‘What we are at liberty to do.’ On Giving Style to One’s Character in Nietzsche’s Daybreak (§560)

Abstract

In aphorism 290 of The Gay Science, Nietzsche praises the art of “[giving] style to one’s character,” fitting all the strengths and weaknesses of character “into an artistic plan,” impressing on all facets of character “a single taste,” or of giving oneself one’s “own law” (GS 290). And there, he uses the same metaphor as in aphorism 560 of Daybreak: our character is a “garden,” and to give style to one’s character means using one’s “freedom” to act as “gardener of one’s character.” This “freedom” is the freedom to “create oneself.” The article examines the meaning of self-creation in the light of Nietzsche’s conception of character, freedom, and consciousness.