104 Nietzschebestowed by art. It is purely aesthetic in nature; that its effect is only
temporary is ample evidence of this. "Our evaluation of things is altered
as in a dream, as long as we sense that we are under the spell of art"
(1,452; WB § 4). But only for the moment; "the total dramatist is exactly
what we need to release us, even if it is only for a few brief hours, from
the awful tension" (1, 469; WB § 7). The "metaphysical solace" of art
does not feed our hopes for a world beyond, with its compensations and
exonerations and its promise of a future realm of great justice.
This "metaphysical solace" stands in sharp contrast to a metaphysical
and religious justification of the wodd. However, this tragic Dionysian
formula, "because existence and the world are justified externally only as
an aesthetic phenomenon" (1,47; BT% 5), also contrasts with a moral
outlook. Morality, even when applied to the individual, is intent on
improving the world and smoothing over its conflicts. According to
Nietzsche, morality has become the true "deus ex machina" (1,115; BT
§ 17) of secularized modernity. Since "Dionysian wisdom" is lacking,
moralistic attitudes generally steer clear of a good hard look at life,
which would reveal that any attempt to have justice prevail here and now
invariably results in injustice elsewhere. The process as a whole is a for-
mula for guilt and victimization. Any happiness a person may experience
in the moment is actually scandalous when pitted against suffering in the
world. Someone lays claims to achievement although everything is still
in a sorry state. "We cannot be happy as long as everything around us is
suffering and making itself suffer; we cannot be moral as long as the
course of human events is determined by violence, deception, and injus-
tice" (1,452; WB § 4). Nietzsche did not dismiss morality, but he did crit-
icize self-righteousness and the characteristic starry-eyed idealism that
tends to accompany it In any case, however, he found that a moralistic
attitude narrows the confines that "Dionysian wisdom" opens up.
"Dionysian wisdom" articulates the "gospel of universal harmony."
It comes across as neither religious nor moralistic, but rather aesthetic
Although, Nietzsche added, the truly "aesthetic audience" (1,143; BT%
22) that is receptive to its message has yet to be created, great works of