Piety#
Summary#
Piety is presented as the most elaborate product of the fear of truth, an artistic falsification of existence that allows humans to cope with the threat of incurable pessimism. It represents a will to untruth, beautifying man by making him superficial, iridescent, and pleasing in appearance. In this sense, the religious life functions as the highest rank of artistic self-deception, enabling those who have glimpsed too deeply into existence to retreat into a protective cult of the superficial.