March 8, 2005
Chapter 7 of his Nihilism (ie., vol. 4 of his Nietzsche) continues to comment on a particular passage in in The Will to Power. The passage is para 12 (A) in Bk I (European Nihilism). Nietzsche ends this paragraph thus:
'What has happened, at bottom? The feeling of valuelessness was reached with the realization that the overall character of existence may not be interpreted by means of the concept of "aim," the concept of "unity," or the concept of "truth." Existence has no goal or end; any comprehensive unity in the plurality of events is lacking: the character of existence is not "true," is false. One simply lacks any reason for convincing oneself that there is a true world. Briefly: the categories "aim," "unity," "being" which we used to project some value into the world--we pull out again; so the world looks valueless.' .
Commenting on this paragraph Heidegger says:
"Nihilism is obviously not a mere unobstrusive collapse of values in themselves somewhere at hand. Nihilism is our despositon of values that are at our disposal with respect to their being posited. By "us" and "we" , however, Nietzsche means the man of Western history...We ourselves, the contemporary representatives of Nietzsche's era, belong to those who are once again withdrawing values that were posited earlier. The deposition of values does not arise from a mere thirst for blind destruction and vain innovation. It arises from the need and necessity to give the world the meaning tht does not reduce it to a mere passage into the beyond."
Heidegger's chapter is entitled 'Nihilism and the History of Man', and Heidegger is explicating Nietzseche's interpretation of nihilism rather than confronting him.
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