the early notebooks
summer 1872 - early 73
19.28
The great ancient philosophers belong to the Hellenic life in general: after Socrates sects develop. Gradually the reins of science slip out of the hands of philosophy.
In the Middle Ages theology takes over the reins of science: now a dangerous period of emancipation.
The general welfare again wants restraint and thereby at the same time elevation and concentration.
The laisser-aller of all our science resembles certain dogmas of political economy: people believe in an absolutely beneficial outcome.
In a certain sense Kant also had a harmful influence: for the belief in metaphysics was lost. Nobody will be able to count on his 'thing-in-itself' as if it were a restraining principle.
Now we understand the remarkable phenomenon of Schopenhauer: he collects all the elements that are still of use in controlling science. He arrives at the most profound primal problems of ethics and art; he raises the question of the value of existence.
The marvelous unity of Wagner and Schopenhauer! They are rooted in the same drive. With them the most profound qualities of the Germanic mind arm themselves for battle: just as it was with the Greeks. The return of Besonnenheit.
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