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well hello there. this could go in either school nonsense or here...i thought here...obviously.
anyway!
i have a SAC (school assessed coursework) next week, and i have to write an analytical essay on Nietzsche... but as you can imagine, it is going to be rather difficult. particularly as he is one of the most difficult philosophers to study (from my experience) and i find it hard to understand what he means in his arguments... so yeah, if anyone wants to help me lol it would be greatly appreciated.
we've just done his arguments on "the death of god" and "life, history and nature are not moral"...
(i've recently noticed one particular member interested in this philosopher )
__________________
"Everything in this room is eatable, even i'm eatable. But that my dear children is called cannibalism, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies." Johnny Depp
WOOT - [Sims Addict]
If you're planning to analyze Nietzsche, then the first thing you must know is this: his works are not to be considered methodical. Every book which Nietzsche wrote (Beyond Good and Evil, The Anti-Christ, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, etc...) is to be considered a secluded piece in comparison to his other works. He did not attempt to make his ideas an orderly system, nor did he wish to. Attempting to reconcile all of his works into a coresponding piece is futile. The books contradict each other in a way that they cannot rectify. With that in mind, I'll summarize each of his most prominent ideas. I'll merely summarize. There's simply too much to attempt to place everything in this one post. If you wish for me to elaborate, I'll be more then happy to do so. Also, I won't describe his works; merely the ideas presented in them. If you want me to elaborate on them as well, then again you need only ask.
The Will To Power - The idea created by Nietzsche to counter Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer asserted the idea that the single, predominant, indominable, and interminable motivation of living things is fermenting and sustaining their own lives. This was known as Schopenhauer's "Will to Live". Nietzsche countered this with what he called "Will To Power". Nietzsche stated that the most powerful motivation of humans is the need to gain power. That means an all encompassing power. Nietzsche felt that all living things felt a need to gain power, use power, improve power, so that they overpower the "Will to Power"'s of others. Nietzsche felt that Schopenhauer's "Will to Live" was not the highest motivation of them all. The "Will to Live" is one of many outcomes of the "Will to Power". The "Will to Power" can also be seen as the force which motivates all change within the world. It's not something that one must learn to control or gain, as much as it is something which one must learn to become aware of. Every move which causes us to gain prestige and power is our most highest motivation. It could be anything as drastic from an individual causing harm to others in order to gain something, all the way to an individual getting out of bed in the morning. The "Will to Power" present itself as instinct and voluntary action. Nietzsche saw the "Will to Power" as the way in which man will overcome itself, as the will to gain and strengthen in power always leads to the person wishing to gain more power then s/he already has. Thus, self-overcoming. Another thing brought about by the "Will to Power" is the "Will to Truth". That is, the wish to gain knowledge and know the objective truth, usually through philosophy. It's just another byproduct of gaining more power. The "Will to power", alongside the Overman and the Eternal Recurrence are the most fundamental ideas of Nietzsche's thought.
To make your own idea of it, here: http://www.handprint.com/SC/NIE/antich.html
The entire copy of The Anti-Christ. Everything you ever wanted to know about what Nietzsche thought about Christianity is presented there.
Apollonian and Dionysian - Nietzsche saw the need to attempt to reconcile these two artistic systems. Nietzsche believed the the aspects of Dionysian (hedonism, wholeness, glorifaction of humans as subject of art, instinct, and dissolution of boundary) and Apollonian (beauty, reason, self control, humans as artists, and limit of creations.), while normally believe to be opposing, were two fundamental concept which kept each other in check. The two aspects create balance through conflict. Art's prerequisite is that it must contain both these aspects, as opposed to one or the other.
