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Freud, Nietzsche Author(s): LORIN ANDERSON Reviewed work(s): Source: Salmagundi, No. 47/48 (Winter-Spring 1980), pp. 3-29 Published by: Skidmore College Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40547316 . Accessed: 22/07/2012 12:29
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Freud,Nietzsche
BY LORIN ANDERSON

I the Freud's reticence regarding works of Nietzschehas oftenbeen and just as quickly dropped. His very silence inhibits broughtup to whatis there say? inducesmoresilence.Since he said little, enquiry, Freudand on WhenMichelFoucault,forexample,speaking Nietzsche, on Marx in the early 1960's,was asked to comment thisproblem,he that he too had been "struckby the astonishing could only confirm It eveninhiscorrespondence. is infact silence... ofFreudon Nietzsche, rather enigmatic."1 in Those statements which Freud does Somethingelse is striking. and are Nietzsche almostinvariably mention accompaniedbyhisfrank In of thathe is ignorant Nietzsche's cheerful admission thought. 1908, a of twomeetings theViennaPsychoanalytic Society, groupmadeup of Freud and his followers,were devoted to discussing Nietzsche. held of to meeting, inApril,Freudbegan According theminutes thefirst to "his own peculiarrelationship his comments first by emphasizing its philosophy: abstractnatureis so unpleasantto him,that he has work: He the of renounced study philosophy. does notknowNietzsche's occasional attemptsat reading it were smotheredby an excess of which In interest. spiteofthesimilarities out, manypeoplehavepointed ideas have had no influence he can givetheassurancethatNietzsche's at his on whatsoever his ownwork."Reaffirming ignorance thesecond thathe has in October,"Prof. Freud would like to mention meeting of becauseoftheresemblance never beenable to study Nietzsche, partly and to ourlaboriousinvestigations, partly Nietzsche's intuitive insights Freudfrom becauseofthewealthofideas,whichhas alwaysprevented
1 Michel Foucault, "Nietzsche,Freud, Marx,** Nietzsche,Cahiers de Royaumont, Philosophic No. VI (Paris: Minuit,1967),p. 198. My translation.

LORIN ANDERSON

to he halfpage whenever has tried readhim."2 beyondthefirst getting Movement in Severalyearslater, hisHistory thePsycho-Analytic of (1914), Nietzsche's name came up in a passage concerned with and precursors originality: came to me independently of The theory repression quitecertainly of any othersource . . . and for a long timeI imaginedit to be entirelyoriginal, until Otto Rank showed us a passage in Schopenhauer'sWorldas Willand Idea. . . . What he says there a about thestruggle piece of reality againstaccepting distressing thatonce so coincideswithmyconceptof repression completely I owe thechanceofmaking discovery mynotbeingwellto a again In lateryearsI havedeniedmyself very the read greatpleasure with deliberate ofreading worksofNietzsche, the the objectofnot in workingout the impressionsreceived in being hampered to ideas. I had therefore psychoanalysis anysortofanticipatory by in be prepared and I am so, gladly to forgo claimsto priority all in themany instances which laboriouspsychoanalytic investigation can merely confirm truths the whichthephilosopher recognized by intuition.3 in Similarly, hisAutobiographical Study(1925),after any againdenying he acquaintancewithSchopenhauer's philosophy, added: "Nietzsche, the otherphilosopher whose premonitions insights and often agreein themostamazingmanner with laboriousresults psychoanalysis, the of I have long avoided forthisvery reason.After I was less concerned all, about anypriority thanabout thepreservation myopenmindedness of [ Unbefangenheit]:94 Hence anotherdimension added to theenigma:Nietzsche is neither ofnorread; Nietzsche avoided. But notforlack of spoken assiduously admiration.At one point in his biographyof Freud, ErnestJones a menhe did notrank presents listof themenFreud considered great, himselfamong- "Goethe, Kant, Voltaire, Darwin, Schopenhauer,
2 Herman Nunbergand Ernst Federn,eds., Minutes of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Universities Society(New York: International Press, 1962[Vol. I], 1967[Vol. II]), I, referred in the textas Minutes. to 359-60;II, 32. Hereafter 3 Sigmund Freud, On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement,ed. James (New York: Norton,1966),pp. 15-16. Strachey 4 I have followedthe translation WalterKaufmannin his Nietzsche:Philosopher, of 3rd note Antichrist, ed. (New York: Random House, 1968),pp. 182-83, Psychologist, 2.

Freud,Nietzsche

of At Nietzsche."5 theOctobermeeting theVienna Society,Freudhad the opinion that "the degreeof introspection achieved by expressed everto be Nietzsche had neverbeen achievedbyanyone,noris itlikely reachedagain."(Minutes, 3 1-32.)And to ArnoldZweig,Freudwrote II, "In a ofNietzsche: myyouthhe signified nobility whichI could not to attain."6Nietzsche admired and avoided: but in this he was no was as exception; Schopenhauer also ignored, has alreadybeenseen.In fact Freud claimed to remain unacquainted with much of the literature to anticipatory pertaining hiswork.As heexplainedina letter to Wilhelm Fliess,"I do notwantto read because it stirsup too many of And to a and stintsme of the satisfaction discovery."7 thoughts about my studenthe wrotein 1909 thathe was "reallyveryignorant will If me greet illas a predecessors. we evermeetup above they certainly Butitis sucha pleasure investigate thing to the itself insteadof plagiarist. about it."8 readingthe literature The logic is curious. Even Freud does not seem convinced,as he texts of sketches imaginary his sceneofaccusations plagiarism: germane shunned thatvery for avoided precisely theextent to reason,Nietzsche thathisinsights all bearupontheproblems confronting psychoanalysis, in the name of the pleasure of discoveryor the preservation of openmindedness.But openmindednessdoes not require emptyheadedness.Behindtheseexplanationsis to be seen a conceptionof not withbeingthe concerned so much(at least not entirely) originality first thinksomething withbeinginnocent theorigin, to as at and with an Priorities are remaining pure of thought throughout investigation. thenofno account;they be or mayafterwards lavishly assigned ignored, depending upon one's mood. With ignorance, discoveries and rediscoveries equivalent, are and even a duplication remains one's own creation.Ignoranceassuresthatone is the father all one's ideas.9 of
5 ErnestJones,TheLifeand WorkofSigmundFreud,3 vols. (New York: Basic Books, III, 415. 1953-57), 6 Letterof May 11, 1934,trans,in Jones,III, 460. 7 Letter October8, 1895,in SigmundFreud,The Origins Psychoof Letters of Analysis: to Wilhelm Fliess, ed. Marie Bonaparteet al. (New York: Basic Books, 1954),p. 126. 8 Letterto Oskar Pfister, July12, 1909,trans,in Jones,II, 443. 9 In his Leonardo da Vinciand a MemoryofHis Childhood,ed. JamesStrachey (New York: Norton, 1964), Freud says: "There is no doubt that the creativeartistfeels towardshisworkslikea father." 71) As withother in statements thework,thisone (p. thanbiographical, because Freudmustgo on, in appearsto be moreautobiographical thesame paragraph, try explainwhyLeonardo does notfeelthiswaytowards to to his works.Freuddecidesthatitis because"hisfather notcaredabout him."Thiswork had hereafter referred in the textas Leonardo. to

