Nietzsche’s Philosophy: A Critical Analysis of Western Morality
1. Introduction
For Nietzsche, our attempts to understand reality possess no inherent truth or falsehood. These attempts are merely logical constructs that allow us to engage with reality. This construct, being logical, becomes an interpretation, a perspective among many, and transforms into a falsehood when imposed as the sole truth.
2. Critique of Western Morality
2.1 Origins of Christian Morality
Nietzsche argues that Western morality is rooted in Christian morality, which itself is based on Platonism. The world of ideas, for Christians, exists beyond the human realm. This implies that the center of human life in Western culture is not man himself, nor his life, nor this world, but rather an “other world.” Nietzsche illustrates this by stating, “Life ends where the reign of God begins.” Christian morality, therefore, is unnatural as it establishes norms and values that contradict human instincts and life itself.
2.2 The Genealogy of Morals
In his Genealogy of Morals (1887), Nietzsche explores the origins of this unnatural morality. He examines classical Greece, where morality was initially dominated by a knightly aristocracy (nobles and warriors) who valued strength, pleasure, health, power, and selfishness—essentially, life values. These values represented what was important to their culture and were primarily upheld by the ruling class. This aristocratic morality was eventually replaced by a slave morality, emphasizing weakness, humility, sacrifice, and humiliation. This transvaluation of values was driven by priests, who, unable to compete with the warriors in physical strength, created an antithetical morality that prioritized the spirit over the body, humility over pride, chastity over pleasure, and so on. What was once considered good became bad.
This shift was intensified by Judaism and later Christianity, which, through the concept of sin, produced a repressed and psychologically tormented human being. Nietzsche criticizes the moral order imposed by Christianity, presented as transcendent and external to human beings, justified by a supreme and perfect God.
2.3 Nietzsche’s Perspective on Morality
According to Nietzsche, this morality is a manifestation of humanity’s fear of itself. By attributing their fate to a higher, perfect being, humans avoid responsibility for their own lives. Against this, Nietzsche advocates for the exaltation of life in all its creative and destructive aspects. It’s crucial to understand that Nietzsche’s critique is not solely directed at a specific moral system, but rather at the psychological roots that lead people to adopt certain moral systems. He acts as a genealogist of morals, exploring the origins of values and the psychological motivations behind them.
3. Nihilism and the Will to Power
Nietzsche views Western culture as decadent. This decline is evident in the analysis of language and its manifestations: traditional metaphysics, science, and morality. Nietzsche’s conclusion is a diagnosis: “God is dead.” This signifies the decline of Western culture and the loss of a guiding principle that gave meaning to the world and human life. This state is called nihilism, the denial and destruction of life and values.
However, Nietzsche sees nihilism as an opportunity for a positive affirmation of life and creation. This process will be led by the superman, who embodies the exaltation of human creativity and the affirmation of earthly life. The superman will initiate a second transvaluation of values, reaffirming the morality of the lords and the world of appearances. The defining characteristic of the superman is the will to power, which, in Nietzsche’s work, signifies creation, movement, destruction, and change. The superman lives amidst this constant change, interpreting and creating perspectives to live by, even while acknowledging that these perspectives are not absolute truths but necessary constructs for self-affirmation.