with suffering. The Birth of Tragedy demonstrates the utility of art in a
broader manner through demonstrating how audiences of true tragedy
can also be relieved of their suffering in a communal environment.
Even though the two are separate works, I would argue that The
Genealogy of Morals significantly strengthens the overall argument
for the utility of art because it addresses the issue of the artist and his
relationship to his art. This is because the artist’s relation to suffering is
more important, since he is the one who is providing the means for others
in a communal environment to relive their own suffering. If the artist
could not overcome asceticism or realise the utility of the artistic process
to relieve his suffering, then he might not see the point in creating art
and then considering the resulting lack of art, other non-artists would
be deprived of what Nietzsche argues is the best tool for handling
suffering. Such importance can also be granted to The Genealogy of
Morals account since the suffering that manifests within the art that has
the potential to benefit many, is the suffering that originally came from
the artist. Therefore, it is in the general interest that we understand the
process of alleviation of this suffering from the artist’s perspective since
it is the pre-condition for the art and inevitably the means of alleviating
others’ suffering.
References
Nietzsche, F. (2016) The Genealogy of Morals The Complete Works, Volume
Thirteen, edited by Dr. Oscar Levy. 13th ed. [ebook] Translated by Levy, O.
Project Gutenberg.
Scruton, R. (2014). Nietzsche on Wagner. 1st ed. [ebook] Oxford: Oxford
Scholarship Online
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