LORIN ANDERSON

of the Whenitcameto establishing priority Freud'sowndiscoveries, however,precedencewas of much greaterconcern.Squabbles over priority,accusations and denials of plagiarism followed Freud his were accompanied by a throughout career. And such incidents for his attitudes. Freud'spreference developing ideas complexofrelated in solitude in couldbe turned intoan exaggeration hisactualisolation of orderto enhancethesense of his achievement: evenEinstein "had the from Newtononward,whileI supportof a longseriesof predecessors had to hackevery a stepofmyownwaythrough tangled junglealone."10 The slow processofdevelopment hisideas underwent first to that from finalformulation himto fearthatsomeoneelse would getwindof led themand developthemfaster thanhe could- an ongoing for concern, in relationto hispupil,VictorTausk. He did not appreciate example, the originality otherswhen it touched upon his psychoanalytic of as withhis followers, whose proper theories, was oftendemonstrated rolehe viewedas limited theapplication hisown original to of findings. He comparedthem"withdogs. They take a bone fromthe table and chewit independently a corner.But it is mybone!"11 moreover in He refused accepttheideas of others their to in form without first original and reformulating "I do notfinditeasyto them, reworking explaining, feelmywayintounfamiliar trains thought, generally of and haveto wait untilI have founda point of contactwiththemby way of my own But ideas foreign, complicated paths."12 he is also to be foundlabeling or at thatthey draw incomprehensible, unintelligible thosevery points close to his own. All in all it might said thatFreud be uncomfortably suffered from that"autochthonous to from conceit," borrow Nietzsche, of "trying re-invent elements philosophy to the and science."13 of In the course of these evasions,reformulations suppressions, and Freud was inclinedto forget Where some of his ideas originated, to to appropriate ideas without due acknowledgment, indiscreetly disclosethe ideas of others, to himin confidence in thecase of put (as Fliess' theoryof bisexuality). he Alternately, would recognizethese
10 Letterto Marie Bonaparte,Jan. 11, 1927,trans,in Jones,III, 131. 11 Quotedin Paul Roazen, Freudand H isFollowers (New York:NewAmerican Library, an withHeleneDeutsch.See ibid.,p. 570,foradditional 1974),p. 191,from interview references this confirming attitude. 12 Hilda Abrahamand ErnstFreud,eds., A Psycho-Analytic Dialogue: The Letters of SigmundFreud and KarlAbraham,1907-1926 (New York:Basic Books, 1965),p. 345. 13 Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosophyin the TragicAge of the Greeks,trans.Marianne Cowan (Chicago:HenryRegnery, 1962),p. 31.

Freud,Nietzsche

and tribute predecessors, worry to traits, randomand extravagant pay about plagiarism.14 with withoriginality, thecontamination his of Asidefrom concern the Freud offered another reason for not reading pristineperspective, entire Nietzsche's The style presentation morethanthat, of Nietzsche. and of "premonitions approach to and formulation his psychological insights" put Freud off. To Nietzsche's nimble intuitionsFreud of play opposedthegraveand laboredinvestigations psychoanalysis: vs. Nietzsche had occasionally work.By meansof luck and artistic genius, danced across the path now being cleared by means of controlled allure observation analysis:art vs. science.Justas theshimmering and of origins, all of preceding discoveries his own and to whichhe could filledFreud withfearsof and confirmations, onlyadd modifications all left and (thereis nothing to father, has been sterility fatherlessness sirenof intuitive fathered so (frivolous) already), also thelight-hearted speculation of artistic and philosophical thinkingin general in threatened some insidiousmannerto encroachupon theponderous his edificebeingconstructed enquiries. through scientific and the Consequently distancebetweenpsychoanalysis philosophy was always to be emphasized. Freud's assurances to his followers on Vienna Societymeeting Nietzsche"thathe has at present thefirst the the of renounced study philosophy" onlyagreedwith viewsofothers who led theevening's at themeeting. Edward Hitschmann, discussion, began by making it clear how far he separated himself from so "... as Moebiusdidwith pyschology, we couldadoptthe philosophy: of all philosophyas a theme of discussion,takingthe hopelessness A as of relativity all philosophy our pointof departure. philosophical fromartistic is a productof an innerurge,not verydifferent system viewsmaybe determined creations Thus a philosopher's subjective and {Minutes,I, 355-56, by his personalcharacteristics experiences." of 357.) This themeof the subjectivity philosophyFreud specifically issues raised by acknowledgedto be one of the most interesting Lou AndreasHitschmann.Several years later, he would enlighten "itis really to essential Salom on theneedto resist "purephilosophy":
work Freud's bibliographical 14 Jonesadds this insight: "Whereasin his neurological when it came to his exact and comprehensive, references had been scrupulously that Freud this writings was no longerso. Rank once jokinglyremarked analytical as on references other to distributed writings thesame principle theEmperor analysts' of to distributed decorations, (II, according themood and fancy themoment." 41 1-12) in the matter thisparagraph Freudand His Followers, of Roazen has dealtwith subject of and pp. 190-202, passim. For therelationship Freud and Tausk, see Paul Roazen, Animal: The Storyof Freud and Tausk (New York: Knopf, 1969). Brother

LORIN ANDERSON

in for struggle againstthe need peculiarto thinkers an ultimate unity things, recognizingthis need as the product of a profoundly root and custom and, furthermore, a possible as anthropomorphic in It or research positive of science."15 hindrance distraction thedetailed was metaphysics, epistemology, specifically not that irritated Freud:"I will believe thatone daymetaphysics be condemned a nuisance, an as as as abuse of thinking, a survival from the period of the religious But Weltanschauung."16 such viewsas theseonlyputFreudon theside of Nietzsche, not in opposition.So did his opinionthatphilosophers who go about questioning the value of lifeare ill: "The momentone about the sense or value of lifeone is sick,since objectively inquires neither themhas any existence."17 of Nietzsche represented another danger in that his insightfulness the of to itself threatened undermine effort psychoanalysis establish to as a science. How to stop this?By makingall philosophicalactivity themselves suspect. We have seen suspect,by making philosophers Hitschmann's approach. Even less delicate was Isidor Sadger, who is, "emphasizesthatthe born philosopher byvocation,an obsessional neurotic." (Minutes, I, 357.) Freud, who elsewhere had defined as metaphysics "a projectionof so-called endopsychic perceptions," described Nietzsche's perspicacity once again as "endopsychic he (Minutes,I, 149; II, 31.) His own insights would likely perception." terms. Moreover, despite Freud's have characterizedin different to repeated deference Nietzsche'sintuitivebrilliance,this must be denied for measuredagainsthis low opinionof intuition; he elsewhere the veryexistenceof intuitive knowledge:"thereare no sources of of of otherthan theintellectual working-over knowledge the universe carefullyscrutinizedobservations in other words, what we call research and alongside of it no knowledge derivedfromrevelation, be . intuition divination. . . Intuition or . and divination . . maysafely
at from conversation Freud's,February 1913,in TheFreud a 15 Lou's reconstruction 23, ed. Journal Lou Andreas-Salom, StanleyLeavy(New York: Basic Books, 1964),p. of 104. 16 ErnstFreud,ed., Lettersof SigmundFreud (New York: Basic Books, 1960),p. 375. value judgements 17 In this he is only repeating Nietzsche,who wrote:"Judgements, neverbe true:theypossessvalue life,foror against,can in the last resort concerning onlyas symptoms-in themselves theycome into consideration only as symptoms, to One mustreach out and try graspthisastonishing are suchjudgements stupidities. Not bya living man,becausehe is a finesse,thatthevalue of lifecannotbe estimated. indeedits object,and notthejudge of it; not by a dead one, for partyto thedispute, anotherreason." Twilight the Idols, trat. R.J. Hollingdale(Baltimore:Penguin, of 1968),"The Problemof Socrates," 2.

