Athens Corner

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Here I discuss the subtle teaching of the relationship between man and art or, more broadly, technology, that is found in the Biblical book of Genesis.  The teaching fundamentally concerns what is often referred to as 'faith versus reason.'  I also include some very helpful observations made by Augustine on the topic, which is to say the way in which Biblical piety relates to philosophy.

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Turning from the Biblical tradition regarding technology, this is the first of a two-part discussion where I take up the Greek tradition regarding technology in Homer.  Specifically, I read and discuss the entirety of book 18 of Homer's Iliad.  At issue is the overlapping meanings of the shield of Achilles for Achilles himself, Hephaestus, and Homer. The fundamental question throughout seems to be 'What is man, and what is the pre-condition for man to live in stable, flourishing political community?

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Here I conclude my discussion on the teaching of technology in Homer with my completion of the song that brings a mysterious great joy to Odysseus.  At issue is the status of mind in relation to the correction of inadequacies of the body.  From this emerges a teaching of comedy in relation to tragedy regarding the role of technology in the competing claims of natural rights and how they are to be understood in terms of law.

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The first occurrence in the Western philosophical tradition of the word 'nature [phusis]' occurs in Homer's Odyssey.  It is the word from which we get our words like 'physics' and 'metaphysics.'  In this addendum I discuss the way in which it occurs and its bearing upon the teaching concerning technology in Homer.  At issue is everything from the status of the relationship between the mind of man and his form, to the difference between man himself and, on the one hand, art and the artificial and, on the other hand, the divine.

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Continuing the discussion of the teaching on technology in Homer, here I set the stage for a poem that Odysseus will take great delight in because it reveals much about not just the entire Trojan war but, also, a teaching that Odysseus himself must provide the Phaeacians regarding the nature of man.

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Continuing Zarathustra's first speeches upon his return to mankind, here I discuss the meaning of Zarathustra's 'last man.' Emphasis is placed upon the meaning of 'culture' and its relation to nihilism for Zarathustra.  I discuss how this understanding of Zarathustra's speech of the last man unfolds into a broader and deeper understanding of the meaning of eros and nihilism for Zarathustra.

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Here I discuss the significance of the tightrope-walker and what it means for Zarathustra's initial teaching of the overman and the last man, which unfolds into a discussion of the meaning of 'culture' as Zarathustra understands it.

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This is my first in a series devoted to the ways in which technology and nihilism have been understood and intertwined in the Western philosophical tradition.  It turns out that what's at issue is something much deeper than simply the historical emergence of these things we call 'technology' and 'nihilism,' taking us to the very core of what is meant by philosophy itself.  Beginning with two of the greatest thinkers on the subject closest to us, we see this from the writings of Martin Heidegger and Ernst Jünger.  In this discussion I give a broad survey of the topic by introducing everything that comes tumbling out when one closely examines the texts that emerged from the correspondence between Heidegger and Ernst Jünge, with particular emphasis upon the all-important image of the forest for both in understanding what is even meant by the words 'technology,' 'nihilism,' and, rather surprisingly, 'history' as philosophical concepts.  That said, I want to emphasize that everything I'm describing here and presenting in the discussion will receive much more clarification in the subsequent discussions of this series which, in many ways, can be understood as the most relevant lens through which one understands the entire tradition of Western Philosophy.

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Here we get the first of Zarathustra's two speeches devoted to the Overman.  We also learn about what Zarathustra understands is the necessary pre-condition for the Overman, and this provides a number of crucial details pertaining to the meaning and transformative power of nihilism as Nietzsche's Zarathustra understands it.  We also gain much insight into the scope of Zarathustra's political project for man amid and after nihilism.

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Here we briefly digress from Zarathustra to look more closely at the phrase 'God is Dead' to get a better understanding of what it could mean for Nietzsche.  At issue is not simply what nihilism means for Nietzsche but also science itself, and so this digression also greatly supplements the series Nihilism and Technology.  Here we turn to the book Nietzsche published just prior to Zarathustra entitled Joyous Science.  In particular we turn to Joyous Science 125 and its associated context wherein Nietzsche announces 'God is dead' for the first time in his publications.  It's important to emphasize that Zarathustra is self-contained and does not require these digressions, and I'm only providing such digressions along our journey in Zarathustra as a possibly helpful pedagogical supplement to our reading of Zarathustra