Chapter 4 4. Aesthetic life

Nietzsche pointed out again and again about the main purpose of life, which is to create a purely aesthetic evaluation of life. Aesthetic value is the only value recognized in the book. The "God".He also clearly pointed out that the aesthetic evaluation of life is fundamentally opposed to the religious, moral and scientific evaluation of life.Nietzsche later proposed "revaluation of all values". In fact, the idea of ​​"revaluation" was already contained in his early aesthetic theory.At that time he declared: "Everything we call culture, education, and civilization today will one day be brought before the just judge Dionysus." Later he pointed out: "Our religion, morality, and philosophy are decadent forms of man. The opposite movement: art." It can be seen that the standard of "revaluation" is art in a broad sense, and its essence is to oppose the ethical and utilitarian (scientific) attitudes to life with an aesthetic attitude towards life.

Reassess all values, and focus on criticizing Christian morality. The aesthetic attitude towards life is first of all an unethical attitude towards life.Life itself is immoral, and all things belong to the "whole" of nature that is eternally generated, and there is no good or evil at all.Christianity makes an ethical evaluation of life and regards the instinct of life as sin, which results in widespread guilt and self-repression.Aesthetic life requires us to get rid of this sense of guilt, transcend good and evil, and enjoy the freedom of the soul and the joy of life. Secondly, the aesthetic attitude towards life is a non-scientific and non-utilitarian attitude towards life.The essence of scientific spirit is utilitarianism, which aims at the multiplication of human material interests, floats on the surface of life, and avoids the fundamental problems of life.Nietzsche believes that the scientific spirit is a kind of shallow optimism, which avoids seeing the tragic face of life, so it is the opposite of the tragic worldview.The consequence of the vicious development of the scientific spirit is that modern people lose their foundation in life, their souls are empty, they are homeless, and they are in constant fear.

Nietzsche does not deny the role of morality and science in practical human affairs, what he opposes is using them to guide life.There is no metaphysical basis for life, science deliberately avoids this, morality attempts to pretend to be this kind of basis, and the result is to deny life.Therefore, if you must find a metaphysical basis for your life, it is better to choose art.The aesthetic meaning is the best meaning one can get in life. For a period of time, Nietzsche was influenced by positivism and showed a tendency to promote science and suppress art.In fact, before and after this period, Nietzsche was always skeptical about whether art could give fundamental meaning to life.He talks repeatedly about art being a "lie," that poets lie too much, and that he's tired of poets.But the question is, "How can I bear being a man if man is not also a poet, a riddler, a savior of chance!" So he has to turn to art.The subtext of the Apollonian spirit is: Even if life is a dream, we should have this dream with gusto, so as not to lose the charm and fun of the dream.The subtext of the spirit of Dionysus is: Even if life is a tragedy, we must act out this tragedy vividly, so as not to lose the magnificence and comfort of the tragedy.This is the true meaning of the aesthetic life attitude advocated by Nietzsche.