
The Nietzsche Podcast Birth of Tragedy #1: Attempt At Self-Criticism/Preface to Wagner
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Aug 16, 2022 AI Snips
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Tragedy’s Musical, Ritual Origin
- Nietzsche sees tragedy as originating from musical, ritual forms like the Dionysian dithyramb and chorus, not from later rational drama.
- That musical origin ties tragedy to communal religious ecstasy rather than to individual philosophical pessimism.
Pessimism Can Be Vital
- Nietzsche asks whether pessimism can be a sign of strength rather than decline and links it to overflowing health and fullness of life.
- He introduces the idea of a 'pessimism of strength' that seeks the hard and terrible from vitality, not weakness.
Socrates As Symptom, Not Cure
- Socratism (theoretical, moralistic optimism) is linked to decline and life-weariness in Nietzsche's reading of Greek culture.
- Science and rational optimism may be a last resort or ruse against deeper existential pessimism.
