The Nietzsche Podcast

In the second part of this series, we'll examine how it is that Goethe came to his conception of the Daemonic, involved as it is with Spinoza's pantheism. Goethe's introduction to Spinoza was largely through Herder, and his friendship with Herder he described as one of the most important in his entire life. We'll consider Herder's personality and some of the most important aspects of Herder's worldview, as well as the use of the term "daemonic" as Herder received it from his mentor, the "Magus of the North", Hamann. In the latter half of the episode, we'll look at the specifics of how Goethe describes the Daemonic in Dichtung und Wahrheit and in Conversations with Goethe, in which he describes it as a force that pushes against all limits and manifests in prodigious human beings. We'll relate the idea to Werther, Faust, and consider some of Goethe's real-world examples of it.

Part one of three. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe often spoke of a dangerous but invigorating life-force that he christened "the daemonic". In his conversations with Eckermann, and in his autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit, he describes the daemonic by direct reference to Spinoza, and his pantheist philosophy.
In this first episode of our series on Goethe's Daemonic, we're going to look at Goethe's statement of the idea, then go back in time to consider: Plato's Symposium, the daemonion of Socrates, the writings of Philo of Alexandria, Justin Martyr and St. Augustine, and finally, the alleged Spinozism of the playwright Gotthold Lessing and the "pantheism controversy" that emerged over Lessing's legacy, argued by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi and Moses Mendelssohn.
Next week (part two) will involve a closer reading of Goethe's concept of the daemonic and the influence of Herder on Goethe's reception of Spinoza.

Episode art: Lessing, pictured in front of some Greek daimones.

Today we're considering Ge Ling Shang's book, Liberation as Affirmation, comparing Zhuangzi and Nietzsche. Shang sees both thinkers as putting forward a "religiosity" of life-affirmation. Major points of comparison: use of language (goblet words/zhiyan & Dionysian dithyramb), whether one can relativize all views or should affirm illusion, how to respond to morality (revaluation v/s devaluation), using a single principle to describe multiplicity (ziran/dao & will to power), and the competing views of the superior person (sage v/s ubermensch) and the methods for reaching such a state.

Exploring the indeterminate nature of truth in the Zhuangzi, the usefulness of uselessness, the foolishness of seeking office, and the advantages of xiaoyaoyou. Mixing translations from Watson, Palmer, Giles & informed by readings/commentary from Ziporyn, Ge Ling Shang & Wing Tsit Chan.
For a general introduction to Spring and Autumn period Chinese philosophy, see the previous regular episode, #127.

I still live, I still think. I still have to live, for I still have to think. Sum ergo cogito, cogito ergo sum.
Updates on the future of the podcast and plans for the New Year. Brief reflections on the past. Official announcement for my course at Acid Horizon Research Commons. Sign up here:
https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/2026-classes/p/nietzsches-experiment-with-truth