H appy N ew Y ear Hey, and if youre really bored, read this: David Hume, as underscored by Robert Solomons account, gives a truly benevolent olive branch to nonphilosophy when he says that, though we may not know whether the idea of color exists in the mind or in the objects we perceive, this distinction makes absolutely no difference in the case of people who are trying to decorate their apartment. The supplemental point Solomon adds is that, where Nietzsche has clearly no interest in analyzing where the idea of color resides, he picks up exactly where Hume left off with regard to the aforementioned olive branch. The reason this pair of thoughts strikes me as of particular relevance is not in terms of Nietzsches relation to Hume, but in the formers relation to Kant. I had always identified Schopenhauer as the cardinal figure (not the best choice of words, perhaps) in opposition to Kants categorical imperative; but I now see that this opposition was also very central to the span of Nietzsches career. The salient point in question is one of categories. This idea of color is uniquely situated, as framed by Humes statement, to show the perennial way in which human beings can and do fall victim to their own categories. My initial aversion to the forcefulness of Nietzsches rhetoric in general stems from a feeling one might get that he felt encumbered - and was destined to become so - by the too-generic quality of the home-grown categories he fashioned throughout his works, such as applying the will to power to the entire stretch of Judeo-Christian history. I am still in the process of questioning the validity of his final pronouncement on the categorical imperative (if there can be said to be such a thing): questioning in the sense that he ultimately put too much focus on the imperative side, and not on the categorical. [For cosmetic purposes I should mention that the will to power is a notoriously uncharacteristic way to describe the content of Nietzsches philosophical activity; Solomon bears this out well.] https://youtube/watch?v=8tYXhBS5Ds8
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 18:36:28 +0000
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