more from this thinker     |     more from this text


Single Idea 24112

[filed under theme 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / i. Deflating being ]

Full Idea

We are in the process of figuring out the being of things: consequently we must already have an opinion as to what being is. This can be an error! E.g., I.

Gist of Idea

To think about being we must have an opinion about what it is

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1881-82 [1882], 9[41])

Book Ref

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Joyful Science, and 1881-82 fragments (v 6)', ed/tr. Del Caro,Adrian [Stanford 2023], p.318


A Reaction

The point of 'I' is that we unquestioningly think the self is a given aspect of being, as in Descartes.


The 10 ideas with the same theme [denial that much of interest can be said about being]:

To think about being we must have an opinion about what it is [Nietzsche]
There is no 'being'; it is just the opposition to nothingness [Nietzsche]
Frege's logic showed that there is no concept of being [Frege, by Scruton]
The word 'being' is very tempting, but in fact means nothing at all [Cioran]
Is being just referent of the verb 'to be'? [Marcus (Barcan)]
Before Being there is politics [Deleuze]
Ontology does not tell what there is; it is just a strange adventure [Deleuze, by May]
Being is a problem to be engaged, not solved, and needs a new mode of thinking [Deleuze, by May]
The modern view of Being comes when we reject numbers as merely successions of One [Badiou]
The primitive name of Being is the empty set; in a sense, only the empty set 'is' [Badiou]