Friedrich Nietzsche
4 We mentioned Nietzsche briefly along with Kierkegaard, and now it's time to take a closer look as his theories, ideas and philosophical work. 2Some philosophers have a strong religious or spiritual dimension to their work, whereas Nietzsche leaned away from this.
Who was Nietzsche?
3Friedrich Nietzsche was born in 1844 in Prussia (now Germany), and had a fairly standard education at a private school. 4He always had an interest in non-mainstream ideas and enjoyed poetry. SHe gravitated towards theology and philosophy, but quickly found that he had lost much of his previous faith and left his theology studies. 6His dissatisfaction with Christianity would colour his philosophical views from then on.
7At a very young age (just 24), he became a professor of philology (the study of historical linguistics) at the University of Basel and also published his first books. 8Poor health made teaching impossible, but he continued to write further books on philosophy. 9His supposedly anti-religious views made him unpopular in many scholarly circles and he was no longer welcomed to teach at any major schools.
10Nietzsche eventually had a mental breakdown, possibly as the result of an earlier bout of syphilis. 11Further illness led to his death in 1900.
God is Dead
12This is probably the most famous phrase ever uttered by Nietzsche, and he mentions the concept in The Gay Science as well as in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. 13Here is a good (though lengthy) quotation that sums up his sentiments on this:
“God is dead. God remains dead. We have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned had bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? (The Gay Science, section 125)
14That s a pretty bold statement, though further examination of his works shows that Nietzsche wasn t just making a literal statement regarding atheism. 15He means that our societal reliance on God has died, that we no longer have that higher power to give our lives meaning. 161t was more a statement on a possible future for humanity, one where we have no one but ourselves to rely on.
17Though it is true that he became an atheist as he grew older, these ideas were more a reflection of what he saw in society as a whole rather than just his own personal viewpoint.
Nihilism
18While Kierkegaard leaned toward the person-centred view of existentialism, Nietzsche took this one step further into nihilism. 19This rather bleak world-view is evident in his God is Dead statement. 20But the entire philosophy is more than that.
21Nihilism is the fundamental belief that there is no meaning or purpose to life, and that the concept of morality is completely arbitrary. 22The viewpoint of nihilism is a difficult one to live with because it invariably leads to a deep level of despair.
23Atheism (simply the non-belief) in any form can lead to nihilism but there is no true causal link between the two. 24An atheist can easily find meaning in life that is not attributable to a deity.
Evolution of the ‘Overman‘
25In his original German, this concept was the Ubermensch but we ll stick with the English for now. 26This idea also comes from Thus Spoke Zarathustra, where he presents the overman (also translated to superman) as an alternative to the God he considered to be dead. 27He felt that humanity needed to evolve in this direction to create a new moral compass once God has been removed from society.
28He states:
“The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth.... Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman – a rope over an abyss... what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end. (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, page 3)
29It s a very interesting concept that man himself is simply one step away from a larger, more meaningful development. 30He saw that the values created by the overman would be distinct from those values we obtained from God because they would be of this world, rather than the otherworldliness that a deity figure represented.
31Some took his idea of a superior man too literally, and some of his writings were used by the Nazis as the rationale behind their desire for a pure master race. 32His anti-Semitic sister edited some of his unpublished works after his death, leading to a widespread belief that Nietzsche was in fact anti- Semitic himself. 33Further research into his writings has since disproved this belief.
Masters and Slaves
34In two of his books, Beyond Good and Evil and The Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche explores the duality of morality that is rooted in the master/slave archetype. 35He felt that those in power would have a very different moral viewpoint to those who were not. 36Those in the master position are more likely to see the elements in their own lives as being reflections of moral goodness (wealth, power, security), but those in the slave position will typically see wealth and power as being negative traits. 37Furthermore, the slave morality was a way for slaves to justify their own positions in life and to morally reject those things that they could never have. 38Instead they valued compassion, meekness and humility, which suited their position better.
39He personally didn t advocate for either philosophy, but merely stated that it existed as an example of moral relativity. 40It also represents a deep cultural divide where two opposing moral forces are constantly conflicting. 41Ancient Greek society focused on the master morality whereas modern Christianity holds the slave morality. 42According to Nietzsche, the ideals contained in Christianity are a reflection of the slave mentality held by the Jewish people.
Eternal Recurrence
43The eternal recurrence, or the eternal return, describes a cyclical physical universe, though not in the form of spiritual reincarnation. 441t wasn t Nietzsche s original idea but it was a concept he embraced. 45He saw it as a fascinating possibility but didn t completely subscribe to the idea – it was a theoretical interest for him. 46The idea was that the world was in a state of continual recurrence, and that there was no escape from this. 471n other words, we are doomed to live out our lives over and over again with no change and no respite. 481t takes the belief in fate to a whole new level.
Other Works by Nietzsche
49Besides the books already mentioned, you can explore his philosophy further through his other important writings:
i. The Twilight of the 1dols
ii. The Will to Power
iii. Human, All too Human
iv. The Anti-Christ
v. Ecce Homo (his autobiography)