Otto Dix, Nietzsche, and the Great War (2019)

mykowebhn

Before I really started studying philosophy, I was still interested in philosophy, but as a novice. During this time, Nietzsche was my favorite philosopher and I read several of his books. I also read a lot of literature, and Nietzsche figured in a lot of the literary texts I enjoyed. Now that I've read a lot more philosophical texts, I realize that both of the big philosophical camps--Anglo-American Analytic Philosophy and Continental Philosophy--rarely mention Nietzsche. Nietzsche seems to be the philosopher that non-philosophers turn to and often cite.

jaynetics

While the topic of this text is very interesting, it ultimately remains a bit unconvincing. Nietzsche is depicted in an oversimplified way as a kind of tortured brute, and Otto Dix' late return to Christianity is rather exaggerated. Dix remained interested in many topics until late in his life. While he radiates more empathy than Nietzsche, the one constant in Dix' art is that he never spared any feelings or aesthetic sensibilities. This urge to remain true to oneself and shed all masks is something he may have found reflected and elavated in Nietzsche's writing, even if he ultimately discovered that some of Nietzsche's admiration of fierceness was a peacetime naivety. Dix' painting "Flandern", 1936: https://ais.badische-zeitung.de/piece/09/68/b1/9d/157856157-...

RGS1811

I love Otto Dix, but this essay reads like Christian propaganda. Which is to say, its presentation of the material discussed is superficial and reductive in ways that clearly serve to advance a Christian point of view.