Daybreak and Grand inspiration 209processes of consciousness. The desire to grasp something in distanc-
ing intention is only one of the possible forms of intentional con-
sciousness. In addition to this intention, which is often mistakenly
equated with the phenomenon of consciousness as such, there are
many other intentions that are forms of directedness toward some-
thing. It is not the case that an object is registered in, as it were, "neu-
tral" terms and only '^wanted," 'loved," "desired," or "assessed" in an
auxiliary act. Wanting, assessing, and loving each has its own reference
to an object, and the "object" in these acts is quite distinct. The same
"object" differs for consciousness according to whether it is grasped in
a context of curiosity, hope, or fear, or with a practical or theoretical
aim. Nietzsche was a master of shading the particular tinge, color, and
mood of experience, and since he used his own suffering as a spring-
board to construct his philosophy, we find in his writings exquisite
depictions of experiencing the world while racked with pain.
Phenomenologically speaking, these are model analyses of an inten-
tional design of the world. Nietzsche was not content with mere
expression and self-expression. He used the example of his own experi-
ence to probe the question: What kind of world would create a con-
sciousness that suffers? "People who are in a state of profound
suffering look out at things from their condition with a frightful cold-
ness: all those litde lying charms with which things are normally sur-
rounded when the eye of a healthy person gazes at them are lost on
them; indeed, they themselves lie before themselves without any vestige
of plumage and color. Assuming that they have been living in some
dangerous fantasy up to that point this extreme sobriety effected by
pain is the means of tearing them away from it: and perhaps the only
way.... The enormous tension of the intellect, which attempts to
counter pain, ensures that everything they now see appears in a new
light: and the inexpressible appeal that all new illuminations impart is
often strong enough to defy all enticements to suicide.... They now
hold in contempt the cozy warm wodd of mist in which healthy people
saunter without thinking" (3,105; D § 114).