An Anaxa analysis in relation to Nietzsche (cross posted from tiktok ; @aeternior)
(More of a summarized version of as much of a summary I can make out of somewhat surface level research and 1k+ wordcound ; I am not a Nietzsche Scholar, so apologies to any out there for any amateur misinterpretations or understanding.)
Anaxa & Nietzsche
Although Anaxa obviously implies to have inspiration and references to the Pre-Socratic Greek astronomer Anaxagorous, at the same time he has more glaring parallels to Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher of the late 19th century. Anaxa not only shares important philosophical aspects and characteristics with Nietzsche, but also quotes and references him numerous times, particularly in his CN ASMR where he reads aloud Dionysus Dithyrambs: a poem written by Nietzsche. He also takes inspiration from Nietzsche in his "Thus Spoke Anaxagoras", a reference to Nietzsche's own famous work, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".
Even if Anaxa shares a majority of his philosophy with Nietzsche, that does not take away from philosophers such as Anaxagorous from playing a part- In fact, Nietzsche's own philosophical ideas which Anaxa shares are inspired by Anaxagorous in particular, more so through Nietzsche's unfinished work, "The Tragic Age of the Greeks", from which I believe Anaxa’s own philosophical foundation and character takes inspiration from.
"The Tragic Age of the Greeks" features five Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers Nietzsche discusses, ones that he admires. Among these include Anaxagoras, the last philosopher he left off in his piece. What's most intriguing of Anaxagoras though, is the rhetorics he features to Nietzsche-What is the substance of existence? Where do our existence and experiences originate?- What are we?
This very question is the one Anaxa himself builds his own hypothesis around.
For Anaxa, it is the Nousporists that provide this answer, that the soul holds the solution to his thesis in search of the truth of creation. "Nousporism"-Nous. Nous, to Nietzsche is where he abruptly left off in his work discussing Anaxagoras, in which Nous is the 'start' of the universe, the origin or motion which tapped on the cycle of existence so the universe can become and develop on its own.
Nous which represents the will of mind, is what goes against the mechanical fate of it's creation, the universe. This is what Anaxa seeks to prove against the fate of Amphoreus. That despite the prophecy, despite the fate of the Chryso Heirs, the existence of humanity itself opposes it, the creative power of Nous he uses to prove Titans are no better than mortals- That the will of self (the soul) transcends the divine.
Life as an Experiment
"Life could be an experiment of the seeker for knowledge - and not a duty, not a calamity, not trickery... Life as a means to knowledge - with this principle in one's heart can live not only boldly but even gaily, and laugh gaily too"
Nietzsche, [On the Genealogy of Morals]
"A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all." Nietzsche, [The Gay Science]
To Nietzsche, the experimental life is the experience of life itself: Life as a means to knowledge, not just as a resultive, scientific approach but as an active experience, a constant string of hypotheticals we observe in the discovery of how we live and what we live for. Does a scientist only test the same medium and hypothesis for the same if not similar results, or does the data lead to another hypothesis, another experiment to gather results as they gain another step in finding truth? A scientist adapts through the results and data they gather and share. Science is a community.
If we experience life as an experience made by our own perspectives, are the results and data we gather not also the various perspectives we gather in our environment as results, but also our experiences as a whole which lead us to adapt and change our hypothesis? The hypothesis of our beliefs, values, principles, and identity. A scientist gathers data and results not through the constraints of traditional morality, but because the results are simply results to another step closer to truth. Anaxa demonstrates this approach fully in his character by the determination of his own hypothesis he seeks to prove. Like Nietzsche, he is called a heretic, a fool, a blasphemer-And yet that does not stop his experiment, not just in what he proves as truth but also in his beliefs where he does not allow constraints such as morality to limit. Truth is beyond morality and tradition, beyond the societal and human constructs it outlies.
The Death of God-
"Only disciples of truth can continue on this path, and the authorities who proclaim themselves to be sages fear the fall of god."
Anaxa, [Character Story III]
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
Nietzsche, [Gay Science]
The criticism of nihilism and the fall of God is a subject most often associated with Nietzsche, first introduced in 'The Gay Science, and is the subject Anaxa conveys the most in his character. Now, the death, if not murder of God is not meant to be portrayed as the first step to nihilism as it is often misunderstood, but instead an approach against the very philosophy of nihilism as what Nietzsche means to offer. He critiques nihilism as a result of the fall of God and the lead to the collapse of Western society, the void of an inherently meaningless universe now clear due to the fall of faith. Anaxa claims the sages as fearing the fall of God, unable to bear the validation of their own authority and faith as a weak means to make up the weight of an inherently meaningless world. When in reality, the purpose and value God has left in his death is already there: Humanity.
The will and innovation of humanity, the creative human will and creations of the very men who murdered their own faith already creates and applies purpose in a world that deems meaningless, humanity the driving force of meaning itself. Humanity is what finds truth through the purpose they create in the void left by God, discovers truth in a universe left without any answers but their own. Anaxa, whose faith in the Titans has long already been buried in the black tide and the death of his sister— What better truth is there to find but himself?
What better faith is there than the faith in humanity itself, what stranger faith is there but the will and experiences of man? He loves, he creates, he suffers. Anaxa fully embraces and embodies humanity as a whole. He endures it.
He wills it, and he proves it. He does not transcend it, he uses it as a means of transcendence, a thesis in his own truth of Nousporism, and ultimately his own proof of the will of humanity itself. Anaxa's demonstration of Netzsche's experimental life further ties into this as well.
"I am incredibly happy now. I once smiled like this, when I first created a mechanical bird that could fly in the sky. My hands once trembled like this, when I developed a new life through incubation."
Anaxa, [Character Story IV]
Alternate Matyrdom
“I believe that he who has divined something of the most basic conditions for his growth in love will understand what Dante meant when he wrote over the gate of his inferno: I, too, was created by eternal love.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, [The Will to Power]
When living as a means to knowledge, he does not just mean academic knowledge, but the knowledge of our experiences. Every experience we have in life is an experimental discovery, each one an inquirement and discovery of the knowledge all around us. For Nietzsche, we are beings of knowledge, and through our knowledge we discover truth. But to be challenged, to suffer and love for our truth? To gather the failures first, before finding the results? What truth is more true than one you suffer for, what love is more powerful than one you fight for? How much greater is a scientist's theory the more failures it's tested, the more results its met with a single solution more towards the truth?
Irony & Sarcasm
Other than the main philosophies Anaxa shares with Nietzsche, he also possibly happens to share Nietzsche's known irony and sarcasm identified in his writing style too. Nietzsche himself commonly uses irony and sarcasm as a way to engage and expand on his own philosophical critiques, more so on tradtional structures of morality and religion. Anaxa also commonly uses both ironic and sarcastic language, and this style is also an engaging way to point out contradictions provocations in an argument, as well as critiques.
(-It is argued that Nietzsche uses this style of ironic language the most in one of his most famous works, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra")
Thank you for reading, this is all for now. Might look into Nietzsche more since I somewhat do admire the man and his works, although Anaxa also has noticable references to the Magnum Opus and Heraclitus too, which I might dig into.
