This is the case with old Gordiéiev and some other heroes of Gorky. Recently our newspapers and periodicals have become incredibly respectful “in the presence of death.” There are literati from whom we demand and expect nothing for the simple reason that there is nothing to be gotten from them: they lack even a fig leaf to hide their nudity when it’s needed. Textos Nietzsche + Freud + Benjamin + Darwin + Trotsky Lea FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE + SIGMUND FREUD + WALTER BENJAMIN + CHARLES DARWIN + LEON TROTSKY. Addressing the impotent flotsam of the aristocratic past, he shouts. “The aristocratic and rapacious brute,” according to Nietzsche’s expression, gives man and each thing its value: what is useful or harmful to him is good or evil in itself. If he protests against assistance for the weak it is precisely because he fears the unleashing of these weak on the social order so dear to his heart and, at the same time, on his peaceful office so well protected by the order in question. But while at University he came under the influence of student radicals, and though he initially held a skeptical stance, he was eventually convinced of the need for radical change to the aut This first volume in Deutcher´s biography of Trotsky takes us through 1921. Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, dramatist, politician and daredevil. For many people Nietzsche’s life and personality explain his philosophy: he could not passively accept the situation his illness placed him in. The cult of suffering, of great suffering: is it possible that this cult has led men to the highest summits? Cookies help us deliver our Services. The positive or negative response thus depends on the good will and rapacious talents of each. Men who think deeply appear to be comedians in their dealings with others because they always have to feign superficiality in order to be understood. Isaac Deutscher on Trotsky: deutscher.html. The motto ‘Nothing is true, all is permitted’ corresponds to his way of life like no other. The life of a noble being, Nietzsche teaches, is an uninterrupted chain of adventures full of danger. Lastly, on Saturday a floral offering was deposted in front of the tomb that holds the remains of Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova, with the presence of Estaban Volkov, grandson of Trotsky. Nietzsche can be rehabilitated for liberal democracy, much less socialism, is losing credibility, and this translation of Trotsky’s essay by Mitchell Abidor will help to further confront the consensus forged by Walter Kaufmann, French post-structuralism, and other depoliticized accounts of Nietzsche. Above them is the caste of those who give orders, of guardians of the law, of warriors. Friedrich Nietzsche Archive, http://marxists.org/francais/trotsky/livres/litterature/nietzsche.htm. (Russian Editor’s note), 25. His book Revolution and Counterrevolution won the 2005 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize. Trotsky thought much the same, opining that socialism would create “a higher social-biologic type.” Lenin always resisted the importation of Nietzsche’s ideas into Bolshevism. The cult of suffering was the consequence of his illness. Matters are not made any easier because when we approach Marxism as an ideology, there is a certain quest for purity – a ‘pure’ Marxist view (which is, obvious to most academics, not really possible). It finds too narrow not only the spiritual framework of that society, but its material organization. (Russian Editor’s note), 21. Trotsky scoffed at German Social Democrats’ promises to “liberate” Russia from czarism. Compare this demand with Zarathustra’s speech: “The earth is full of people to whom it is indispensable that death be preached.” They shouldn’t be helped; rather they should be pushed so they fall faster. Given these contradictions it is not surprising that completely opposed social elements would place themselves under the flag of Nietzscheism. But the resemblance – which is formal – ends here. The newspaper was founded in 1883 as the Berliner Volksblatt . And it was Nietzsche who was the first to proclaim this theory, or what pretends to be one. Though it frequently occurs that the members of this brilliant bourgeois proletariat find themselves holding the levers of power, in general in bourgeois society they don’t hold governmental power. His forced retirement from public life led him to elaborate a theory that gave him not only the possibility of living under those conditions, but conferred a meaning on that life. If there is something original in his system it’s not the transvaluation of values in itself, but rather the point of view that is at its origin: the will to power, which is at the base of the aspirations, demands, and desires of the superman. But Nazism wanted a strong Middle Class, whereas Communism wants no Middle Class – and this is … For humanity as a whole not only is it not indispensable that it follow the “master’s morality,” which is created for the masters and they alone, but on the contrary it is demanded of the ordinary people, the non-supermen, that they “fulfill the common labors in serried ranks,” obedient to those born for a superior life. