"The Twilight of the Idols"
Nietzsche followed "The Genealogy of Morals" with "The Case of Wagner,"
that famous pamphlet in which he excoriated the creator of Parsifal.
Immediately after the publication of this attack, he began work on
what was to be still another preparatory book for "The Will to Power."
For its title he first chose "Idle Hours of a Psychologist." The book,
a brief one, was already on the presses when he changed the caption
to _"Götzendämmerung"_--"The Twilight of the Idols"--a titular
parody on Wagner's _"Götterdämmerung"_ For a subtitle he appended a
characteristically Nietzschean phrase--"How to Philosophise with the
Hammer." The writing of this work was done with great rapidity: it was
accomplished in but a few days during August, 1888. In September it
was sent to the publisher, but during its printing Nietzsche added a
chapter headed "What the Germans Lack," and several aphorisms to the
section called "Skirmishes in a War with the Age." In January, 1889,
the book appeared.
Nietzsche was then stricken with his fatal illness, and this was the
last book of his to appear during his lifetime. "The Antichrist" was
already finished, having been written in the fall of 1888 immediately
after the completion of "The Twilight of the Idols." _"Ecce Homo"_
his autobiography, was written in October, 1888; and during December
Nietzsche again gave his attention to Wagner, drafting "Nietzsche
_contra_ Wagner," a pamphlet made up entirely of excerpts from his
earlier writings. This work, intended to supplement "The Case of
Wagner," was not published until 1895, although it had been printed
and corrected before the author's final breakdown. "The Antichrist"
appeared at the same time as this second Wagner document, while _"Ecce
Homo"_ was withheld from publication until 1908. "The Twilight of the
Idols" sold 9,000 copies, but Nietzsche's mind was too clouded to
know or care that at last he was coming into his own, that the public
which had denied him so long had finally begun to open its eyes to his
greatness.
In many ways "The Twilight of the Idols" is one of Nietzsche's most
brilliant books. Being more compact, it consequently possesses a
greater degree of precision and clarity than is found in his more
analytical writings. It is not, however, a treatise to which one may
go without considerable preparation. With the exception of "Thus
Spake Zarathustra," it demands more on the part of the reader than
any of Nietzsche's other books. It is, for the most part, composed
of conclusions and comments which grow directly out of the laborious
ethical research of his preceding volumes, and presupposes in the
student an enormous amount of reading, not only of Nietzsche's own
writings but of philosophical works in general. But once equipped with
this preparation, one will find more of contemporary interest in it
than in the closely organised books such as "Beyond Good and Evil"
and "The Genealogy of Morals." There are few points in Nietzsche's
philosophy not found here. For a compact expression of his entire
teaching I know of no better book to which one might turn. Nietzsche
himself, to judge from a passage in his _"Ecce Homo"_ intended this
book as a statement of his whole ethical system. He probably meant
that it should present _in toto_ the principal data of his foregoing
studies, in order that the reader might be familiar with all the steps
in his philosophy before setting forth upon the formidable doctrines
of "The Will to Power." Obviously, therefore, it is not a book for
beginners. Being expositional rather than argumentative, it is open
to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. It contains apparent
contradictions which might confuse the student who has not followed
Nietzsche in the successive points which led to his conclusions, and
who is unfamiliar with the exact definitions attached to certain words
relating to human conduct.
Other qualities of a misleading nature are to be encountered in this
book. Many of the paragraphs have about them an air of mere cleverness,
although in reality they embody profound concepts. The reader ignorant
of the inner seriousness of Nietzsche will accept these passages only
at their surface value. Of the forty-four short epigrams which comprise
the opening chapter, I have appended but three, for fear they would be
judged solely by their superficial characteristics. Many of the other
aphorisms throughout the book lend themselves all too easily to the
same narrow judgment.
Again, "The Problem of Socrates," the second division of the book,
because of its profundity, presents many difficulties to the unprepared
student. Here is a criticism of the Socratic ideals which requires,
in order that it be intelligently grasped, not only a wide general
knowledge, but also a specific training in the uprooting of prejudices
and of traditional ethical conceptions--such a training as can be
acquired only by a close study of Nietzsche's own destructive works.
The explanation of Socrates's power, the condemnation of that ancient
philosopher's subtle glorification of the _canaille,_ the reasons
for his secret fascination, and the interpretation of his whole
mental progress culminating in his death--all this is profound and
categorical criticism which has its roots in the very fundamentals of
Nietzsche's philosophy. But because it is so deep-rooted, it therefore
presents a wide and all-inclusive vista of that philosophy from which
it stems. Furthermore, this criticism of Socrates poses a specific
problem which can be answered only by resorting to the doctrines which
underlie Nietzsche's entire thought. In like manner the chapter,
"Reason in Philosophy," is understandable only in the light of those
investigations set forth in "Beyond Good and Evil."
Under the caption, "The Four Great Errors," Nietzsche uproots a series
of correlated beliefs which have the accumulated impetus of centuries
of acceptance behind them. These "errors," as stated, are (1) the
error of the confusion of cause and effect, (2) the error of false
causality, (3) the error of imaginary causes, and (4) the error of
free will. The eradication of these errors is necessary for a complete
acceptance of Nietzsche's philosophy. But unless one is familiar with
the vast amount of criticism which has led up to the present discussion
of them, one will experience difficulty in following the subtly drawn
arguments and analogies presented against them. To demonstrate briefly
the specific application of the first error, namely: the confusion of
cause and effect, I offer an analogy stated in the passage. We know
that Christian morality teaches us that a people perish through vice
and luxury--that is to say, that these two conditions are _causes_ of
racial degeneration. Nietzsche's contention to the contrary is that
when a nation is approaching physiological degeneration, vice and
luxury result in the guise of stimuli adopted by exhausted natures.
