A More Complete Beast by Donovan Jack

Author:Donovan, Jack [Donovan, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Dissonant Hum
Published: 2018-09-24T16:00:00+00:00

THE NOBLE EQUATION

“…die aristokratische Wertgleichung ( gut = vornehm = mächtig = schön = glücklich = gottgeliebt )”

“…the aristocratic equation ( good = noble = mighty = beautiful = happy = loved by the gods )”

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morals

Does the serpent ask itself, “Am I evil?”

It strikes and discharges its venom. It devours, and it is content. It luxuriates in the summer sun until hunger inspires it to hunt again.

The serpent is wicked only to the rodent — only to its prey — who, like all creatures, values it subjectively. Both the serpent and the varmint say, “What is injurious to me is injurious in itself.” 7

In Aesop’s fable concerning the Farmer and the Viper, the farmer feels pity for a freezing snake and warms it in his coat. Reinvigorated by his body heat, the viper bites the farmer, and as the farmer dies, he recognizes his error in failing to properly assess and respect the nature of the snake.

To itself, the venomous viper who hunts and strikes is surviving and thriving — heroically overcoming the adversity of the natural world by exercising its strengths and talents to the best of its ability. The serpent is the protagonist in its own narrative. He is “the good guy.” For all he knew, the farmer was taking him home to make him into cowboy boots.

No beast — no matter how monstrous or terrible — would, if comparably sentient, wonder as man does, whether or not he is “evil.” Evil to whom and why and according to what measure? What does “evil” have to do with living and thriving? A beast simply is what it is. It behaves according to its nature — and to the extent that animals experience what we would call “joy,” it takes joy in being exactly what it is.

Nietzsche wrote that, “A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength—life itself is will to power.” 8

This man who is most completely himself — this Noble Beast — is a beast like any other. He is motivated to live, to survive, and more important still — to THRIVE. To exert his might and display his prowess.

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