Ideas on Christianity - Nietzsche was an avid critic of Christianity. Nietzsche found most fault in the idealogy it sets forth. Nietzsche saw Jesus as a man with the potential to become an Overman, in accordance with his ideas. This is because he saw Jesus as overcoming nihlism in attempting to go against the norm of the society in that day. As well, Jesus's attempt to re-evaluate morals in that day along with being able to amass such a following gave him, to a degree, Nietzsche's respect. However, Nietzsche believed that the teaching themselves were enough to stop Jesus from ever becoming an Overman. Nietzsche criticized many aspects of Jesus's teachings, most notably his idea of the End Times. Nietzsche believed that such an act was one of the ultimate manifestations of nihlism, and as such impeded the "Will to Power". As well, Jesus' idea of the Kingdom of God, and how we should deny the earthly in favor of it, is an idea criticized not only by Nietzsche but by many athiest thinkers. Aside from his criticism of Jesus, Nietzsche also criticized the apostles and the ideas of the church, notably it's transvaluation of values. Athough Nietzsche criticized the teachings, he believed that the apostles presented nothing but flaw in attempting to base a religion off it. He saw the present state of the church as evidence of the decadence which making Jesus' teachings into a religion brought. Nietzsche believed that making the image of Jesus as that of a martyr, and the idea of redemption of all of mankind, is an inversion of Jesus' original message of, as Jesus believed it to be, "Life affirming" ideas. Nietzsche saw the possibilty that the apostle Paul may have wished to spread the influence of Christianty through the Roman Empire as revenge for the destruction of the Second Temple of Jeruselam. He believed also that Paul may of known and foretold the decadence that would arise from the spreading of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
The Eternal Recurrence - One of the three most important aspects of Nietzsche's thought. And, oddly enough, perhaps one of the easiest to explain. The Eternal Recurrence is the idea that "the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur in the exact same self-similar form an incomprehensible and unfathomable number of times." That is, the idea that everything that happens, that you and I and everybody do, has happened an infinite time in the past and will continue to happen an infinite time in the expanse of the future. It has no beginning and no end. Time is circular. One thing important to know, is that Nietzsche not only didn't come up with the idea, but also didn't neccesarily believe in it. But, regardless of rather or not it was real, Nietzsche saw potential in it. Nietzsche compared the idea of Eternal Recurrence to the idea of Hell. Both cannot be proven 100%, no matter how flawed or out of reality they may be. They may only be believed or not believed in the mind of the individual. Nietzsche used it to help confirm that overcoming nihlism and attempting to become an overman is the highest point of the "Will to Power". Imagine having to go through your life an infinite amount of times. If you've lived a horrible life without meaning, then this idea is easily the worst you could possibly have. It would be the most horrible scenario you could possible imagine. Just like Hell is the method which Christianity uses as a physical threat, the Eternal Recurrence works on an equally psychological level. Just as Christianity says that you must make Jesus your savior in order to avoid hell, the Eternal Recurrence offers it's own idea of redemption. If one lives their life adhering to the "Will to Power", then nothing is to fear from the Eternal Return. If one has amor fati, that is "The Love of fate", then they have nothing to fear. If one overcome nihlism, and lives their life wishing for all the happiness and joy and sorrow to happen again, then they have saved themselves from the damaging aspects of the Eternal Return. If an individual loves everything about his life, then he will embrace the idea that it will always happen. If one loves their own life, then the Eternal Return becomes a blessing.
Uebermensch - Known in English as "Overman". The pinnacle of Nietzsches' thought. I could not possibily tell you all that their is about the overman. The Overman is the idea that humanity, in it's current state, must be overcome. The title of Overman is achieved when an individual does 3 things: 1) Use "Will to Power" effectively in a way to advocate individualism and rejection of mainstream ideas. 2) Re-evaluating the morals previously rejected in order to form new ones. 3) Use "Will to Power" to constantly overcome oneself. Nietzsche used the guise of the character Zarathustra in his book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". In it, Zarathustra delivers the message of the coming of the Overman to the world. As much as I could post, more can be gained from reading the book than anything else. So: http://churchofsatan.tv/zarathustra.html
The entire "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" book. Within it, you can learn more about the overman then from any other source.
Death of God - The ultimate rejection of God-centered teleology being relevant in our world. It doesn't mean that God has literaly ceased to live. Rather, it means that the Christian idea of the moral authority of God no longer has any relevance in so far as people do not recognize it. Nietzsche believed that the idea already has occured, that the morals men assert to be asserted by God no longer exist. However, man simply hasn't recognized it yet. When man does, the Coming of the Overman can finally occur. Without the moral authority of God, people will finally be able to escape the transvaluation and establish it's own morals and values. But the realization of the Death of God will lead to an absence of teleology and meaning. Nietzsche believed that while progress can only be achieved once the idea of God has perished, doing so would also cause the end of us. It is with this in mind that Nietzsche created the idea of the overman.
That's a single post. Once again, I cannot stress again how much of a synthesized version this is of Nietzsche's ideas. I only gave the basic idea of each. If you need more information, I'll gladly give it.
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The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
wow. thanks.
that helped, but it's still hard. i've been reading Nietzshe for about three hours now and i feel i still need to read it a few more times before i could actually write about it.
i understand about "the death of god", "the will to truth" and "the will to power"..but i'm still not sure about "the demand for certainty", what separates the higher human beings from the lower.. the desire to determine whether one is entitled to feel certain?
we are also studying his arguments on personal morality. but is there such a thing? Nietzsche says how morality is for society's good order, and not for the promotion of individual flourishing. (opposing the ideas of the earlier greek philosophers).
So it poses the question is there morality that is not shameful? is all morality under attack?
I don't believe it is. Morality isn't a mask. For some it is not only on the outside, it is not just for show...
it's quite a complicated argument.
__________________
"Everything in this room is eatable, even i'm eatable. But that my dear children is called cannibalism, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies." Johnny Depp
WOOT - [Sims Addict]
Last edited by Jellybean : 5th May 2007 at 05:46 AM.
wow. thanks.
that helped, but it's still hard. i've been reading Nietzshe for about three hours now and i feel i still need to read it a few more times before i could actually write about it.
i understand about "the death of god", "the will to truth" and "the will to power"..but i'm still not sure about "the demand for certainty", what separates the higher human beings from the lower.. the desire to determine whether one is entitled to feel certain?
we are also studying his arguments on personal morality. but is there such a thing? Nietzsche says how morality is for society's good order, and not for the promotion of individual flourishing. (opposing the ideas of the earlier greek philosophers).