By this it can be seen how the Christian conscience is developed by
a misunderstanding of causes; and it can also be seen how this error
may affect the very foundation on which morality is built. I am here
stating merely the conclusion: for the reasons leading up to this
conclusion one must go to the book direct.
Nietzsche denies the embodiment of the motive of an action in the
"inner facts of consciousness" where, so we have been taught by
psychologists and physicists, the responsibilities of conduct are
contained. The will itself, he argues, is not a motivating force;
rather is it an effect of other deeper causes. This is what he
discusses in his paragraphs dealing with the second error of false
causality. In his criticism of the third error relating to imaginary
causes, he points to the comfort we obtain by attributing a certain
unexplained fact to a familiar cause--by tracing it to a commonplace
source--thereby doing away with its seeming mystery. Thus ordinary
maladies or afflictions, or, to carry the case into moral regions,
misfortunes and unaccountable strokes of fate, are explained by finding
trite and plausible reasons for their existence. As a consequence
the habit of postulating causes becomes a fixed mental habit. In the
great majority of cases, and especially in the domain of morality and
religion, the causes are false, inasmuch as the operation of finding
them depends on the mental characteristics of the searcher. The error
of free will Nietzsche attributes to the theologians' attempt to make
mankind responsible for its acts and therefore amenable to punishment.
I have been able to present his own words in explanation of this
error, and they will be found at the end of this chapter--41-42 and 43.
In "Skirmishes in a War with the Age," the longest section in the
book, Nietzsche gives us much brilliant and incisive criticism of men,
art and human attributes. He is here at his best, both in clarity of
mind and in his manner of expression. This passage, one of the last
things to come from his pen, contains the full ripeness of his nature,
and is a portion of his work which no student can afford to overlook.
It contains the whole of the Nietzschean philosophy applied to the
conditions of his age. Because it is not a direct voicing of his
doctrines it does not lend itself to mutilation except where it touches
on principles of conduct and abstract aspects of morality. Many of the
most widely read passages of all of Nietzsche's work are contained in
it. But here again, as in the case of "Thus Spake Zarathustra," one
regrets that the surface brilliance of its style attracted readers in
England and America before these nations were acquainted with the books
which came before. The casual reader, unfamiliar with the principles
underlying Nietzsche's ethic, will see only a bold and satanic
flippancy in his definition of Zola--"the love of stinking," or in his
characterisation of George Sand as "the cow with plenty of beautiful
milk," or in his bracketing of "tea-grocers, Christians, cows, women,
Englishmen and other democrats." Yet it is significant that Nietzsche
did not venture upon these remarks until he had the great bulk of his
life's work behind him.
In this chapter are discussions of Renan, Sainte-Beuve, George Eliot,
George Sand, Emerson, Carlyle, Darwin, Schopenhauer, Goethe and other
famous men and women. In the short essays devoted to these writers
we have, however, more than mere detached valuations. Beneath all the
criticisms is a _rationale_ of judgment based on definite philosophical
doctrines. This same basis of appreciation is present in the discussion
of art and artists, to which subjects many pages are devoted. In fact,
"The Twilight of the Idols" contains most of the art theories and
æsthetic doctrines which Nietzsche advanced. He defines the psychology
of the artist, and draws the line between the two concepts, Apollonian
and Dionysian, as applied to art. He analyses the meaning of beauty
and ugliness, and endeavours to show in what manner the conceptions of
these qualities are related to the racial instincts. He also inquires
into the doctrine of _"l'art pour l'art"_ and points out wherein it
fails in its purpose. A valuable explanation of "genius" is put forth
in the theory that the accumulative power of generations breaks forth
in the great men of a nation, and that these great men mark the end of
an age, as in the case of the Renaissance.
The most significant brief essay in this section is an answer made
to certain critics who, in reviewing "Beyond Good and Evil," claimed
a superiority for the present age over the older civilisations.
Nietzsche calls this essay "Have We Become Moral?" and proceeds to make
comparisons of contemporaneous virtues with those of the ancients.
He denies that to-day, without our decrepit humanitarianism and our
doctrines of weakness, we would be able to withstand, either nervously
or muscularly, the conditions that prevailed during the Renaissance.
He points out that our morals are those of senility, and that we
have deteriorated, physically as well as mentally, as a result of
an adherence to a code of morality invented to meet the needs of a
weak and impoverished people. Our virtues, he says, are determined
and stimulated by our weakness, so that we have come to admire the
moralities of the slave, the most prominent among which is the doctrine
of equality. In the decline of all the positive forces of life
Nietzsche sees only racial decadence. In this regard it is important
to take note of one of the passages relative to the discussion of this
decadence, namely: the one wherein he characterises the anarchist as
"the mouthpiece of the decaying strata of society." The appellation of
"anarchist" has not infrequently been applied to Nietzsche himself by
those who have read him superficially or whose acquaintance with him
has been the result of distorted hearsay. I know of no better analysis
of anarchistic motives or of no keener dissection of anarchistic
weakness than is set forth here. Nor do I know of any better answer to
those critics who have accused Nietzsche of anarchy, than the criticism
contained in this passage.
In a final chapter, under the caption of "Things I Owe to the
Ancients," Nietzsche outlines the inspirational source of many of his
doctrines and literary habits. This chapter is important only to the
student who wishes to go to the remoter influences in Nietzsche's
writings, and for that reason I have omitted from the following
excerpts any quotation from it.