135: Hume v/s Nietzsche - On Causality, Free Will & Habit

In this episode, we'll compare Nietzsche's view of causality, habit, and free will to Hume. Although, in substance, they make very similar arguments, we'll explore important differences. Nietzsche arrives at his critique of causality through his attack on free will, and the subsequent understanding of metaphysical beliefs as necessitated by moral beliefs - whereas for Hume, the issue of liberty versus necessity is secondary to the critique of reason's ability to derive necessary connexions. For Hume, habit cannot be further explained, because this would be to ignore our practical affirmation of habit and the insufficiency of reason; Nietzsche wishes to investigate the genealogy of habit as part of his critique of morals. Perhaps most importantly, Hume places his philosophy in "subserviency" to the easy and obvious philosophy of commonsense, whereas Nietzsche sets his philosophy against common sense - and everything "common".

Today we're going to become Humean, All Too Humean. This is an introduction to David Hume's life and works, brief consideration of his influences, and deep dive into Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - the work that woke Kant from his dogmatic slumber. In our analysis we discuss: Hume's 'two species of philosophy'; Hume's distinction between ideas & impressions, and between relations of ideas & matters of fact; his critique of causality; his explanation of habit, or custom as a 'guide to human life'; a brief look at his comments on probability, on free will, on miracles; and Hume's moderate skepticism versus what he calls, Pyrrhonism.

Gnostic Informant on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCtdweFMJ5DGj7_q5IcpQhPQNeal and I do a deep dive into the origins of the term "demon"/"demonic". What was the original meaning of the term "daimones" in Ancient Greece? How does the understanding of the term change, from the Hellenic to the Hellenistic to the Christian eras? We also discuss the imagery associated with the demonic, deriving from Pan, and discuss the anecdote from the ancient world, from which we get the phrase, "the Great God Pan is dead!"

A conversation with Prof. Moeller (Carefree Wandering). We discuss the political implications of Daoist philosophy, the Daoist critique of Confucian family roles and anthropocentrism, the comparison to Nietzsche's critique of modernist theories of truth, the differences between the two regarding their respective past and future orientations in philosophy, the difference in "vibe", and the parallel between the two as focused on achieving "great health". Butcher Ding Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGtgGz5SsY0Happy Fish Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nMCrj3soDUProf. Moeller's new book: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-enigma-of-gender/9780231221276/

There was much ado about Spinoza, at least amongst the German rationalists and romantics. In this episode, we're going beyond the metaphysics to talk about the entire purpose of Spinoza's Ethics: the path to human freedom, in which a human being can become liberated from domination of the affects. The way to achieve this, according to Spinoza, is purely through understanding. No willpower or effort is needed: with knowledge alone, one can understand the necessity of all things, and connect the idea of God to all things. This is the intellectual love of God, through which God infinitely loves himself. In this episode, we will also examine the topics of: Spinoza's three types of knowledge; the meaning of "sub species aeternitatis"; Spinoza's difference from Descartes & the Stoics.

In the conclusion to the daemonic series, we're looking at Stefan Zweig's Struggle with the Daemon - specifically, the section on Nietzsche. Particularly helpful for our analysis will be Zweig's comparison and contrast of Nietzsche with Goethe: both men contain the daemoniacal drive, but whereas Goethe holds it at a distance, Nietzsche gives himself over to it. By following Zweig's interpretation of Nietzsche's life and work, we can move from the abstract conception of it to a particular manifestation, and get a sense of the daemonic as it appears in an individual.

In the second part of this series, we'll examine how it is that Goethe came to his conception of the Daemonic, involved as it is with Spinoza's pantheism. Goethe's introduction to Spinoza was largely through Herder, and his friendship with Herder he described as one of the most important in his entire life. We'll consider Herder's personality and some of the most important aspects of Herder's worldview, as well as the use of the term "daemonic" as Herder received it from his mentor, the "Magus of the North", Hamann. In the latter half of the episode, we'll look at the specifics of how Goethe describes the Daemonic in Dichtung und Wahrheit and in Conversations with Goethe, in which he describes it as a force that pushes against all limits and manifests in prodigious human beings. We'll relate the idea to Werther, Faust, and consider some of Goethe's real-world examples of it.

Part one of three. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe often spoke of a dangerous but invigorating life-force that he christened "the daemonic". In his conversations with Eckermann, and in his autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit, he describes the daemonic by direct reference to Spinoza, and his pantheist philosophy. In this first episode of our series on Goethe's Daemonic, we're going to look at Goethe's statement of the idea, then go back in time to consider: Plato's Symposium, the daemonion of Socrates, the writings of Philo of Alexandria, Justin Martyr and St. Augustine, and finally, the alleged Spinozism of the playwright Gotthold Lessing and the "pantheism controversy" that emerged over Lessing's legacy, argued by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi and Moses Mendelssohn.Next week (part two) will involve a closer reading of Goethe's concept of the daemonic and the influence of Herder on Goethe's reception of Spinoza. Episode art: Lessing, pictured in front of some Greek daimones.

Today we're considering Ge Ling Shang's book, Liberation as Affirmation, comparing Zhuangzi and Nietzsche. Shang sees both thinkers as putting forward a "religiosity" of life-affirmation. Major points of comparison: use of language (goblet words/zhiyan & Dionysian dithyramb), whether one can relativize all views or should affirm illusion, how to respond to morality (revaluation v/s devaluation), using a single principle to describe multiplicity (ziran/dao & will to power), and the competing views of the superior person (sage v/s ubermensch) and the methods for reaching such a state.

Exploring the indeterminate nature of truth in the Zhuangzi, the usefulness of uselessness, the foolishness of seeking office, and the advantages of xiaoyaoyou. Mixing translations from Watson, Palmer, Giles & informed by readings/commentary from Ziporyn, Ge Ling Shang & Wing Tsit Chan. For a general introduction to Spring and Autumn period Chinese philosophy, see the previous regular episode, #127.