TS__Eliot t1_j29teo0 wrote
I think Paradise Lost and Lord Byron’s Cain present nice counterpoints to one another. Also, Kierkegaard’s Either/Or (especially Diary of a Deceiver) and Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra were the the first that came to mind, but these works aren’t so much two sides of a coin as they are two separate, winding paths to the same spot.
chortlingabacus t1_j2b1ifz wrote
Don't suppose you'd say a bit more about latter comparison--? A long time since I read Kierkegaard & not read Nietzsche since uni so memory first brings forth theological difference between them and then the marked dissimilarity in writing style which makes in retrospect any similarities less apparent. Cheers.
TS__Eliot t1_j2ba3q5 wrote
In short, their philosophies are both centred on the primacy of the individual agent, who determines his life trajectory via his own imposition of his own will onto the world around him. They’re both the grandfathers of existentialism, though Nietzsche’s approach predominates among the French and Kierkegaard among Heidegger and his phenomenologist “spiritual predecessors” though more recently (ie in the last 40 years or so) the French existialist-absurdist and the German Husserlian-Heideggerian streams have, to a great extent, recombined.
chortlingabacus t1_j2d738b wrote
Very interesting; thank you for taking the time to post this. SK's influence on existentialism was apparent to me but not Nietzche's. Now I'm half-considering starting the new year by having another look at Unscientific Postscript (though if I'm going to go with something worthy, suspect I might be sidetracked by S. Weil further down the shelf).--Always nice to see a new connection made, especially one that isn't the likes of 'Wow, Stephen King and James Herbert both wrote stories about a deadly fog!' Happy new year.
TS__Eliot t1_j2d7zpt wrote
In the classic French existential tradition Nietzsche looms very large, especially the explicit precedence of existence to essence, which is just a synthesis and concise restatement of what Nietzsche spent decades trying to say. It’s interesting that Kierkegaard has a stronger association with existentialism (I’m assuming you mean the French, ie Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus) for you because for Kierkegaard, Husserl and Heidegger the subject has a primary role in the definition and expression of his essence, but he is not wholly precedent to it, he has an inherent nature. Happy new year to you as well.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments