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The Life & Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
Philosophy Class Essay Born: 1844. Rocken, Germany Died: 1900. Weimar,
Germany Major Works: The Gay Science (1882), Thus Spoke Zarathustra
(1883-1885), Beyond Good & Evil (1886), On the Genealogy of Morals (1887),
MAJOR IDEAS
Self deception is a particularly destructive characteristic of
West Culture. Life is The Will To Power; our natural desire is to
dominate and reshape the world to fit our own preferences and assert our
personal strength to the fullest degree possible. Struggle, through which
individuals achieve a degree of power commensurate with their abilities,
is the basic fact of human existence. Ideals of human equality perpetuate
mediocrity -- a truth that has been distorted and concealed by modern
value systems. Christian morality, which identifies goodness with meekness
and servility is the prime culprit in creating a cultural climate that
thwarts the drive for excellence and self realization God is dead; a new
era of human creativity and achievement is at hand.
-- Great Thinkers In The Western World. By: Ian P. McGreal, 1992
PREFACE
Much information is available on Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche, including many
books that he wrote himself, during his philosophical career. I took this
as a good sign I would find a fountain of enlightened material produced by
the man. I've had to go through a bit of my own philosophical meditations
to put my own value judgements aside, and truly look for the contributions
Nietzsche gave to philosophy. Much of my understanding came only after I
had a grasp of Neitzsche's history; therefore, I encourage you to read-up
on his history before diving into his philosophy (see Appendix I). The
modern Westerner might disagree with every aspect of his philosophy, but
there are many things one must unfortunately admit are true (only if you
put your morality aside). So, from here, I will present his
contributions to philosophy, and do my best to delete my own opinions,
other than to say that he was not the chosen topic of this paper out of
any admiration.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Sometimes philosophy is called "timeless," implying that it's lessons are
of value to any generation. This may be hard to see in Nietzsche's work;
but, we are assured that it was appropriate thought for his time. However,
even Nietzsche's critics admit that his words hold an undeniable truth, as
hard as it is to accept. Perhaps this is why his work is timeless, and
has survived 150 years in print.
Christianity "God is Dead!" announced Zarathustra (better known as
Zoroaster), in Neitzsche's proudest book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-
1885). Unlike many philosophers, Nietzsche never tried to prove or
disprove the existence of God, just that belief in God can create
sickness; and to convince that highest achievements in human life depend
on elimination of God. Whether God existed had no relevance in his goal.
Proclamation of the death of God was a fundamental ingredient in the
revaluation of values Nietzsche advocated.
"Nothing has done more than Christianity to entrench the morality
of mediocrity in human consciousness."
"Christian love extols qualities of weakness; it causes guilt.
Charity is just teaching hatred and revenge directed toward nobility."
"Belief in God is a tool to bring submission to the individual of
noble character."
-- F. Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Hero Morality
Nietzsche had an ideal world in mind, with an ideal government and an
ideal God: the "Overman" or "Superman." These Gods were a product of
natural selection, or social Darwinism. He felt, very strongly, that any
kind of moral limitations upon man would only stand in the way of The
Overman. "The Will To Power," his strongest teaching, meant that The
Overman should and would do anything possible to gain power, control and
strength. If one showed the smallest bit of weakness or morality, he would
be killed by the stronger Overman, and taken over. Thus, the advancement
of The Master Race (Nietzsche's "Master Race" will be discussed later).
"Not mankind, but superman is the goal. The very last thing a
sensible man would undertake would be to improve mankind: mankind does not
improve, it doesn't even exist - it is an abstraction."
"... his superman as the individual rising precariously out of the
mire of mass mediocrity, and owing his existence more to deliberate
breeding and careful nurture than to the hazards of natural selection."
Master Race
Nietzsche is often referred to as a pre-Nazi thinker, by his idealism of
The Master Race. He was, in fact, a prime influence on the writing of
Hitler's highest men, and quoted in Hitler's speeches. But, his writings
were mostly taken out of context, because he was very open about his
distaste for "those anti-semites." If one is able to come from a more
intelligent place, regarding the breeding of best-fit humans, Nietzsche
was far beyond Hitler. Nietzsche understood the necessity for variation
in a population, and especially was able to appreciate the contributions
of other races and cultures. His ideal society would be a race that
included select bits from many races/cultures. The only culture that he
seemed to have a special appreciation for were the Polish. He wrote, "The
Poles, I consider the most gifted and gallant among Slavic people..."
