But true philosophers
are commanders and legislators:
they say “That is how it should be!”
They are the ones
who first determine
the “where to?” and “what for?”
of people…

True philosophers
reach for the future with a creative hand
and everything that is and was
becomes
a means, a tool, a hammer for them.

Their “knowing” is creating,
their creating is a legislating,
their will to truth is
– will to power.

– Are there philosophers like this today?

Have there ever been philosophers like this?
Won’t there have to be philosophers like this? . . .

Beyond Good and Evil, by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by Judith Butler, aphorism 211

Friday promises to be another day of summer beauty.

The discussion of yesterday continues to echo for me. A circle of friends pondered the idea that the appreciation characteristic of “art” has a potential for ethical direction. Living considerately with others is thus regarded an artform, something learned by practice, by imitating others who manifest accomplishment. That “life” is a matter of trial and error, to learn from mistakes is a given. Is “living well” the ultimate, the summit of art?

Still, to create beauty, solutions never before conceived, sufficient? Is “that” all that we need? A member of our circle observed that the idiosyncratic texture of aesthetic development leaves us, all of us in society, lacking. Are not the stark, sharp-edged principles, the taboo on killing one’s fellows, on taking someone else’s stuff, on breaking promises necessary, enduring?

What are we going to do to create the future?

There’s no worry over eliminating evil. Besides, a pinch of evil reminds us that we are human.