Friedrich Nietzsche | The Birth of Tragedy (part 4 and end) | Existentialist Philosophy & Literature

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In this fourth and final video discussing Friedrich Nietzsche's early work, The Birth of Tragedy, we now turn to the present time -- or at least Nietzsche's present -- and discuss his diagnoses of modernity. We focus on how the optimistic Socratic-Alexandrian response and its will-to-knowledge is starting to crumble and waver, opening the path to a new resurgence of the Apollonian-Dionysiac tragic response.
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[@GregoryBSadler]

Glad you liked it. Well, I don't know anyone who knows all the philosophers -- there's just too many of them for that! But, Nietzsche is someone I very much liked as an undergrad and graduate student, and still continue to read and study even now

[@GregoryBSadler]

new video lecture in the ongoing Existentialism series, bringing the discussion of Neitzsche's classic early work to a close

[@Anekantavad]

A digression, but I am left wondering if Nietzsche ever read Flaubert's "Salammbo". In it, Flaubert attempts (more successfully than any other modern I am aware of) to actually portray a truly "pre-Socratic" society, and to do so in a way that places the reader in that particular mindset - often to the reader's discomfort. Flaubert said he wanted to portray decadence, but it strikes me that what he succeeded in actually doing is to make "the horror of existence" into a beautiful tragedy that we are only able to appreciate in the 21st century. No "plot" in the modern sense, no sympathetic characters, and no moral of the story. But a mass of powerful impressions that seem to come out of Heavy Metal magazine to produce a disturbing but unmistakable beauty. Great series. Thanks.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Anekantavad I couldn't say. It's not a work I know myself and there's not a lot of references to Flaubert in Nietzsche, so far as I've seen. It does sound like something worth reading though!

[@Anekantavad]

Gregory B. Sadler A great book, and - along with your videos - another reason I am thankful for my education in the ancient Classics. Familiarity with the ancient Greeks and Romans is invaluable in trying to understand "what we are". It seems that only as I get older and my vision expands that I realize our true debt to the Ancients. :-)

[@l337z0r]

Anekantavad I just ordered Salammbo after reading your recommendation! Do you have any related recommendations?

[@Anekantavad]

l337z0r Salammbo is AFAIK unique. The scholarship that must have gone into it is breathtaking, and depending on your translation, the prose is truly intoxicating. For all their reputation for being "absurdly" intellectual, the French are a very visual bunch, and this comes out in spades in Salammbo. Inasmuch as it is possible, Flaubert draws all of one's senses into the novel, not worrying too much about exaggerated imagery, and he definitely puts the reader into a deeply "alien" mindset - that is still accessible to us. I myself have spent years trying to find another like it, but such a thing may simply not exist. I don't know that people put that much effort into writing a single novel anymore, I am afraid. Enjoy :-)

[@GregoryBSadler]

Now I'll definitely have to check it out sometime later in the summer

[@newbygamer]

What an amazing series of lectures, and a fantastic resource for people like me, who have read some Nietzsche, but don't quite have the background knowledge needed to navigate Nietzsche's complex, referential philosophy to its fullest, which is so compelling.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks very much! It may be a bit before Beyond Good and Evil -- shooting a mix of Camus, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and perhaps Shestov in the next weeks. But I will be getting to it, and the Genealogy of Morals, before to long

[@nietzschescode]

Really good!! Can't wait to see the others from Nietzsche!! It is incredible: you know deeply ALL the philosophers!!! :D

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well.. . it helps when you only film on what you actually know! Chestov is a guy I came across in doing my work on the 1930s Christian philosophy debates -- hadn't heard of him, other than the reference by Camus in Myth of Sisyphus. I started looking into him, and was very pleasantly surprised. He's kind of fallen off the map. Rilke I loved for his poetry going way back -- but it makes sense seeing him as an existentialist -- kind of a loose, catchall philosophical category anyway

[@mononoke721]

