Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s Concept of Tragic Optimism: Philosophical Understanding and Pedagogical Interpretation
Author(s)
Yulia V. Andreeva, Candidate of Sciences (Pedagogy), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian and World History, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0377-8427, M.Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University
55 Octyabrskaya revolucia St, Ufa, Russia, 450057, tel: +7 (347) 2462447, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract. Introduction. The subject of the study is the concept of “tragic optimism” by F.V. Nietzsche. The author identifies the anthropological and humanistic aspects of the phenomena accompanying optimism, among which are the man as a measure of being; the life-affirming philosophy of will in the aspect of humility with what cannot be changed; the will as a vital spirit in its living immediacy; the will as an intuitive comprehension of life. The place and role of phenomena in human existence are determined. The dynamics of F. Nietzsche’s rejection of A. Schopenhauer’s pessimism and the relationship between Nietzscheanism, Gorky’s optimism and A. Makarenko’s pedagogical optimism as faith in man and human ability to change the world and oneself for the better through dreams, struggle and humility are traced.
Research methodology. Research methods. General scientific methods. Historical and philosophical analysis and pedagogical interpretation of Nietzsche’s works (“The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music”; “ECCE HOMO”; “Schopenhauer as an Educator”; Nietzsche’s nihilism in “Merry Science”, etc.). Specific scientific methods. Descriptive, comparative analysis; study of texts, concretization of the basic concepts and ideas of Nietzsche’s philosophy in a pedagogical way. Approaches. 1. The ideas of F. Nietzsche’s non-classical German philosophy about morality, spirit and will to live, which take the forms of dreams, struggle and humility, according to which the metaphysical dream of knowing the world and correcting the world is replaced by a spirit of struggle against the horrors of death and humility with what cannot be changed; the idea of accepting reality as a person’s ability to live in the present day; the idea of the tragedy of life as an abyss (the idea of Dionysianism in man as a way of being) and the humiliation not of suffering, but of man’s unwillingness to notice and accept it; the idea of personal development and rethinking of values; the idea of a person’s moral duty to life is to assert one’s power, embody desires and express oneself in art and creativity; the idea of art as a manifestation of authentic life filled with meaning (the idea of Apollonism); the idea of the unity of art and life as a creative force; the idea of the protective function of art as an aesthetic phenomenon and the idea of consoling a person who doubts the power of the spirit; the idea of amor fati (love for one’s destiny); reliance on the spirit of acceptance. 2. The philosophy of irrationalism, heroic pessimism and optimistic nihilism: the idea of an illusion of meaning and a world without purpose, in which a person is free to adopt a comforting optimistic worldview that dispels existential horror, longing, and the movement towards death.; the idea of art as a sublime overcoming of the terrible. 3. The tragic character of Nietzsche’s philosophy, in contradictory combination with a spirit of self-affirmation, constitutes his idea of the fullness of life.
The Results. Tragic optimism as a phenomenon of the philosophy of life is paradoxical because, from the point of view of pedagogy and self-education, it represents a person’s movement along the path of Nietzschean self-improvement from tragic minus to optimistic plus – in Nietzsche’s words: “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”. Only human efforts to improve one’s moral nature and life have pedagogical significance. Such optimism has two sides. On the one hand, it is a person’s ability to improve the world through dreams, which comes from their need for “Apollonism” (movement towards the light, to the beautiful, the best); on the other hand, it is the ability to overcome the difficulties of life and human suffering, which requires recognizing that there is a worst in life that should be overcome, based on the need of “Dionysianism” (the need to forget oneself by renouncing one’s sufferings). Both instincts allow a person to forget all the hardships of existence. The pedagogical interpretation of Nietzsche’s philosophy of life reveals several ways of learning tragic optimism. Among them is the method “Amor fati” (“love of life”), which can be interpreted as a refusal to retouch the past and embellish the future; as a way of dealing with mistakes and resignation to what cannot be changed. It was decided to consider all the ways as methods of self-education.
Discussion. In the philosophy of life one can trace the influence of A. Schopenhauer on F. Nietzsche. A. Schopenhauer developed this thesis of optimism in his own way. The philosopher’s view is interesting for pedagogy. Throughout a person’s life, all their efforts are aimed at using dreams to extract the “will to win” from suffering. The expression of this effort is art. Such art directions as dance and music serve as means of subordinating suffering to rhythm. Nietzsche interpreted music as “the giver of oblivion of the hardships of life”. In general, from Nietzsche’s point of view, all kinds of art are generated by the same optimism: “the rush of the human spirit to a better world”. Sometimes the place of music, in the works of Nietzsche, takes up dialogue or acting. And they can also be interpreted as pedagogical methods, and not only as the embodiment of the will to live.
Conclusion. The philosophy of life is ambiguous in essence and multifaceted in content: it offers intellectual tools not only for the period of struggle, the will to live, but also for the period of calm acceptance and love of life in all its manifestations. Based on the philosophical reconstruction and the author’s pedagogical interpretation of F. Nietzsche’s ideas, it is identified several methods of overcoming suffering. Thus, the popular concept of will is complemented by methods of humility and comprehensive acceptance. This is the novelty of our research. It is established that the philosophy of life can be an educational project and contain ways that can be interpreted in a pedagogical way as methods forming a methodology of self-education.
Keywords: philosophy of life, pedagogical interpretation, tragic optimism
For citation: Andreeva Yu.V. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s Concept of Tragic Optimism: Philosophical Understanding and Pedagogical Interpretation. Pedagogicheskiy IMIDZH = Pedagogical IMAGE. 2024; 18 (4). Pp. 454-465. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.32343/2409-5052- 2024-18-4-454-465
DOI: https://doi.org/
UDС: 141.21
The article was submitted to the editorial office on 09.09.2024, approved after review on 08.11.2024, and accepted for publication on 10.11.2024.