Extended Essays 2021

Government by AI

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misunderstanding the Greeks, as they admitted the painful nature of the world but deemed them

unworthy of romanticization and venerate the higher beings; “ there is nothing exceptional in

being alive and impulsive”, and the Greek genius lies not in their ability to “bank [the chaos’s]

fire without extinguishing them, so that their inner life remained human and yet became

beautiful” . 16

Thus, Santayana suspected that Nietzsche’s romanticization of immorality roots in a rebellion

and hatred of the Christianity and of his disappointing, mediocre life. H e hated because “he did

not know what to love. ” 17 Nietzsche would respond that while chaos and suffering are prima

facie the lower beings, they inevitably exist. His intention is not to venerate these beings but

recommend acceptance and perhaps appreciation of them, a necessity to make life more durable

and affirmation worthy.

I side with Santayana, but only partially . Whether it’s active , vengeful pursuit or a necessity

for survival, appreciating the primordial values such as violence and chaos that conflict with

most people ’ s common moral experience would be, according to Spencer, “a prima facie

reason for suspecting the theory”. 18 Even in Nietzsche’s moral-less view, for example, a child

who grows up in the wild, would likely still dislike destruction and violence. We can establish

that the primordial qualities, even in a moral-less sense, are repulsive to human. Then

Nietzsche’s desperate attempt to advertise its beauty seems to be that after seeming the

rationalist’s continuous and failed struggle to tame them, he abandoned the hope and forced

himself into an unnatural liking of them to “affirm life” --- which seems like, an act of

resignation against challenges that Nietzsche himself ironically despises.

16 Santayana, George. 1986. The German Mind: A Philosophical Diagnosis . 17 Santayana, The German Mind .

18 Stewart. 1909.

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