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‘Aren’t words and notes like rainbows and bridges of semblance, between that which is eternally separated?’, asks Nietzsche, rhetorically, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The question expresses an essential function of language: joining that which divides. Although these joins might only be ‘bridges of semblance’ or ‘rainbows’, at whose ends no pots of gold are waiting, Nietzsche won’t countenance that this makes them irrelevant. On the contrary, the same passage affirms these multivalent images: ‘How fair is all chatter and all the notes' lies! Our love dances, with these notes and upon colourful rainbows.’

Language, like music, has the peculiar force to draw together the most varied of things. In an age of increasing societal fragmentation, this force is more important than ever. Listening has almost become a thing of the past, sidelined by the Battle of Worldviews, which Nietzsche prophesied in his idea of Geisterkrieg, a war of minds and spirits. Even music, perhaps humanity’s most universal form of expression, falls increasingly on deaf ears. Music and language are being drowned by an artless racket that murders thoughts, as Nietzsche knows only too well. Especially those vulnerable thoughts that dare to exist cheek by jowl with ‘life’ itself. Consider: in the din of the market place, our foremost loss is of our sense of reality, of the situations in which we actually find ourselves. Only a realistic form of philosophising can help us stand up to the omnipresent spectacle that separates us from life. This way of cognizing goes beyond merely repeating the habitual and the known, to build bridges between ourselves and our world. At this point ‘I mean’ and ‘I guess’ fall silent, and thinking begins.

Even if it’s only possible for us to erect ‘bridges of semblance’, we want this blog to nurture an alternative to the ‘not listening’ tendency, and to trust in the connections between one human and another, and between humans and their world. These are connections rich in language, concepts, and arguments. This blog is intended as a forum for exchange: for dispute, but also for listening. We would like to invite authors of all genders, and from utterly different backgrounds, individuals who are joined nonetheless through their connections to Nietzsche, to share their thoughts and to present these for discussion. Everyone is called upon to participate, through exchanging ideas in the comments section. Just like the subtitle of Nietzsche’s most celebrated book, we dedicate our work to ‘everybody and nobody’. And who could be a better standard-bearer for such a venture than the great thinker of perspectivism, who steadfastly champions the causes of ‘incorporating’ new angles on the world into our lives, and of overcoming our prejudices?

Striving for these aims, what matters to us, as our name suggests, is POP in the sense of popularity (without sucking up to the zeitgeist), provocation (without needing to resort to cheap party tricks), but also arts. This trio reflects our understanding that thought is an art form in itself, our intention to regularly tackle art topics, and our wish that this blog should look and feel artistic. Pop Philosophy meets Philosophy-Pop. We want philosophy to permeate and pervade all sorts of relevant societal issues, sometimes with Nietzsche on our side, at other times opposing him. And we’re looking for a non-academic language with which to set out on these ventures.

Our blog is a collaboration between the Buser World Music Forum, a Swiss nonprofit and the Halcyonic Association for Radical Philosophy, a German nonprofit. Paul Stephan is chief editor, supported by Estella Walter, with Linus Rupp as art director and layout artist. Alongside our authorial team of Hans-Martin Schönherr-Mann, Natalie Schulte, Christian Saehrendt, Lukas Meisner, Michael Meyer-Albert and Henry Holland, guests publish on the blog at regular intervals.

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