ABSTRACT

In his discussion on the best possible relationship between science and non-science (in which he included religion and the arts), Nietzsche decided on the image of human beings having ‘a double brain’, a brain with two chambers lying next to one another, as it were, separable and self-contained, and experiencing different things without confusion (1994: 154). An experience of both science and non-science was necessary for human health, Nietzsche deemed, but at the same time the two had to be kept apart. Non-science inspired and was the source of human strength, while science was the source of truth, direction and regulation; while non-science gave rise to those illusions, errors, fantasies and passions by which human life was heated, scientific knowledge served to protect from the pernicious consequences of overheating. If not for nonscience, scientific truths would eventually seem commonplace and everyday, and lose their charm; if not for science and the continuing search for truth, the joys of non-science would cause ‘higher culture’ to ‘relapse into barbarism’ (1994: 154).