Unit 9 Nietzsche PDF

Nietzsche Unit 9 Background Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher and critic. He was mainly interested in drawing out the implications of the Enlightenment and its philosophies. Interesting facts: 1. He once studied theology in the hopes of becoming a Lutheran pastor. 2. He wa...

Nietzsche Unit 9 Background Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher and critic. He was mainly interested in drawing out the implications of the Enlightenment and its philosophies. Interesting facts: 1. He once studied theology in the hopes of becoming a Lutheran pastor. 2. He was an amazing writer, and his work has been highly influential. 3. He ultimately went insane and spent the last ten years of his life completely psychotic. Background Continued... Recall that Kant’s philosophy shut God, and metaphysics (in the traditional sense) off in an unknowable, noumenal world beyond human experience. We could know the world, but only as the mind constitutes it. Nietzsche’s main contribution to philosophy was to draw out the implications of these ideas. Nietzsche argues that although they may not have realized it, Kant, and those who came after him, had killed God, and laid waste to metaphysics. The Rise of Nihilism Without God, or anything else, to serve as the foundation for values, purpose, and meaning, Nietzsche believed civilization would be destroyed by nihilism. Nihilism (nothing-ism) is the belief that all values, like good or evil, are without foundation, that life is meaningless, and that knowledge is impossible. Nihilism breeds pessimism and skepticism. Nietzsche saw the rise of nihilism as extremely undesirable. The One Needful Thing At the center of Nietzsche’s thought is the notion of becoming what one is. To accomplish this, one must achieve self-realization (the one needful thing). Here’s how Nietzsche thought self-realization was achieved: Breakthrough ? Critical Inquiry Revelation (Criticize all metaphysical (There is no metaphysical knowledge) knowledge) Decadence? Retrograde (The purpose of existence is to realize there is no purpose) Interpreting Nietzsche Once we know what we are, we achieve a different perspective on reality. We have to be very careful when interpreting Nietzsche. He didn’t trust philosophers, and he was opposed to the idea of building philosophical systems. There are two options for proceeding: 1. We can interpret Nietzsche 2. We can interpret Nietzsche as ironically, and say that while he merely exploring problems and distrusts systems he nonetheless cultural inheritances without builds one himself. building a system. Themes However we choose to interpret Nietzsche’s thought - as an ironic contradiction, or a mere exploration - certain themes are present throughout his writings. 1. God is Dead. The end 3. Will to Power. A force of metaphysics and its that permeates all reality nihilistic implications. and drives things to exert themselves over other things. 2. The Overman. The exemplary human being 4. Eternal Recurrence. who overcomes nihilism The endless repetition of and affirms life. all events. God is Dead One theme found in Nietzsche’s writings is that the Enlightenment brought an end to religious and metaphysical knowledge. The statement, “God is dead,” is Nietzsche’s way of describing this outcome. Of course, people still believed in God, and followed Christian morality, but the foundations for their beliefs had been pulled out from under them (whether they knew it or not). God is Dead continued... Nietzsche wasn’t concerned with whether or not God actually existed (he was almost certainly an atheist). Rather, what concerned him was the effect that God’s death would have on civilization. Without God, everything seems pointless. The pointlessness of it all could lead to nihilism with its accompanying pessimism and skepticism. God is Dead continued... What does nihilism mean? Three things: 1. All values eventually devalue themselves. a. The pursuit of truth using honesty, curiosity, objectivity and the like will, given enough time, reveal that there is no truth. 2. The aim is lacking. a. There really is no transcendent purpose to anything. We attempt to create values and goals, but it’s all in vain. 3. The question, “Why?” finds no answer. a. There’s literally no answer to why we’re here. We can either be paralyzed by meaninglessness, or we can overcome it by making our own meaning. God is Dead continued... Since the death of God meant that Christian morality was baseless all along, Nietzsche came up with a theory to explain how it came to be. He postulated a master/slave morality, whereby Christians, who are inferior types of human beings with no power in society, get revenge on their superiors the only way they can: by inverting their values. So the values of the superior class: e. g., selfishness, power, pride, virility, etc. are transformed and become the values of self-sacrifice, weakness, humility, chastity, etc. in the hands of the inferior class. God is Dead continued... Nietzsche’s criticism of the Enlightenment was pretty accurate. However, when faced with the implications of the Enlightenment, there seem to be two options: 1. Acceptance. With this option, one accepts that the Enlightenment undermines all religious and metaphysical knowledge. As a result, there is no God, no certainty, and no meaning to life. We have to make our own meaning. 