34. Liberty or Equality? Part III Also Sprach Emerson: Nietzsche and Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

Liberty or Equality? Pt. III Also Sprach Emerson: Nietzsche, Emerson's "Self-Reliance," and the Individual Secession This week, we explore Emerson's extrapolation of the insights of Critical Philosophy into a philosophy, not quite of ends, but of means. He cautions the idealist away from Utopian dreaming and towards critical self-reflection. The only way to improve this world is to improve oneself; and with this one dictum, Emerson takes a romp through civil society in order to effect a secession of the self from the expectations of others; from inherited powers and authorities. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a great admirer of Emerson's work, and he remained a devoted reader of Emerson's essays throughout his adult life. His Zarathustra, his philosopher of the "Perilous Perhaps," was largely modeled upon the manner of self-assertion and self-reliance expressed by Emerson's own philosophy of self. We explore these connections in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and bring you a reading of Emerson's essay in its entirety. **Featuring a prefatory essay by Morgan A. Brown: (http://www.culture-anarchy.com/public_html/pages/wpblog/?p=75) **Emerson's "Self-Reliance" begins @ 23:00. Featuring music from the Cello Sonata in D Major, by Pietro Locatelli; performed by Elizaveta Sushchenko. Provided by a Creative Commons license courtesy of Musopen.org: (https://musopen.org/music/performer/elizaveta-sushchenko/). Also, featuring tracks by the Passion Hifi (https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou): Cold Heat, I Close My Eyes, and Untouchable. Audio from A King in New York, a Charlie Chaplin film, provided with the expressed permission of Roy Export S.A.S. (www.charliechaplin.com), who holds the copyright thereto. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/culture-anarchy/support