"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."
That quote of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has always intrigued me, but I could never understand what he meant.
What exactly were the 'monsters' and the 'abyss'?
What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
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- Excubis
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Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #2[Replying to post 1 by Dropship]
He was an out spoken opponent against religion, and a proponent of perspectivism. Perhaps he was talking about those who forget to question and become fixed in one perspective only, and since we seem to do just that no matter how objective we think we are. The abyss of a closed mind?
This quote kept me going during a period of being in a unsettled peer enviroment to put it gently.
He was an out spoken opponent against religion, and a proponent of perspectivism. Perhaps he was talking about those who forget to question and become fixed in one perspective only, and since we seem to do just that no matter how objective we think we are. The abyss of a closed mind?
This quote kept me going during a period of being in a unsettled peer enviroment to put it gently.
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Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #3I don't know what he meant but for me, I thought the sentence referred to human demons, the psychopaths of destruction of all human values and to look into them was to study their deeds and ways of thinking so one might fight them which can lead to despair and to our own excesses against our own values in the fight against them.Dropship wrote: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."
That quote of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has always intrigued me, but I could never understand what he meant.
What exactly were the 'monsters' and the 'abyss'?
The abyss for me was a reality without GOD as exemplified for me by existentialism.
Sorry I can't help...
PCE Theology as I see it...
We had an existence with a free will in Sheol before the creation of the physical universe. Here we chose to be able to become holy or to be eternally evil in YHWH's sight. Then the physical universe was created and all sinners were sent to earth.
This theology debunks the need to base Christianity upon the blasphemy of creating us in Adam's sin.
We had an existence with a free will in Sheol before the creation of the physical universe. Here we chose to be able to become holy or to be eternally evil in YHWH's sight. Then the physical universe was created and all sinners were sent to earth.
This theology debunks the need to base Christianity upon the blasphemy of creating us in Adam's sin.
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Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #4Within the context of Nietzsche's broader concerns in Beyond G&E (from which the quote is taken), a reasonable interpretation of "monsters" is roughly, something/someone which one fears and hates. The idea is that you have to take care, lest you become that which you hate and fear. And the "abyss" is, for Nietzsche, often associated with nihilism (one of his primary concerns)- so especially for philosophers like himself, explicitly concerned with the problem of nihilism, there is the danger that thinking about and reflecting on nihilism causes one to become nihilistic themselves. To become infected by it, as it were.Dropship wrote: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."
That quote of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has always intrigued me, but I could never understand what he meant.
What exactly were the 'monsters' and the 'abyss'?
Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #5[Replying to post 1 by Dropship]
I think he was warning against being your own unique type of Christian that doesn't care what other Christians or nonbelievers think of your beliefs and how you arrived at them. Or maybe he was advocating that you do that? Hard to tell which.
I think he was warning against being your own unique type of Christian that doesn't care what other Christians or nonbelievers think of your beliefs and how you arrived at them. Or maybe he was advocating that you do that? Hard to tell which.
Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #6As a freelance (ie non-denominational) Christian, I'm certainly not unique as there are many more like me who don't bother going to church or getting baptized and all that razzmatazz..Hatuey wrote: [Replying to post 1 by Dropship]
I think he was warning against being your own unique type of Christian that doesn't care what other Christians or nonbelievers think of your beliefs and how you arrived at them. Or maybe he was advocating that you do that? Hard to tell which.
As for Nietzsche, I know he was an atheist and had mental problems didn't he, so perhaps his monsters were his personal demons, and the Abyss was the terrible emptiness of atheism?
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Re: What were Nietzsche's 'Monsters' and 'Abyss'?
Post #7Nope, there's zero chance that's what he is referring to (especially since he didn't develop any mental illness until long after he wrote Beyond Good and Evil). You may actually try reading the relevant section, or a bio on Nietzsche, instead of taking just random (and ill-informed) guesses.Dropship wrote: As for Nietzsche, I know he was an atheist and had mental problems didn't he, so perhaps his monsters were his personal demons, and the Abyss was the terrible emptiness of atheism?