Walking the Tightrope

After Sorrento, Nietzsche slowly made his way, traveling largely third-class, back to the Alps. “’It is my kind of nature.’ His impending return to Basel and to teaching evoked ambivalent responses in him. On the other hand, the very thought of returning to Basel was repulsive to him; he wanted now to dedicate himself to his philosophy and his writing. On the other hand, he realized that it was his philosophy that was killing him, and so his teaching obligations appeared to be his salvation. ‘My altogether problematic broodings and scribblings have until now only made me ill; as long as I was an actual scholar , I was also healthy. But then came the nerve-racking music and metaphysical philosophy, cares concerning myriad things that don’t mean anything to me. So, I want to become a teacher again: if I cannot survive it, then I want to perish practicing my craft .’ “Yet something had changed once and for all. Philology now seemed to be a layer of moss smothering plants he genuinely wan