Europe’s Sickness

EUROPE’S SICKNESS Albe o Ruiz de Samaniego Facul ad de Belas A es de Pon e ed a – Uni e sidade de Vigo / Fine A s School o Pon e ed a – Uni e si y o Vigo, Pon e ed a, Spain Abs ac Is Eu ope sick? Has i always been? Mo e han a hund ed yea s ago, Nie zsche w o e: "Eu ope is a sick man, and an incu able sick one." I so, we would like o diagnose wha such a disease consis ed o and s ill consis s, and i i has a cu e. “A decline which is no unde s ood loses i s poe y in he idiculous.” (Emil Cio an) Mo e han a cen u y ago, Nie zsche w o e ha Eu ope was a sick man, and an incu able pa ien . Tha disease ha a ec ed Eu ope, as is known, was nihilism; he mos unse ling hos . The alues ha had sus ained ci iliza ion we e exhaus ed and, now, he con inen lacked agic cul u e, and i had plen y o ... eason. A eason ha , u he mo e, was less i sel han i s cul . Bu , e en a e a cen u y and a hal , Eu ope has no ye been able o hink abou i s a ali y. I has no been able o hink, a i ma i ely, on i s own lack o alues, so ha , om ha poin , i is be able o gene a e new ones. Thus, i has no been able o su pass i sel . Tha is why i is an incu able pa ien . Eu ope, he e o e, has been unable o plunge i sel , wi h agic Nie zschean joy, in o he unknown. The o men o he unknown, he a- a ional o adically andom ace ha always go e ns he becoming. I has always wan ed o e lec i sel in a alse G eece ha s ood ou o i s ha mony and se eni y, bu om which all he abysma ic po ency, whose umul and passion we e se ing i e o he G eek ga den, was hidden. Albe o Ruiz de Samaniego, Eu ope’s Sickness 229 Eu ope, so o speak, has li ed happily amids i s abs ac in elligence, i s maxims, i s no es and pa adoxes. Tha is why i s wo ld is only assumed as he wo ld o he unde s andable, he ejec ion o mys e y. The g ea es mys e y, as Niezsche himsel no ed, is p ecisely ha God has died... by ou hands. He e is one o Nie zsche’s subs an ial conce ns, especially in he las yea s o lucidi y, when he can, ne e heless, be masked unde he igu e o he mad speake who seeks God in he mids o men’s misunde s anding, u ged only by necessi y, wi h hei backs u ned o e e y hing di ine: “Whe e has God gone? - he exclaimed -, I will ell you. We ha e killed him: you and me! We a e all his mu de e s. Bu how could we ha e done i ? How could we ha e d unk he sea? Who len us he sponge o blu he ho izon? Wha ha e we done, when we unleashed he ea h om i s sun? Wha pa h will i ollow now? Whe e will we ou sel es go? Away om all suns? Will we no be con inuously alling? Fo wa d, backwa d, sideways, e e ywhe e? Is he e by any chance an up and down, ne e heless? Do we no e as h ough an in ini e no hing? Doesn' he b ea h o emp y space ub agains us? Isn' i colde ? Isn' he e always nigh and nigh again? Do we no ha e o ligh up beacons a midday? Do we no s ill hea he noise o he g a edigge s who bu y God? Do we no eel, howe e , any odo om di ine o ? Gods also decompose!" (La Gaya ciencia, § 125).1 Hence, u he on, in he i h book, a he sigh o God’s h one acancy and in he ex wi h which p ecisely his begins (en i led “We, he Fea less”), he In his passage, Nie zsche ne e heless con empla es he dea h o God as he d ama ic o e h ow o adi ional me aphysics. The e is no possibili y o e i alizing ca ego ies and alues ha nowadays a e only uins: he e a e no hopes. I co esponds wi h he decline o he wo ld o god, bu also o ha o man’s domain (equi alen o he down all o u h and, wi h i , also ha o appea ances). This black poin o in ini e no hingness o oid, an au hen ic e minal episode, can only be assumed as he necessa y p ologue o he culmina ion o nihilism, he possibili y o o e coming god, bu – beyond ha – man himsel . 