Freud,Nietzsche

reckonedas illusions,the fulfilments wishful of Such a impulses."18 doubtas to thestatusofNietzsche's statement leaveslittle "intuitions," or of Freud'sown observational labors. Was Nietzscheeven to be taken seriously? Those at the Vienna in werefarmoreinterested determining assigning and Societymeetings thepsychological that Nietzsche write he to as problems wouldmotivate did(evenwhenhewrote a precursor, "intuited" as his of foreshadowings his theresearches a "scientific of discipline" onlyconfirming troubled and evaluatingthe nature,suggesting neuroses)than in considering in under consideration. insightsoffered the writings psychological would Could it not be said, at any rate,thatsuch chance ingenuity count as discovery untilconfirmed science?In a letter to scarcely by the he between Freud,ArnoldZweig sketched relationship perceived Nietzsche and Freud as follows: To me it seemsthatyou have achievedeverything Nietzsche that felt be histask,without beingreally to his able to achieve intuitively it withhis poetic idealismand brilliant He inspirations. triedto thebirth tragedy; havedone itin Totemand Taboo. of explain you He longedfora worldbeyondGood and Evil;bymeansofanalysis a you havediscovered worldto whichthisphraseactually applies. has reversed values, it has conquered Christianity, all Analysis disclosedthetrueAntichrist, liberated spirit resurgent and the of lifefrom asceticideal. Analysis reduced willto powerto the has the what lies at its basis. . . . And thanksto thefactthatyou are a and furthermore psychologist a who advances step by scientist, step, you have attainedwhat Nietzschewould so gladly have the achievedhimself: scientific and description explanationof the
18 SigmundFreud,New Introductory Lectureson Psychoanalysis and trans.James ; ed. were deliveredin the (New York: Norton, 1964), p. 159. (These lectures Strachey winters 1915-16 of and 1916-17.)In the same passage, Freudsetsout therelation of to "As a specialist science . . . psychoanalysis the scientificWeltanschauung: is to a of [psychoanalysis] quiteunfit construct Weltanschauung itsown:itmust accept thescientific one." (p. 158) Nevertheless, is psychoanalysis in a positionto stepin and defend scientific the are as, Weltanschauung, e.g., whenobjections raisedagainstthe "This objection viewthatno otherknowledge existsthan observational knowledge. cannotbe too energetically a says Freud. "It is quitewithout basis,since repudiated," in research exactly samewayas the theintellect themindare objectsforscientific and to has any non-human things. Psycho-analysis a specialright speak forthescientific at withhavingneglected Weltanschauung thispoint,since it cannotbe reproached in in whatis mental thepicture theuniverse. contribution scienceliesprecisely of Its to withoutsuch a havingextendedresearchto the mental field. And, incidentally, sciencewould be veryincomplete." 159) psychology (p.

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humansoul- and, morethanthat,sinceyou are a physician, you of and have taughtand createdthe possibility influencing curing it. thiscomparison reflected certain Freud'sownopinionssince, of Clearly in his reply, warmly he encouragedZweig to developit intoan essay. Freud had ofcoursebeenplaced in a flattering in relation Nietzsche, to case madeto realize, formalize, to whatNietzsche every onlysensed.But in there also themanner whichhis achievement characterized; is is is it thetriumph one approachoveranother thesame setofproblems. of to Freud had not simply confirmedNietzsche's solutions, he had reformulated themfrom within another and answered them discipline by means of a more certainmethodology.With sobrietyhe had reinvented Nietzsche'stask. For in this juxtapositionof Freud the scientist Nietzsche philosopher, is themethodof theformer and the it that brings to completionthe methodless (observation,analysis) of rampancy the latter intuition). (premonition, Freud the scientist: this fails to account for numerousother yet statements whichFreud acknowledged interest philosophical in in an or for the philosophicalorientationof his own later speculation, "As manI felt strong a attraction towards writings. a young speculation and ruthlessly checkedit."20 Letters fromFreudto his close childhood friend,Edward Silberstein,have recentlybeen turned up which documentthe extentof Freud's early interest philosophy.As a in studentat the University Vienna, Freud had already of prospective determined he wouldstudy that "Aboutthefirst philosophy: yearat the I in university can tell you that I shall spend it entirely studying humanistic subjects.... To thisend,I am joiningin thefirst yearthe of He withFranz Brentano, faculty philosophy."21 became fascinated theonlyteacher in discussed hisletters anydetail.Freud'senthusiasm in forBrentano's coursesincreased the and through school year 1874-75, his career plans accordingly shiftedto include philosophy."I and Panethhave succeededin establishing closercontactwithhim,"Freud wroteon March 7, 1875. "I shall personally you moreabout this tell ideal man For themoment and in manyrespects peculiar onlythis:
19 Ernst Freud, ed., The Lettersof SigmundFreud and Arnold Zweig (New York: HarcourtBrace, 1970),pp. 23-24. 20 Jones,I, 29. 21 Letter July11,1873,trans, H. Stanescu, of in to "Young Freud'sLetters hisRumanian The Vol. 9, No. 3 (Dec. 1971),198. Friend,Silberstein," Israel Annals of Psychiatry,

Freud,Nietzsche

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I that underBrentano'sinfluence arrivedat the decisionto take my Ph.D. in philosophy and zoology."A weeklaterFreud metwithhim. "Brentano it thought would be quitepossibleand very good to graduate in philosophy and in medicine. This would not be thefirst case. Lotze did thesame and remained a subsequently philosopher."22 Freuddid notfollow withthisplan,buthe did notrepudiate through either. he in philosophy "Philosophy," wrotehisfiance 1882,"whichI havealwayspictured mygoal and refuge old age,gainseveryday as in in as or I attraction, do humanaffairs altogether anycause to which could at of givemydevotion all costs,butthefearofthesupreme uncertainty all politicaland local matters thatsphere."23 Insteadhe keepsme from wentintomedicine, "neither thattime, indeedinmylaterlife, but at nor didI feelanyparticular for predilection thecareerofa doctor."24 Having chosen a safe career,he refused give up his earlierinterests. he to As wroteFliess in 1896,"I secretly nursethehope of arriving thesame by route[medicine] myown original at For objective, philosophy. thatwas ambition. . ." And laterthatyearhe reiterated hope to this myoriginal Fliess withgreater confidence: "When I was young,the onlythingI and knowledge, nowthatI am goingover longedforwas philosophical I to frommedicine psychology am in the processof obtaining it."25 In later years,looking back upon his career,Freud reflected that "after of medical activity, self-knowledge me tells forty-one years my thatI have neverreallybeen a doctorin thepropersense.I becamea doctorthrough beingcompelledto deviatefrommyoriginalpurpose; andthetriumph mylife inmyhaving, of lies after longand roundabout a foundmyway back to myearliest In journey, path."26 1924he set out 1920 as the date after which"I have givenfreereinto the inclination whichI keptdownforso longto speculation. . ."27But evenearlier, "as farback as in 1910,"Ernest Jonesrecalls"hisexpressing wishwith the a from medicalpractice and devotehimself the to signthathe could retire of the unraveling culturaland historical problems ultimately great of In in problem howmancameto be whathe is."28 the1920's, anycase,
22 Letterof March 15, 1875,both letters trans,in ibid.,p. 200. 23 Letterof Aug. 16, 1882,trans,in Jones,III, 41. 24 Sigmund Freud, An AutobiographicalStudy, trans. James Strachey (London: Hogarth,1950),p. 13. 25 Letters Jan. 1 and April2, 1896,Originsof Psychoof Analysis,pp. 141, 162. ed. to 26 Found in Freud's"1929 Postscript" his TheQuestionofLay Analysis, and trans. JamesStrachey (New York: Norton, 1969),pp. 104-5. 27 Autobiographical Study,p. 105. 28 Jones,I, 27.

