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Nietzsche’s Compassion

  • Vasfi O. Özen EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 20, 2021
Nietzsche-Studien
From the journal Nietzsche-Studien Volume 50 Issue 1

Abstract

Nietzsche is known for his penetrating critique of Mitleid (now commonly rendered as “compassion”). He seems to be critical of all compassion but at times also seems to praise a different form of compassion, which he refers to as “our compassion” and contrasts it with “your compassion” (BGE 225). Some commentators have interpreted this to mean that Nietzsche’s criticism is not as unconditional as it may seem – that he does not condemn compassion entirely. I disagree and contend that even though Nietzsche appears to speak favorably of some forms of compassion, he regards the nature of all compassion to be fundamentally bad. Furthermore, I suggest that Nietzsche’s discussion on different forms of compassion have significant implications for achieving greatness and meaning in life. More specifically, I argue that, for Nietzsche, “our compassion,” however regrettable qua compassion it is, may give occasion for a rare and peculiar insight into “co-suffering” with others, which in turn results in overcoming compassion entirely. I also argue that although Nietzsche objects to compassion, he approves of a form of what feminist theorists might now call “anticipatory empathy.” Even though a large body of literature has evolved over Nietzsche’s critical evaluation of compassion, his understanding of a non-compassionate response to suffering is, in my view, rather overlooked and should receive more attention.

Keywords: Mitleid; Compassion; Anticipatory empathy; Suffering; Schopenhauer

To the memory of İhsan Akev–a great teacher, opera singer, and human being

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Published Online: 2021-08-20
Published in Print: 2021-08-18

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelei
  2. Editorial
  3. Inhaltsverzeichnis
  4. Die „Magie des Extrems“ in philosophischen Neuorientierungen. Nietzsches neue extreme Problemstellungen und -lösungen und das alte Beispiel des Sokrates
  5. Burckhardt’s Silence and Nietzsche
  6. A Heretical Student in the Schopenhauerian School
  7. Nietzsche’s Heraclitean Doctrine of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same
  8. Das Bild eines „europäischen Goethe“ in Nietzsches Götzen-Dämmerung. Einige Bemerkungen
  9. Le cas Napoléon
  10. Utopien des Übergangs. Don Quixote und Zarathustra
  11. „Werde, der du bist!“. Selbsterkenntnis, Handeln und Selbstgestaltung bei Nietzsche in einem Ineditum von Georges Canguilhem
  12. Bound Sovereignty: The Origins of Moral Conscience in Nietzsche’s “Sovereign Individual”
  13. Nietzsche’s Compassion
  14. Nietzsche’s Entomology: Insect Sociality and the Concept of the Will
  15. Sources of Nietzsche’s Knowledge and Critique of Anarchism
  16. Nachweis aus Horaz, Satiren und Episteln
  17. Nachweis aus Karl Rosenkranz, Aesthetik des Hässlichen (1853)
  18. Nachweise aus Eugen Dühring, Cursus der Philosophie (1875)
  19. Nietzsche and the Aesthetics of Philosophy
  20. Nietzsche and Music
  21. Leib, Seele und Subjektivität nach Nietzsche. Internationale Perspektiven auf ein Problem im Wandel
  22. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology and Ethics
  23. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Social and Political Philosophy
  24. Jewish Nietzscheanism
  25. Siglen
  26. Stellenregister
  27. Hinweise zur Gestaltung von Manuskripten für die Nietzsche-Studien
  28. Nietzsche-Studien Style Sheet
  29. Titelseiten
  30. Editorial
  31. Abhandlungen
  32. Die „Magie des Extrems“ in philosophischen Neuorientierungen. Nietzsches neue extreme Problemstellungen und -lösungen und das alte Beispiel des Sokrates
  33. Burckhardt’s Silence and Nietzsche
  34. A Heretical Student in the Schopenhauerian School
  35. Nietzsche’s Heraclitean Doctrine of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same
  36. Das Bild eines „europäischen Goethe“ in Nietzsches Götzen-Dämmerung. Einige Bemerkungen
  37. Le cas Napoléon
  38. Utopien des Übergangs. Don Quixote und Zarathustra
  39. „Werde, der du bist!“. Selbsterkenntnis, Handeln und Selbstgestaltung bei Nietzsche in einem Ineditum von Georges Canguilhem
  40. Bound Sovereignty: The Origins of Moral Conscience in Nietzsche’s “Sovereign Individual”
  41. Nietzsche’s Compassion
  42. Nietzsche’s Entomology: Insect Sociality and the Concept of the Will
  43. Abhandlung zur Quellenforschung
  44. Sources of Nietzsche’s Knowledge and Critique of Anarchism
  45. Nachweise zur Quellenforschung
  46. NACHWEIS AUS HORAZ, SATIREN UND EPISTELN
  47. NACHWEIS AUS KARL ROSENKRANZ, AESTHETIK DES HÄSSLICHEN (1853)
  48. NACHWEISE AUS EUGEN DÜHRING, CURSUS DER PHILOSOPHIE (1875)
  49. Rezensionen
  50. Nietzsche and the Aesthetics of Philosophy
  51. Nietzsche and Music
  52. Leib, Seele und Subjektivität nach Nietzsche. Internationale Perspektiven auf ein Problem im Wandel
  53. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology and Ethics
  54. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Social and Political Philosophy
  55. Jewish Nietzscheanism
https://doi.org/10.1515/nietzstu-2021-0010
Keywords for this article
Mitleid; Compassion; Anticipatory empathy; Suffering; Schopenhauer

