NIETZSCHE

CHAPTER XXI

FRIEDRICH WILHELM FRITZ NIETZSCHE

October 15, 1844-August 25, 1990

Rcken in Prussian Saxony

49th birthday of Prussian King Friedrich
Wilhelm VI

FAMILY

Parents (m. 1843-1849)

oCarl Ludwig Nietzsche
1813-1849
Lutheran pastor

oFranziska Oehler
1826-1849
Lutheran pastor

Siblings
oLudwig Joseph Nietzsche
oElisabeth Frster-Nietzsche

EDUCATION
1st phase of life Production of a genius
Domgymnasium Naumburg (1854-1858)
Boarding school at Pforta (1858-1864)
oPlato
oAeschylus

EDUCATION
University of Bonn (1864)
oPaul Dessen

University of Leipzig (1865)

oTeacher- Albrecht Ritschl
oFriends with Erwin Rhode
Attracted to Schopenhauer
oatheism

CAREER
Published at Rheinisches Museum
University of Bassel
oChair of philosophy
oInaugural lecture on Homer and Classical
Philology

FRIENDSHIP WITH WAGNER

Richard Wagner (18131883)
The Birth of a Tragedy from
the Spirit of Music
oCriticized Socrates influence on
Greece
oCriticized by WilamowitzMoellendorff

UNTIMELY MEDITATIONS
1.

David Strauss: the Confessor and the Writer

(1873)

Strauss - German-culture philistinism

2.

On the Use and Abuse of History for Life (1874)

3.

Schopenhauer as Educator (1874)

4.

Richard Wagner in Bayreuth (1876)

Attacked idolization of historical learning

Praise Schopenhauer as educator

Wagner - originator of Greek genius

END OF NIETZSCHE-WAGNER FRIENDSHIP

2nd phase rationalistic,
scientific philosopher (1876)

Human, All-too-Human
(1878-1879)
oAttacked metaphysics
oConscience originates from
authority, not God

NIETZSCHE THE VAGABOND

Resigned from chair at Basel
Lived at different countries
1879-1889

NIETZSCHE THE VAGABOND

The Dawn of Day (1881)
oAgainst morality of selfrenunciation

Joyful wisdom (1882)

oChristianity is hostile to life
oGod is dead
Both writings were not met well

NIETZSCHE THE VAGABOND

Thus Spake Zarathustra
(1883-1885)
oMagnum opus
oIdea of eternal recurrence
oPersian sage Zarathustra
oIdea of a Superman

NIETZSCHE THE VAGABOND

3rd phase Superman and
transvaluation of ideas
oPoetic and prophetic style

Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

oHippolyte Taine

A Genealogy of Morals (1887)

oGeorg Brandes

Taine

Brandes

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL (1886)

Subtitle: Prelude to a
Philospophy of the Future
Prototype titles
oThe Will to Power
oA New Interpretation of Nature / The
Will to Power
oAn Essay towards a New
Interpretation of the Universe

Idea of a will to power

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

More title changes
oThe Will to Power
oAn Essay towards the
Transvaluation of Values
Never published
The Antichrist

NIETZSCHES MENTAL DESCENT

The Case of Wagner (1888)
oAttack on Wagner

Nietzsche contra Wagner (1888)

The Antichrist (1888)
Ecce Homo (1888)
oautobiography
Showed signs of extreme tension, mental
instability

NIETZSCHES MENTAL DESCENT

Taken from Turin, Italy
Sent to clinic at Basel
Lived with mother (Naumburg)
and sister (Weimar)
Finally became famous
Died August 25th 1900

NIETZSCHES 3 PHASES OR DEVELOPMENTS

AS SO MANY MASKS
Man must have the attitude of a free spirit: critical, rationalistic,
and sceptical observer of life
This attitude is an eccentric pose a second nature as a means
for the true or first nature to come to triumph and show itself
The second nature needs to come off and disappear for man to
grow and reach his true potential, just as any snake sloughs off or
molds its old skin