2. Rejection. With this option, one rejects the Enlightenment and its philosophies because they are false. As a result, we must retrace our steps to see where we went off course, and recover the religious and metaphysical certainties of which we lost sight. The Overman Another theme present in Nietzsche’s writings was that it would take a very special sort of person to overcome nihilism. Nihilism succeeds when higher men are lacking, and lower men forget their place. It takes an Overman (Ubermensch) to overcome nihilism. The Overman is creative, life-affirming, and powerful. He makes his own meaning. The Overman continued... Nietzsche thought ancient Greek culture, as manifested in its poets and athletes, embodied the spirit of the Overman. He also thought particular individuals, like Napoleon, were examples of the Overman. The Overman continued... As a solution to the problem of God’s death, the Overman is only as successful as the Enlightenment is at undermining religious and metaphysical knowledge. If the Enlightenment made a mistake, and there are good reasons for rejecting its philosophies as false, then the Overman becomes unnecessary. Will to Power The will to power is another theme found in Nietzsche’s writings. It arises from the conviction that everything seeks to expand its power. Although this theme is not fully developed by Nietzsche, will to power is like a “monster of energy” that exerts its influence over other things. Will to Power continued... Depending on how you interpret Nietzsche, will to power can be understood cosmologically, or psychologically. On the cosmological interpretation, all reality is motivated, in some fundamental way, by will to power. It is constantly trying to overcome itself, both in its inorganic, and organic manifestations. On the psychological interpretation, will to power is only manifested in the individual person, as he or she strives to overcome nihilism and create a meaningful existence. Will to Power continued... It’s very difficult to make sense of Nietzsche’s will to power. If construed cosmologically, then it seems like Nietzsche is simply replacing one metaphysical understanding of reality with another. Moreover, it is very difficult to explain how an unconscious reality could will to power any more than it could will to weakness. If construed psychologically, then will to power reduces to the individual’s need to overcome nihilism. However, if there are good reasons for rejecting the Enlightenment philosophies as false, then the will to power, like the Overman, becomes unnecessary. Eternal Recurrence The final theme found in Nietzsche’s writings that we will consider is the eternal recurrence of the same. As with the will to power, Nietzsche did not fully develop this theme. Thus, scholars interpret its significance in different ways. Generally, eternal recurrence is the hypothesis that every event will be repeated exactly the same for all eternity. Eternal Recurrence continued... As with will to power, eternal recurrence can be understood cosmologically, or psychologically. On the cosmological interpretation, given an infinite amount of time, every possible series of events will repeat itself an infinite number of times. Eternal recurrence would be comparable to an oscillating model of the universe in which there is an eternal cycle of expansion and contraction. Eternal Recurrence continued... There are a few problems with the cosmological interpretation. First, the oscillating model is controversial. Most physicists believe the universe will continue expanding forever without contracting. Eternal Recurrence continued... Second, there is a philosophical problem with eternal recurrence: namely, the problem of traversing infinite time. To arrive at the present universe, we would have to traverse an actual number of infinite universes. However, an actual infinite cannot be traversed. So, there cannot be an actual number of infinite universes, or infinite time. U (-2) Universe (-1) Universe (P) ∞ You are here Eternal Recurrence continued... The psychological interpretation of eternal recurrence does not face the problems associated with the cosmological interpretation. On this interpretation, eternal recurrence is a tool for assessing whether one is living a good and joyous life. Imagine you had to relive the exact same life over and over again for all eternity. If you would do things differently, then you’re not living the best life possible, and you should make changes. Nietzsche’s Legacy Nietzsche’s thought has exerted a powerful influence on Western intellectual history. He inspired countless philosophers, psychologists, politicians, artists and literary figures. The reason his thought could be appropriated by so many different individuals whose aims were often in conflict probably owes to the fact that it itself is conflicted and paradoxical at times. Ultimately, Nietzsche’s greatest contribution to philosophy was drawing out the implications of the Enlightenment to their logical conclusions.