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. The general point is that Nietzsche has become very popular among certain types in our world even without being directly studied or even having these people be aware of his work. There are many who threw off their final worth when they threw off their bondage." As concerns the “chosen,” the supermen,” freed of all social and moral obligations they lead a life full of adventure, happiness, and joy: “Given that I live, “ says Nietzsche, “ I want life to overflow, that it be in me and outside me as prodigal, as luxurious as possible.”, It is a question, above, of the cult of suffering – meaning physical suffering – which no devotion on the part of the slaves can spare the superman. [25][26] But alongside this group, which is entirely the product of bourgeois society, we find among Nietzsche’s admirers representatives of a completely different historical formation, men whose genealogy goes way back. At the summit is the king, “the highest image of the warrior, judge, and guardian of the law.” Compared to the “supermen” all of them are auxiliaries, they are employed in the “rude tasks of domination: they serve to transmit to the mass of slaves “the will of the legislators.” Finally, the highest caste is that of “masters, of “creators of values,” of “legislators,” of “supermen.” They inspire the activity of the entire social organism. (Russian Editor’s note), 4. – Trotsky, Diary in Exile. ↑ Leon Trotsky, The Permanent Revolution, introduction to the first (Russian) edition (1930). It is demanded of them that they find their happiness in the conscientious fulfilling of the obligations imposed on them by the existence of a society at the summit of which is found a small number of supermen. He adds: “My consolation is that no ears exist to hear my great novelty.” From this danger flows the dual character of morality. Began to be published under that title in 1880. Trotsky thought much the same, opining that socialism would create “a higher social-biologic type”. From Juanpebooks (Hollywood, FL, U.S.A.) It is time to conclude, all the more so because our study has gone on far longer than foreseen. A monarchy whether limited or absolute, where a minority rules, was seen as a tyranny contrary to nature. From which this conclusion: let them invite us as much as they want to dive in all confidence into Nietzscheism, to breathe deeply in his works the fresh air of proud individualism. What novelty, no? Things would go badly for the superman if the slaves were to adopt their morality, if society were to find it unworthy of itself to dedicate itself to slow, productive labor. He also wrote literary essays – on Nietzsche, Spencer and Ibsen for an Irkutsk newspaper – as he began to develop his talent as a literary critic. "[17], The “healthy” bourgeoisie could only respond to Nietzsche’s negative attitude with an equally negative attitude. He did very well in school, and had begun a course in mathematics. We can say the same thing relative to the numerous ideological elements of the parasitenproletariat, all of whose members are far from being conscious Nietzscheans. Déclassé, they pay as little attention to noble traditions as any plebian. But the cult of suffering is only a part, and not one of the most characteristic ones, of Nietzsche’s philosophical system; a part that was rashly put in the forefront by several of our philosopher’s critics and exegetes. The natural road towards a correct clarification of Nietzschean philosophy is the analysis of the social base that gave birth to this complex product. See the essay “O romane voobchtché i o romane Troïé v tchastnosti” [On the novel in general and on Gorky’s ‘The Three’ in particular]. An adventurer unaware of his lineage can totally ignore the Nietzschean respect for aristocratic traditions. Remember that the soul of the crowd knows only panic. But the difference is quantitative and not qualitative. Leon Trotsky Archive | He was probably the most extreme utilitarian ... history has produced." It is only right that their praise and criticism leave us indifferent. In general there are so many characters of this type in contemporary literature that we don’t know which one to concentrate on. If he protests against assistance for the weak it is precisely because he fears the unleashing of these weak on the social order so dear to his heart and, at the same time, on his peaceful office so well protected by the order in question. (Note by Trotsky. We only wanted to describe in broad strokes the social base which has shown itself to be capable of giving birth to Nietzscheism, not as a philosophical system contained in a certain number of volumes and for the most part explicable by the individual particularities of its author, but rather as a social current attracting particular attention