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to Freud's work did actuallyturnfromclinical and psychoanalytic to concerns or return them,as he saw it.29 speculative a What are we to make of all this? Did Freud considerhimself his or or Upon thismatter, philosopher not?A philosopher a scientist? Of commentary. studyof Leonardo da Vinci providessome suggestive all the possible traits in Leonardo's personality affectinghis Freud singled out what he describedas "Leonardo's development, .. doublenature an artist as a scientific as and investigator ." {Leonardo, art between and science"(p. 84) p. 23.) For Leonardo,the "vacillation not only marks off the successive stages of his life but actually determines them, dialecticallyadvancing his career throughthree distinct periods. which In Freud's view,the period of scienceand researchactivity, followed Leonardo's longer firstperiod of carefreeartisticactivity, the (pp. expansionof his personality." "represented latestand highest out of the firstperiod by Freud had it arise necessarily 78-79, 15) interests thatLeonardo'sresearch Solmi'sargument beganin following the serviceof art, "in order to ensure masteryin the imitationof nature. . ." (p. 26) However, in "followingthe lead given by the and further of requirements his painting,"Leonardo moved further afieldfromthe studyof his subjects(plants,animals,humanbody) to their of of the from exterior bodies(study ligjit, shadows,perspective) and then and vital functions), interior(study of internalstructure of and all thebranches natural themintothelaws ofmechanics beyond science so that "finally the instinct, which had become so withthedemands overwhelming, swepthimaway untiltheconnection whenLeonardo tried of hisartwas severed. . ." (p. 26) Consequently, powersback to focus once (thirdperiod) to bringthese investigative of disturbed thenewdirection his moreon hisart,"hefoundhimself by and interests the changednatureof his mentalactivity." 27) (p. Through all this it is hard to forgetFreud's opening image of on himself his deathbedforhavingfailedhis Leonardo, reproaching too exclusivelyto science. his duty to art by redirecting interests his Leonardo'sresearches, begunas a meansofemancipating art,inthe to end caused himto feelconstrained, becomelostin theinexhaustible of the thathe now saw to lie behind premise a truly number problems of to painting, paintless and less,to care lessand lessabout representative all to thefateof hispaintings, leave hispaintings unfinished at least (or in to declare themunfinished lightof what a totallyrepresentative
29 In the "1935 Postscript"to the AutobiographicalStudy, Freud describes the (see esp. pp. 132-133.) change"withcarefulprecision, "significant

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expression might encompass). "The artist had once taken the into to had become investigator hisservice assisthim;now theservant his thestronger suppressed master."(p. 27) and It hardly need be mentioned thattheprogression from to science art to art bears a striking to from resemblance Freud's own progression to or "double philosophy scienceto philosophy, that the ambivalent considered Freud to be so significant an understanding for nature," by of Leonardo resembles own ambivalence.Freud was well intohis his scienceperiodwhenhe wrote Leonardo,and,inlinewith analysis, of his he had earlyon attempted see thisperiodas an extension thefirst, to of of as thecontinuation evenattainment hisphilosophical and objectives means.Composedin 1909-10, essayappearedjustabout the byanother to thetime,according Jones,thatFreud had begunwishing could "he retire frommedicalpracticeand devote himself the unraveling to of culturaland historical about the time,thatis, that Freud problems," to his began anticipating own "finalperiod"in a return philosophical reflection. to Leonardo, Freud had an opportunity reflect By studying upon of concernto him. Through Leonardo he could examine problems and creativity; and again the themeappears of creativity originality at the hand of knowledgethat, although (or because) it stymied does not serve one well. By means of the study itself enlightens, creative, insightful, speculative-Freudwas also able to explorehisown unresolved If "doublenature." in Leonardoitledto a rather melancholy this Freud'sown conflicting conclusion, perhapsonlyconfirmed views, if the withwhichhe was to regard his prefiguring,anything, ambiguity return philosophy to and the statusof the laterspeculative writings.30 Whatever reason,hisbook on Leonardomusthavespokento Freud the for, directly, among his own works,it was one of his favorites.31 ButwhatofNietzsche? Has he beenlostsight And ifnot,whatdo of? we conclude?Do we know now who Nietzscheis to Freud?Or is it a mustremainunresolved, questionthat,finally, enigmatic a question thatdisappears intocomplexand ambiguouseddieswhenever try we to and explanations? pursueFreud's thoughts Perhaps thatis so, which does not mean we have come up empty-handed. Perhapsbeyondthis with we are left answers. do still We a have,at anyrate, point speculative
30 This returnwas not always seen as a "triumph"; sometimesregretted he leaving and severein his evaluationof his laterwritings. See psychology could be extremely Paul Roazen, Freud:Politicaland Social Thought (New York: Knopf,1968),pp. 1023, 111. 31 Jones,II, 347.

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his to third reason,givenbyFreudina letter Zweig, justifying ignorance in The letter written inFreud'slife, July was late ofNietzsche. 1934,long and it afterhe had given"freereign"to his speculativeinclinations, whichhe generally refers noneoftheexcuseswith to pardonedhimself. Instead he wrote, "it is impossible to understandanyone without is his and enigma. showing sexual constitution, Nietzsche's a complete There is even a storythat he was a passive homosexualand thathe in in in contracted Particularly striking syphilis a male brothel Italy."32 thisexplanation notso muchthefactthatittendsto canceltheothers is all (whichindicatethatNietzscheis understood too well),sinceFreud of Nietzsche's seemsto have in mindmorethedifficulty understanding than his writings, but that once again, and in a rather personality Yet ultimate way,Nietzschehas beendeemedimpenetrable. Freudhad of to felt free arguethesignificance Leonardo'ssexuality hislife to quite and hisworkwithinformation leastas inadequateas hehad available at on Nietzsche.33 Where Leonardo can be discussed, Nietzschecannot. The rules a and guidingthe permissibility the fieldof discussionare reversed: inverted bond linksthebook on Leonardo to the certain symmetrically silenceon Nietzsche. Now the one subject that seems to encompass these opposing is an Nietzsche to suppress is To reactions Freud'sself-doubt. suppress nearest and area ofuncertainty insecurity upon hisestimation touching as of himselfas a creativethinkerand writer,uncertainty to his as he uncertainty to whether had in factfoundtheadequate originality, To his fieldand bestmeansof venting creativity. studyLeonardo is to this area, but at a safe distance.Nietzschestands too close, explore in As in however, time,in his interests, hisformulations. Paul Federn on "Nietzsche comeso has itat one ofthemeetings Nietzsche: expressed
was 32 Freud-Zweig Letters, 85. Thisstory repeatedly brought at theViennaSociety up p. about Nietzsche. and providedthe basis formuchspeculation on meetings Nietzsche, went on but off Freudhimself passedtheinformation as immaterial,"eveniftrue, then to make commentson Nietzsche's personalityand even on the nature of his and insightsthat take his homosexualityfor granted and as a investigations factor:"Then one sees how, in his life,illnessbecomes his fate. . . . determining that he to life cut from byillness, turns theonlyobjectofinvestigation is Completely off is in i.e., stillaccessibleto himand which, anyevent, close to himas a homosexual, the ego." of "The lack of understanding 33 Freud had also added, at theVienna Societymeeting: in is un-German hisnature. thatthere Nietzsche really something maybe due to thefact Nietzsche's We just have notsucceededin understanding Minutes,p. 30. personality." could be It is doubtful thatFreud meantto implythatonlyGermanicpersonalities a In was understood psychoanalysis. anycase, Leonardo certainly not"Germanic," by factabout whichFreud did not complain.

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thatwe can ask only, 'Where henotcomeclose?'" has closeto ourviews to Freudintoa threaten turn I, {Minutes, 359.) Nietzsche's anticipations into confirmations verifying drudge (although Zweigknowshowto turn the significantachievements). nor withNietzsche; does hecareto use him, to Freudrefuses compete to "stand on his shoulders."Instead, he barricadeshimself against is Nietzsche notto be spokenof,notto be read. For Nietzsche's stylus. findhe has onlybeen ploddingalong thepathon which Freud might his once playfully Nietzsche sang and danced. And intuited intuitions. II how muchof Justhow well acquaintedFreud was withNietzsche, workhe read and whatuse he made of whathe read:these Nietzsche's to about whichFreud has little say, and it maywellhave are matters been them,ratherthan the works of Nietzsche,that he wishedto and of Wereitnotforthesurvival a fewletters thepublication suppress. thatis to say,onlygradually oftheViennaSociety material, meetingsto brought lightsince Freud's death- evidenceof Freud'sfamiliarity without a would have disappearedvirtually withNietzsche's thought of trace. For Freud's part, the effacement his past was scarcely of a the Consider following accidental. passagefrom letter Freud'sto his all fiance,dated April 28, 1885: "I destroyed my notes and letters of and abstracts manuscripts my all for accumulated 14years, scientific All myold friendships havebeenspared. letters work;onlysomefamily took thedeadly themselves and relations again and silently presented about whowilllay and cannotdie,worrying blow. ... I cannotmature should work it out theirhands on my old papers. The biographers Freud'stiming them."34 we don'twantto makeittoo easyfor somehow, of nature thisscorched-document hereis as curiousas thedrastic policy and sincein 1885he was stillunpublished unknown. Alreadyhe itself, thathe the on his appearsbenton covering tracks, perpetuating myth thathe had createdin a void,thathe was unprecedented, was ill-read, the highestsort of genius and that his achievementrepresented creativity.35 thathehad. What He ButFreudreadNietzsche. didnotactually deny muchof him,or thathe had been he deniedwas thathe had read very

ed. 34 SigmundFreud,Letters, 1873-1939, Ernestand Lucie Freud,2nd ed. (Frankfurt, 1968),pp. 144-45. 35 See John Gedo and George Pollock, eds., Freud: The Fusion of Science and Universities Press, 1976),pp. 12, 239 note 2. Humanism(New York: International