1 F ied ich Nie zsche, El gay sabe o la gaya ciencia, ed. and ans. Luis Jiménez Mo eno, Espasa, Mad id, 2000. NOTES ON EUROPE. The Dogma ic Sleep P oceedings. Po o, Oc obe 29-31 2019 230 add esses his impo an subjec again – he e en calls i ‘spec acle’ - as "The g ea es o las e en s - ha 'God is dead', ha he ai h in he Ch is ian God has become un enable." Wha Nie zsche will be un olding, now wi hou any ambigui y, is an idea ha wo ks in he manne o a c ucial caesu a be ween he pas and his ime, which is ou s. “The new - he will w i e in a pos humous ex in he sp ing o 1880 - in ou cu en posi ion on philosophy is a con ic ion ha no e a has had ye : ha we don' hold he u h. All men in pas imes ‘had he u h’: e en he skep ics. "Bu now Nie zsche does no all in o despai and, e en e e ing pe haps o he plas ic Jean Paul-like desc ip ions o an abysmal wo ld, an o b aken by he mos absolu e de as a ion and he black sun o melancholy, he uses hem as a pa he ic scena io on which o ope a e his adical ans o ma ion o e e y hing, an exe cise o diso de embodied i s o all in himsel : “This wide pleni ude wi h i s up u ing, des uc i e, collapsing, o e h owing consequences ha we now ha e be o e us: who would be able o guess enough o all his oday, o become he mas e and p eache o his eno mous logic o ho o , he p ophe o deep da kness and eclipse o he sun, he like o which has p obably ne e be o e exis ed on ea h? [...] We ou sel es, iddle di ine s by bi h, who wai , so o speak, on he moun ains, loca ed be ween oday and omo ow and lying in he con adic ion be ween oday and omo ow. [...] We may s ill be oo unde he immedia e consequences o his e en , and hese immedia e consequences, i s consequences, a e no sad and da k o us a all, con a y o wha we would expec , bu a e a he as a new kind o ligh , di icul o disco e , as happiness, a elie , a ec ea ion, a sus enance, an au o a [...] Indeed we, philosophe s and ' ee spi i s', be o e he news ha he 'old God has died', eel as i enligh ened by a new dawn; ou hea o e lows wi h g a i ude, admi a ion, p emoni ion and hope”. The e was a good eason o ha . A e he eclipse, he exis en ial ho izon p esen ed i sel wi hou any obscu i y, inally ee, open o a new jou ney o be s a ed. Soon Heidegge , p ecisely in his w i ings on Nie zsche, will be e y clea abou his: nihilism "is o begin aking he ‘occu ence’ ha ‘God is dead’ se iously". So ha he lack does no b ing wi h i he lamen , "bu is, ins ead, Albe o Ruiz de Samaniego, Eu ope’s Sickness 231 g ee ed as a libe a ion, ou ed as a de ini i e conques and pe cei ed as ul illmen ." (Nie zsche II). This is simila o he hope o someone like Hölde lin, o whom, al hough Ch is had died, a leas he endu ed, un il he day o his e u n, h ough ea h’s gi s in he species o b ead and wine. Tha is p ecisely why we had o emain ai h ul o he ea h. Bu hese e ses on he impe us ha Nie zsche pu s in Za a hus a's mou h a e placed e en u he , in his speech abou he donkey's eas . Le us emind i : “While you don’ become as li le child en, you will no en e ha kingdom o hea en. (And Za a hus a poin ed i wi h his hands up). Bu we do no wan o en e he kingdom o hea en in any way a all: we ha e become men - and ha is why we wan he kingdom o he ea h.” The will o ul ill his pu ely ea hly desi e can easily lead o a p ocess o sel -di ina ion o he indi idual sel , as exp essed, wi h gloomy esonances, by Mülle /Schube ’s Win e Jou ney Lied: Le us en e he wo ld happily agains all odds! Since he e is no god in hea en, we ou sel es will be gods! I - as The Gay Science s a es (§ 125) - we a e he mu de e s o " he holies and mos powe ul ha he wo ld has hi he o possessed", i "he has bled ou unde ou kni es", hen, be o e such an eno mous ac - " oo big o us” -, he e is no al e na i e bu o “become gods ou sel es” o “appea wo hy o i ”. Tha is why his e en is uly sup eme, a caesu a ha will ma k a new cycle in he his o y o men: “The e has ne e been a g ea e deed; and whoe e is bo n a e us, o he sake o his deed he will belong o a highe his o y han all his o y hi he o.”2 Un o una ely, his Nie zsche was