According to Aristotle sympathy is defined as a kind of pain induced by the suffering from another person. This suffering which the person has not deserved in this case could also happen to the person who is experiencing the sympathy in this situation. In the late nineteenth-century a new way of regarding sympathy came up. There were artists and scholars who did not support the thesis any more that sympathy is a part of humanity and functions as a base factor of our moral system. The following essay will introduce the reader to the two most famous proponents of the rejection of sympathy as a human necessity. One of them will represent the philosophical world, one of them the world of arts. As a conclusion there is the attempt of an explanation for the agreement of those two different proponents of the theory.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to Schopenhauer’s Philosophy of Will and Sympathy
2. Defining Sympathy: From Aristotle to the Late Nineteenth Century
3. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Critique of Sympathy
3.1 The "God is Dead" Proclamation and the Übermensch
3.2 Departure from Schopenhauer’s Core Beliefs
3.3 The Three Pillars of Nietzsche’s Rejection of Sympathy
3.4 Sympathy as a Sign of Contempt and Weakness
3.5 Plato’s Influence on Nietzsche’s View
4. Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Critique of Sympathy
4.1 Wilde’s Literary Stance and Aestheticism
4.2 Art for Art’s Sake and the Rejection of Ethical Sympathy
5. Synthesis: Shared Grounds between Philosophy and Art
Research Objectives and Themes
This essay examines the critical discourse surrounding the concept of sympathy in the late nineteenth century, specifically focusing on the rejection of sympathy as a moral necessity by Friedrich Nietzsche and Oscar Wilde.
- The role of Arthur Schopenhauer’s "metaphysics of will" as the foundational target for later critiques.
- Nietzsche’s philosophical justification for viewing sympathy as a source of weakness and suffering.
- Oscar Wilde’s application of Aestheticism to reject didactic or moralistic art.
- The shared underlying desire to encourage individual thought and the rejection of collective emotional dependencies.
Excerpt from the Book
Friedrich Nietzsche’s and Oscar Wilde’s Critique of Sympathy
Sympathy as Nietzsche understood it is a part-taking in the suffering of others. It therefore does not help to minimize the suffering in the world, no, it increases it. Everyone who has sympathy for another human being adds up more sympathy to it by developing a suffering in oneself. In Human, All Too Human he states that, “if one places all misery one can find in his environment in front of his soul, one gets inevitably ill and melancholy” (Nietzsche I, 207). He reacts on Schopenhauer by stating that this is a direct counterpart to Schopenhauer’s, “badly described sympathy as source for all moral acting” (1106). As a contrast or counterpart so to say, he gives the master morality of the immoral not-sufferers, egoists, and cruel men. “Cruelty is one of the oldest pleasures of humanity” (1026) and it would be a “noble virtue to overcome the strength and health injuring sympathy” (1075). But one has to differ between sympathy and suffering. Suffering is a noble virtue as well, according to Nietzsche. It is the reason that it has to be founded in a higher sense. It is not the process of suffering itself which he decries as weak it is the process of suffering for, and with others.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction to Schopenhauer’s Philosophy of Will and Sympathy: This chapter introduces Arthur Schopenhauer’s foundational philosophy, explaining his belief that sympathy serves as a crucial mechanism to overcome individual egoism.
2. Defining Sympathy: From Aristotle to the Late Nineteenth Century: This section traces the historical definition of sympathy from Aristotelian concepts to the shift in late 19th-century thought, setting the stage for the critique of its role in moral systems.
3. Friedrich Nietzsche and the Critique of Sympathy: This chapter analyzes Nietzsche’s departure from his early admiration of Schopenhauer, arguing that sympathy is a harmful, life-negating emotion that hampers the development of the "Übermensch."
4. Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Critique of Sympathy: This section explores how Oscar Wilde, representing the world of arts and Aestheticism, rejects sympathy as an "unpardonable mannerism" that undermines the purity of art.
5. Synthesis: Shared Grounds between Philosophy and Art: The concluding analysis links the disparate approaches of the philosopher and the artist, identifying their common goal of advocating for individualism over communal, sympathy-driven morality.
Keywords
Sympathy, Friedrich Nietzsche, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Schopenhauer, Aestheticism, Will to Power, Superhuman, Übermensch, Moral Philosophy, Art for Art's Sake, Human All Too Human, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Egoism, Suffering, Individualism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this academic work?
The essay explores the nineteenth-century intellectual movement that challenged the traditional view of sympathy as a moral good, focusing on the arguments presented by Friedrich Nietzsche and Oscar Wilde.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The work covers nineteenth-century German philosophy, the literary movement of Aestheticism, the evolution of moral ethics, and the critique of social behaviors related to empathy.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to explain why two prominent figures from different fields—philosophy and art—agreed on the necessity of rejecting sympathy to promote individual growth and authentic artistic expression.
Which methodology is employed in this study?
The author uses a comparative analysis of primary philosophical and literary texts, specifically contrasting Schopenhauer’s sympathy-based ethics with the critical perspectives of Nietzsche and Wilde.
What is the main topic of the body chapters?
The body chapters detail how Nietzsche’s life philosophy opposes Schopenhauer’s metaphysics and how Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticism advocates for the separation of art from didactic moralizing.
Which keywords best describe this research?
The most relevant terms include Sympathy, Nietzsche, Wilde, Aestheticism, Schopenhauer, Übermensch, and the critique of morality.
How does Nietzsche differentiate between "suffering" and "sympathy"?
Nietzsche views suffering as a potentially noble state, whereas sympathy is deemed a weakness because it is a "part-taking" in others' suffering, which only serves to propagate misery.
Why did Oscar Wilde consider ethical sympathy in art a "mannerism of style"?
Wilde believed that imposing ethical or moral concerns on art corrupted its purpose, which he argued should be defined by beauty rather than the didactic requirements of society.
- Quote paper
- Timo Dersch (Author), 2011, Friedrich Nietzsche’s and Oscar Wilde’s Critique of Sympathy, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/180142
