The Will to Power · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
580.
To what extent are the various _epistemological positions_ (materialism, sensualism, idealism) consequences of valuations? The source of the highest feelings of pleasure ("feelings of value") may also judge concerning the problem of _reality_! The measure of _positive knowledge_ is quite a matter of indifference and beside the point; as witness the development of Indici. The Buddhistic _negation_ of reality in general (appearance pain) is perfectly consistent: undemonstrability, inaccessibility, lack of categories, not only for an "absolute world," but a recognition of the _erroneous procedures_ by means of which the whole concept has been reached. "Absolute reality," "Being in itself," a contradiction. In a world of _Becoming,_ reality is merely a _simplification_ for the purpose of practical ends, or a _deception_ resulting from the coarseness of certain organs, or a variation in the tempo of Becoming. The logical denial of the world and Nihilism is a consequence of the fact that we must oppose nonentity with Being, and that Becoming is denied. ("_Something_" becomes.) _Being_ and _Becoming._--"_Reason_" developed upon a sensualistic basis upon the _prejudices of the senses_--that is to say, with the belief in the truth of the judgment of the senses. "Being," as the generalisation of the concept "_Life_" (breath), "to be animate," "to will," "to act upon," "become." The opposite is: "to be inanimate," "_not_ to become," "_not_ to will." _Thus_: "Being" is _not_ opposed to "not-Being," to "appearance," nor is it opposed to death (for only that can be dead which can also live). The "soul," the "ego," posited as _primeval facts;_ and introduced wherever _there is Becoming._ _Being_--we have no other idea of it than that which we derive from "_living._"--How then can everything "be" dead?
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.