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he in influenced anywaybywhathe read. At a ViennaSocietymeeting a had confessed beingunableto readmorethanhalfa page orso from to without workbyNietzsche havingto stop.Yet variousreasonssuggest of of extended thathis knowledge Nietzsche beyondthecontents a few For a start,how could Freud have knownthat many of half-pages. unlesshewas of Nietzsche's ideas agreedwiththeresults psychoanalysis of factthattwomeetings of aware ofthecontents thoseideas?The very to theViennaSocietywerededicated Nietzsche and morespecifically an to two of his books- would indicate alreadyexisting by familiarity, withthe importance Nietzscheto psychoanalysis; of the participants, do and thisis borneout bythediscussions. Freud'sdisciples notappear to so unacquainted withNietzsche Freudhimself as professed be. Adler "stresses amongall greatphilosophers who have left for that something is Nietzsche closestto ourwayofthinking." 1, (Minutes, 358.) posterity, to some examples:"he was thefirst Federn,Friedmanand Frey offer discoverthe significance abreaction,of repression, flight of of into illness,of the instincts the normalsexual ones as well as thesadistic "the of of to or instincts"; significance forgetting, theability forget; the fact that he regardsillnessas an excessivesensitivity life,and so to forth." 359; II, 29) (I, this,as one would expect, Freud does not seem less Throughout than his students.To Federn's query, "Where has knowledgeable a notcomeclose?"Freudhad,forexample, quick(ifperhaps [Nietzsche] as somewhat "Nietzsche failedto recognize infantilism defensive) reply: wellas themechanism displacement." 360) Lateron,hecountered of (1, claims of neurosesin Nietzschewiththe assertionthat "thereis no evidencewhatsoeverof a neuroticillness." (II, 31) Such responses with Nietzsche as they should, for Freud's suggest familiarity connections withNietzsche's whentallied,reveala remarkably works, long and continuous history. The Silbersteincorrespondence,which has demonstratedthe seriousness Freud'syouthful of also interests, showsthe philosophical Freud already,in his first of seventeen-year-old yearat theUniversity withNietzsche's work.36 1873 Between Vienna,quitefamiliar published and 1877 Freud was a member of the Lesevereinder deutschen a of Studenten, reading who,inthe society youngGermannationalists "saw in themovement towardpan-Germanism closerlinkswith 1870's, the cultureof Goethe as well as a more genuineexpressionof their
36 Ibid. Nietzsche'sThe Birthof Tragedy was first publishedin 1872.

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Taking Schopenhauer, Wagnerand Nietzscheas politicalidentity."37 their inspirational leaders, they regarded past political activityas with concerned rationalin itsappeals, and as insufficiently excessively man's emotional,creativeand artisticside. The group's members becamepolitically radicalizedthrough theirenthusiasm over German of the worldof culture shareddreams overturning "stablebourgeois and in theirliberalfathers."38 leadingparticipant thereadingsociety, One Heinrich of Braun,had beena close friend Freud'sin their Gymnasium of at thattime, "arouseda number revolutionary had feelings" daysand, in him.39 "In 1877 Braun was one of thejoint signersof a letter to in to Nietzsche devotion hisoutlookand offering follow the to declaring wake of his criticism liberalsociety."40 of Anotherof Freud's friends, JosefPaneth, with whom he studied and attendedBrentano'slecturesin 1874-75,reappearsa philosophy linkto Nietzsche.PanethmetNietzschein Nizza littlelateras a direct and spenta good deal oftimewithhimbetween December26, 1883and he March 26, 1884.No doubt assuredthatFreud would be interested, of to keep Freud informed his impressions was thoughtful of enough of Nietzsche. Freudmakesa reference thisto Zweigin 1934: "A friend to mine,Dr. Paneth,had gotto knowhimin theEngadineand he used to writeme a lot about him."41 fromthe The youngFreud was thus aware of Nietzschevirtually to Whether Freudcontinued read moment first his book was published. But is in Nietzsche thelastdecades ofthe 19th century unknown. hedid tookup in Paneth'sletters 1884.And in 1900he againapparently receive ofthatyear, for to hisstudyofNietzsche, in a letter Fliess in February Freud acknowledged havingjust purchasedthe worksof Nietzsche, within me."42 mute "WhereI hope to findwordsformuchthatremains in "In later years,"Freud had written his Historyof the PsychoAnalytic Movement (1914), "I have denied myselfthe very great But of the pleasure reading worksofNietzsche." whatis meantby"later of "? years Freud acquired Nietzsche'sworks in 1900 withthe intent them.He read and discussedNietzschein 1908 at theVienna reading on those who attendedthe first meeting Nietzsche Societymeetings:
37 HarryTrosman,"Freud'sCulturalBackground," ibid.,p. 58. in 38 Quoted in ibid. 39 Lettersof SigmundFreud, p. 379. 40 Trosman,p. 58. 41 Letterof May 11, 1934,trans,in Jones,III, 460. 42 Quotedin Max Schur, Freud:Livingand Dying(New York:International Universities Press, 1972),p. 202.

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had read in preparationat least the thirdessay of the presumably the two had readorperused first essays Genealogy Morals,and likely of had the also, whilethosewho attended secondmeeting presumably read Ecce Homo, From 1912 on, another direct tie to Nietzsche was established whenLou Andreas-Salomcame to Vienna to studywith Freud. Her knowledge of Nietzsche's thought,both from their discussionstogetherand from her reading of his works (she had in Nietzschein seinen Werken 1894),made hera publishedFriedrich on valuable source of information Nietzsche.And a source readily that approached, since she and Freud quicklyformeda friendship until Lou's death in 1937. Shortlyafterher death, Freud endured ."43 Nietzsche himself and "describedheras the onlyreal bondbetween of As a resultof thissomewhattediousrecitation evidence made statements and equally in necessary view of Freud's own misleading - I thinkit is necessary concludethatthereis no to misleading lapses of facevalue Freud'sprofessions ignorance morereasonto takeat their than his claimsto have not been wellNietzsche's writings concerning Otto Rank was nottaking literature. read in therelevant philosophical he forFreud'sseventieth suchdisclaimers when, birthday, sent seriously "On works.As Roazen writes, himan expensive editionof Nietzsche's and yetitalso meantthat was the thesurface present loyal and humble, and of a Rank was emphasizing predecessor anticipator Freud's.It was accuse me of takingfrom weresaying, as if Rank's gift you when 'you look what you have takenfromNietzsche.'"44 what This brings to themoreinteresting us issue,whichis notsimply butwhathe did withwhathe knew. Freud knewofNietzsche's thought Nietzsche's "intuited anticipations" of Freud's psychoanalytic and admitted were pointedout by Freud's followers "discoveries" by Freud himself. Rather than continuing here with additional in comparisons thatarea, let us take anotherapproachand comparea work of Freud's withone of Nietzsche's not a psychoanalytic work, his but one fromFreud's laterspeculative periodwherehe has turned ideas to attention broadercultural problems.Let us look at thecentral and Its Discontents of Civilization that,at some (1930) and, following Nietzsche's analysisof bad consciencein the Genealogy passagesfrom and the dealingwith foundations functions ofMorals (1887),twoworks of civilization.
43 Letterof February11, 1937,quoted in Jones,III, 213. 44 Freud and His Followers,p. 412.

