Episode 49: Out of Time: Nietzsche on History

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2019

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In his essay "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," Nietzsche attacks the notion that humans are totally determined by the historical forces that shape their physical and mental environment. Where other philosophers like Plato saw virtue in remembering eternal truths that earthly existence had wiped from our memories, Nietzsche extolled the virtues of forgetting, of becoming "untimely" and creating a zone where something new could arise. For Nietzsche, history was useful only if it served Life. Because we live in an age which constantly reifies history (through movies, news, social media, etc.) while also tricking us into thinking we somehow exist outside of history, the essay remains as relevant today as it was when Nietzsche wrote it a century and a half ago. REFERENCES Nietzsche, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations Epic Rap Battles of History: Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers Ernest Newman, Life of Wagner Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity Michael Foucault, "What is Englightenment?" Antinatalism Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility P. J. O’Rourke, American writer Richard Pryor, American comedian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Spectrevision Radio
0:02.0	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:24.1	For more episodes or to support the podcast, go to Weird Studies. This is J.F. Martel. In today's show, we're discussing Friedrich Nietzsche's on the uses and disadvantages of history for life, from the untimely meditations.
1:00.0	First published in 1874, the essay concerns the purpose of history,
1:05.0	history not just in the sense of the past per se, but also in the sense of how we study and think about the past.
1:12.7	Although Nietzsche accepts modernity's claim that we are all at bottom historical creatures,
1:18.0	he vehemently rejects the notion that history completely exhausts what we are,
1:22.7	and most importantly, that it necessarily determines what sort of beings we might become.
1:28.3	Putting history in the service of life means transmuting the past in an effort to create oneself,
1:33.8	to body forth something new, in Zarathistra's words, to give birth to a dancing star.
1:39.8	As we will see, for Nietzsche, this requires us to become untimely,
1:43.9	and it's in exploring
1:44.8	this notion of the untimely that our discussion will touch on the weird.
1:48.9	But before that happens, a quick note of appreciation for our Patreon Uber mention.
1:53.6	Thanks to you, and I'm delighted to say that there are over a hundred of you now, Phil and
1:57.6	I can invest more time and energy into doing our show.
2:00.7	In fact, our thanks goes to all the listeners who tune in regularly to listen to our rambles,
2:06.4	whether they're patrons or not.
2:08.2	If you're not, check out our Patreon page to find out the perks of becoming a patron,
2:13.2	and never hesitate to write us with your questions, ideas, and stories.
2:17.2	Our email address is admin at weirdst studies.com.
2:21.4	Okay, on with episode 49, out of time Nietzsche on history.
	...

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