because we are dealing with a current of the present time. By extracting from the works of Nietzsche everything that can serve the development of the ideas contained in this aphorism one could construct a well turned theory completely fit to serve as a fig leaf for the valiant heroes of the French Panama scandal or the patriotic epic of Mamontov. He only takes from Nietzsche what corresponds to his social position. (Russian Editor’s note elaborated with a more historical material. Machiavelli - The prince 2. Although no one reads Spencer today, in the closing decades of the 19th century he was the single most famous European intellectual. Trotsky and Stalin were just two of a number of men who lived in central Vienna in 1913 and whose lives were destined to mould, indeed to shatter, much of the 20th century. Trotsky’s contribution to historical materialism has been subject to two broadly defined critical assessments. Leon Trotsky 0 In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a ''dictator'' substitutes himself for the central committee. Lenin always resisted the importation of Nietzsche’s ideas into Bolshevism. Two years later evidence came to light that a Major in the French Army, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, was the real culprit. (Russian Editor’s note), 3. In its negative attitude the lumpenproletariat, that parasitical proletariat of a lower rank, is more consistent than Nietzsche’s admirers: it rejects society in its entirety. It is clear to the reader, we hope, that we find sterile such a literary and textual attitude towards the writings rich in paradoxes of the recently deceased German thinker, whose aphorisms are often contradictory and in general allow for dozens of interpretations. Driven from the social circuit they have their own reasons to be discontented with the contemporary social system, its democratic tendencies, its laws, its morality. Nietzsche does think greatness can appear again, and he thinks when monumentalism works for life, it encourages the kind of thinking you mention by way of Trotsky. The bourgeoisie as a class, and the capitalist regime as a determined system of relations of production, are two phenomena unthinkable each without the other, and Spencer, as ideological representative of the bourgeoisie, cannot contest bourgeois norms. He was the first to pen the term “survival of the fittest.” His bastardization of Darwin’s theory of evolution caught on with a wide audience in the late 19th century, especially among the new class of robber barons in the United States whose motto became, “The richest American is the fittest American.” Spencer’s arguments were put to use in throughout Europe and North America to oppose attempts at unionization and social welfare legislation. This is not the case with Nietzsche. Literally, people with black bones and people with white bones. We will not answer these appeals and, without fearing facile reproaches of narrowness and exclusivism, will reply with skepticism the way Nathaniel did in the gospel: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, 1. (Original note of Trotsky), 11. Nietzsche was big on evolution - especially of "the overman" into it's perfect form for the sake of all. But what ties together all the disparate members of the social order of bourgeois chivalry is the open and at the same time (as a general rule, of course) unpunished pillage on an immense scale of the goods of consumption without any (we insist on stressing this) methodical participation in the organized process of production and distribution. Since it likes to exploit others, the bourgeoisie doesn’t like to be exploited. Communism was/is the left wing and Nazism the right wing on the same Marxist bird of prey. Nietzsche’s philosophical system, as he more than once pointed out, contains a great number of contradictions. He will be capable of constructing and casting into the future that ideal bridge thanks to which the privileged species could finally cross over the precipice that apparently still separates them from the ardently desired domination. Mikailovsky’s[4] expression. Thus even the “labor” of leadership falls not on superior beings, but only on the most elevated among the inferior. Living outside society, though on its territory and at its expense, it seeks the justification of its existence in the consciousness of its superiority over the members of organized society. In 1891 it passed into the hands of former employees of Otiétchestvennye Zapiski (Annals of the Fatherland.) As the ideologue of a given social group Gorky could not reason differently. In other words, Nietzsche accounts for both positions. ), 16. But even this is of a doubtful originality. Russian Social Democrats “stand so firmly on the ground of internationalism, that we cannot … entertain the idea of purchasing the doubtful liberation of Russia,” he wrote, “which German imperialism offers us in a … munitions box, with the blessing, alas! 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