Apollo's Vision

This thesis focuses on discussing Nietzsche's conception of vision. Based on the necessary analyzing of the texts by Nietzsche himself, the explanations on him by scholars, and other related theories about vision, the thesis tries to take a survey to Nietzsche's thought of vision. Two main respects are included in the survey: firstly, an exam of the relationship and differences between Nietzsche's idea of vision and other related theories; secondly, a comprehension to Nietzsche's thought of vision from his aesthetics as a whole. According to the analysis of the two respects, Nietzsche's theory of vision is summarized as a mode of vision, which can be called "Apollonian Vision" or "Carnal Vision", "Corporeal Vision". "Apollonian Vision" differs from the classical idea of vision, which is characterized by a desire-excluded subject. It also distinguishes itself from the abstracting and formalizing tendency in the Modernist visional conception. Usually, "Apollonian Vision" includes three moments: 1), It is defined from "Will" (Wille); 2), Its object or content is "Illusion" (Scheiri); and 3), It is a state or condition of the body, i.e. a kind of "Intoxication" (Rausch). Such a mode of vision is essential to Nietzsche's attempt to regarding the world only as an "aesthetical phenomena".