Explain Nietzsche’s concepts of the Apollonian, the Dionysian, and the principium individuationis. What role do they play in Nietzsche’s analysis of Greek tragic art, and how does that art allow us to affirm life, despite all its suffering?
Nietzsche presents a critical, but nuanced view of the value of pity. Briefly, what is his view of pity? What’s problematic about having pity for others, and is it always a bad thing, in Nietzsche’s view? In what sense might pity be good in small doses?
Nietzsche argues that “even the most hurtful man is still perhaps, in respect to the conservation of the race, the most useful of all” (p. 23). What does he mean by this? How do those we deem “evil” actually advance humanity? Compare this with his view that the “ignoble” always consider their self-interest, and cannot understand the “noble” tendency to neglect self-interest. Is this designation of the “noble” and “ignoble” compatible with his claims about the value of “the most hurtful man”?