This paper argues that Nietzsche's anti-egalitarianism depends on equivocation between conceptions of power as quantitative superiority and qualitative feeling (das Machtgefiihl) and between associated conceptions of equality as similarity (die Ahnlichkeit) and opposition or resistance (der Widerstand). Nietzsche's key argu ments against equality fail when applied to the qualitative form of power, since the feeling of power does not directly correlate with quantitative ability and requires rela tively equal or proportional resistance. Consequently, Nietzsche's commitment to the promotion of humanity's highest individuals does not entail the rejection of moral egalitarianism in every form and even supports a pluralistic egalitarianism that pro motes equality understood not as similarity but as multiple, proportional resistances (die Veilheit, die Widerstande). K eywords Egalitarianism -Equality -Morality -Power -Political Theory -ResistanceDonovan Miyasaki is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He specializes in 19th and 20th century European philosophy and value theory, with a focus on Nietzsche, Heidegger, and critical theory. His current research focuses on the politi cal implications of Nietzsche's critiques of free will and moral agency. A bstract© KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2015 |
Notes and FragmentsMorality aNd art: tHE CaSE oF HUCK FiNN by donovan Miyasaki i n the following essay, i argue that in the case of some works of art, moral evaluation should not play a role in artistic appraisal. While i will reject the strong ethicist's view-the view that moral evaluation may inform the artistic evaluation of any artwork-i will not do so in favor of the aestheticist's position. the aestheticist argues for a rigid distinction between the moral and aesthetic evaluation of an artwork. on this view, the moral status of the work is independent of and irrelevant to artistic value. this view would allow us, for example, to evaluate leni reifenstahl's film The Triumph of the Will as a superior work of cinematic art, while at the same time condemning it on moral grounds. 1 rather than support a strict separation of aesthetic and moral elements in an artwork, i will suggest that in the case of certain types of artwork, it is inappropriate to use moral criteria in their artistic evaluation-even though the work's moral content contributes to its artistic value. this is the case in artworks that (1) are "interrogative" in form and (2) have moral dilemmas as their principal theme.Briefly put, an interrogative artwork is one that poses a question or problem that remains unresolved in the work. i will begin by explaining in more detail what i mean by an interrogative artwork. Using the example of duchamp's "ready-made" sculpture Fountain, i will argue that it is inappropriate to artistically evaluate such works by appeal to criteria that they themselves call into question. i will then turn to the specific issue of morally interrogative artworks. i will consider Mark
This paper argues that although Nietzsche's rejection of free will leaves no room for a morally substantial, compatibilist conception of freedom of agency, freedom nevertheless plays an important role in his positive moral philosophy, since Nietzsche's higher human types are characterized by a heightened feeling of freedom—a qualitative affect without deeper substance. Moreover, because the feeling of freedom is increased by resistance, it requires a limitation of practical freedom—a relative constraint of ability, strength, and activity rather than their absolute promotion. Nietzsche's higher types are, if anything, less free than others. Consequently, his criterion for human enhancement cannot be that of quantitatively greater freedom, power, or agency. Rather, it is measured according to the intensity of an individual's feelings of freedom, agency and power, and of the love of fate that the illusory feeling of freedom promotes.
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