VOLUME VII, ISSUE I, SPRING 2014
Abstract
In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche attempts to show two conclusions: 1) pessimism is not necessarily a sign of decline, decay, degeneration, weary, and weak instincts, and 2) optimism can be a sign of decline, decay, degeneration, weary, and weak instincts. He attempts to show these conclusions in order to undermine the distinction between pessimism and optimism, which is also a distinction concerning the attitude towards certain moral features in a society or culture. The dissolution of this distinction is a central assumption in many of his later works and is, thus, necessary. However, Nietzsche’s attempt to show the second conclusion is not as steadfast as one would hope. Using controversial cultural analysis and historical analysis, Nietzsche’s evidence is seemingly circumstantial and indirectly related. In this paper, I attempt to show that Pyrrhonism is a viable option for Nietzsche to easily show the second conclusion and, most importantly, maintain the dissolution of the distinction between pessimism and optimism. I argue this through two points: 1) Pyrrhonism is a sign of decline, decay, degeneration, weary, and weak instincts, and 2) If Pyrrhonism is a sign of these negative goods, then Socratic optimism is a sign of them as well.
Overall, if these two points can be demonstrated, then optimism can be a sign of the above negative conditions and, by extension, the distinction between pessimism and optimism remains dissolved.
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