Terre", chez Nietzsche, intègre une dimension "numineuse" caractéristique qui rend si complexe l'idée de "dépassement de la métaphysique" et la tenue d'un discours moralisateur, entendu l'ambivalence de la psyché humaine, notamment en situation de crise.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:26:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Neomar Sandro Mignoni.pdf: 1075781 bytes, checksum: acf2238fa02707ae3bec0f64f7373bde (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This is an investigation of the role played by the character of Zarathustra in the context of the mature Nietzsche's work, especially with regard to noon and the great noon. Recognizing that the late period of Nietzsche's philosophy is marked by the affirmative proposal of a revaluation of all values, this study is dedicated to understand the journey crossed by the character in relation to the noon as the beginning of the character s task and the great noon as a celebration of the incorporation of the eternal recurrence of the same and the final consummation of the revaluation of all values. In light of this, the first section seeks to demonstrate the Nietzschean critique of Western culture, marked by nihilism and death of God such as it appears in the Twilight of the Idols under the heading How the 'true world' finally became the fable . Following this thought, we seek to understand the noon time while the total elimination of dualities and also the man's reconciliation with the nature. From this point the task of Zarathustra begins. Then, analyzing the works of the second period of Nietzsche's philosophy, the following section reconstructs the ground from which Zarathustra and the noon s philosophy develop themselves. This undertaking is intended to make known the character and his task from the context of the revaluation of all the values. Finally, in the third and final section, after accompanying the trajectory of Zarathustra along the prologue of the homonymous work to get the event of noon, the research follows the character in the path of his going under [Untergang], showing thus its incorporation of the eternal recurrence and the consolidation of the unconditional affirmation of the amor fati existence. When dealing with Zarathustra maturation, that allows him from towards the celebration of the great noon, this dissertation ends by calling attention to the role that the disciples of Zoroaster, while philosophers of the future, play in the realization of the revaluation of all the values. / Trata-se de uma investigação acerca do papel desempenhado pela personagem de Zaratustra no contexto da obra madura de Nietzsche, sobretudo no que se refere ao meio-dia e grande meio-dia. Por reconhecer que o período tardio da filosofia nietzschiana é marcado pela proposta afirmativa de uma transvaloração de todos os valores, o presente estudo dedica-se a compreender o itinerário percorrido pela personagem frente ao meio-dia enquanto início da tarefa da personagem e o grande meio-dia enquanto celebração que consuma sua incorporação do eterno retorno do mesmo e a efetivação definitiva da transvaloração de todos os valores. Em vista disso, a primeira seção busca evidenciar a crítica nietzschiana à cultura ocidental, marcada pelo niilismo e a morte de Deus tal qual ela se apresenta no Crepúsculo dos ídolos sob o título Como o mundo verdadeiro finalmente se tornou fábula . Frente a isso, procura compreender o meio-dia enquanto instante da total supressão das dualidades e da reconciliação do homem com a natureza a partir da qual se inicia a tarefa de Zaratustra. Em seguida, analisando as obras do segundo período da filosofia de Nietzsche, a seção seguinte reconstrói o solo a partir do qual Zaratustra e a filosofia do meio-dia se desenvolvem. Tal empreendimento destina-se a tornar conhecida a personagem e sua tarefa a partir do contexto da transvaloração de todo os valores. Por fim, na terceira e última seção, depois de acompanhar a trajetória de Zaratustra ao longo do prólogo da obra homônima até chegar o evento do meio-dia, a investigação segue a personagem no trajeto de seu ocaso, evidenciando assim, sua incorporação do eterno retorno e a consolidação da incondicional afirmação da existência no amor fati. Ao tratar de seu amadurecimento, o que permite a Zaratustra partir em direção à celebração do grande meio-dia, a dissertação se encerra chamando a atenção para o papel que os discípulos de Zaratustra, enquanto filósofos do futuro, desempenham na efetivação da transvaloração de todo os valores.

Silser See, Engadin (1927) est un paysage qui fait partie des œuvres les moins connues de Gabriele Münter. La marginalisation de ce tableau dans le corpus de l’artiste s’explique d’une part par le fait que celui-ci est toujours resté à l’intérieur du cercle restreint des collections privées, et d’autre part, du fait qu’il s’inscrit dans une phase peu productive de Münter. Cette phase correspond aux années 1920-1930, soit une décennie durant laquelle la production de Münter se trouve grandement affectée par les nombreux bouleversements que la Première Guerre mondiale entraîne dans sa vie personnelle et artistique. Le but de ce mémoire est de réfléchir la signification Silser See, Engadin pour Münter et de démontrer comment ce tableau s’intègre dans le dénouement de la crise qu’elle connait en 1920-1930. Pour ce faire, j’explore d’abord les différents événements qui ont défini le développement artistique et personnel de Münter. J’approfondis ensuite l’importance du paysage dans son œuvre en étudiant son rapport à la nature et à Murnau. Puis, je m’intéresse au genius loci de Sils-Maria et à l’influence de Friedrich Nietzsche sur Münter. En tenant compte de l’ensemble de ces éléments, j’analyse finalement les différents symboles contenus dans Silser See, Engadin et démontre comment Münter s’est appropriée les composantes du paysage de Sils-Maria pour exprimer sa renaissance après une longue période de crise. Ce mémoire s’inscrit dans un désir de contribuer à la réflexion sur l’importance de la nature et des lieux dans l’épanouissement de l’être humain. / Silser See, Engadin (1927) is a landscape painting that is among the least known works of Gabriele Münter. The marginalization of this painting in her corpus can be explained on one hand by the fact that it has always remained within the restricted circle of private collections, and on the other, by the fact that Silser See, Engadin is part of a less productive phase of Münter’s work, which has so far received little interest from art historians. This phase corresponds to the years 1920-1930, a decade during which Münter’s production was greatly affected by the many upheavals that the First World War brought about in her artistic and personal life. This thesis argues for the importance of Silser See, Engadin for Münter, and demonstrates how this painting fits into the resolution of the crisis she went through during that decade. To do so, I first explore the various events that defined her artistic and personal development. I then establish the importance of landscape in Münter’s work by examining her relationship to nature and Murnau. Next, I study the genius loci of Sils-Maria and the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche on Münter. Taking all these elements into account, I finally analyze the different symbols contained in Silser See, Engadin and demonstrate how Münter transformed the components of the Sils-Maria landscape to express her rebirth after a long period of crisis. This thesis invites the reader to consider the importance of nature and places in relation to the development of the human being.

This thesis addresses the role of the birth complex in Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy and in Richard Wagner’s operas. I see the birth complex as characterised by a dialectical relation between flesh and light, which is itself polarised by the tension between desire and anxiety. A structural determinant of the human relation to the world, this complex in my argument is of special importance for understanding the roles given to and assumed by women. Wagner gave the birth complex its first comprehensive elaboration through his operas. This, I contend, is the aspect of Wagner’s work that Nietzsche in his writings particularly reacted to through the ambivalent fascination it awakened in him. I argue that, even after Nietzsche’s break from Wagner, the birth complex remains central in his philosophy. The primary reference I build on here is Otto Rank’s theory of birth trauma, as set out in Das Trauma der Geburt (1924). To me, Rank’s theorisation of the trauma of birth is a translation into psychoanalytic language of Nietzsche’s philosophy, which itself arose with a translation into philosophical language of Wagner’s operas. In this thesis I build especially on Rank’s formulation of the tension between desire and anxiety and on his suggestions concerning the causes of the undoing of women. However, Rank did not take into account what I contend is a key aspect of both Nietzsche’s and Wagner’s work: the role of light in its dialectical relation with the flesh. By flesh I mean the interiority of the mother’s body and, by extension, the human body insofar as it is conceived through its relation to the maternal body. In the first main section of my PhD, I propose a theoretical understanding of the birth complex through an analysis of Nietzsche’s philosophy. I start with his writings pro and contra Wagner, showing that what Nietzsche primarily sees in Wagner’s operas is the birth complex. I then go on to argue that Nietzsche’s philosophy of life and of creativity is an exploration of the ways in which birth could be overcome. The second main section of my PhD is dedicated to Wagner, with largely text-based readings of three operas. I first discuss the extent to which death in Der fliegende Holländer and in the Freudian conception of the death drive is a mask for birth. I then tackle Tristan und Isolde and its famous celebration of night and death, in order to investigate whether love can be reduced to the birth complex. The last chapter of this section presents a close analysis of Das Rheingold and especially of its first scene and of Wagner’s indications on lighting. In a third and shorter section, I show that Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s and Richard Strauss’s Elektra pursued and reviewed this fundamental preoccupation of Nietzsche’s and Wagner’s work in proposing a further formulation of the birth complex that incorporates the scene of matricide. Finally, as a coda to the thesis, I explore the extent to which the uses of stage lighting pioneered by Adolphe Appia have been coming to terms with the birth complex.

In the first chapter of my doctoral thesis, entitled The Political Implications of Nietzsche's Perspectivism, I argue that due to conflicting passages present throughout his oeuvre, Nietzsche is best understood as a twofold metaphysical sceptic. That is, a sceptic about the existence of the external world, and consequently, as a sceptic about such a world's correspondence to our perspectives. Nietzsche presents a threefold conceptualization of 'nihilism' and a twofold one of the 'will to power.' Neutral nihilism is humanity's inescapable condition of having no non-humanly created meanings and values. This state can be interpreted positively as an opportunity to create one's own meanings and values, or negatively as a terrifying incentive to return to dogmatism. The will to power is life before and as it becomes life, the unqualified will to power, and all the realities in it, the qualifiable will to power. The combination of these ontological concepts brings me to my second chapter and to the determination of Nietzsche's general epistemology: perspectivism. Perspectivism is an admittedly created, ontologically derived interpretation of knowledge, which both entails and goes beyond relativism. Nietzsche's perspectivism is constructed to support any norm that allows for univocal evaluations, not just Nietzsche's. Moreover, it can be derived from any ontology that conceptualizes life as a unit of growth and decay and human beings as creators of all their perspectives. These two elastic concepts allow me to propose, in my third chapter, that, although his texts disavow an all-inclusive democracy in favour of a new spiritual aristocracy, on the one hand, the proper political implications of perspectivism allow for democracy, while on the other hand, Nietzsche can be read as disapproving of an all inclusive or representative democracy, yet as approving of the direct democracy that arises naturally among elite peers.