Epiphenomenalism, Tragedy, and Dance

Mind-Body theories differ on the basis of how they conceive the relation between Mind and Body: one reduces to the other, one predominates over the other, the two are parallel, etc. Epiphenomenalism, for example, asserts that one specific relation obtains between them, i. e. that physical events generate mental phenomena, but that there is no converse causality. Nietzsche's concept of Tragedy is based on Schopenhauerian Epiphenomenalism--just as Schopenhauerian Representation has no power over Will, Nietzsche's Apollinian illusion cannot alter Dionysian fate, while in both cases, the emergence of the latters from the formers is posited, but not fully explained. What is common to all traditional Mind-Body theories, and, hence, to Nietzsche's theory of Tragedy as well, is that the relation between its components, whatever it happens to be, is a fixed one. In contrast, in Formaterialism, any System is a combination of the Formal Principle and the Material Principle, from which, as has been previously discussed, 'Mind' and 'Body' are abstractions. But such abstraction, in general, is not from a specific combination, but from a range of combinations of the Principles. Hence, not only is no one combination exclusive, but any one that happens to obtain is not necessarily fixed. In other words, the various Mind-Body theories are not mutually exclusive fixed alternatives, but, in fact, may all obtain even within a short experiential sequence. For example, while pondering going for a run, Mind predominates over Body; while running with abandon, Body predominates over Mind; and, while deliberately pacing oneself, the two are mutually affecting one another. So, just as 'Epiphenomenalism' denotes only one such combination, Nietzschean Tragedy is only one combination of the Dionysian and Apollinian principles. Dance is another, in which the Apollinian effectively modifies the former by giving shape to it. The subtitle of Birth of Tragedy is 'From the Spirit of Music', a description which almost tautologically applies to Dance. Furthermore, with Dance understood as an equilibrium between the Dionysian and the Apollinian, Tragedy can be seen as an unbalanced mode of interaction between them, just as Epiphenomenalism can be seen not as a true doctrine, but as descriptive of a relatively disassociative mode of experience. The later Nietzsche may have arrived at similar conclusions.