Beyond Good and Evil: Exploring Nietzsche’s Core Concepts
Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Thought
1. The Flaw of Western Culture
According to Nietzsche, Western culture is inherently flawed due to its relentless pursuit of rationality. He believed that the downfall of Greek philosophy began with Parmenides’ “statism of being” and Plato’s “Theory of Forms.” Nietzsche viewed the Greek worldview as a symptom of decline, opposing the instinctive and biological aspects of human existence. He advocated for a thorough critique of Plato’s philosophy to eliminate fundamental errors, targeting the three worlds constructed by Western man: the rational, moral, and religious.
1.1. Critique of Morality
Nietzsche argued that traditional values, primarily represented by Christianity, had lost their influence, leading to what he termed “passive nihilism.” This was epitomized by his declaration “God is dead.” He believed that traditional values constituted a “slave morality” crafted by the weak and resentful, promoting submission and conformity. Nietzsche urged the creation of new values to replace traditional ones, leading to his concept of the “Superman” (übermensch).
Traditional morality’s flaw lies in its unnaturalness, imposing laws and imperatives that contradict primal life instincts. The ideal of “doing good” enslaves individuals to this fiction. Nietzsche viewed Christian morality as a supreme value not of this world, positing a “beyond” or Platonic perfection. Thus, traditional values are fictitious, belonging to the weak.
The moralist despises self-affirming values, with altruism as the supreme law of conduct. Altruism, giving without expecting anything in return, becomes a justification for personal decline. This moral logic inverts the natural order, portraying the powerful as superhuman and weakness as human. The highest values are projected onto a perfect alter ego called God.
1.2. Critique of Christianity
Nietzsche posited that religion arises from fear and horror of oneself, an inability to take control of one’s destiny. Overwhelmed by fear, man creates a defense mechanism by clinging to a more powerful being, God. Religion alienates man, promoting narrow values like obedience, sacrifice, and humility—traits of the herd. Christianity, a philosophy for the vulgar, opposes the specific values of virtue.
1.3. Critique of Traditional Philosophy
Nietzsche’s criticism targets classical metaphysics, particularly Plato’s assertion of a perfect, static, and unchanging world. This contrasts with Heraclitus’ dynamic view of being. He also critiques logic, challenging the rationalist tradition’s opposition of truth and error. Nietzsche rejects this dichotomy, citing irrefutable errors and contradictory truths. His critique extends not to science itself, but to the mechanism and positivism prevalent in his time.
2. The Apollonian and Dionysian
Nietzsche’s distinction between the Apollonian and Dionysian principles offers an interpretation of the world and Greek philosophy, significantly impacting 20th-century aesthetics and literature.
Apollo represents serenity, clarity, measure, and rationalism—the classical image of Greece. Dionysus, conversely, embodies impulsiveness, excess, affirmation of life, eroticism, and the orgy as the culmination of this love of life—a resounding “yes” to life despite its suffering. Influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche affirms the will to live, placing it at the heart of his philosophy.
“Truth is the kind of error without which a certain species of living beings could not live. The value for life is what ultimately decides.” Platonism, for Nietzsche, represents a form of will to power, defending the transformation of this world through an imaginary or supersensible universe. However, he opposes Plato’s notion of a unique and immutable truth.
Nietzsche emphasizes the relative value of concepts. Concept formation involves an image passing through an intuitive metaphor, then fixed as a concept. Language, therefore, has metaphorical value, a product of a creative and aesthetic process with relative truth and validity. It captures not absolute truth, but helps overcome the chaos of attempting to grasp something constantly changing.
Western philosophy, led by Plato and Aristotle, repressed Dionysian tendencies in favor of an Apollonian worldview. Nietzsche rejects this, demanding the triumph of Dionysian ideals through metaphorical language as an expression of the will to power. Denying the Apollonian ideal means negating the principle of individuation, expressed in Platonism by the idea of a superseded God. Denying God affirms Dionysian multiplicity, allowing individuals to express their own truths and gods.
3. The Eternal Return
Influenced by positivism, Nietzsche denies metaphysics, the belief in God, and the soul’s immortality. He affirms life, demanding more, seeking eternity in pleasure, again and again.
The temporal aspect of life, prominent in German Romanticism, echoes Heraclitus’ eternal recurrence: after all possible combinations of the world’s elements, the cycle restarts indefinitely. Everything that happens will repeat eternally, including all suffering and misery.
Within this future time horizon emerges the “Superman.” Man can transform the world and himself through a transvaluation of all values, striving towards this allegorical figure.
4. The Transmutation of Values: Nihilism
Nietzsche asserts that European culture has reached a state of decadence and ruin. Man must be liberated from false values, restoring the right to life and existence. The first step is a transmutation of traditional values.
Nihilism is not a theory but a cultural movement. The Western spirit, exhausted by inadequate values, becomes nihilistic. “What is nihilism? That the highest values devalue themselves. The aim is lacking; ‘Why?’ finds no answer.” The Western spirit’s radical nihilism, having lost faith in the “real world,” renders culture meaningless, leading to decay and pessimism.
Nihilism is a destructive force within Western culture, targeting the Christian God supporting morality and human knowledge: “Where has God gone? I will tell you. We have killed him—you and I. All of us are his murderers. What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?”
5. Master Morality
Nietzsche opposes Kantian, utilitarian, and especially Christian ethics, contrasting them with a healthy, strong, impulsive life driven by the will to power. Weakness, sickness, and failure are bad; compassion is the greatest evil.
He distinguishes two types of morality:
- Master morality: The morality of powerful individuals with vitality and vigor. It affirms vital impulses.
- Slave morality: The morality of the weak and miserable, characterized by resentment and a lack of confidence in life. It values compassion, humility, and patience, promoting egalitarianism in opposition to superiority.
6. The Superman
Nietzsche views man as miserable and filthy, a half-finished being, a bridge between beast and Superman, moving from pure animality to something higher. Man is a disease of the universe, the only animal yet to consolidate itself. Human life is high-risk: man either overcomes himself or regresses to the primitive. While animals have produced something superior, man refuses to evolve, clinging to past values. Unlike animals, man envisions the future, creating ideal destinations.
Nietzsche proposes three versions of the human ideal: the aesthetic ideal (harmonizing the Apollonian and Dionysian), the scientific ideal (wisdom through understanding the world’s miseries), and the highest ideal, the Superman, synthesizing Nietzsche’s radical transvaluation of values.
The masses (“flock” or “crowd”) conform to tradition, while the Superman is secure, independent, and individualistic. The Superman feels strongly, but reason governs their passions. Focused on the real world, not religious promises, the Superman affirms life, including pain and suffering. A creator of values, the Superman embodies “master morality,” emancipated from Christian meekness, embracing vital values.
All human actions are motivated by the “will to power,” not just power over others but over oneself, essential for creativity. This manifests in the Superman’s autonomy, creativity, and courage. While no Superman has yet emerged, Nietzsche cites potential models: Socrates, Jesus, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Goethe, Caesar, and Napoleon.
To become Superman, European man must overcome himself in three phases:
- The camel: Symbolizes the current European burdened by slave morality.
- The lion: The revolutionary who rebels against slave morality.
- The child: Represents innocence and purity, from which new values are created.
The Superman embodies these new values: love of life, earthly meaning, and the exaltation of instincts. Becoming Superman requires expelling God, not replacing God with Superman, but achieving self-mastery. This transformation demands the will to power, aggression, and overcoming the alien.