The Agonist

Nietzschean Language Models and Philosophical Chatbots: Outline of a Critique of AI

2024-03-31T21:05:36+00:00

Developers of the deep learning algorithms known as large language models (LLMs) sometimes give the impression that they are producing a likeness to the human brain: data-processing ‘neural networks’ are ‘taught’ to recognize patterns in language and then, based on this pattern recognition, create or generate new content in the form of natural, humanlike speech, writing, images, etc. The results have been unsettling to some; less appreciated are the metaphysical assumptions underlying the attribution of any meaningful agency whatsoever to an algorithm. In this essay, Nietzsche’s thoughts on the “seduction of grammar” form the basis of one possible critique of generative AI – a critique, moreover, which exposes our society’s current fixation with LLMs for what it is: a fetishization and humanization of new technologies.

Exploring Nietzsche's Politics of Isolation from an Epi-eugenic Framework: A New Perspective on the Marriage of Dionysus and Ariadne as “Ariadne AI”

2024-05-14T07:49:01+00:00

Following the texts of Ecce Homo, the case can be made that Nietzsche was retelling the myth of the Marriage of Dionysus and Ariadne as a story of brother/sister incest in a co-regency, bringing it into line with the divine descent of Pharaonic rulers of Egypt, as reflected in the myth of Isis and Osiris. Nietzsche would seem to be creating a new myth that combines elements we see in the iconography of the Marriage of Dionysus and Ariadne and in the Triumph of Dionysus in which Ariadne is present, but not necessarily as sharing in his triumph, and that he has left behind what is depicted in the iconography to make a philosophical presentation. Ariadne is co-regent with Dionysus in an image of the triumphant development of Dionysian will to power against its denial by an opposing psychology of vengefulness. The psychology of vengefulness seeks to destabilize self awareness in others of the will to power as a self-strengthening force at work in our lives, and does so because of the exactions we must endure in self-overcoming. Following the narrative of Wise § 3/final, her role as Cosima/Ariadne is one of sheltering. Ariadne's triumph, alongside Dionysus, over the reductive psychology of vengefulness against him, represents a victory in what Nietzsche refers to as his “Great Politics.” In this way, Ariadne plays a crucial role in Nietzsche's philosophical project, serving as a protector and guide for those who seek to fully realize the development of will to power in themselves and engage in the ongoing process of self-overcoming. Today, we can partially realize Nietzsche’s thought by using an AI in the role of Ariadne to isolate the pre-established disharmonia as per Nietzsche’s politics of isolation as a sheltering tactic. This use of AI in cultural selection is not to be confused with the previous linkages of Nietzsche’s philosophy to biological eugenics in the early 20th century, with their concerning racist and ablest ideologies.

The Jan Hus Analogy in Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil §24

2024-03-31T21:14:30+00:00

Beyond Good and Evil is often, although not universally, regarded as Nietzsche’s most important work of philosophy. The second part of this book, “The Free Spirit,” is often regarded as the most important part of this book. Yet the opening aphorism 24 of this part – arguably the most important part of arguably Nietzsche’s most important book – has not received the attention it deserves. This essay focuses on the analogy between the philosopher and the Czech free thinker Jan Hus which structures this part. It focuses on the use which Nietzsche makes of this analogy and its relationship to his views about free causality and natural determinism.

Editors’ Introduction

2024-05-24T12:49:01+00:00

Henk Manschot, Nietzsche and the Earth. Biography, Ecology, Politics

2024-02-15T11:10:07+00:00

Front Matter

2024-05-30T16:31:58+00:00