Nietzschean Saintliness

Abstract Of the many things Nietzsche subjects to unyielding critique, none would seem a clearer target than the ideal signified by “the saint.” Despite passages from early works that praise the saint, it seems that high regard for the saint is among the skins that Nietzsche sheds when he breaks with Schopenhauer and Wagner and comes into his own. However, this article argues that Nietzsche does not simply leave the saint behind. The term signifies a type that Nietzsche both values and critiques. On this reading, Nietzsche’s positive idea of the saint contains four essential and mutually implied components: (1) the affect of cleanliness or purity (Reinlichkeit); (2) the activity that Zarathustra calls “bestowing love” (schenkende Liebe); (3) a modified but thoroughgoing asceticism (Askese, Askesis); and (4) the cultivation of “gratitude” (Dankbarkeit). The author concludes with a consideration of Nietzsche’s proclamation in Ecce Homo that “as a disciple of Dionysus, I would rather be a satyr than a saint.” This line does not conflict with his commitment to holiness, but corroborates it.