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is Freud arguesthatcivilization premised upon a trade:protection and order in nature,the regulationof social relationships, against of freedom. of fora sacrifice instincts, individual exchange of that Perhapswe maybeginbyexplaining theelement civilization thesesocial to enters thescenewiththefirst on attempt regulate If relationships. the attemptwere not made, the relationships would be subject to the arbitrary will of the individual. . . . Human life in commonis only made possiblewhen a than any separate majoritycomes togetherwhich is stronger individual and which remains united against all separate in is set The individuals. powerofthiscommunity then up as "right" as whichis condemned to opposition thepowerofthe individual, of "bruteforce."This replacement thepowerof theindividual by the power of a communityconstitutesthe decisive step of of thatthemembers the The civilization. essenceofitliesin thefact ofsatisfaction, in themselves their restrict possibilities community of knewno suchrestrictions The liberty the whereas individual of is individual no gift civilization.45 the of the in shifts nature humansuffering away formation, effect, Society's towards forces and elemental from oppressions subjugations, arbitrary whichpreviously for a frustrating economyofprivation; theinstincts, aredisplacedinto this under neworder: aremodified had free they reign, of usefulto the development culture,or theyare simply activities is theirrenunciation demanded. Unsuitedto civilization, repressed. to for example,is the fate of the sexual instinct, permitted Such, but in civilization, onlyunderhobbledand carefully regulated operate here instinct, Such is the fate,too, of the aggressive circumstances. inclination. anticultural and enduring introduced Freudas an innate by wars takenso longto discover? Violence, cruelty, Whyhas thisinstinct and dominationsdo not occur all that rarely.Freud answersthat now as to has aggression notbeenso difficult find to faceup to- which, to thatit has been exposed,we are challenged do: behindall this,whichpeople are so readyto of The element truth whowantto be loved, creatures menare notgentle disavow,is that if themostcan defendthemselves theyare attacked; and who at creaturesamong whose instinctual on the contrary, they are,
ed. and Its Discontents, JamesStrachey(New York: 45 SigmundFreud, Civilization to referred in the textas Civilization. Norton,1962),p. 42. Hereafter

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endowments to be reckoneda powerful is shareofaggressiveness. As a result, their is neighbour forthemnotonlya potential helper or sexual object,butalso someonewhotempts them satisfy to their on aggressiveness him,to exploit his capacityforworkwithout to his to compensation, use himsexuallywithout consent, seize his to and him,to cause himpain,to torture to possessions, humiliate killhim.Homo hominilupus.Who,in faceofall hisexperience of will lifeand of history, have thecourageto disputethisassertion? {Civilization, 58.) p. An "aggressive but thus cruelty," repressed patientand ever-prepared, "In awaits provocationor excuse to burstforth. consequenceof this primary mutual hostility of human beings, civilized society is withdisintegration." 59) threatened perpetually (p. It is on this point that Paul Ricoeur findsthe significant turnin Freud'sanalysis; hereFreudreintroduced for Thanatos,thedeathwish, of at thelevelofculture, identified a primordial as hostility mantowards "withcalculated to man. The essaythat,prior this,had beenadvancing of the ease,"46 suddenlyconfronts tragedy culture.Says Freud, "This instinct the derivative is and themainrepresentative the of aggressive whichwe havefoundalongsideofEros and whichshares deathinstinct with it. And now, I think,the meaning of the world-domination is the evolutionof civilization no longerobscureto us. It mustpresent of betweenEros and Death, betweenthe instinct lifeand the struggle out as instinct destruction, it worksitself in thehumanspecies."(p. of 69) of thanhisannouncement evenmoreimportant To Freud,however, characterwas his insightthat the man's fundamentally aggressive of givesrise to a "sense of guilt,"and thatguilt repression aggression becomes the means by which civilization inhibits and controls to his "What happensin [the individual] render desirefor aggression: whichwe should aggressioninnocuous?Somethingveryremarkable, never have guessed and which is nevertheless quite obvious. His is aggressiveness introjected,internalized;it is, in point of fact, towardhisown sentback to whereit came from- thatis, it is directed over the individual's obtainsmastery therefore, ego. . . . Civilization, it and disarming and by desireforaggression weakening by dangerous in setting an agencywithinhimto watch over it, like a garrison a up has conqueredcity."(pp. 70-71) Not untilauthority been internalized
46 Paul Ricoeur,Freud and Philosophy(New Haven: Yale, 1970),p. 303.

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and thesuper-ego constituted we properly can speak ofa senseofguilt or of "bad conscience,"for only then is "conscience" actually in instinct itself twostages, aggressive the established. Guiltestablishes and at out of fear of externalauthority, then, beingrenounced first out of the of authority. following erection conscience, offear an internal Once established,however,"Every renunciationof instinctnow fresh renunciation sourceof conscience and every becomesa dynamic deflected the and increases latter's (p. severity intolerance." 75) Itsforce back release turns but no seeksexternal aggression longer through guilt, upon the individual. remorselessly of the maintained Civilization through reinforcement guilt Freud has thatthereader of saw thisas thecentral insight hisbook: "I suspect thatour discussionson the sense of guiltdisruptthe the impression of of framework thisessay. . . . This mayhave spoiltthestructure my the to intention represent to faithfully my paper; but it corresponds of in the development sense of guiltas the most important problem to Nietzsche. . . ." (p. 81) One finalpoint before civilization turning father of in Years before, hisaccountofthemurder theprimal {Totem of the introduced connection guilt and Taboo, 1913),Freudhad already a In and civilization. Freud'smyth, groupofsons,tiredof thefather's horde,banded together, monopolyover the women of the primitive led antisocialcrimes These supremely killedand devouredthe father. of to the originof societyand to the renunciation instinctual directly in enoughto gratification: partbecausenoneofthesonswerepowerful but and acquirehisabsoluterights, especially intothefather's place step crimes of felt becauseoftheguilt bythesons overthecommitment their thefather. against In Civilizationand Its Discontents,however,guilt is no longer to restricted a mythof origins(a thingof the past). As the active it maintainsitself, has been givena mechanism whichcivilization by role. Freudhas redefined and on-going creative guilt."Whenone has a and because of it,the a senseof guiltafter havingcommitted misdeed, It remorse. relates be onlyto a deed shouldmoreproperly called feeling in is thusjustified excluding thathas been done. . . . Psycho-analysis thecase of a senseof guiltdue to remorse, discussion the from present such practical greattheir however frequently cases occurand however of backto thekilling the senseofguilt Butifthehuman goes importance. all thatwas after a case of'remorse.'" (pp. 78-79)It isnot father, primal is father thattheprimal myth playeddowninthisnewessay byaccident the is Freudhimself awarethathehaschanged definition on civilization. of guilt.

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Nietzsche,too, examined guilt ("bad conscience"is the termhe in prefers) the"Second Essay" ofthe Genealogy Morals*1 How did of "theconsciousness guilt, 'bad conscience,' of the come intotheworld?" {Genealogy,II, 4.) This is the questionthatdirectsthe essay, and severalpreliminary hintsare providedas Nietzsche us prepares forhis own hypothesis: beginnings "its likethebeginnings everything of were, soaked in blood thoroughly fora longtime."( 6) and greaton earth, Nietzschethen remindsus that already,in Beyond Good and Evil to in cautiously the (229), and earlier Dawn ( 18,77, 113),"I pointed and 'deification'of crueltywhich ever-increasing spiritualization the of culture sense permeates entire history higher (and in a significant constitutes Anotherhint.Supposedlypunishment actually it)." ( 6) ihs possesses"thevalue ofawakening feeling guiltintheguilty of person But thatcrudely misunderstands humanpsychology, can as ..."( 14) readilybe observed walkingintoany prison:"It is precisely by among criminals and convictsthat the stingof conscienceis extremely rare; are prisonsand penitentiaries not the kind of hotbed in whichthis wormis likely flourish . ." ( 14) So, once again, to . speciesof gnawing wheredo thesefeelings come from? At thispoint I can no longeravoid givinga first, provisional statement myown hypothesis of the of concerning origin the"bad conscience": maysoundrather it and strange needsto be pondered, livedwith, and slepton fora longtime.I regard bad conscience the as the seriousillnessthatman was bound to contract underthe stressof themostfundamental changehe everexperienced that enclosed change whichoccurredwhen he found himself finally within wallsofsociety ofpeace. The situation facedsea the and that animals when theywere compelledto become land animals or well perishwas thesame as thatwhichfacedthosesemi-animals, to to adapted to the wilderness, war, to prowling, adventure: all instincts weredisvaluedand "suspended." From suddenly their now on theyhad to walk on theirfeetand "bear themselves" whereashitherto theyhad been borne by the water:a dreadful heaviness upon them. unableto cope with simplest the lay Theyfelt in undertakings; this new world theyno longerpossessed their former unconscious and infallible drives: guides,their regulating, werereducedto thinking, they inferring, reckoning, co-ordinating
47 Entitled: and theLike," On theGenealogy Morals,trans. '"Guilt/'Bad Conscience,' of Walter Kaufmann referred inthetext to (New York: Random House, 1967).Hereafter as Genealogy.

