”Bli inte dödad av en staty”

Viktigt att komma ihåg i en tid då språket igen anses vara ett enkelt verktyg som man kan behärska, viktigt att komma ihåg i en tid av tro på språkbehärskning och andra totalitära strävanden:

‘For precisely this reason philology is today more necessary than ever, precisely in this way it attracts us and enchants [bezaubert] us most strongly, amidst an age of ”work,” that is to say, of haste, of indecent and perspiring alacrity, which is intent on ”getting everything done” at once, even every book, old and new: – philology itself will not ”get everything done” so lightly: it teaches how to read well [gut lesen], that is, slowly, profoundly, considerately and cautiously [rück- und vorsichtig], with ulterior motives [Hintergedanken], with doors ajar, with delicate fingers and eyes.’ (Nietzsche)

The caution recommended here is aimed toward protesting against those societal pressures that foster hasty productivity and the careless consumerism it serves.

/ – – – /

Within the larger context of Daybreak, as elsewhere across Nietzsche’s writings, the ground desired by metaphysicians is understood as morality, as the clear distinction between good and evil; and it is precisely this distinction that turns out to be not as secure as conventionally surmised. A slow, profound, and cautious excavation of our moral systems reveals that this ”old faith” secures nothing. It aims to demonstrate why every philosophical project erected upon such systems inevitably falls to pieces. / – – – / His patient, critical archaeology problematizes any approach that operates on presumed moral clarity and purportedly unquestionable values – in a word, on hasty readings. The Philologist thus keeps doors open, not only to fresh questions and unexpected associations but also to invasions and assaults from without. Philology cannot ”get everything done” because the system is never airtight. / – – – / Philology’s deceleration is infectious (but not sickly): in slowing down, it slows us down, makes us uneasy, wary, insecure.
/ – – – /
He maintains this indeterminacy precisely by reading and encouraging others to read with care,
cum cura. If we approach Nietzsche as good, slow and careful readers, we would then appreciate the difficulty, if not the utter impossibility, of securing the meaning of any text, including Nietzsche’s own. Nothing is safe; nothing immune. Across his late writings, Nietzsche consistently struggles to alert his readers against taking his words as dogma. He drives us to recoil from resting in orthodoxy. As he reminds us in the pages of Ecce Homo, his Zarathustra should not be regarded or admired as a prophet or preacher, as someone who ”demands belief” –

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‘You repay a teacher badly by remaining a pupil. And why don’t you want to pluck at my wreath? You are devoted [verehrt] to me: but what if your devotion [Verehrung] subsides someday? Beware not to be killed by a statue! You say you believe in Zarathustra. But who cares about Zarathustra! You are my believers, but who cares about belivers!’ (Nietzsche)

 

( Citat ur Security – Politics, Humanity, and the Philology of Care av John T. Hamilton, Princeton University Press 2013)