As ever, I find your philosophy lectures highly stimulating, and this series was no exception. I read Birth of Tragedy just less than a year ago now, but watching/listening to these has inspired me to go back and re-read it. As a would-be artist, it had quite the impact on my creative thought process at the time, particularly in regards to the psychological and mythological resonance of Greek tragedy which, though I've yet to experience any myself firsthand (need to get on that) as presented in the book provided many sources of inspiration in Nietzsche's analysis of it. Still, after listening to these lectures and having had a year to absorb the books ideas even just subconsciously, a second more thorough reading is in order methinks, and maybe some Aeschylus and Euripides! If you have any recommendations for where to start, I'm all ears. Thanks again.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I think it is useful to read some of the Greek dramatic poets in conjunction with rereading the BoT

[@chris65536]

This is probably one of my favorite lecture series of yours. I had not expected it to be as interesting as I found it.

[@GregoryBSadler]

chris65536 It is a very interesting work, that's for certain. You might also like the stand-alone lecture I gave last year about the BoT kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZvSkoWAZa91bck

[@chris65536]

Gregory B. Sadler Thanks. I did like that and watched it several times already, as well as this video series several times too. Question: Is there an English translation of this work that you'd recommend?

[@GregoryBSadler]

Really, any of the ones readily available will do. Nietzsche's a tough guy to translate -- and I'm a bad person to ask about translations, since when something sounds off, I just go to the original. . .

[@GregoryBSadler]

I should mention as well that I plan, down the line, to offer a 4-5 week online course through the GCAS on the BoT

[@toomanydrugsinmysys5414]

why do you suppose that is?

[@Leggymolloy]

Nietzsche is fascinating and you make it even better. Eagerly awaiting Beyond Good and Evil :)

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, I haven't got it in the Camus materials in my library. So, I'd need to track it down . . ..

[@nietzschescode]

ya, but you know so many of them!! I know all the names of the philosophers you did, but many I had no idea really what was their philosophy of just knew them superficialy. was surprise to see Chestov and Rilke on your playlist!! I was happy about your videos on birth of the tragedy for it was deeply explained and it is the book from him I was the most ignorant.

[@nietzschescode]

But you have so many films! Really cool! Chestov I heard from him before, but I never read him. I am glad to know him better now. Ya, Rilke is very interesting. I appreciate to see him as a philospher as well as a poet now.

[@rlee24215]

A really great series of lectures on The Birth of Tragedy, they have been very helpful in my revision. Just from the perspective of a student, it would be very beneficial if you could give a slightly more specific indication of which parts of the book you are reading from at each point!

[@GregoryBSadler]

I do that at certain points -- but I'd hate to deprive anyone of the opportunity to track down the passages, read them in context, and engage with them. . . .

[@rlee24215]

Yes, this is what I would like to do! It's just when reading from cover to cover it is hard to remember each specific part said in these lectures. It would be great to be able to pick up the book where you are talking about specific points of interest and read around those.

[@radhikasunger4126]

I am currently working on Camus' speech on Tragedy (The future of tragedy). It would be very helpful if you could share your views on it.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Chestov is kind of hit or miss -- some of his stuff is brilliant, some of it, you read it and you ask yourself: why am I reading this instead of. . . .

[@philipmorise7970]

Why is this video not playing but all the others are?

[@GregoryBSadler]

No idea. I'm not tech support. KZbin gets glitchy sometimes

[@philipmorise7970]

It's more than a glitch.it plays up till 3:20 and then it stops. It's been like this all week; only lec4!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Plays fine for me. I suggest you take it up with KZbin

[@LeeFerikson]

why does this come off as so proto-communist? The socratic man requires a slave class that when they become self aware will avenge themselves on these contradictions?

[@GregoryBSadler]

Probably just your biases, I'd guess, since there's nothing proto-communist about Nietzsche. You do know, of course, that communism was already a well-established movement by Nietzsche's time. And slaves resisting masters has nothing necessarily communist about it.