Nietzsche's Philosophy: Art As Life's Redemptive Force

Friedrich Nietzsche, a Russian philosopher who lived in the nineteenth century, was known for his extreme pessimistic attitude. He and other philosophers saw the world in a such a negative light that many claimed that it may be better to die than continue living. However, unlike other philosophers of his time, he argued that art makes life possible to live. More specifically, Nietzsche argued that art disguises the ugly reality of human existence and rather illustrates an ideal version of life, spreading hope for a better future.

Nietzsche believed that though life is a struggle, “the arts generally make life worth living.” However, he felt this pessimistic attitude was a problem and came to his conclusion about art after turning his attention

More specifically, Apollonian art forms tells stories through images and are rooted in dreaming. Much like dreams, apollonian art encourages one to continue living. While contemplating apollonian images, an individual is temporarily detached from her normal sense of self and daily struggle. Here, Nietzsche once again references ancient Greece. The Iliad and the Odyssey illustrate idealized illusions of war with great heroes. The language used is able to idealize a bloody war scene and turn it into something more desireable. Similarly, when one gets a tattoo to cover up a scar, they are transfiguring the reality to create something ideal. But the scar and the world do not disappear by these transfigurations and the objective harshness remains. However, our attitude towards the real thing is changed. We see the world in a more hopeful and positive light. As beautiful art is placed in front of the terrors of everyday life, reality may seem less awful and thus art makes life worth living. But Nietzsche realized the limitations of apollonian art. For once we see reality again, the illusion art created breaks and reality seems worse than it appeared

But here, joy doesn’t come from idealized images but rather musical symbols and sounds. As one listens to music for instance, the person gets “outside of” herself and her pleasure comes from becoming one with nature. Furthermore, the reunion of man and man is reaffirmed. For instance, people at a concert have a feeling of unity as they are all listening to the same music and experiencing the same feeling. Music and dance transform the consciousness of the individual who is immersed in them and the feeling of separation is lost. Nietzsche describes music symbols as resembling the ecstatic state of mind that they suggest, these symbols transfigure and sweeten reality. So, dionysian music symbols don’t necessarily represent one specific thought or emotion. Thus, while listening to music, the world is transfigured into an aesthetically pleasing world, and thereby makes life possible and worth living. But much like apollonian art, diosynian art involves an illusion and once the music stops, we return to the ugly reality and there is a danger of letdown when the dionysian experience is