It is in the third essay of The Genealogy of Morals that we can find what
I argue to be Nietzsche’s strongest and clearest arguments for the utility
of art against suffering. The focal point of this essay is questioning the
meaning of ascetic ideals that varies between different types of people.
Asceticism is the act of voluntarily suffering under the belief that such
suffering will benefit a person to such an extent that the suffering is
worth it. A clearer example of what an ascetic ideal is can be seen when
Nietzsche questions ‘what does it mean if an artist like Richard Wagner
pays homage to chastity in his old age?’ (p.69). The implication here is
that Wagner is adhering to the ascetic ideal of chastity i.e. voluntarily
suffering in abstinence from sexual activity under the false supposition
that such sacrifice will increase one’s heavenly reward.
The ascetic ideal is integral to the function of many religions such as
Christianity, in fact Nietzsche views it as representing their ‘faith, their
best instrument of power and also the ‘ultimate’ sanction of their power’
(p.68). What he means by this is discussed with focus on what he calls
the ‘priestly cast’ or the ‘sick’, who represent those who subscribe to a
religious world view. ‘Sick’ in this instance relates to bad conscience; the
state of ‘man’s sickness of man, of himself’ (p.57). Relating to the ideal
of chastity, man denies such a pleasure like sexual gratification and in
doing so becomes sick as a result of denying his true will. The priests,
who are sickly themselves, maintain power over the other sickly people
by reliving their suffering but not the actual cause of the suffering. The
Priests offer the idea of God as being the only one capable of relieving
such suffering, thus exploiting human guilt. More suffering is therefore
welcomed since the sick equate it with increased heavenly reward in the
next life. Without the ascetic ideal the priests would not possess such
dominance over the sickly (p.17).
Nietzsche also turns his attention to philosophers and how they interact
with ascetic ideals. He notices a trend in philosophers in that they tended
to avoid marriage in order to prevent distraction from philosophical
inquiry, a form of their own asceticism. The philosopher embraces ascetic
ideals because he sees ‘an optimum condition of the highest and boldest
intellectuality’ (p.77). However, they do not think about asceticism from
a position of personal disinterestedness. They use ascetic ideals as a
means towards maximising their feeling of power over others (p.80).
They do not utilise the ascetic ideal for the benefit of others or to relieve
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