UofM Feminist

Do you ever find yourself aching for knowledge? Now that school is done for the next six weeks, I want to know so much. I want to read the books I didn't read over the semester. I want to read Judith Butler. I want to read Steinbeck. I want to feel whole again through knowing and the process of discovering. Much like Nietzsche describes as the philosophical asceticism within his essay, On The Genealogy Of Morals. I yearn for that feeling and situation that he describes - that of the philosopher's relegated status and hiding that soceity had forced them to. I do not count myself among the philosophers, but I do rejoice in knowing and understanding.

Nietzsche allows us some insight to, I believe, a preferred form of asceticism:

What, then, is the meaning of the ascetic ideal in the case of a philosopher? My answer is - you will have guessed it long ago: the philosopher sees in it an optimum condition for the highest and boldest spirituality and smiles - he does not deny "existence," he rather affirms his existence, and this perhaps to the point at which he is not far from harboring the impious wish: [Let the world perish, but let ther ebe philosophy, the philosopher, me!

I do not wish to pause here to discuss his views on Christian or other religious asceticism, but Max Weber addresses that issue fabulously in The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism. What I do wish to comprehend is his idea of the philosophical asceticism.

...all in all, they [the philosophers] think of the ascetic ideal as the cheerful asceticism of an animal become fledged and divine, floating above life rather than in repose.

I have discussed in many posts before this one of the feeling I have when I listen to certain music during different moods or tones of life. This feeling of floating above life that Nietzsche discribes, I believe, is much like the feeling I describe. I have had this feeling when reading and learning more about life; I assume that Nietzsche is describing philosophers who float above life during their journey of discovery or epiphany as well.

Or, perhaps, is this floating above life similar to the 'oceanic' feeling that Freud describes in Civilization and Its Discontents? A friend of Freud's describes the 'true source of religious sentiments' as an oceanic feeling:

a sensation of 'eternity', a feeling as of something limitless, unbounded - as it were, 'oceanic'...it brings with it no assurance of personal immortality

This sounds to me very possibly like floating above life that philosopher's experience, or perhaps the experience I have while listening to music. In a previous post, I described my personal religious experience and why I continued to believe and especially the reason I abandoned the Christian faith. Within this post, you will see that my love for music and the people was misunderstood as a love for God or divinity or this 'oceanic' feeling. Freud explains:

One may, he thinks, rightly call oneself religious on the ground of this oceanic feeling alone, even if one rejects every belief and every illusion.

I was able to discover the true root of this oceanic feeling and able to recognize it and, therefore, allow myself to leave Christianity guilt-free. When one looks more closely at this oceanic feeling from a religious perspective, it is that feeling that persons who feel desperate or lost rely on. Everyone needs something to rely on or fall back upon; for me, that is music, solitude, and knowledge.

So, are Nietzsche and Freud close in their depictions of this interesting feeling? I believe so. Although Freud observes it from a religous point of view and Nietzsche from a philisophical point of view, the feelings are quite comparable.

What do you think? Thoughts?