To be a noble and free spirit

When Nietzsche categorizes art he splits it into that which is monological and that which is created before a witness. He includes God in this second category because the creator is using God as a witness for his art. One thing that can automatically be cut out of the discussion when looking at Nietzsche’s own writing practice is that he does not write with God as a witness. Nietzsche believes that the only thing that is undeniably true is one’s existence. He believes that everything else can not be proven without a doubt, and therefore there is no point in trying to find meaning to this world. I believe this belief of Nietzsche is solid evidence that he is not writing with God as a witness, seeing as he clearly doubts the existence of God. Now the split that Nietzsche’s writing faces is whether it is written with the world in mind, or is the world forgotten in his writing? The first impression that Nietzsche’s writing gives was that he practiced the latter, writing only for himself, but that only comes from the beginning of Nietzsche’s ideas. Nietzsche believes that it is better to be a “free and noble spirit” than to be part of a herd. He believes that when someone becomes part of the herd, he or she is brought down to the lowest common denominator, restraining his or her private sphere of life. This does promote “forgetting” the big picture, or the world, and living only in the private sphere of life but it is not the end of his writing. When Nietzsche talks about being free vs. being part of the herd he does not promote the benefit of this freedom as much as he dislikes the restraints that the herd brings. The conclusion that Nietzsche comes to is that one only becomes noble and free from absorbing the rules of society and advancing above society. In this way society, or the herd, is a witness of what Nietzsche wants to happen. He wants people to rise above the “herd” by absorbing the rules of the herd into their own personal beliefs. When someone has no need for his private self, because one’s private self is the same as one’s public self, one truly is a noble and free spirit. I believe that Nietzsche needed a witness to exist so he could justify that he was free. Even though Nietzsche believes that the only thing that is doubtlessly true is one’s own existence, the writing of Nietzsche we have focused on focus on what he thinks of one’s existence related to others. This makes me believe that Nietzsche thought that although the existence of others can be doubted, it is necessary for their existence in order for him to label himself as free, as well as it is necessary for the others to witness his freedom in order for him to believe that he is above the herd and is noble and free.

My writing is also “before a witness” because one of my beliefs is that meaning in life comes from making changes for the better in the public sphere. When change is made in the public sphere it is meaningful because it affects others and it lasts longer. When you do something that is larger than just you it makes your life meaningful.