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werereducedto cause and effect, theseunfortunate creatures; they their"consciousness," theirweakest and most fallibleorgan! I of on believethere never has beensucha feeling misery earth, sucha leaden discomfort and at thesame timetheold instincts not had ceasedto maketheir usual demands!Onlyitwas hardly or suddenly had to seeknewand, rarely possibleto humorthem:as a rulethey as it were,subterranean gratifications. All instincts that do not dischargethemselves turn outwardly inward- thisis whatI call theinternalization of [Verinner lichung] man: thusit was thatmanfirst developedwhatwas latercalled his "soul." The entireinner world, originallyas thin as if it were stretched between two membranes, expandedand extendeditself, acquired depth, breadth,and height,in the same measure as outward dischargewas inhibited.Those fearfulbulwarkswith whichthe political organizationprotecteditselfagainst the old instincts of freedom punishments belong among these - broughtabout that all those instincts wild, free, bulwarks of man turnedbackward against man himself. prowling Hostility, in in in cruelty, in persecuting, attacking, change, destruction joy all thisturnedagainstthe possessorsof such instincts: thatis the originof the "bad conscience." . . . Butthusbeganthegravest uncanniest and from which illness, humanityhas not yet recovered,man's suffering man, of of the of from animalpast,as his himself- result a forcible sundering it werea leap and plungeintonewsurroundings conditions and of a of existence, declaration war againsttheold instincts uponwhich his strength, and terribleness restedhitherto. had joy, Let us add at oncethat,on theother on hand,theexistence earth of an animalsoul turnedagainstitself, takingsides againstitself, was something so new, profound, unheard of, enigmatic, and contradictory, pregnantwitha futurethatthe aspect of the earthwas essentially altered.( 16) All theimportant themes Civilization Its Discontents present of and are in thesamemanner, in established thesamerelationship here, deployed to one another. Internalization bad conscience evenintroduced and are in a similarmanner:"Somethingveryremarkable, whichwe should never haveguessed," "itmaysoundrather and saysFreud; strange needs to be pondered, livedwith, and slepton fora longtime," Nietzsche. says If thereis any difference, is in the extentof the change broughtby it civilization: Nietzschethe internalization instincts for of institutes the

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with past;and if the mostprofound sortoftransformation rupture and in human history, then the such great changeshave occurredonce future thanFreudforesees, if "as is open to greater changes possibility man were not a goal but only a way, an episode, a bridge,a great - " promise. That is how Nietzscheends the section. As forthe originof civilization, both Freud and Nietzscherejecta line uniformitarian of gradualchangeand are able to accountforits adventonlyby means of violentevents.This is Nietzsche's account: of the Among the presuppositions this hypothesis concerning ofthebad conscience first, thechangereferred was that to is, origin not a gradualor voluntary and did not represent organic one an to but a an adaptation newconditions a break, leap,a compulsion, ineluctabledisasterwhich precluded all struggleand even all ressentiment. thatthe weldingof a hitherto Secondly,however, unchecked and shapelesspopulace into a firm form was not only instituted an act ofviolencebutalso carried itsconclusion to by by but nothing actsofviolence- thattheoldest"state"thusappeared as a fearful as and machine . . . tyranny, an oppressive remorseless ... I think thatsentimentalism whichwould have [the"state"] begin with a "contract"has been disposed of. He who can he he command, who is by nature"master," who is violentin act and bearing-what has he to do with contracts!One does not reckonwithsuch natures;theycome like fate,without reason, or consideration, pretext; theyappear as lightning appears,too too too even to be terrible, sudden,too convincing, "different" hated. Their work is an instinctive creationand impositionof forms.. . . They do not know what guilt, responsibility, or consideration that are, these born organizers;they exemplify terrible artists' thathas thelook ofbronzeand knowsitself egoism to in like in justified all eternity its"work," a mother herchild.It is notin them thatthe"bad conscience" thatgoeswithout developed, thisugly saying- but it would not have developedwithout them, it of growth, would be lackingifa tremendous quantity freedom had not beenexpelledfrom world,or at leastfrom visible the the undertheir hammer blowsand world,and made as it werelatent artists' violence. Thisinstinct freedom madelatent we for forcibly have seen it already- this instinct freedom for back and pushed incarcerated withinand finally able to dischargeand repressed, ventitselfonly on itself:that,and that alone, is what the bad conscience in its beginnings. 17) is (

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Freud envisages civilization's origin in the carrying out of contract. unspeakablecrimes,followedby a hastyand self-imposed Guiltis democratically thefounders social orderare the of distributed; first experience No to remorse and self-renunciation. one is noble. For has Nietzsche, too, nobility longsincebeendebased and lostin thebad and the decadence that civilization conscience, the resentments but its existenceat the origin,in the founders themselves, cultivates; holdsoutthehopeofa different with a For future, future again promise. are of stability and Freud, guiltand renunciation the necessary price the to order, onlyalternative beingreversion a moreor less Hobbesian the natural state:either present or that compromise retrogression, isthe threat. For Nietzsche, itself bad however, conscience maybe preparing theway out. "The bad conscience an illness, is thereis no doubtabout is that,but an illnessas pregnancy an illness."( 19) The intrinsically of activenature bad conscience notto be underestimated is . Through the it modifications carries out,there maystillbe, "as thewombofall ideal and imaginative phenomena,also broughtto lightan abundance of newbeautyand affirmation, perhapsbeautyitself." 18) and strange ( The present a passingstate, future is with the pregnant possibility and thattoo is a threat, one whichNietzsche but embraces and affirms. He affirms human the and within manthat adventure, evenevery possibility and renouncehimself. makesman tremble in That is to suggestthe difference the analyses of Freud and in a difference theirassessment thefuture civilization. of of Nietzsche, But as to a description its presentcondition,who can deny the of remarkable correlation terms of and themesin thesetwoworks?More than that,it is precisely most "novel" and important the aspects of Civilization and Its Discontents thatbringit into alignment withthe Morals.Freudhadweighed questionofman'sinherent the Genealogy of it and independent before; now,byaccepting as an innate aggressiveness becomes the archetype suppressed of instincts instinct, aggression (it being the antisocial instinctpar excellence). But how is it that would tolerateso completean instinctual individuals suppressionas A occursin thecase ofaggression so totalitsvery is existence hidden? thatbrings Freudto a reassessment guilt, internalization of to problem and guilt, therestofNietzsche's to identified analysis:guiltis no longer as theeffect civilization's of sin, original butas themeansofitsongoing inhibition aggression. of Reader of Nietzsche, borrower fromNietzsche Freud,Nietzsche's secret No and to disciple. reference Nietzsche appearsin Civilization Its Discontents.Why Freud's reticence? But ratherthan that question

