Transcript Nietzsche

We are unknown to ourselves, we
men of knowledge-and with good
reason. We have never sought
ourselves...
(Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of
Morals, 1887: 15
NIETZSCHE
• “I am not a man--I am
dynamite.”
• “That which does not
kill us makes us
stronger.”
Kierkegaard
• Soren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855)
• reaction to Hegel’s ultimate
reality
• all reality begins and finishes
with the individual
• moral existence involves action
and choice
• our reality is a creative,
responsible choice
• ultimately, all philosophy leads
to a subjective, relative way of
looking at things
• ultimately, this requires a leap
of faith
Nietzsche
• Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)
• philologist: believed no
original texts of ancient
documents existed-instead, we’ve received
interpretations
(perspectivism)
• believed that modern life
rendered God irrelevant,
dead
• modern man plagued with
nihilism in a fast-paced,
disruptive society
Nietzsche and Morality
• Nietzsche: expert on
Greek tragedy, a
product of two forces:
– Dionysius: frenzy of
passion and vital instincts
– Apollo: order, restraint,
form, structure
– Greek civilization=product
of these two beliefs in
action
Nietzsche and Morality
• For N., 19th century =
suppression of Dionysus by
Apollo (Christianity)
• Universal morality=herd, or
slave philosophy
• we must go beyond good and
evil
• “Truth” is relative, language is
a distortion of reality--Nietzsch
A slave philosophy?
Humility
Obedience
Self-denial
Dependence
Self-abasement
Slave morality = modern
attitudes, as aristocrats
give way to the middle
class, the “bourgeois”
Two ways of looking at modern
society
Nietzsche
Society is…
Effeminate, emasculating,
“wimpy”
Destroys distinctions,
hierarchies-makes life too
easy
Favor the poor and weak
Socialism, Marxism, Radical
Progressivism
Society is…masculine,
patriarchal, sexist
Preserves hierarchy,
unfairness, injustice
Favors the rich and strong
The Will to Power
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There are no absolute truths
All knowing is inventing--a creative act
and inventing is “lying”
now: you can be self-deceived about this, or “lie
creatively”, force reality to your will, your creative act
this is a noble “lie” because it affirms just this life
Platonism and Christianity deny reality as it is, which is
chaos and change; they encourage self-deception
will to power= urge to freedom
“live dangerously”
Nietzsche, on Classical Virtues
The word virtue in Greek
(arete) and Latin has a
meaning that isn't limited
to morality. Any kind of
strength or competency
(like intelligence, wit,
strength, endurance)
would count as a "virtue".
Moral virtues are those
virtues that concern one's
character, one's capacity
for rational choice and
action
Nietzsche, on Religious Virtues
• Faith = unreason,
dogmatism
• Hope = otherworldiness, denial of
senses, body
• Love = equality, pity,
rejection of
distinction, hierarchy
& authority
The Ubermensch
• Ubermensch (Superman, or
Post-human): rise about the
herd morality, through a will to
power
• judged by different standards
• Marx: future lay the “masses”
• Nietzsche: future lay with
“super humans”
• modern nihilism will bring
about great wars, out of which
the ubermensch will emerge
• inspiration of National
Socialism?
Religion and Ethics Three Kinds
of Morality
• Autonomy
– based on reason alone
• Heteronomy
– morality, rules come from outside of self (belief
system, religion, etc)
• Theonomy
– morality and religion come from God, a
common mystical source
It all comes down to this