Publication Details

Abstract

The present paper deals with ontology — one of those aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy which have received relatively little attention in our country. The author shows that the main reason hitherto; preventing this problem from being investigated did not lie in that it wolud not be objectively involved in his „system“ but rather in the indistinctness of the concept of ontology in the sense accepted in our philosophy .The author defines ontology as a philosophical discipline which deals with the most general laws of a) objective being, b) ontical relationship of man and the world, c) subjective being. It is shown that the ontological problems understood in such an aggregative way pervade then all Nietzsche’s philosophy. The present paper represents, however, an attempt to investigate the Nietzsche’s ontology only from the first point of view, i. e., with regard to the problems of objective being. The questions of time and space, causality and teleology, substance and development etc., come to the fore. The whole elaboration of Nietzsche’s ontology of objective being culminates in the problem of the „eternal return“ and of the „chaos of totality“. The present paper represents an attempt at a critical analysis of Nietzsche’s philosophy and, therefore, it is not concentrated only on the „explanation“ of his views but also on the search for stimulating ideas which, no doubt, can be found in Nietzsche’s work. For instance, Nietzsche refuses the existence of final elements of being, he understands energy as the existence in itself and introduces into his philosophy dynamic wholes to which energy is immanently intrinsic. Nietzsche’s conception of the „will to power“ is then shown to be inseparable from the hypothesis on the „eternal return“. The will is the basis of the dynamism of the cosmos, but it does not express the character of the development. This task is fulfilled by the concept of the „eternal return“. However, Nietzsche’s ontology is not exhausted by these concepts. He also puts the form of the general cooperation of powers into the same level as the basis of dynamism and as the character of development. This general cooperation is called by Nietzsche the „chaos of totality”. It is emphasised in the present study that the „will to power“, the „eternal return“ and the „chaos of totality“ form three basic pillars supporting Nietzsche's ontology of objective being as well as his whole philosophy. For instance, the hypothesis on overman arises just on the basis of the introduction of these three chief components of Nietzsche’s ontology. However, it must not be forgotten that though the ontological problems pervade all the Nietzsche’s philosophy, they do not represent his chief aim but rather a means, a basis for substantiating his specific philosophical anthropologism.