THEORY OF ETERNAL RECURRENCE

Defined as a cycle of life wherein every hardship and ordeal is
repeated countless times throughout endless time
Nietzsche stated that the theory is merely a test of strength man,
especially Nietzsche himself, needs to be able to say yes rather than
Schopenhauerian no
To be able to say yes is a triumph because that is the ideal life: yessaying attitude, meaning saying yes, accepting, and embrace everything
that comes your way

NIETZSCHES RELATIVISTIC AND PRAGMATIC

VIEW OF THE TRUTH
General theory of truth is more social rather than personal
biologically useful for one species or one kind of man,
but not for another
Theory of Superman (Uebermensch) merely a myth
which possessed some truth because it enabled higher
types of men to fulfill their potential and become superior

NIETZSCHES RELATIVISTIC AND PRAGMATIC

VIEW OF THE TRUTH
Believes that the criterion of truth lies in the intensification
of the feeling of power truth is relative to power,
something true must make you feel better and more
powerful
Like all men, Nietzsche exists and is always seeking to
realize his own possibilities and achieve all that he can
achieve

NIETZSCHE WISHES TO BE A SUPERMAN

He strongly believed in what he was saying (i.e. theory of masks,
theory of eternal recurrence, theory of Superman having
enough confidence to say yes to everything in life)
He thought of himself as a prophet, a reforming force he is the
change
His ideas are dynamite his ideas are explosive and passionate,
meaning they will disturb people and make them think

The feeling of power is needed to become a Superman

IN GENERAL:
Nietzsche is influential not because he tells the truth
(honestly, his ideas are more of myth), but because he was
passionate with his value-judgements
He is influential because of what he deems to be the
perfect traits of a perfect human being (Uebermensch)

APOLLONIAN VS DIONYSIAN
The Greeks knew that life is terrible, inexplicable and dangerous but they didnt surrender to
pessimism
APOLLONIAN

DIONYSIAN

CHARACTERISTICS

-order, measure, restraint

-principle of individuation
-harness destructive powers
and transmute them into art
-form and beauty

-stream of life, defies all limitations

-Primordial Unity
-negative and destructive powers of the soul
-forces of life

EXAMPLES

Epics and sculptures

Tragedy and music

AESTHETIC TRANSMUTATION
OF REALITY

Draw an aesthetic veil over

reality

Triumphantly affirming and embracing

existence in all its darkness and horror

The supreme achievement of Greek culture was the fusion of Dionysian and Apollonian
elements

OTHER THOUGHTS
Life > Knowledge
Beneath the surface of modern life are vital forces
oWild, primitive, and completely merciless
oCauldron in a witchs kitchen

No reason to suppose that mans potentialities has reached its term

Rise of higher specimens of humanity in the form of outstanding

individuals

MORALITY: ASCEND
First sign of animal becoming man: actions no longer
directed to immediate satisfaction, but more to long-term
benefits
Morality: means of preserving the community and warding
off threats of destruction
oA utilitarian view

MORALITY: ASCEND
Processes:
oCompulsion: make the individual conform his actions to the
societys interests
oCustom: Eventually these actions become a part of an individuals
everyday life
oConscience: authoritative voice of the community
oObedience: can become second nature, and associated with
pleasure.
oConcepts of virtue and the virtuous man.

MORALITY: ASCEND
Morality: interiorized through a process of progressive refinement

Twofold early history of good and evil, two moral outlooks

MASTER-MORALITY

-Noble vs. despicable

-Applied to men, not actions
-Enables them to transcend their
present conditions

SLAVE-MORALITY

-For the weak vs. for the self

-Herd-morality
-prevents development of a
higher type of man

MORALITY: ASCEND
Resentment
oA strong individual stands for his own values
oWeak individuals curb the strong by asserting their own values
oSeen in Christianity, according to Nietzsche

MORALITY: ASCEND
There is no uniform, universal, and absolute moral system
oAny prevalent moral system comes from resentment

Nietzsche searches for the highest possible integration of all

aspects of human nature
oChristianity depreciates the passion, impulse, freedom of the mind
oBecome stronger

