Date: Sat, 4 Nov 1995 09:10:14 -0600 (CST)
From: Erik D Lindberg <edl-AT-csd.uwm.edu>
Subject: Re: Nietzsche as Existentialist (was masks)


On Fri, 3 Nov 1995, Malcolm MoncriefSpittle wrote:

> 
> The task of the ubermensch is to be true to his essential nature, rather
> than a false nature imposed by society. "Become the being you are". Hence
> the motif of solitude throughout Nietzsche's works - solitude for getting
> in touch with one's self.
> 

I think you miss the irony of this statement.  Being is made into a 
process of becoming, not a recovery of a lost essence.  Nietzsche 
believed that "authenticity" (or whatever, perhaps the 
avoidance of INauthenticity) was achieved through constant 
self-overcoming, which makes Nietzsche's relation to the true-self or 
essential nature quite tricky.  Yes we are to be true to ourselves in 
some sense of the word, but this is a created, even fictional, truth--one 
that is realized in its creation.

Erik

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Erik D. Lindberg
Dept. of English and Comparative Lit.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI  53211
email: edl-AT-csd.uwm.edu



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