Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Rationality and Modernity
Unmasking Western Complacency
Nietzsche’s philosophy critiques Western complacency, the belief in possessing the sole truth—a truth rooted in science, rationality, and universal laws. Nietzsche suspected that Western culture lived in a delusion, constructing an unreal world through the petrification of metaphors and concepts. This construction serves as a survival mechanism against the constant change, chaos, and ceaseless flow of reality, reminiscent of Heraclitus’s philosophy. The West, in Nietzsche’s view, rejects the senses and places absolute faith in reason.
The Genealogical Method
Nietzsche employed the genealogical method to trace the origins of Western culture and understand its ways of evaluating the world. This method reveals that Western culture stems from fear rather than a pursuit of truth. Philosophers, Nietzsche argues, act as figures who conceal this fear under the guise of a “will to power.” Our vulnerability to chaos drives us to construct an unreal world where everything is organized, enabling our survival.
Language and the Creation of an Unreal World
Western culture creates this unreal world through language, specifically its metaphorical character. Language arises from the need to express individual life experiences. It doesn’t replicate reality but acts as a form of creation, expressing rather than describing. Those who cannot bear the freedom of living set metaphors that become shared concepts. The creation of concepts moves from the individual’s experience of changing reality to a final concept, passing through the image (metaphor) that attempts to capture the feeling. This word is then used to express similar situations. A collective “herd” emerges, sharing the petrified metaphor, thus avoiding the threat and discomfort of diversity.
Truth and the Herd Mentality
This gregarious covenant, the convention of using certain words in certain situations and contexts, constitutes truth. Those who accept these conventional terms are considered true, while those who don’t are labeled as liars. This functions as a security method to maintain the covenant.
The Superman and Perspectivism
This leads to the title of Nietzsche’s work, where he classifies those who accept the covenant as the “herd” and those who believe in their own truths and realities as the strong, the “supermen.” In On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, Nietzsche defends perspectivism, arguing that while a real world exists, we create different interpretations to organize it. Meaning, like reality, is multiple. For Nietzsche, the important thing is to experience the fullness of individuality and learn to live with plurality. The term that comes closest to representing this changing reality is “life,” encompassing change, individuality, diversity, and ultimately, one’s perspective.
Nihilism and the Will to Power
Returning to his critique of Western culture, Nietzsche predicts the collapse of its values, which he sees as empty and based on a deceptive world. He calls this sickness of the West “nihilism.” This society will suffer a passive nihilism, to which Nietzsche responds with an active nihilism. The need to destroy these sick values and build new ones, however individual and unique, is essential for humanity to regain its health. This process involves the “death of God,” signifying the destruction of traditional values and culture. From this destruction, we can build our own values through the will to power, progressing toward individual liberation. This is a proposal for individual decision-making that only the superman, the creator of values and healer of culture, can achieve. The superman becomes their own God, creating values freely, unlike the herd mentality of the weak, who follow the values of the majority.
The Importance of Art and Individual Reality
In conclusion, Nietzsche offers a cure for Western culture, sickened by its values, after a thorough examination. This healing involves the creation of values based on perspectivism, acknowledging that there is no absolute truth or knowable reality, as reality is in constant flux. Nietzsche also emphasizes the importance of art, which refers to individual reality without resorting to conceptualization. Thus, the superman navigates a sea of constant change and can live without fear.