Transcript Nietzsche and Nihilism

Nietzsche’s Philosophy as
Background to an
Examination of Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings
Friedrich Nietzsche
• Nietzsche once stated, “God is dead.… And
we have killed him.” He meant that no
absolute truth / no clear moral code exist. All
is relative and depends upon one’s perspective.
•Nietzsche (along with his contemporaries
Freud, Darwin, and Marx) brought attention
to the deep and burgeoning cultural shift
perceived in Europe, already prior to WWI.
• Nietzsche is one of the philosophers and
thinkers who sets the stage for the movement
eventually known as Existentialism.
The following slides will present
some of the defining beliefs
described by Nietzsche. They are by
no means all-inclusive. Also, please
note that they do not purport to be
“Truth,” nor even true. They are
merely one philosophical viewpoint
embraced during the modern
period.
Anyway, remember, “Truth” does
not exist in the modern and
postmodern periods.
Nietzsche and Nihilism
We have absolute freedom to create our own values.
But, this creates a loss of orientation and results in
nihilism, i.e. “values emptiness.”
Nietzsche identified 2 kinds of nihilism:
-Passive nihilism - longs for the return of the
morality and values.
-Active nihilism - accepts the values vacuum as a
form of emancipation.
The crisis of nihilism  How do we create meaning
in the moral void? (Nietzsche’s answer is coming in a
few slides!)
Mortality and Anxiety
Existentialists posit that:
 the human consciousness
of death creates anxiety.
 death is a state of
nothingness, of non-being.
After WWI, this fear
encompasses not only of
individual death, but the
death of entire cultures.
This is premise of Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings.
Nietzsche’s “Ugly Truth”
According to Nietzsche:
Life’s meaningless and purposelessness are too ugly for us to
bear.
“Good” and “Evil” do not exist in any measurable form, and
any “objective” morality is pointless and unnatural. Doing “good
deeds” because we believe that God assigns moral value to these
things is merely lying to ourselves.
Science led us to nihilism, and only art can distract us from
that terror.
Beauty will save us from truth. Artists affirm life in the midst
of great suffering and pain.
Technology is dangerous! It denies imagination and creativity,
and alienates us from who we really are (from our origins).
NIETZSCHE’S THEORY OF “THE WILL TO POWER”

Reality is the Will to Power.
It is seen in the struggle for
survival between species and
men, in the exercise of power
over others.
The highest level is seen in power
over oneself, in the self-mastery of
artists and geniuses. Domination
over another confesses an inability
to dominate one’s internal conflicts.
Master Soul / Slave Soul
Nietzsche identifies two types of modern humans:
1) The Slave, made up of the masses = the wretched and the
botched, who assign blame and seek sympathy for their
suffering. The masses are frightened by the death of God,
since it places responsibility for creating values on them.
The Slave denies the will to power, and invents afterworlds
(life after death).
2) The Master, or noble man = a human capable of
overcoming mere humanity, of honestly facing and accepting
the meaninglessness of life, of assigning to it whatever values
or purposes the Master finds acceptable/responsible. In this
way, one can become the mythical hero (Superman, or
Übermensch). The Master affirms the will to power. The
superior individual assumes this responsibility without fear
and also utilizes fear to achieve what he/she believes is right.
The Slave Soul
 Slaves refuse to give up established
moral codes/religion. They are
nostalgic for a “better” past.
 They believe that “good” still exists,
and that the good person is meek
and humble, while the bad person
is prideful.
 Nietzsche believes that this inability
to accept reality (i.e., no morality,
no afterlife, no God, etc.) stems
from an unconscious resentment of
the weak against the strong (i.e.,
those who accept and embrace the
Will to Power).
THE MASTER SOUL
The noble man/Superman does
not require others’ approval
May helps the unfortunate, not
out of pity, but rather out of an
impulse generated by his immense
power and generosity
The Master Soul has power over
himself (self-will)
The Master takes pleasure in
subjecting himself to great severity
and hardships.
Nietzsche, Myth, and Modernism
Again, according to Nietzsche:
o
Every vital society has a unifying myth, but
rationalism (science) has destroyed every
such myth in the West.
o
The rebirth of the West from its present
nihilism requires a new myth of the
Superman.
o
The Superman lives dangerously, risking
himself, renouncing security, exhausting
his health in heroic effort. One should die
with one’s boots on. One should stride
forth and embrace one’s fate (amor fati).
Tolkien’s Version of Modernism
- A Master/Superman asserts a continual effort of
his/her free will to be virtuous in a world without
objective virtue.
- In more existential (and modern) terms, a
Superman chooses the difficult or impossible, but
fundamentally virtuous answer to problems, over
the easy and personally satisfying solution.
- The Lord of the Rings is, in some respects, a
response to Nietzsche’s call for a new myth of the
Superman. Resistance to temptation and
indomitable endurance are key concepts.
However, in Tolkien’s world, personal choice is
still based on compassion, pity, preservation, and a
conscious pursuit of common good. This is a
nostalgic notion.
- In other words, some of Tolkien’s work is
modernist, and some is traditional.
Memory and Forgetfulness
Memories can come upon us unawares, and lead either
to joy or anguish. All memories are not always
accessible to us, and memory is therefore beyond our
control, beyond our will.
Because some memories hurt our ability to live a full
and useful life, Nietzsche believes that many humans
tend to run from memory, by keeping active and never
stopping to think or allow thoughts to come naturally.
We flee from our past, which can haunt us, and make
us inauthentic beings.
Nietzsche believes that we should strive to remember
the positive, but forget the harmful, that which will
keep us from living an authentic life. (I’m pretty sure
Freud would disagree! Can you say “repression”?)
History as Memory
Nietzsche differentiates three attitudes toward
history:
1. Historical (geschichtlich): memory is needed to
our survival. We need history to remember the
past and stabilize our identity. Remember who you
are.
2. Unhistorical (ungeschichtlich): But if it is
necessary, we must be able to forget the past for
our happiness. Forget what weakens you.
3. Super-historical (übergeschichtlich): history is
cyclical, we live our lives over and over againthe
past can teach us the meaning of the future and
anticipate the future.
Authentic vs. Inauthentic Life
Inauthentic Life: Lived by people who never seriously question
themselves or whether or not they are simply being led around by the
institutions designed to help them. Are they genuine, or merely acting
a part? If humans never know who they really are as individuals, they
lead a zombie kind of existence. They forget who they are.
Authentic vs. Inauthentic Life
Authentic Life: Lived by people who recognize
and dissolve the artificial chains that bind us,
and that come from outside forces, such as
religion. Nietzsche concludes there is no
originating force that creates a man, and that
this fact "alone is the great liberation" (65). To
break free of imposed restraints is to accept
responsibility for one’s fate, and to affirm life,
even in the face of great suffering. People who
lead an authentic life remember who they are.
This all leads to Existentialism
A) Existence precedes essence (hence the name
“existentialism”): there are no pre-existing conditions
that guide or determine man’s behavior or essence.
B) This leads to the “absurd condition”  man seeks
meaning in a meaningless world (universe
unconscious of our existence).
C) Man is condemned to be free. A lack of external
meaning leads to modern despair, due to man’s
overwhelming sense of responsibility and recognition
of his fundamental aloneness in an indifferent
universe.
D) However, the artist and the existentialist achieve
meaningful happiness by facing the pain and still
affirming life.