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Read Nietzsche's The Use and Abuse of History (Part 2): Nietzsche as a Sharp and Sensitive Method

Dec 22, 2020

Hello! It's Readependence Day! Today we continue to read Nietzsche's The Use and Abuse of History.

Click here to listen on Substack . You can also find "Reading Day" on general listening platforms such as Apple podcast and Spotify .

In the last episode, we chatted about what it was like to read Nietzsche for the first time, and the impact Nietzsche had on our youth. Then briefly introduced the main content of this little book and what is the correct way to open it. This is a book that focuses on life rather than history itself, a guide to life for young people. Nietzsche talked about three kinds of history: commemorative history, nostalgic history and critical history, and we analyzed the harm caused by the abuse of history in these three kinds of history respectively. Finally, we talked about how the discourse of scientism has become a major tool of power in the abuse of history.

So in this episode, we will continue to discuss the specific harm of the abuse of history dominated by the discourse of scientism: how it destroys the personality of youth, how it prevents the possibility of an individual's true maturity and development, how does it prevent The healthy growth of a nation has caused the younger generation to generally fall into a mood of disgust, indifference and irony. Nietzsche proposed the education and life of the ancient Greeks as a shining example to solve this problem, and then put forward his own "genius theory". We will talk in detail, what does Mr. Lu Xun, one of Nietzsche's followers, think of this kind of genius theory? How should we view this genius theory today?

Timeline of important topics:

02:20 - History abused by scientism: History is not real history, but a knowledge of history. Modern man thinks he can understand everything.
04:37 - An example reflecting the split between knowledge and life
07:52 - Worst thing: 'objectivity' and 'dry words' are the best
09:30 - The abuse of history is harming youth through the education system
12:30 - The so-called "sense of history": loss of feeling for things, no longer happy
14:50 - Thus, youth feel bored and apathetic
17:30 - Three solutions proposed by Nietzsche
19:42 - The fundamental problem of the modern education system
21:40 - Nietzsche's famous "The View of Genius", Schopenhauer's "Republic of Genius"
26:10 - How should we view Nietzsche's "genius" - to whom is Nietzsche talking?
28:10 - Why did Lu Xun embrace and abandon Nietzsche's "genius concept"?
33:00 - "Know yourself."

You will hear these wonderful things

The knowledge and concepts of life in the inner world, rather than the needs of each person's real life, have become the guidelines that guide people's every move. Modern people think they can understand everything in the world, and rely on this arrogant knowledge system to conquer the world, and this is what our lives are all about.

As Nietzsche said, there are many people who are engaged in philosophy, but "no one dares to thoroughly practice the laws of philosophy, and no one lives with that single-minded and strong belief in philosophy. . . ."

To hide their lack of moral sensibilities and individuality, they insisted loudly that "everything that does not inspire emotion is praised, and the most dry words are the right words."

Modern countries allow every young person to receive the same historical and cultural education at a fast pace, and instill this knowledge into them as the only truth in the world. into the endless wheel of earning a living and contributing to the national interest.

Yes, we are starting to get tired of even this modern boredom.

This is why Nietzsche has been emphasizing the initiative of the individual to face history, emphasizing the enthusiasm to live, practice, struggle, and legislate for oneself, while maintaining a high degree of power over groups, states and institutions. Be vigilant and critical.

We can't imagine a world without Nietzsche, just like we can't imagine a world without Dream of Red Mansions, Van Gogh, Kant, and Lu Xun, although none of them can create wealth for us, and no one can really change the world , but the world without them is really not worth living in.

What he left us is not so much a conclusion as a method . We should never trust people who go around selling conclusions.

music

Sidewalk Strut , written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed

Stone Cold , written, performed, and produced by Andrew Stanton

The Chapel of Love , written by Markus Huber, performed and produced by Tide Electric

While other humanities articles and year-end essays will follow, this is the last podcast for 2020. We'll meet again on January 4th and we'll send you a preview of the show ahead of time as usual. Very happy to meet you as a friend in 2020, thank you for your trust!

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