Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter
Chapter 155 explained
A brief aphorism linking the intensity of the tragic sense directly to the vitality of sensuous life.
What happens
A brief aphorism linking the intensity of the tragic sense directly to the vitality of sensuous life.
Themes in this chapter
Psychology as the Fundamental Science
The statement performs a psychological analysis, connecting an aesthetic and existential concept (the tragic) to a fundamental life force (sensuousness).
Critique of Modernity
Implies a critique of modern decline, suggesting a weakening of the tragic sense parallels a decline in robust, affirmative sensuousness.
Key passages
“The sense of the tragic increases and declines with sensuousness.”
The feeling for tragedy grows stronger or weaker in direct proportion to the strength or weakness of our physical, instinctual life.
Posits a foundational link between aesthetic capacity and biological vitality, grounding a cultural phenomenon in a physiological basis.