Abstract:
According to Greek mythology, whoever drinks or touches the waters of Lethe, a river of Hades, forgets his previous existence. What can be, according to Nietzsche (VM/OS 401, KSA.532), a recipe for the sufferer to get rid of the burden of his suffering, but also a heroic act of affirmation of life. Thus, both the decision to touch - or not - the waters of Lethe and the reasons for doing so involve the ambiguity that is characteristic of the term “forgetfulness” in the philosopher’s writings. A characteristic of the concept that concerns the philosopher’s constant dialogue with his sources, with the nascent of the concept, and the different uses he makes of it, the meanders he produces. Two fields of investigation, that of origin and that of form, have in common the possibility of interpretation, as we will see, from the ideas of assimilation and digestion.
Keywords:
Forgetfulness; Memory; Mnemotechnic; Conscience; Digestion