Aesthetics and Religion – CJ Glicksman

Aesthetics and Religion: A Comparison Between the Religious Thought of Franz Rosenzweig and the Aesthetic Philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer 

By: CJ Glicksman

A noumenal object is an object that exists outside the realm of one’s senses.1 It is the essence of what is perceived, but it remains independent of one’s subjective interpretation. Arthur Schopenhauer, an early 19th-century philosopher, labeled this abstraction “the Will.”2 The concept of the Will greatly influenced many philosophers in Schopenhauer’s wake. Among them was Frederic Nietzsche, whose aesthetic philosophy was greatly impacted by Schopenhauer’s book, The World as Will and Representation. In Nietzsche’s unpublished essay, On Music and Words, he quotes Schopenhauer, using the concept of the Will in Schopenhauer’s theory of aesthetics to explain his argument against lyrics with musical accompaniment.3 Interestingly, Franz Rosenzweig, a 20th-century Jewish thinker, uses themes that appear to be very similar to those of Nietzsche, when writing about a seemingly unrelated topic: how Christianity and Judaism relate to history. When considering Rosenzweig’s arguments, one gets the sense that he may have, in fact, been referring Schopenhauer’s Will and using ideas from Nietzsche’s aesthetic philosophy, presented in On Music and Words. If not directly referring to these ideas, at the very least, Rosenzweig seems to have been heavily influenced by them.

Friedrich Nietzsche is known in his later years to have detested the musical drama, particularly that of the esteemed composer, Richard Wagner.4 A number of philosophical theories contributed to Nietzsche’s disillusionment with Wagner’s dramas.5 Of these theories, one stood in direct opposition to Wagner’s aesthetic philosophy, presented in his essay, Opera and Drama. Though it was written before his break with Wagner, On Music and Words explains this antithetical aesthetic theory.6 Influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche believed that when music was accompanied by lyrics, it was essential that the music be primary and the lyrics exist as a supplement, not vice versa.7 He quotes Schopenhauer as saying that music is noumenal; it is a thing unto itself, independent from our world of perception, and therefore does not need any assistance from language in order to be complete.8 This does not mean, however, that words should not be connected to tune.9 On the contrary, says Schopenhauer, when incorporating lyrics, 

our attention actually sticks to and follows the music more closely, and at the same time what the music is saying in its general and imageless language of the heart is based on a visual image, a schema, as it were, something comparable to an example that supports a general concept. Indeed, this sort of thing will intensify the impression made by the music.10

Thus, lyrics exist as a means of helping people understand the music by replicating it in the form of metaphor. Nevertheless, the lyrics themselves are nothing but a symbol. Nietzsche constructs the same relationship between music and acting, describing acting as a representation of the music.11

Wagner, on the other hand, believed that music should exist to enhance the drama.12 In the words of Carl Dahlhaus, music should “present the creative artist’s initial… idea… to a region of perception that can recognize the truth in the evidence presented by the senses.”13 In other words, music should be the means to an end, the end being the ideas displayed in the drama.14 This directly opposed Nietzsche’s view of lyrics and acting as being the means, and music, the end.

Shortly after Nietzsche died, Franz Rosenzweig, a religious Jewish philosopher, suggested a novel theory on how Christianity and Judaism relate to history.15 His theory was largely in response to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, about whom Rosenzweig wrote his doctorate.16 Hegel claimed that history reflects the absolute truth of the cosmos.17 It is the arena in which God relates absolute truth.18 Since the Jewish religion is ghettoized, outdated, and entirely detached from history, it has no essential place in the cosmos.19 Christianity, on the other hand, is an active part of history, and as such, it must be the true religion.20 In his book, titled Star of Redemption, Rosenzweig rejects this claim and says that Judaism and Christianity each exist to play a distinct role in the master plan of the universe.21 Rosenzweig concedes that Judaism is, in fact, not a part of history, but he asserts that this is intentional.22 Judaism consciously transcends history. It does not desire to be part of history. It is other worldly.23 This makes sense, says Rosenzweig, if Judaism is the correct religion.24 It can bring Man to revelation, to an authentic encounter with the absolute truth, God.25 This is most acutely demonstrated in the High Holiday services of Yom Kippur, a day on which many Jews fast, abstain from sexual relations, and sit in the synagogue praying – all in order to transcend the physical world and encounter the absolute.26 Christianity, on the other hand, is an essential part of history. As history unfolds, Christianity changes, and Christianity’s changes in turn affect history.27 God created Christianity as a part of history in order to bring humanity closer to Him.28 It exists as a replication of the ideal, an expedient for the world to use, so that humanity can desire and strive towards the ideal.29 Judaism, however, is itself the ideal; therefore, it does not need to be at all pertinent to history or the physical world.30 Because of this, Judaism has nothing to learn from Christianity, as Judaism is complete in its own right.31 Hence, Christianity is the means and Judaism the end.

