asceticism

holiness

one-liner

confucius say

philosophy

is a good thing as long as it is honest, that is, as long as it does not deceive itself (as it does for the ascetic priest) by resting on some kind of metaphysical idea that suffering now will result pleasure in some otherworldly life.

The question, then, is not whether Nietzsche is against asceticism but rather what sort of asceticism he opposes. I take it that Nietzsche's asceticism should have at least three qualities. First, it must be honest: 'All my reverence to the ascetic ideal,' Nietzsche writes, 'as long as it is honest!' (GM III:26... KSA 5:407). As he goes on to say, an 'honest' asceticism is one that actually 'believes in itself and does not present us with a facade of clownery.' But I take it there is likely another sense in which Nietzsche means that it is 'honest,' the sense of not making extravagant claims (such as 'justifying' suffering) and so not being self-deceptive. We could say that Nietzsche's 'sacrifice' here is giving up notions of metaphysical comfort such as the 'True World' and 'Morality.'

is a rejection of embodiment... originating in such doctrines as augustine's original sin, it paints the world as fallen and seeks to transcend the world through mortification of the flesh or in (as in the story of Jesus) death.

For Nietzsche, asceticism is a rejection of embodiment... originating in such doctrines as Augustine's Original Sin, it paints the world as fallen and seeks to transcend the world through mortification of the flesh or in (as in the story of Jesus) death.

is able to provide the means for enhancing one's actual life and for affirming it more strongly. It is produced by a desire and a tendency, perhaps even a compulsion, to engage in what one is best suited for, regardless of the consequences: It is the product and expression of the will to power... its meaning is the will to power.

It is not clear whether Nietzsche believes that any of the great philosophers has consciously seen asceticism in this light. If not, then priestly asceticism must have been more than a 'caterpillar form' of philosophy. But the point remains that in such cases the 'meaning' of ascetic ideals is that they secure for some people the best life they can achieve. Asceticism can therefore provide the means for enhancing one's actual life and for coming to be able, in Nietzsche's words, to affirm it more strongly. It is produced by a desire and a tendency, perhaps even a compulsion, to engage in what one is best suited for, regardless of the consequences: it is the product and expression of the will to power... its meaning is the will to power.

is affirmative of life in the extreme when it is expressive of the desire to transform being not by escape into the otherworldly but by inserting oneself ever more deeply into the crevices of time and fissures in space.

For Nietzsche, asceticism is affirmative of life in the extreme indeed, the ''motor' of reactive forces' when it is expressive of the desire to transform being not by fleeing into the atemporal, supersensible, noumenal world but by inserting oneself ever more deeply into the crevices of time and fissures in space.

is an attempt to suppress all feeling and even the ego as an antidote to the melancholy and inferiority that plague the weak by distracting the mind and filling the day with activity.

If they succeed in imposing their ideas on the powerful, their weakness becomes a strength, for they are the guides, the masters of self-denial. For Nietzsche, asceticism is an antidote to the melancholy and inferiority that plague the weak. The ascetic wishes to suppress all feeling, to suppress the ego everything that for him is a source of frustration. of frustration. All the techniques for repressing the ego, the interminable series of absurd religious prescriptions, are meant to distract the mind and to fill the day with activity. They are, for Nietzsche, so many efforts to deny the feeling of depression gnawing at the weak. But the dull and oppressive pain does not let go of those beset by it. More powerful remedies are needed. The 'ascetic priest'-a sort of mythic inventor of asceticism offers the suffering patient a radical solution: the reason for his suffering is not his inability to get what he wants. It is not his weakness but his moral inadequacy that is to blame. His suffering is a punishment. There is finally an explanation for suffering, an explanation one can suffer with. 'Sins' and flaws are extraordinarily addictive forces. But the remedy, Nietzsche maintains, is worse than the illness.

According to Nietzsche, asceticism is an expression of degenerate life.

is an instinct which the most noble, the strongest among men have felt : It is a fact, it must be taken into account if the value of life is to be appreciated.

Asceticism is an instinct which the most noble, the strongest among men have felt : it is a fact, it must be taken into account if the value of life is to be appreciated.

is grounded in looking for and finding satisfaction in failure, decay, pain, misfortune, ugliness, voluntary deprivation, destruction of selfhood, self-flagellation and self-sacrifice.

What Nietzsche calls the ascetic ideal. 'Satisfaction is looked for and found in failure, decay, pain, misfortune, ugliness, voluntary deprivation, destruction of selfhood, self-flagellation and self-sacrifice' (OGM, III: 11).

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