Asceticism According to Nietzsche

Abstract

Although it seems that the philosophy of Nietzsche is an anti-ascetical even anti-moral one prima facie, it is well worth it to make a distinction between the ideal of asceticism and positive piety on the one hand, and a third kind of asceticism in his works, on the other, just on the basis of his assertion on the various ways of sublimation and purification. First and foremost, he rejects the notion of asceticism which results in suspending the process of speculation, will, and innate quality. Then he praises the mirthful ethics of the ancient times where the submissive intellect and the sublimated instinct operate together appropriately. Nonetheless, he points to a third kind of asceticism implicitly: a kind of austerity in the realm of thinking and philosophizing. Thanks to this kind of austerity, a pure thinker, according to Nieztsche, traverses a falsehood atmosphere based on the ideal of asceticism and eventually reaches a more comprehensive perspective with its own characteristics.