{"id":5973,"date":"2017-02-10T04:10:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T04:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5973"},"modified":"2017-02-22T02:55:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T02:55:14","slug":"that-which-does-not-kill-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5973","title":{"rendered":"“That which doesn’t kill me…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A portrait of philosopher\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche<\/a>, by artist\u00a0Edvard Munch<\/a>\u00a0– of whom more later…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

\"Bizarro-statue-620\"As noted at the end of the last post,*\u00a0my next<\/em> <\/strong>post was supposed to be on the idea of a “Bizarro Trump.\u201d (An idea based in part on the Bizarro Jerry<\/a>\u00a0and in turn\u00a0the Bizarro<\/a> Superman<\/a>, one interpretation of which is seen at left.) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But the project is turning out to be more complicated than I thought. \u00a0That’s mostly because it’s becoming increasingly difficult these days to tell which version of “the Donald<\/a>” is more weird: Bizarro Trump or the real thing. \u00a0 So here’s a kind of\u00a0stopgap post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The theme for this post is that no matter how bad our current political situation may seem now, we will<\/em> <\/strong>get through it. \u00a0And more than that, we’re going to come out stronger. \u00a0Or as\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche<\/a>\u00a0put it in\u00a0Twilight of the Idols<\/a><\/em>: \u00a0“What does not kill me, makes me stronger<\/em><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

And incidentally, the alternate title was “How to Philosophize with a Hammer.”<\/p>\n

\"WillAnd speaking of philosophizing with a hammer: \u00a0Nietzsche’s phrase got some notoriety back in 1977. \u00a0That’s when\u00a0G. Gordon Liddy<\/a>\u00a0was released from prison for his role in the Watergate scandal<\/a>. \u00a0And when<\/em> he was released he quoted the phrase to reporters. \u00a0But he quoted it In the original German – “Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich st\u00e4rker” – <\/i>which of course caused those reporters to scramble for a translation.<\/p>\n

In turn it should be noted that in the movie version of Liddy’s life – as seen at right – the phrase was translated, “What doesn’t destroy me, makes me stronger.” \u00a0See\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche \u2013 Wikiquote<\/a>. (Which included another timely quote: “Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.” \u00a0Depending – I suppose – on which party is in power…)<\/em><\/p>\n

And now for some background: \u00a0Nietzsche<\/a>\u00a0(1844-1900) was a “German\u00a0philosopher<\/a>,\u00a0cultural critic<\/a>,\u00a0poet<\/a>,\u00a0philologist<\/a>, and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on\u00a0Western philosophy<\/a>\u00a0and modern intellectual history.”<\/p>\n

\n

But unfortunately,\u00a0Nietzsche’s work came into disrepute after it became indelibly associated with\u00a0Fascism<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nazism<\/a>. \u00a0 Put another way, his “growing prominence suffered a severe setback when his works became closely associated with\u00a0Adolf Hitler<\/a>\u00a0and the Third Reich.”<\/p>\n

\"Nietzsche187a.jpg\"That is, one key to understanding – or misunderstanding – Nietzsche was his concept of the\u00a0\u00dcbermensch<\/b><\/i>. \u00a0In English the term is often translated as “Superman,” but it’s also translated as\u00a0Overman<\/em>, Superhuman, Hyperman, <\/em>or Hyperhuman. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Ironically, some scholars have seen the term as referring to a person “willing to risk all for the sake of enhancement of humanity.”* \u00a0Which of course would be a good<\/em><\/strong> thing. \u00a0But somewhere along the line the idea got\u00a0bastardized<\/a>\u00a0– by other Germans and at a later time – for pure political gain:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The term \u00dcbermensch was utilized frequently by Hitler<\/a> and the Nazi<\/a> regime to describe their idea of a biologically superior Aryan<\/a> or Germanic master race [and]\u00a0became a philosophical foundation for the National Socialist ideas… \u00a0The Nazi notion of the master race<\/a> also spawned the idea of “inferior humans” (Untermenschen<\/a><\/i>) which could be dominated and enslaved; \u00a0[however] this term does not originate with Nietzsche. \u00a0Nietzsche himself was critical of both antisemitism and German nationalism<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See\u00a0\u00dcbermensch – Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0But there are of course differing points of view.<\/p>\n