GOD IS DEAD
The concept of God is hostile to life
Belief is a sign of weakness, cowardice, decadence, a no-saying
attitude to life
oSexlessness purity
oWeakness goodness
oSubmission-to-people-one-hates obedience
oNot-being-able-to-take-revenge forgiveness

Strength, intellectual freedom, independence and concern for the

future of man demand atheism

GOD IS DEAD
Death of God Rejection of absolute laws & of the idea of an
objective and universal moral law
Morality was the greatest antidote against nihilism; it was a means
of preservation
Ignorance of values outside Christianity breakdown of belief in
Christian moral values nihilism

GOD IS DEAD
Nietzsche prophesied the collapse of the traditional
support of values (nihilism is inevitable!)
Two types of nihilism:
oPassive - pessimism in the absence of values & in the
purposelessness of existence
oActive - seeks to destroy that in which it no longer believes

GOD IS DEAD
Death of God
oWars as have never been seen on earth
oOpening of a new day when the life-denying effects of
Christianity could be replaced by life-affirming philosophy

New foundation of values: aesthetic phenomenon [culture

music, arts, philosophy, literature]
oCulture should replace Scripture

CHAPTER XXII

WILL TO POWER
Influenced by Schopenhauers thoughts in Will to
Existence/Will to Live
The world and universe is a process of becoming

WILL TO POWER: the worlds intelligible character

oExpresses itself in everything
oInner reality of the universe, but exists only in its manifestations

Only an interpretation of the universe

WILL TO POWER
A living thing seeks above all to discharge its force
oLiving is a Will to Power
oThe whole world as alive is Will to Power

Hypothesis from believing the causality of the will

oAlso belief in causality itself

KNOWLEDGE
Instrument of power

KNOWLEDGE
Instrument of power

Aim is not to know but to master

KNOWLEDGE

Transformation of Nature into

concepts for the purpose of
governing Nature

KNOWLEDGE
-a process of interpretation
e.g. concept of ego/self
-cannot possibly be objective

TRUTH
NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH, only FICTIONS
Truth is that sort of error [that living things] could not live without

ERROR

TRUTH
FICTIONS
ERROR not useful or harmful
TRUTH useful/with utility

TRUTH
Perspectives
Necessary for human race
Unnecessary for human race
Which is which depends on VALUE
E.g. Believing in an Absolute (God) >no value -> unnecessary

instincts
reason

NIETZSCHE SHOULD APPLY HIS VIEW OF TRUTH

TO ALLEGED ETERNAL TRUTHS A FORTIORI
Atomic theory
oAtom symbol/mental projection
oPhysical laws relations of power
oMathematical formulas for grasping, classifying, mastering
oDoes NOT prove that obey laws (rules) or that there are
substantial things which exercise force/power
oOnly dynamic quanta in a relation of tension to all other
dynamic quanta

Life
oUnites a plurality of forces; a lasting form of processes of
assertions of force, in which the various combatants on their side
grow unequally
oOrganism (expression of Will to Power) - it looks for something to
overcome

Darwinism
oThe essential factor in the vital process is precisely the
tremendous power to shape and create forms from within a
power which uses and exploits the environment.
oNatural selection is assumed to work in favour of the betterconstituted and individually stronger specimen - not warranted
oNietzsche - It is the better specimen that perish and the mediocre
that survive

Human Psychology
Hedonism - pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are the
fundamental motives of human conduct.
According to Nietzsche pleasure and pain are results after an
increase of power.
Pleasure - increase of power
Pain - hindrance to the Will to power

FOR NIETZSCHE, RANK IS DETERMINED BY POWER

In life, the more powerful you are, the higher kind of man
you are
It is quanta of power, and nothing else, which determine
and distinguish rank nothing else matters except the
accumulation of power to become a Superman

WHAT IS POWER?
An intrinsic quality of an individual; power is in everyone but in
varying degrees
In relation to power, men are split into two categories
1. The strong or powerful a type which represents ascending life
2. The weak or the mediocre a type which represents decadence,
decomposition, and weakness