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again, let's ask another: why everyone else's reticenceas well? Nietzsche's text, all, analysisof bad conscienceis, after a well-known often as enoughbythesame perhaps wellknownas Freud's,and known readers. If this latteranalysis is based upon some ratherobvious fromthe former, how is it that this is passed over in appropriations withboth,are not silence, just by Freud,but by all thosewho,familiar to acquiescein Freud'sauthoritative elisionofNietzsche's name, willing and to concedethe originality Freud's repetition? of The themesof Civilizationand Its Discontentsare linked,not to Nietzsche, but back to the authorityof Freud's psychoanalytic "science."The conclusions drawnconcerning civilization offered as are fromthe discoveries psychoanalysis. of Freud'sstudies extrapolations oftheindividual have placed himin a privileged which to positionfrom on cultural and finally positing speculate aggression, guilt, repression, a super-ego civilization for analogousto thatoftheindividual to raise the questionof culturalneuroses. . . . there is one question which I can hardly evade. If the of has to development civilization sucha far-reaching similarity the of and ifitemploys same methods, the development theindividual in the maywe not be justified reaching diagnosisthat,underthe influence culturalurges,some civilizations, some epochs of of or civilization-possibly the whole of mankind have become An "neurotic"? analyticdissection such neurosesmight of lead to which could lay claim to great therapeuticrecommendations I of practicalinterest. would not say thatan attempt thiskindto over was carrypsycho-analysis to thecultural community absurd or doomed to be fruitless. (Civilization, 91.) p. Freud offers his ownscienceas thebasisforhisspeculations, he us and thesespeculations a languagethatis sober,authoritative, in envelops clinical. As he sits beforecivilization, that vast subject,diagnosing he defers he treatment, symptoms, considering onlyto himself; is his own authority; one qualifiedhas sat therebefore.Who dares to no transcribed. questionhim?Nietzscheis silently Freud, Nietzsche's secret disciple, barricades himself against Nietzsche's the of "science." style through solemnity hispsychoanalytic To Zweig it constituted Freud's triumph. Rank had his doubts. For Nietzscheit would have meantonlya relapseintotheveryprejudices, shallowness and metaphysical of assumptions scienceand scholarship thathe had alreadyexposed,and againstwhichhe had unleashedhis

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is in radianceofhisrhetoric. Nietzsche notserious.What style thefestive Is is signified the seriousnessof scientific expression? seriousness by Does scienceprovidea more"serious"explanation? more"scientific"? All this"seriousness on denotes,rather, imprinted facesand gestures" else- that "modernscience"'does not oppose the sign of something at religion all, buthas assumeditsplace as "thebestallytheasceticideal has at present."{Genealogy,III, 25.) Seriousnessis the visage of its asceticism-of its voluntary deprivation, self-denial and nothing fixed this todayis moreseriousthanscience.We find seriousexpression with on thefacesofall thosescholars todaywhowouldalignthemselves of the prestige science. Behindthisvisageis to be founda deeperassociationofsciencewith religion, in the metaphysicalfaith both share in truth: in the and thatitsvalueis absolute, that exists, assumption truth unquestioned that it exists, not as the successfulimpositionof one particular of our us but preceding and awaiting discovery interpretation, in itself, all other it. Truth is to be "discovered" and protected against whichwas thiswas "theChristian Faith in truth: faith, interpretations. is thattruth divine" {Genealogy,III, that God is truth, also Plato's, the thatforms 24.)48Now it is thefaithof science,and it is thisfaith it of renunciation; liesat theheartoftheasceticideal. The metaphysics . of "generalrenunciation all interpretation . . expresses,broadly as much ascetic virtueas any denial of sensuality is at (it speaking, mode ofthisdenial)."(24) How to undermine bottom onlya particular fromthe start thatis Nietzsche's such seriousness question and his But it solutionis to offset witha scienceofjoy, a languageofgaiety. not of frivolity. to thatwe findit difficult It may be too bad but it is inevitable worthiest whenwe look at [present-day serious remain goals man's] to and hopes,and perhapswe do noteven bother look any more. Anotherideal runs ahead of us, a strange, dangerous tempting, all . who playsnaively . . with thatwas ideal ... theideal ofa spirit divine... theideal of a called holy,good, untouchable, hitherto and benevolencethat will often well-being human,superhuman all appear inhuman for example, when it confronts earthly seriousnessso far, all solemnityin gesture,work, tone, eye, and task so far,as if it were theirmost incarnateand morality, involuntary parody and in spiteofall this,itis perhapsonlywith
48 This passage originally appears in The Gay Science, trans.WalterKaufmann(New referred in thetextas GayScience. to York: Random House, 1974),344. Hereafter

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himthat mark that greatseriousness really begins, therealquestion that thatthedestiny thesoul changes, of is posed forthefirst time, the hand movesforward, tragedy the begins. (Gay Science,^ 382.) To Freud and his followersat the Vienna Society meetings, Nietzsche'sformulations, brilliantas theymay have been, required in translation back intoa scientific framework orderto be acceptable. case raw data, a magnificent his By themselves, works represented on work,"Adlernoted,"one finds almostevery study."In Nietzsche's whenthe of reminiscent thosewe make in therapy, page observations has come rathera long way and is capable of analyzingthe patient in undercurrents his mind." (Minutes, I, 358.) It was not easy to determine whathad goneawry withpoor Nietzsche, itcould be but just in his language,in its extremes, posturing, gaiety, its its its glimpsed dissimulations and contradictions, interpretative its freedom.These werematters concern themeetings 1908,and Nietzsche of at in was put on thecouch.Hintsofmadnessweredetected every in excessassociated withhiswritings. for his of Hitschmann, example,prefaced discussion the Genealogyof Morals with this thought:"[Nietzsche]wrotethis voluminouspamphletin twentydays, that is, with pathologically accelerated was speed." (Minutes,I, 356.) The mood of the meetings in remark Federn's:"One could wish of perhapsbestcaptured a wistful thatmanypoets,founders religions, of and othermen of stature had submitted therapy; to thenthey haveaccomplished might great things." (Minutes,II, 29.) No one noticesthatNietzsche writing is withthemin mind,writing "scientific" againstthem, againsttheir self-satisfied, smug,pretentious, judgments.He multiplies interpretations endlessly; theyshake their heads and redeemthis rude proliferation a uniform in language of clinicaldiagnosis. see inhima disillusioned heseesinthem ascetic; They asceticism.They are astonishedat his immodesty; is he unmitigated astonished theirs. at "But I shouldthink thattoday,"Nietzsche writes, "we are at least far fromthe ridiculousimmodesty that would be involvedin decreeing fromour cornerthatperspectives permitted are thiscorner. Ratherhas theworldbecome'infinite' us all for onlyfrom over again, inasmuchas we cannotrejectthe possibility that it may include infinite interpretations" (Gay Science, 374.) Nietzsche's His strategies all misreadas errors, are language is not understood. illness.Freud,however, morereserved hisspeculations is in delusions, andjudgments thesemeetings at thanmostoftheother He participants.

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but Nietzsche's does not understand personality, he sees no indication that Nietzsche was neurotic,or worse, not even in Ecce Homo, Nietzsche'slast book. Un-Germanic perhaps,but thereis something there.Nietzschecan put words to Freud's mute ideas. Nietzschehas ideas worthrepeating. Secret disciple, errant master. Freud and Nietzsche address in but to at at themselves times thesame subjects, times thesamewords, and Its Discontents languages.In Civilization alwaysin two different whichhe was Nietzsche back intothelanguagefrom Freudtranscribes new. Perhapshe he makinghis escape, and thinks has said something is has,sinceno one pointsa finger. Perhapsa triumph recordedin the discourse.Scientific overpoetic. hereto dominate taking place struggle of to yield thelanguageofscience, thesolemnity its to Whofails to today understood Nietzsche to theauthority itsquestfortruth? of intonations, the this. He understood prejudicesof science,and he understood the of language to possess, to manipulate and to create. He power the he understood battle waged."We can destroy onlyas creators. But this either:it is enough to create new names and let us not forget in estimations and probabilities orderto create in the long run new 'things.'"(Gay Science, 58.)