no hea d, and he decline o Eu ope has been mani es ed in he ob ious inabili y o ec ea e new alues ha d i e p ecisely he will o c ea ion i sel , and e en he will o exis ence. We Eu opeans ha e los 2 Ibid. NOTES ON EUROPE. The Dogma ic Sleep P oceedings. Po o, Oc obe 29-31 2019 232 i al con ac s wi h he wo ld, we ha e sunk o mo e han a cen u y in a a al absence. Ou ime is ha o ex eme lucidi y... an absolu ely bo ing one. Ti ed people li ing in ine cla i y. Jean-Luc Nancy, o example, makes a uly dis essed diagnosis o ou con empo a y Wes , albei di icul o e u e: “The Wes is no longe ecognized as ha ing a wo ld iew o a sense o he wo ld ha would ollow i s globaliza ion […]. Globaliza ion seems o be educed, essen ially, o wha Ma x had al eady pe ec ly disce ned as he p oduc ion o he wo ld ma ke , and he meaning o ha wo ld seems o consis only in he accumula ion and ci cula ion o capi al, ollowed by a clea wo sening o he dis ance be ween ich domina o s and he domina ed poo , as well as an inde ini e echnical expansion ha only occu s e y modes ly, and wi h disquie as well as anguish, pu poses o 'p og ess' and imp o emen o he human condi ion. Humanism leads o inhumani y, ha can be – acco ding o Nancy - he b u al summa y o he si ua ion. And he Wes does no unde s and how i came o his poin .”3 Bu Eu ope was no his. The ac i e Eu ope ha eme ges om he ma i ime polis, om he halasoc acy o Asia Mino , was a hough ha was d i en by he cons an desi e o ma e ial conques and spi i ual ime, by he no el y o an in elligence ha con inually exceeded i sel . I de eloped cen u y a e cen u y, and eached a good pa o he es o he globe, because i ci cula ed some s o ies and a i udes in which i belie ed. No con inen bu Eu ope has been so p esen in he cons uc ion o he mode n e a. We would say ha i now pays ha p esence wi h i s decline. We a e, o a la ge ex en , expia ing ou iumph. D ied o dead hose alues, we li e mo e o less com o ably in in ellec ual desicca ion. Reduced o i iali y, o he lack o isk. We a e pa alysed by any hough ha ies o emo e he unc ions om he possible; ha is o say, o pene a e in o a uly dynamic, dis u bing eali y, wi h he abili y o emo e he ca ego ies o i s pale s upo . Ou ime is ha o he iumph o na ow hinking and medioc i y. Medioc i y has eached i s con inen al, Eu opean, domina ing s yle. The a e age Eu opean - i is 3 Jean-Luc Nancy and Juan Ca los Mo eno Romo, Occiden es del Sen ido / Sen idos de Occiden e, An h opos, Ba celona, 2019, pp. 34-35. Albe o Ruiz de Samaniego, Eu ope’s Sickness 233 di icul no o ind any hing o he han his medioc a ized indi idual - li es happily su ounded by insigni ican hings. Cio an has some imes alked abou he e inemen o i iali y. O he polishing o iny hings and he main enance o a li le in elligence in e e yday acciden s. Tha is, making na u al nonsense as bea able as possible, by w apping i in g ace and gi ing i he lus e o inesse. The decline began when we s opped belie ing in ou s o ies and we e unable o eplace hem wi h new belie s. The lucidi y o nihilism has led us o abulia. Bu , in ac , he whole his o y o Eu ope is no hing mo e han ha o i s ideals, o i s alues. Eu ope belie ed, successi ely, in classicism, he Enligh enmen , he Re olu ion, he Empi e, he Republic. I had he ideals o he a is oc acy, o he Chu ch, o he bou geoisie, o he p ole a ia , and su e ed o each o hem. I p oposed i s e o s, ans o med in o o mulas, o he con inen and, wi h i , o he wo ld; who imi a ed hem, pe ec ed hem, commi ed o hem. Eu ope, hen, c ea ed ideals and wo e hem ou , expe ienced hem un il he end, ad nauseum. And, now, he sou ces o he Eu opean spi i ha e been exhaus ed. And now, indeed, we woke up acing he dese , a ms olded, e i ied be o e he u u e. In he name o wha could Eu opeans s ill be mo ed? Wha o p opose o ou communi y? E en Eu ope's own idea, as an aspi a ion, seems old and anach onis ic, bland, no