Power is personal; even if many mediocre men unite and become

powerful, they are still not considered strong
One is either part of the strong or the mediocre, there is no gray
area; no in-betweens

NEED FOR THE MEDIOCRE

Nietzsche says the superior can only exist if there are mediocre
people high culture can exist only on a broad basis, on a
strongly and soundly consolidated mediocrity
The mediocre masses are a necessary means to an end by
having mediocre men, the strong and superior type of man
emerges and persists
Unlike Socrates belief that when you are freed, you have to free
others, Nietzsche believes that the superior does not need to help
the inferior, for the mediocre to continue to exist if the strong
help the weak, there will be no more weak people

NEED FOR THE MEDIOCRE

Instead, it is the mediocre peoples job to continue being mediocre
so that higher types of men can continue to emerge and persist
In this power struggle, new barbarians or external forces will
cause the mediocre masses to fall apart, and effectively open up
the possibility of free development of outstanding individuals

WHAT IS AN UEBERMENSCH ?
A myth of the higher or highest kind of man
Man is something which must be surpassed; man is a bridge and
not a goal you have to not be content with what you have, you
need to always look for more, you have to become more

As a myth, man will not necessarily evolve into Superman it is

simply a goal for the will or a destination
Man is a rope stretched between animal and Superman - a rope
over an abyss you must cross the rope and realize that you are
more than an animal; once you cross the rope, you are more than
man, which is the goal of everyone

Superman cannot be achieved unless superior people break the

confines of convention and norms unless superior individuals
have the courage to transvalue all values, to break the old table of
values, especially the Christian tables, and create new values out
of their superabundant life and power
It is the concept of the highest possible development and
integration of intellectual power, strength of character and will,
independence, passion, taste and physique Superman is the
ultimate being

Man who has become fully free and independent and affirms life
and the universe one who has transcended the limitations of a
human being and is one with life and the universe around him

AT THE END OF IT ALL, NIETZSCHES IDEA OF A

SUPERMAN IS SOMETHING HE WISHES TO ACHIEVE FOR
HIMSELF.
His philosophy is somewhat a personal goal
In his goal to become the ultimate man, he shows that
anything is possible

ETERNAL RECURRENCE
Nietzsche thought of it as dismaying and oppressive
Used the idea as a test of strength; to say yes to
life as it is

ETERNAL RECURRENCE
JOYFUL WISDOM
-A spirit tells him that
his life will recur again
innumerable times
-Would he be
prostrated and curse
the speaker? Or would
he accept the message
in a spirit of
affirmation of life?

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

-World-approving man
have a play all over
again countless times
-Encore to the players

ZARATHUSTRA
-Feeling of disgust that
even the most inferior
man will return
-He himself will come
again eternally to this
same self

ETERNAL RECURRENCE
The principle of conservation of energy demands
the eternal recurrence
No introductions of any Being which transcends the
universe
oAvoids pantheism - regarding the universe as a manifestation of
God
oIf the universe never repeats itself but is constantly creating new
forms creative Deity (contradiction!)

NIETZSCHES PHILOSOPHY IS NOT A SYSTEM

moral and values
onaturalistic criticism
oPhenomenology
otransvaluation

Social and cultural

oattacking democracy & democratic socialism
odiagnosing the decadence and imminent collapse of western civilization
oNihilism

Religion
oRadical atheism
oConcern with the problem of God

Literature
Apollonian and Dionysian attitudes
Psychological analyses
Nietzsches method of writing (esp. aphorisms) is responsible
for diverse interpretations.

 Nietzsche is an acute and far-seeing thinker

Psychology
Notion of concealed operative ideals and motives
Concept of sublimation
Concept of Will to Power as key to human psychology
New barbarism and world-wars

Nietzsche was clear-sighted in some respects but myopic on

others
Ascending and descending life
Higher and lower types of men

Nietzsche attacks Christianity yet unable to do justice to it

Attacks are general campaign against all beliefs and philosophies

Rejection of the idea that the world has been created by God for a
purpose
The idea of God.

THANK YOU