So it poses the question is there morality that is not shameful? is all morality under attack?
I don't believe it is. Morality isn't a mask. For some it is not only on the outside, it is not just for show...
it's quite a complicated argument.
It would take months to fully comprehend Nietzsche's philosophy. And perhaps years to actually integrate it.
By the "Demand for Certainty", I suppose you're talking about something like this:
Quote:
Metaphysics is still needed by some; but so is that impetuous demand for certainty that today discharges itself among large numbers of people in a scientific-positivistic form. The demand that one wants by all means that something should be firm (while on account of the ardor of this demand one is easier and more negligent about the demonstration of this certainty)—this, too, is still the demand for a support, a prop, in short, that instinct of weakness which to be sure, does not create religious, metaphysical systems, and convictions of all kinds but—conserves them
Belief in progress is based upon a value judgment. It is itself rooted in the stubborn belief that the universe is designed. Humans, by instinct, seek a great designer behind the machinations of the universe. The "Demand for Certainty" is directly related to the "Death of God" theory. A complete lack of teleology will lead to a powerful demand for certainty. In Nietzsche's book The Gay Science, the madman exclaims in the street in the presence of athiests that God is, indeed. dead. But, he also exclaims the reprucusions, saying that without God, life and the universe have no direction in which to travel, as they have no starting point and no grand scheme. The athiests laugh at him, saying that there is nothing to fear from the Death of God. However, in true Nietzsche fashion, the athiests proclaim that no fear should arise because they place all of their faith in science and nature. They create their own teleology and meaning, thereby reassuring themselves that everything will turn out good in the end. In reality, the athiests never got rid of the concept of God. The athiests merely reapplied the concept to other things. This is exactly what Nietzsche warned against. It is no better then if the athiests were Christians. They still believe that teleology exists, that morality is not relative, that progress is being made in the grand scheme, and that the universe is intrinsically meaningful. This is the "Demand for Certainty". Man always wants to place the label of "God" on something. This is why Nietzsche created the Overman. It is, in his view, the only way in which the harmful telological ideas of God can be overcome.
In regards to morals, I'll start with a quote about it on another website I found, as it is a very thorough and simplistic:
Quote:
Nietzsche was convinced that moralism rises on the foundation of resentment rooted in the fear human beings have of the Dionysian. Filled with terror and hatred of the Dionysian within themselves, they project their self-hatred outward toward any manifestation of the Dionysian in others, seeking revenge for their own powerlessness against anyone who is different, anyone who has the capacity to be other than the norm. Repression of the Dionysian within themselves expresses itself in self-righteous, intolerant, and vengeful attitudes toward others. Even though all virtues can be commandeered as vehicles of Apollonian revenge, those values that celebrate conformity and social order—meekness, self-denial, humility, obedience, duty, respect for authority—are elevated and sanctified as the highest ideals. Those individuals who are NOT afraid of the Dionysian, who live beyond the normal categories of “good and evil” and sculpt their lives in new and different ways, strike terror in the hearts of the “herd,” whose only exercise of power can be to coerce and beat deviance into conformity. The non-conformists’ exercise of power—daring to create, recreate, and master themselves in new ways, apart from the “herd”—cannot be tolerated by the conformist—who secretly resents his or her own incapacity for such creativity. Nietzsche calls this mode of life “slave” morality, a moral perspective that rages at—but secretly fears and envies—the non-conformist. Slave morality, he believed, dominates our lives, buoyed by western religious beliefs and, now, by comforting secular “scientific” beliefs in progress and enlightenment
Nietzsche believed that their were two types of morality: 'Master morality' and 'slave' morality. Master morality is the morality of the strong-willed, and is measured with the dualism of good and bad. Master morality includes self-worth and courage. To those which follow master morality, the "good" man is considered noble, while the "bad" are cowards. To quote Nietzsche: "The noble type of man experiences itself as determining values; it does not need approval; it judges, 'what is harmful to me is harmful in itself'; it knows itself to be that which first accords honor to things; it is value-creating." Therefore, the noble man is the proginator or later morality, and the bad arises from it. The slave morality, according to wikipedia (because it actually has a good definition): Slave morality begins in those people who are weak, uncertain of themselves, oppressed and abused. Understandably, characteristics of those who fall under the slave morality often include being pessimistic, distrustful and sceptical. They are particularly wary of the things that their oppressors value as "good". The essence of slave morality is utility: the good is what is most useful for the community as a whole. Since the powerful are few in number compared to the masses of the weak, the weak gain power vis-a-vis the strong by treating those qualities that are valued by the powerful (the things that cause their own unsatisfactory condition) as "evil," and those qualities that enable sufferers to endure their lot or improve their condition as "good." Nietzsche believed that the Greeks surrounded themselves with Master Morality, and the spread of Christianity throughout Rome brought the spread of slave morality. Much like the "Will to Power", Nietzsche considered master and slave morality to encompass all things, from society to individuals. Nietzsche believed that morality should be applied to aid in the individual flourishing, as the individual is a component of the "Will to Power" far more then society is.
__________________
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
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