p oducing e en he sligh es chill o emo ion. We lack ic ions powe ul enough o us o belie e in hem again. Ce eb al skep icism has become o ganic. No u u e. The lack o u u e is he essence o he p esen . Nie zsche - le 's go back o him, al hough he was ne e abandoned - a gued ha a na ion was c ea i e as long as li e was no i s only alue. Fo i s alues we e i s c i e ia. To belie e in ic ion, o example, o eedom and o igh and dance o i . The c ucial ques ion now is his: Wha belie is o be in en ed ha can sus ain li e again? I would like o belie e ha i is up o a o open his possibili y. "A wo k o a is one capable o acing a dange ," Rilke said. Wha o en seems o be o go en oday is ha he u h o a wo k o a mus be in e p e ed and alued acco ding o he o ces o powe ha de e mine i o exis , and ha lead o doing one NOTES ON EUROPE. The Dogma ic Sleep P oceedings. Po o, Oc obe 29-31 2019 234 hing ins ead o ano he . Robe Musil a gued ha one o he basic cha ac e is ics o he a is is he smell o he possible. This could be unde s ood as he way in which he is capable o acking he mul ipa ame ic and complex, his compe ence o aise o he possibili ies, o he connec ions and a els wi hin he a ec i e and cogni i e map. The e o e, when we a e old abou he wo k o a in he abs ac , o o he a is ic as i is in i sel , o o i sel , we mus always ask wha o ces a e hidden in he hough o he wo k, i.e.: wha is i s meaning and wha is i s alue o a subjec , o o a gi en communi y. One mus , he e o e, ace he complexi y o he piece o a , so ha i is capable o econnec ing wi h he mul iple con en s o he i al e e ence. Then, i would mean gene a ing o gans o pe cep ion/ac ion ha illumina e new senso ial ields o he eal, ha would allow us, expe imen ally, o ex ac e idence om new s a emen s, symbols and s o ies. The a is mus he e o e be equi ed o c ea e new li e possibili ies. Bu , un o una ely, i is ue, as Deleuze also hough , ha oday he image does no cease o all in o an un o una e s a e, which is ha o he opic. The image is inse ed in absolu ely p edic able chains, o i inclusi ely gene a es, o ganizes o a leas induces hem i sel . Bu in eali y, we ne e pe cei e wha is in an image, pe haps because i is p ecisely made o ha : so ha we do no pe cei e e e y hing, so ha he opic hides he image i sel [...] he s eng h o powe o he image. Mo e han a ci iliza ion o he image we should hen speak, uly, o a ci iliza ion o he opic o cliché. And his p ecisely in a wo ld whe e all powe s ha e an in e es in hiding he image om us. O be e : in hiding some hing om us h ough o in he image. Tha is why, a he same ime, a has he e y p ecise unc ion o ackling he opic h ough he image i sel , o ge ing ou o ha na co ic, s upidi ying ine ia. I is no known - Deleuze also w o e - how a a ue image can lead us in o: he impo ance, o example, o becoming isiona y o see . Howe e , i is also e y clea ha an awa eness o a e nal a ec ion owa ds he disad an aged one(s) is no longe enough. Some imes you need o es o e he los pa s, ind e e y hing ha is no seen in he image, e e y hing ha was s olen om i , o make i , o example, ashionable o "in e es ing." And some imes, on he Albe o Ruiz de Samaniego, Eu ope’s Sickness 235 con a y, i is con enien o make holes, c ea e gaps and in e up ions in ha pe e sely accessible and ma e nal echno-imaginal ci cui . The image would ha e o be a i ied, supp essed om many hings ha had been added, o make us belie e ha we saw e e y hing. The ha d pa is also knowing in wha way an image is no longe a opic i sel . To igh especially wi h onesel so as no o collabo a e in his epidemic o amnesia and insigni icance. And, o cou se, o win, i is no enough o pa ody he opic i sel , as many oday migh hink o seem o usually hink. I is no e en enough o make holes in i o emp y i . I is no enough o dis u b i o simply b eak o ganiza ions and chains. Ra he , one mus uni e o he speci ic image ha one c ea es