Category: Personal

being “me”

What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life?

Beside living?! Reading serious philosophy. Not following the crowd and wanting to be acceptable to a group. Looking inside rather than outside for “me”. Or, simply, being truly me without self-censoring and dumbing down for other people. Not being arrogant about it but letting go of the need to be liked for “not being me”.

keep going anyway …

However, this criticism of “Nietzsche and many other philosophers” is based on a misunderstanding of what Nietzsche and these many other philosophers were focused on in their analyses of nihilism, for it was precisely our ability to “carry on” that concerned Nietzsche and those who followed in his wake. Such philosophers did not think that nihilism was a statement of fact about reality, something about which one made truth claims. Rather nihilism was seen as a reaction to reality. Discovering life is meaningless is not nihilism for Nietzsche; rather discovering life is meaningless and yet going on with our lives anyway is nihilism. What Tartaglia views as the way to respond to nihilism—to stop being bored or anxious and just reimmerse ourselves in our daily lives—is precisely what Nietzsche meant by nihilism. In other words, what Nietzsche wants us to overcome is not what Tartaglia means by “nihilism” but rather what Tartaglia means by “life.”

Gertz, Nolen. Nihilism

Gast

If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?

Can I change the prompt to a historical person who may be considered to be on the periphery?! And I am not saying this person was perfect but rather this particular person was “close to” someone famous.

Can you read my handwriting? I am writing like a pig.

Letter to Franz Overbeck, 24th March 1883

I would like to switch with Peter Gast (born Heinrich Köselitz). He was a friend of Nietzsche who created the pseudonym ‘Peter Gast’ for Köselitz. Nietzsche’s hand writing, due to his failing eyesight, was extremely hard to read. Gast was one of the few people who could read it and transcribe it. Yes, he may have edited some but it would be so interesting to be able to read Nietzsche in the original original. A return to the sources.


Ted

Have you ever liked a villain more than the hero? Who and why?

I like anti-heros in TV shows and movies, like Tony Soprano. But they are actually the main actor who happens to be engaged in things that we consider to be “bad”. Like Walter White or Dexter. All good characters but they are not villains in the TV show kind of way. They are the main character in a dark show.

My favourite villain, and I acknowledge that what he did was wrong, is Ted Kaczynski. He lived alone in the woods which is a big tick from me. He may have been made a villain from outside, another tick. And he had a purpose to his madness! All good reasons. If he were alive, I doubt I would like him as a person – he sounded a little (ok, a lot) weird. But his fear of technology, and the effect on humanity, seems more reasonable every day.

Shapes

What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

A little while ago, maybe 25 years or so, I read Gregory Dix’s The Shape of the Liturgy. Huge book, very heavy. Completely too big to read “on the road”. Yes, I think I finished it. An interesting take which has had lots of influence. So there …

answers

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

I cannot recall ever giving advice to anyone. But if I were speaking to someone right now, this would be it:

There are no institutional answers to an individual’s problem.

Tbh, I think answers are highly overrated (and always extremely contextual).