For example,\u00a0What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Weaker | Psychology Today<\/a>, which noted the irony that Nietzsche’s own life was ” rather short and miserable.” \u00a0(So much for his being a “Superman.”) \u00a0<\/em>Or\u00a0“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Really<\/a>?:<\/p>\n

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” \u00a0Nietzsche, history’s greatest angsty teenage boy, blithely asserted this whopper of an untruth in his 1888 book “Twilight of the Idols<\/em>…” [But] Nietzsche’s struggle with Syphilis at the end of his life did not make him stronger. \u00a0It weakened his body and mind, to the degree that his work was later able to be twisted into Nazi propaganda.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, we’re not talking about individuals here. \u00a0We’re talking about\u00a0We the People<\/a>, the ongoing, undying American entity\u00a0that survived a bloody Civil War, a Great Depression and two World Wars. \u00a0And after each catastrophe, we as<\/em><\/strong> a people came out stronger.<\/p>\n

\n

And so it will be with our current political situation. \u00a0In the meantime there’s this note: \u00a0The famous\u00a0artist\u00a0Edvard Munch<\/a>\u00a0did the portrait of\u00a0Nietzsche shown at the top of the page. \u00a0But he was also famous as the artist\u00a0who painted\u00a0“The Scream<\/a>,” shown below.<\/p>\n

Which pretty much sums up how I feel these days, when surveying the current political scene.<\/p>\n

(Or after a round-and-round conversation with<\/em>\u00a0“Mi Dulce,” but <\/i>that’s a whole ‘nother story…*)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Scream<\/a>, by Edvard Munch<\/a>, 1906.<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche – Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0The caption: \u00a0“Portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche by Edvard Munch<\/a>, 1906.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNote\u201d also that an asterisk in the main text indicates a statement supported by a reference detailed further in this \u201cnotes\u201d section. \u00a0Thus, as to the last post, see\u00a0<\/em>Obama was \u201cour president\u201d too<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: \u00a0“Willing to risk all for the sake of enhancement of humanity.” \u00a0See “Nietzsche’s idea of [an] overman [Ubermensch] and life from his point of view<\/a>.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Re: “Mi Dulce.” \u00a0See\u00a0\u2018Mi Dulce\u2019 \u2013 and Donald Trump \u2013 made me a Contrarian<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Edvard Munch – Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0See also\u00a0The Scream – Wikipedia<\/a>, which noted that\u00a0 the title was “given to each of four versions of a composition, created as both paintings<\/a> and pastels<\/a>, by Norwegian Expressionist<\/a> artist Edvard Munch<\/a> between 1893 and 1910.” \u00a0One critic described the work(s) as\u00a0“an icon of modern art, a Mona Lisa<\/a><\/i> for our time.” \u00a0The article further noted that Munch did five versions, two in 1893, two in 1895 and one in 1910. \u00a0The most recognizable version is said to be the 1893 “oil<\/a>, tempera<\/a> and pastel on cardboard,” and is currently located at the National Gallery<\/a> in Oslo<\/a>, Norway.<\/em><\/p>\n

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A portrait of philosopher\u00a0Friedrich Nietzsche, by artist\u00a0Edvard Munch\u00a0– of whom more later… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * As noted at the end of the last post,*\u00a0my next post was supposed to be on the idea of a “Bizarro Trump.\u201d (An idea based in part on the Bizarro Jerry\u00a0and in turn\u00a0the Bizarro Superman, one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5973"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5973"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6054,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5973\/revisions\/6054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}