Still, he wrote about his value for the Jews, as response to the growing
anti-semite culture in Germany during his time:
"The whole problem of the Jews exists only in nation states, for
here their energy and higher intelligence, their accumulated capital of
spirit and will, gathered from generation to generation though a long
schooling in suffering, must become so preponderant as to arouse mass envy
and hatred. In almost all contemporary nations, therefore -- in direct
proportion to the degree which they act up nationalistically -- the
literary obscenity of leading the Jews to slaughter as scapegoats of every
conceivable public and internal misfortune is spreading. As soon as it is
no longer a matter of preserving nations, but of producing the strongest
possible Euro-Mixed race, the Jew is just as useful and desirable as
ingredient as any other national remnant."
War Mentality
Nietzsche had an incredible infatuation with evil and violence. He did so
much to find evil and cruelty in the world, that he seemed to have a
sadistic pleasure in celebrating it; "man is the cruelest animal," he
states in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In his book, Beyond Good and Evil, he
really aims at changing the reader's opinion as to what is good and what
is evil, but professes, except at moments, to be raising what is "evil"
and decrying what is "good." It is necessary for higher men to make war
upon the masses, and resist the democratic tendencies of the age, for in
all directions mediocre people are joining hands to make themselves
masters. "Everything that pampers, that softens, and that brings the
'people' or 'woman' to the front, operates in favor of universal suffrage
-- that is to say, the dominion of 'inferior' men."
Women & The Family
This brings us to Nietzsche's view of women. At this point, I believe
it's important to note Nietzsche's experience with women, because his
writings about them seemed to begin closely after being rejected by the
only woman he admitted to love. She rejected him as heasked her hand in
marriage.
"Men shall be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the
warrior. All else is folly."
"The patriotic member of a militant society will look upon bravery
and strength as the highest virtues of a man; upon obedience as the
highest virtue of the citizen; and upon silent submission to multiple
motherhood as the highest virtue of woman."
"Thou goest to woman? Do not forget thy whip."
From Nietzsche's experience with women, as author Betrand Russell said,
"Nine out of ten women would get the whip away from him, and he knew it,
so he kept away from women, and soothed his wounded vanity with unkind
remarks." Many of his comments toward women reflected what a lonely and
unloved person he was. In some poems he wrote after his prospective wife
left him, he wrote this lonely line: "I could sing a song, and I will sing
it, although I am alone in an empty house and must sing it to mine own
ears." So, he added appropriately to his beliefs the following:
"How absurd it is, after all, to let higher individuals marry for
love -- heroes with servant girls and geniuses with seamstresses! When a
man is in love he should not be permitted to make decisions affecting his
entire life. We should declare invalid the vows of lovers and should make
love a legal impediment to marriage."
The Aristocracy
Nietzsche loved his aristocratic anarchism, and had such a hate for
democracy, that it consumes nearly every bit of his philosophy. His ideal
society was divided into three classes: producers (farmers, merchants,
business men), officials (soldiers and government), and rulers. The
latter would rule, but they would not officiate in government; the actual
government is a menial task. The rulers would be philosopher-statesmen
rather than office-holders. Their power will rest on the control of
credit and the army; but they would live more like the proud-soldier than
like the financier.
Nietzsche believed that some people were inherently more important than
others; their happiness or unhappiness counted for more than the happiness
of average people. He dismissed John Stuart Mill as a "blockhead" for the
presupposition that everyone was equal. He wrote about Mill:
"I abhor the man's vulgarity when he says "what is right for one
man is right for another. Such principals wild fain establish the whole
of human traffic upon mutual services, so every action would appear to be
a cash payment for something done to us. The hypothesis here is ignoble
to the last degree; it is taken for granted that there is some sort of
equivalence in value between my actions and thine."
Nietzsche, as I said before, hated democracy, but he recognized
Christianity as a greater risk. Perhaps this was because people are
always more loyal to their od, than their government. He felt that
democracy began with Christianity: "...holy epileptics like saint Paul,
who had no honesty. The new testament is the gospel of a completely
ignoble species of man. Christianity is the most fatal and seductive lie
that ever existed." So, before stripping people of their choice and
equality, their God had to be taken first, Then the government.
"Consequently, the road to the superman must lie through
aristocracy. Democracy - - this manner for counting noses -- must be
eradicated before it Is too late. The first step here is the destruction
of Christianity so far as all higher men are concerned."
Conclusion
As Will Durant stated Nietzsche's faults so eloquently, "we can see him
suffering at every line, and we must love him even where we question him,"
I couldn't agree more. I always ask the supremacist the question, "why do
you support a supremacist government that would probably reject you into
it's lower class?" I have no doubt, that if Nietzsche lived in his ideal
society, he would have no honor, as he misses every requirement, being a
sickly man who was rejected from the army, and lacking the strength to
compete with his own "superman."
Word Count: 1,878
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