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titelei
  2. Editorial
  3. Inhaltsverzeichnis
  4. Die „Magie des Extrems“ in philosophischen Neuorientierungen. Nietzsches neue extreme Problemstellungen und -lösungen und das alte Beispiel des Sokrates
  5. Burckhardt’s Silence and Nietzsche
  6. A Heretical Student in the Schopenhauerian School
  7. Nietzsche’s Heraclitean Doctrine of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same
  8. Das Bild eines „europäischen Goethe“ in Nietzsches Götzen-Dämmerung. Einige Bemerkungen
  9. Le cas Napoléon
  10. Utopien des Übergangs. Don Quixote und Zarathustra
  11. „Werde, der du bist!“. Selbsterkenntnis, Handeln und Selbstgestaltung bei Nietzsche in einem Ineditum von Georges Canguilhem
  12. Bound Sovereignty: The Origins of Moral Conscience in Nietzsche’s “Sovereign Individual”
  13. Nietzsche’s Compassion
  14. Nietzsche’s Entomology: Insect Sociality and the Concept of the Will
  15. Sources of Nietzsche’s Knowledge and Critique of Anarchism
  16. Nachweis aus Horaz, Satiren und Episteln
  17. Nachweis aus Karl Rosenkranz, Aesthetik des Hässlichen (1853)
  18. Nachweise aus Eugen Dühring, Cursus der Philosophie (1875)
  19. Nietzsche and the Aesthetics of Philosophy
  20. Nietzsche and Music
  21. Leib, Seele und Subjektivität nach Nietzsche. Internationale Perspektiven auf ein Problem im Wandel
  22. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology and Ethics
  23. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Social and Political Philosophy
  24. Jewish Nietzscheanism
  25. Siglen
  26. Stellenregister
  27. Hinweise zur Gestaltung von Manuskripten für die Nietzsche-Studien
  28. Nietzsche-Studien Style Sheet
  29. Titelseiten
  30. Editorial
  31. Abhandlungen
  32. Die „Magie des Extrems“ in philosophischen Neuorientierungen. Nietzsches neue extreme Problemstellungen und -lösungen und das alte Beispiel des Sokrates
  33. Burckhardt’s Silence and Nietzsche
  34. A Heretical Student in the Schopenhauerian School
  35. Nietzsche’s Heraclitean Doctrine of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same
  36. Das Bild eines „europäischen Goethe“ in Nietzsches Götzen-Dämmerung. Einige Bemerkungen
  37. Le cas Napoléon
  38. Utopien des Übergangs. Don Quixote und Zarathustra
  39. „Werde, der du bist!“. Selbsterkenntnis, Handeln und Selbstgestaltung bei Nietzsche in einem Ineditum von Georges Canguilhem
  40. Bound Sovereignty: The Origins of Moral Conscience in Nietzsche’s “Sovereign Individual”
  41. Nietzsche’s Compassion
  42. Nietzsche’s Entomology: Insect Sociality and the Concept of the Will
  43. Abhandlung zur Quellenforschung
  44. Sources of Nietzsche’s Knowledge and Critique of Anarchism
  45. Nachweise zur Quellenforschung
  46. NACHWEIS AUS HORAZ, SATIREN UND EPISTELN
  47. NACHWEIS AUS KARL ROSENKRANZ, AESTHETIK DES HÄSSLICHEN (1853)
  48. NACHWEISE AUS EUGEN DÜHRING, CURSUS DER PHILOSOPHIE (1875)
  49. Rezensionen
  50. Nietzsche and the Aesthetics of Philosophy
  51. Nietzsche and Music
  52. Leib, Seele und Subjektivität nach Nietzsche. Internationale Perspektiven auf ein Problem im Wandel
  53. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology and Ethics
  54. Recent Work on Nietzsche’s Social and Political Philosophy
  55. Jewish Nietzscheanism
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