The parallels between Nietzsche’s aesthetic philosophy and Rosenzweig’s historical philosophy are remarkable. Rosenzweig uses an analogy to describe the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. He says that if Judaism, the ideal and the absolute, is compared to the sun, then Christianity represents its rays.32 This analogy can just as easily be applied to Nietzsche’s aesthetic philosophy. If the noumenon of music is the sun, then lyrics and acting are its rays. Both Rosenzweig and Nietzsche discuss the idea of an essential truth that can be understood, to some degree, through an imitation of that truth. This imitation can be used to focus more closely on the essence of what it is imitating, but it is still just a symbol and a metaphor, not the truth itself. The imitation is the means; the truth is the end. Interestingly enough, at the beginning of Star of Redemption, Rosenzweig praises Nietzsche and Schopenhauer for being the first philosophers to transcend death, as all philosophy up to that point had been simply trying to escape death.33 Evidently, Rosenzweig indeed read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and he held them in high regard. Perhaps they had much more of a direct impact on his thinking than what he made known, as it would certainly seem that Rosenzweig’s philosophy of religion in history was in some way influenced by their thought.

Footnotes

  1. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Noumenon.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 May 2013, www.britannica.com/topic/noumenon. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  2. Troxell, Mary. “Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/schopenh/#SH2a. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  3. Nietzsche, Frederic. “On Music and Words.” Between Romanticism and Modernism, pg.106119. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  4. Ibid., pg.19.
  5. Nietzsche, Friedrich. “Nietzsche contra Wagner.” The Nietzsche Channel: Nietzsche contra Wagner. In English. Accessed October 26, 2017. http://www.thenietzschechannel.com/works-pub/ncw/ncw.htm.
  6. Nietzsche, Frederic. “On Music and Words.” Between Romanticism and Modernism, pg.106119. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Schopenhauer, Arthur. “On Music and Words.” Between Romanticism and Modernism, pg.107. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  9. Ibid.
  10. Ibid.
  11. Nietzsche, Frederic. “On Music and Words.” Between Romanticism and Modernism, pg.106. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  12. Dahlhaus, Carl. “The Twofold Truth in Wagner’s Aesthetics: Nietzsche’s Fragment ‘On Music and Words.’” Between Romanticism and Modernism, pg.21. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  13. Ibid.
  14. Ibid., pg.20.
  15. Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, November 1, 2017.
  16. Ibid., October 30, 2017.
  17. Ibid.
  18. Ibid.
  19. Ibid.
  20. Ibid.
  21. Ibid., November 1, 2017.
  22. Ibid.
  23. Ibid.
  24. Ibid.
  25. Ibid.
  26. Ibid., November 6, 2017. 
  27. Ibid., November 1, 2017.
  28. Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed by Josh Harrison, Spring 2004.
  29. Ibid. 
  30. Ibid.
  31. Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed, November 7, 2011.
  32. Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, November 1, 2017.
  33. Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed by Avraham Wein, November 4, 2015.

Bibliography

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Noumena.” Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 16 May 2013, http://www.britannica.com/topic/noumenon. Accessed January 10, 2018. 

Troxell, Mary. “Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/schopenh/#SH2a. Accessed January 10, 2018. 

Nietzsche, Frederic. “On Music and Words.” Between Romanticism and Modernism. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018. 

Nietzsche, Friedrich. “Nietzsche contra Wagner.” The Nietzsche Channel: Nietzsche contra Wagner. In English. Accessed October 26, 2017. http://www.thenietzschechannel.com/works- pub/ncw/ncw.htm. 

Dahlhaus, Carl. “The Twofold Truth in Wagner’s Aesthetics: Nietzsche’s Fragment ‘On Music and Words.’” Between Romanticism and Modernism. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Accessed January 10, 2018. 

Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, Fall 2017. 

Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed by Josh Harrison, Spring 2004. 

Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed, November 7, 2011. 

Carmy, Shalom. “Modern Intellectual Jewish History.” Lecture Series from Yeshiva University, New York, NY, transcribed by Avraham Wein, November 4, 2015. 

< Music