immense o ces ha su pass me e subjec i e o pe sonal singula i y. Immense o ces, pano amic ones, as onslaugh s ha a i e in block, co- hy hmic, we would say, and ha a e no o cou se hose o a simple cul u al, in ellec ual, o e en social, conscience, bu hose o a deep i al in ui ion ha eloca es us in he immemo ial es o he species. The e is a e y in e es ing con idence ha Moza made o Röchli z. He said: e e y hing comes in block, a once, wi hou un olding. All his g ea ly a igues bo h he b ain and he body o he compose , who hen mus ha e he cou age o w i e i down. I no , he is no a all a compose , jus a ha assed man. To su e he onslaugh s o ision, i s iolence. Bu e en ha would no be he essen ial hing in a . I would ake he addi ional cou age o e u n om ha anspo and w i e i down. Bu , o now, we lack he unconscious, and powe , and isk, and he abili y o jump, o igni e onesel dionisiacally. A land wi hou my hs is in he p ocess o depopula ion. The dese o Eu ope’s ields is he o e whelming sign o he lack o e e yday my hology. We eel bu dened by he o al lack o li e, hy hm, child en, u u e. Tha emp iness is e idenced in he despe a e sea ch o dis ac ion a all cos s. Bu nei he can we con en ou sel es wi h being melancholic, leaning on he h eshold o ou de ini i e absence. Ou pas - o e en ou sopo i ic opulence - canno be ou excuse. I is, hen, abou being again able o ans o m concep s in o my hs, in o s o ies, in o li ing subs ance. Being able o pou i ali y in o ic ions. NOTES ON EUROPE. The Dogma ic Sleep P oceedings. Po o, Oc obe 29-31 2019 236 "Fo he pas yea I ha e ne e been awake mo e han i e minu es in a ow," Ka ka w o e in his 1911 dia y. We mus also ead his as a passwo d, a symbol o ou own p eca ious and always s ange condi ion. Spec al ime in which he appa i ions a e no ins alled in he pas , bu in he p esen , o ming he closes es o us o a u u e in suspense. Pe haps because o his, con empo a y a seems educed so many imes o pa he ic con essions o sad p e ended pe sonal s o ies. Too o en i has p ac iced a poe ic o sel -condescension and banally ansg essi e li e alism ha has no eally done mo e han o deepen he s upo 's pa alysis (i.e.: he passi i y o a conscience ha belie es i sees e e y hing bu can no longe do no hing) and he nos algia o a p esence as hys e ical - and unlikely - as supposedly decisi e. Likewise, le us no e he insigni icance o i s idiculous o p eca ious e en s; he e, whe e sense plunges in o s upidi y, he o e dose o e o o he auma ic syncopa ion o ea . I would be necessa y o sepa a e all hese p eachings o disenchan men and ic imhood. Ra he , we need o u n his dese in o he joy o wha is o happen, while es o ing a he same ime he i ali y o e igo and o he unp eceden ed. To ein en he eal. As one who aises a undamen al ic ion, a sup eme ic ion, a new ca og aphy h ough which a powe ul enough imagina y ci cula es. "We call imagina y - w o e Lyo a d - o e e y p ocedu e ha ends o make bea able wha is no bea able. Desi e is unbea able. Gi ing cou age o endu e he unbea able is imagina y."4 I.e: o ans o m success, howe e small i migh be, in o he mos delica e hing in he wo ld. To y o keep he p omise, a e all. This also means: no e en seeking he subs ance o ou absence, bu he inge whe e ha absence is linked wi h wha i is. I is u gen o inco po a e – and e en mo e: o suppo , ins all - he ene gy o in e mi ence, he sea ch o ou es wi hou gua an ees, c ossings be ween images ha igge all he esou ces o es angemen . In The Gay Science Nie zsche al eady p o ided a way ou o Ka ka's collapse: "Ei he you don' d eam, o you d eam in an in e es ing way. You ha e o lea n o be awake in he same way: ei he no being a all, o doing i in an in e es ing way." 4 Jean-F ançois Lyo a d, "El imagina io pos mode no y la cues ión del o o en el pensamien o y la a qui ec u a", en Pensa -Compone / Cons ui -Habi a , Ed. A eleku, San Sebas ián, 1994, p. 36.