In the fourth class session of our course, we will begin working our way through the third treatise or essay of the Genealogy of Morals

On Saturday, we will hold our fourth online class session using Zoom. We will be recording the class session, and it will be uploaded for all of you students as an unlisted YouTube video embedded here in our class site (these won't be shared with non-students). After that, I will open the Week 4 Discussion Forum to student comments and questions, so that we can continue the discussion throughout the week

The specific topics we will be working through during this week's class session are:

• What ascetic ideals are
• Changes in Wagner’s works and motivations
• Whether artists are genuinely independent
• Kant’s and Schopenhauer’s aesthetics
• Philosophers fondness for ascetic ideals
• Hubris in modern existence
• The priest as an ascetic type
• A shift from religion to philosophy
  

You will doubtless find it useful to read through at the very least the first 12 chapters of the third treatise before our class session, perhaps more than once. You will also likely discover that rereading that portion of the text after participating in or watching the class session will help you develop a deeper understanding of Nietzsche' ideas.