Schopenhauer and the Will to Style 55ond nature': but 1 hope to prove that I have only now taken true pos-
session of my first nature with this second nature" (.Β 6,290).
"First nature" reflects the manner in which people have been brought
up and what inheres in them and their backgrounds, milieus, and char-
acters. "Second nature" is what people do with their potential. The
young Nietzsche discovered that language and writing would enable him
to make something of himself
Self-configuration through language became a passion for Nietzsche.
It contoured the unique style of his philosophy, which blurred the
boundaries between detection and invention. Since he considered phi-
losophy a linguistic work of art and literature, thoughts were inextrica-
bly bound to their linguistic form. The magic of his linguistic virtuosity
would suffer considerable loss if his words were to be expressed any
other way. Nietzsche was well aware of the degree to which his insights
depended on their singular formulations. He therefore harbored doubts
as to whether it would be possible for him to form a "school." He con-
sidered himself, and what he had made of himself, inimitable. He felt at
home on the boundary of communicability, which is where he chose to
conduct his experiment with self-configuration.
Nietzsche's remarkable language combined with his extraordinary
ideas would initiate his self-configuration and the creation of a "second
nature." A second nature, in turn, would imbue them with the requisite
"secret spices" (5,239; BGE § 296). The reader cannot fail to notice
Nietzsche scrutinizing his ideas to measure their effect on him. His
works present both the thought and the man engaged in the thought
process. Nietzsche would not restrict himself to developing ideas;
instead, he demonstrated how these thoughts originated from life and
struck back into life and transformed him. He tried out their power to
ascertain whether they could hold their ground against the physical
pains from which he was suffering. Thoughts would have to be incor-
porated, he demanded—only then would they have value and signifi-
cance for him. A person who is always asking himself, "How do I form