Body Discourse In China, Plato And Nietzsche

"Body" is a hot topic in current. It involves aesthetic theories, art practices, and the social realities. The rise of Body discourse in China, on one hand, devoted to the thaw of the social and political atmosphere and the implementation of market economy; on the other hand, it devoted to the Western theories of the body. Theories of Plato and Nietzsche on body have a great influence domestically. Plato is considered to be the initiator of the body depressed; Nietzsche is seen as a turning point, because he has completely reversed the situation of the physical suppression. Examining the remarks of Plato and Nietzsche on body, their body aesthetics, would not only help us understanding of these theories further, but also the reality of contemporary Chinese literature and art would be benefited from that more or less.Although the thoughts of Plato and Nietzsche seem irreconcilable, their aesthetics are both Existential aesthetics, also aristocratic aesthetic. Plato and Nietzsche's philosophy, aesthetics, are subordinate to the Western philosophical tradition; for Plato, exist is a kind of concept; whereas, for Nietzsche, exist means life. However, they are both existential aesthetics. Existential aesthetics is trying to answer the problem of "what", the aristocratic aesthetic is caring about the problem of "why". Plato and Nietzsche's aesthetic concepts are closely related from their noble positions, which branded their aesthetic concepts with a deep aesthetic and ideological feature.From Plato and Nietzsche's body theories, we found that, in China, our attitudes toward physical problems have various errors. "Discussion on Humanistic Spirit" in the Platonic humanism advocates the tendency is clear; body writing repeated the Nietzsche's mistakes in his early stages; materialism led to the aristocrats'spiritual fallen. To get out of the misunderstanding, requires our efforts of re-appreciating classic body theories, like Plato's and Nietzsche's.