Nietzsche On The Decadence

My thesis focuses on the issue of interpretation of Nietzsche on the decadence.It is divided into two chapters.The first chapter is to analyze the phenomenon of decadence.Nietzsche criticized two kinds of decadence,the decadent art and the Philistines of Culture.First,Nietzsche thought Wagner "the artist of decadence",from whom decadence first came into Nietzsche's eye. In Nietzsche's opinion the decadent art was the production of downfall of music.In fact,Nietzsche had already perceived the subtle change in art,that is,music was becoming subordinate to performance.As a result,the rhythm that once had been continuous and vigorous,was then interrupted and therefore disembodied.However,for the genuine art,music was the soul and inspired the naissance of new works.Second,Nietzsche criticized Philistines of Culture,which was characterized by the extreme downfall of vitality,in another word,the dying or even dead will of an individual.In a word,the decadent art betraying the Dionysian Spirit and the Philistines of Culture making one lose will power,were two aspects of decadence,leading a person to lose enthusiasm for life.How did one overpower and transcend decadence? In the second chapter,Nietzsche put forward three solutions.One,to surpass oneself.That meant overcoming one's own physical deficiency,such as disease and debility,etc.Two,to transcend positively.In this situation,people became decadent because of being surpassed.But it was a kind of vigorous decadence,for the "decadence→surpass→decadence→surpass→…" mode promoted life moving forward.Three,to transcend the decadent ideas.That is to say we should non-stop "renew" ourselves bravely,and break out the ideas against our transcending determinately.Of course,this sort of transcending was obviously a devastating blow to those who,in their heart,were afraid to change and reform.It was just the devastation that was called by the Dionysian Spirit.For one thing,it aroused enthusiasm for life,the core power to conquer decadent art and Philistines of Culture.For another,it was devastating to decadent people.