Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 10:33:45 -0800
From: "John T. Duryea" <jtduryea-AT-dmv.com>
Subject: Re: Spinoza background?


Kelly Timothy Lynch wrote:
> 
> On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, John T. Duryea wrote:
> 
> > Let's try again. You asserted that Spinoza was on the right
> > track with his idea of self-preservation. Prove it. How does
> > self preservation lead to will to power? I don't think it
> > does, I think it is a fundamentally different (not better, not
> > worse, but different) world outlook.
> >
> > And to think I'm the one who gets all the grief for not
> > being responsive...!
> 
> I am not comfortable with throwing out remarks at a
> quick pace, and, as I've said several times, I really
> do not have much time to spare, particularly during
> the week.  Any exchange with me must be patient.  For
> example, I began drafting something I called "Remarks
> on reading Nietzsche, using BGE #197 as an example",
> or something like that, obviously connected with
> your citation of BGE #197, but it is becoming too
> big, it is turning into something of an essay, and
> I don't know if I will actually finish it or it
> will ever see the light of day here.
> Anyway..., as I believe I said in an earlier post,
> there is no path from "self-preservation" to
> "will to power", and this is not the point (of
> my little paper).  Judging by your reaction,
> there may be something a bit misleading in the
> way I formulated things (in my little paper).
> I'll try to take a stab at explaining things
> again more clearly.  We'll see.  In the meantime
> be patient, stay civil, be less dogmatic.
> 
> PS. Have you looked for a Spengler list?
> 
>      Kelly Timothy Lynch     ||    "Dei potentia est
>        ktlynch-AT-vex.net       ||  ipsa ipsius essentia."
>    Toronto, Ontario, Canada  ||         Spinoza
> 
>         --- from list nietzsche-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

I love the way you switch from addressing me directly in
one post and in the next referring to me in the third person.

"The noble human being honours in himself the man of power,
also the man who has power over himself, who understands how
to speak and how to keep silent, who enjoys practising severity
and harshness upon himself and feels reverence for all that is
severe and harsh. 'A hard heart has Wotan set in my breast', it
says in an old Scandinavian saga: a just expression coming from
the soul of a proud Viking. A man of this type is actually
proud that he is not made for pity: which is why the hero of the
saga adds as a warning: 'he whose heart is not hard in youth will
never have a hard heart'.  BGE 259

Thought the above might help you along. BGE represents the
pinnacle of Nietzsches mature thought. In his earlier works,
if one is so inclined, one who has 'sympathy and a warm heart'
can misinterpret enough of Nietzsche so as to deceive ones
self into believing one has found a similar spirit.

Spengler, however, is of a spirit with Nietzsche and takes
Nietzsche's insight and along with  his own creative insight
provides an interesting sequel to Nietzsche's thought in my
opinion. Both men, unlike Spinoza, provide a powerful guide
for the creative transition to Imperium.

As to your original assertion about Spinoza being "on the right
track" with his "self-preservation" (which went to the very
heart of your paper) I consider it now to be shown false.
Moreover, I consider it to be shown that Nietzsche considered
Spinoza's world outlook from Nietzsche's perspective to be false.

Regards,

      ---John T. Duryea


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