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As a Nietzschean, I've been steeped in a courageous philosophy that celebrates the idea of living dangerously. And so, for me, there's nothing more insulting than being instructed by someone in a mask to stay safe.
Not only does such willingness to parrot the government's Covid-19 propaganda display their own cowardice and conformity, it offends the libertarian and Clash City Rocker in me who prefers to stay free above all else and affirm the fact that risk is a crucial component of being.
For those who might not be familiar with Section 283 in Book IV of The Gay Science where Nietzsche advances his idea of gefährlich leben, here are the crucial lines:
"For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas! Live at war with your peers and yourselves!"
Although, as Walter Kaufmann notes, this magnificent formulation is found only here in Nietzsche's works, it is one of his most memorable motifs and, arguably, is as central to his philosophy as major concepts such as the overman and eternal recurrence.
I've no idea how long the coronavirus pandemic will last, but I'm hoping that the time will soon be past when people were content to live socially distanced from one another, hidden behind masks, and obsessed with health and safety to the detriment of everything else.
Although, as Walter Kaufmann notes, this magnificent formulation is found only here in Nietzsche's works, it is one of his most memorable motifs and, arguably, is as central to his philosophy as major concepts such as the overman and eternal recurrence.
I've no idea how long the coronavirus pandemic will last, but I'm hoping that the time will soon be past when people were content to live socially distanced from one another, hidden behind masks, and obsessed with health and safety to the detriment of everything else.
See: Nietzsche, The Gay Science, trans. Walter Kaufmann, (Vintage Books, 1974), IV: 283, p. 228-29.
