The wicked consolation

(translated from my Chinese blog)

This is my new project, “Nietzschean Philology”. In each installment, I’ll read a passage from Nietzsche’s original writings. By practicing text analysis, we can enhance our ability to understand the world.

"We Philologists" Section 6. Nietzsche’s extremely brief passage hides a truly evil and terrifying narrative structure.

My words of consolation apply particularly to the single tyrannised individual out of a hundred: such exceptional ones should simply treat all the unenlightened majorities as their subordinates; and they should in the same way take advantage of the prejudice, which is still widespread, in favour of classical instruction--they need many helpers. But they must have a clear perception of what their actual goal is.

"We Philologists" 6, Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by J. M. Kennedy 

Where does the idea of “words of consolation” even come from? If readers follow the reasoning through sections 4–6 and keep in mind the three perspectives on history discussed in the article “The Use and Abuse of History”; if readers truly take Nietzsche’s questions as their own, rather than dismissing them due to trivial reasons—like Nietzsche’s mental illness in his later years, which has nothing to do with his thoughts from his earlier years as a classical philologist—then readers should be able to find some comfort in section 5.

I’ve long learned to avoid those thoughts and words that try to please everyone. Only those issues that provoke controversy are worth considering, as they have the power to touch our hearts deeply. I’ve also learned to observe without accepting the opinions of the masses. This is precisely what Nietzsche discussed in section six.

Consolation comes from the fact that philologists adopt a critical historical perspective out of necessity. This, in turn, is consistent with a person’s skepticism regarding their own life’s calling. In other words, it’s consistent for a philologist to doubt both their own life’s purpose and the various ways in which ancient people are often idealized or glorified in their studies.

Nietzsche said that his words of comfort “apply particularly to the single tyrannised individual out of a hundred.” This means they also apply to a portion of those ninety-nine percent. As long as one maintains a consistent skeptical attitude, it’s possible to find some comfort in Nietzsche’s words. Those who doubt their own lives and the opinions of the masses are already a minority. But not all skeptics belong to that one percent. No one knows whether they belong to that group or not. According to the first section, it’s only possible to find out after one has lived most of their life, or even near the end of their life.

But Nietzsche emphasized that his words of comfort applied to that one percent of people, precisely because he pointed out a hidden hierarchy: those people “should regard others as beings inferior to themselves.” The criterion for being “enlightened” was whether one recognized the following: ① That one’s own life and one’s field of expertise (in the case of philologists, ancient studies) are full of problems. ② That these problems cannot be optimized through reason. ③ That public opinion is always wrong on this matter.

I don’t know whether readers can sense the wickedness in this passage—a truly palpable sense of wickedness. If Nietzsche’s previous hostility toward religion could provoke so much opposition, given how trite his views might seem, I wonder what readers will think of this passage, which seems so harmless. To me, it’s far too evil to express outright. But since few readers are likely to continue with this series after this point, I’ll venture to reveal what Nietzsche really meant.

What Nietzsche means here is this: You skeptics, some of you are superior to others, because you’re more enlightened than they are. But you must never let others know this—that you consider yourselves superior to others. Instead, you must hide it carefully. You should use the “widespread prejudice” (that everyone is equal) in order to gain the help of those “muggles.” But the prerequisite is that you must have a clear perception of what you really want.

This “playing the pig to devour the tiger” tactic has, without needing any further explanation, caused enough disasters throughout the 20th century.