Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Metaphysics and Morality
Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Thought
Nietzsche’s philosophy presents a radical critique of Western culture and its values, offering a celebration of life as an alternative to tradition. This critique follows three main lines:
- Critique of morality
- Critique of traditional metaphysics
- Critique of positivist science (Note: This point is mentioned but not elaborated upon in the provided text)
Critique of Morality
First, Nietzsche criticizes morality, arguing it originates from Platonism’s distinction between the sensible and intelligible worlds—a scheme later adopted by Christianity. He describes this morality as unnatural, opposing life by focusing on an afterlife and a savior, God. Nietzsche condemns the imposition of standards, goals, and morals derived from God, claiming they suppress human vital instincts (passions, feelings, etc.), forcing individuals to endure this life while awaiting a better existence elsewhere. Consequently, Nietzsche views established morality as a symptom of decadence and nihilism. Based on this, he famously states, “If God is the obstacle to life, then God must be denied.”
Critique of Traditional Metaphysics
Secondly, Nietzsche undertakes a critique of traditional metaphysics in both its ontological and epistemological aspects.
Ontological Critique and Dualism
On the ontological level, he critiques the historical metaphysical conception of reality. He views it as expressing contempt and a negative perspective towards this world, coupled with an overestimation of the ‘intelligible world’. Traditional ontology conceives Being as fixed and immutable (e.g., God). Nietzsche attributes this division of reality into two worlds to the perceived necessity and impossibility for dogmatic philosophers to rationally explain the sensory world, given its constant evolution. This leads to the invention of another, different life. However, for Nietzsche, there is no other reality or life worth more than this one. He argues traditional philosophy seeks truth in the ‘other world’ (the world of God), considering everything perceived through the senses—the physical world—as false.
Epistemological Critique: Rationalism vs. Art
On the epistemological level, Nietzsche criticizes rationalism and the concepts it uses, questioning whether they constitute the best way to know reality. He argues they have been mistaken not as interpretations of reality, but as reality itself. Nietzsche calls them ‘conceptual mummies’ and ‘cobwebs’ that humans use to fix an ever-changing reality. He argues their claim to cover everything makes them so general that they become empty and represent nothing. According to Nietzsche, concept development is a psychological habit based on language, which is structured around a subject and a predicate. This structure inherently favors statism (the subject) over action (the predicate). Against rationalism, Nietzsche proposes art and metaphor as ways to represent and know reality, offering multiple perspectives flexible enough for different interpretations. In this depiction of life, Nietzsche favors Dionysian art, which represents the exaltation of life in humanity, over Apollonian art, which attempts to fix reality once again.