Nietzsche: Nihilism, Superman, and the Will to Power
Critique of Western Culture and Platonism
Plato distinguished between the world of ideas and the world of things. Nietzsche argues that Western philosophy has historically valued the world of ideas to the detriment of the sensible, metaphysical world. This valuation, he contends, has weakened and stunted human lives. To explain this, Nietzsche introduces the concepts of the Apollonian and the Dionysian in his book The Birth of Tragedy.
The symbols of Apollo and Dionysus represent the opposition and antagonism of opposites within each of us. These two positions are necessary for each other, contradictory and dialectically opposed, yet complementary. The problem, according to Nietzsche, is that since Plato, ethics and religion have attempted to deny and cancel one of these forces, the Dionysian, while defending and presenting the Apollonian as the true value. Nietzsche opposes this tradition, urging us to consider what serves life. To accomplish this change, we must deny all then-existing values, embracing nihilism.
The Phenomenon of Nihilism: The Death of God
Nihilism is a philosophical doctrine that must be understood as the negation of all prevailing values. The summary of nihilism is represented in the phrase “God is dead.” The characteristics of this “death of God” are:
- The Christian God has lost influence over human beings.
- The death of God is not a determined event but a process.
- The monotheistic God, the God of metaphysics, who dictates what is good and bad, true and false, dies without allowing each of us the freedom to appreciate and decide.
Nietzsche never uses the expression “God does not exist” or “God is not worth it.” When he says “God is dead,” he refers to the death of religio-cultural values linked to Christianity and Platonism, the foundations of Western worldviews reflected in metaphysics. Nietzsche speaks of the death of ideals and values in general, of the supersensible. We have spent too much time looking upwards, towards God. Now, we must look to the human self. We must change the values and the way we value things. The transmutation of values means not only changing values but, above all, changing the way we value.
Superman and the Will to Power
The order is the birth of the Superman, who, with a new way to assess, overcomes nihilism. The Superman must overcome the desert of nihilism to reach the transmutation of values, which is the rehabilitation of the instincts, the life forces will arise. To explain the Superman, Nietzsche proposes three metaphors: the camel, the lion, and the child.
- The Camel: Represents the acceptance of burdens that suffocate us, laden with laws and rules. The camel accepts its solitary load in the desert until it realizes the hump is a drag.
- The Lion: Represents the “I will” that aspires to freedom, destroying all values that constrain it. Despite its destructive character, the lion faces duty. In that battle, the lion destroys the dragon of authority.
- The Child: The lion’s strength is not enough to change and create a new life with innovative values. The lion destroys everything but does not create. The originality of creation is in the child. The child takes the game to create life. It is child’s play, constant creation, and the only reason for the game is to create new life forms and values.
This liberation is not just a change of order or value but an inversion of the idea of rating.
Art as a Formula to Create Life
If life has no predetermined meaning, we must constantly create meaning. Art becomes the cornerstone of Nietzsche’s philosophy. Each of us is a will to power, with a specific capacity to determine his fate. Art has more value than truth. Viewing life from the perspective of the artist is assessed on its creative strength. Nietzsche’s task is to expose those who believe in the importance of an afterlife. This single life is what counts, life as a game, but as the child’s game, creating and playing its role of creating.