Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Will to Power and Critique of Morality
Nietzsche
1. Life Takes Center Stage
1.1. Philosophical Vitalism
Vitalism, a system of thought with often vague boundaries, emerges, taking life as the core of its philosophy. Nietzsche rejects the notion of reason as the ultimate validator. He posits that life’s demands are evident even within reason.
1.2. Life as Will to Power
Life, understood not as mere survival but as affirmation, becomes the source of actions, thoughts, and feelings. Rationality and morality are tools for life’s assertion, or as Nietzsche terms it, the will to power.
Nietzsche insists that reason, morality, and their associated values are not autonomous entities. He views moral, religious, and philosophical systems as strategies employed by life to assert its will to power.
2. Genealogy of the Superman
2.1. Concepts and Values as Symptoms
Nietzsche sees moral and philosophical systems as tools serving life’s purpose. Understanding these systems requires examining why certain ways of life became important. It involves questioning who benefits from prioritizing values like truth and goodness over freedom or honor.
From this perspective, concepts and values appear as symptoms, masks concealing desires and perspectives. This method of uncovering hidden motivations is Nietzsche’s genealogy. Understanding the underlying life and the role of values reveals how these systems justify themselves.
2.2. Eagles and Lambs: The Superman
Nietzsche distinguishes two vital types: the noble life (the eagle), characterized by individual creativity and spontaneous joy, and the weak life (the lamb), seeking reassurance and manifested in the resigned Stoic sage.
The Three Stages of Spirit
The First Stage: The Camel
The camel, kneeling under a heavy load, symbolizes a life finding value only in serving a higher power. Driven by duty and obligation, its conduct is governed by “thou shalt.”
The Second Stage: The Lion
The lion, rebelling against the camel’s subservience, embodies the “I want” mentality. It seeks freedom but lacks the capacity for self-assertion.
The Third Stage: The Child
The child, representing Nietzsche’s superman, joyfully affirms life. Looking towards the future with spontaneous openness, the child embodies creation. Nietzsche argues that the “thou shalt” mentality of the camel reflects the weakening of Western life.
3. The Critique of Knowledge
3.1. The Origin of Truth
Nietzsche believes all knowledge is anthropomorphic, marked by human subjectivity. Words are metaphors, sounds connecting to diverse realities. Concepts, he argues, are residues of metaphors, fictions unifying and weakening a changing reality.
Nietzsche challenges the notion of knowledge as the discovery of universal truths. He sees truth as a forgotten metaphor that has become obligatory.
3.2. Truth as Useful Convention
Nietzsche’s genealogy questions the beneficiaries of the concept of truth. He suggests that truth is an agreement to avoid endless debate. The value of knowledge and truth, he argues, stems from the weak’s desire to assert themselves. The weak establish truth and a moral obligation to uphold it, equating truth with good and lying with bad. Knowledge and morality become strategies for the weak to counter the vitality of the strong.
4. The Critique of Morality
4.1. The Value of Securities
Nietzsche views morality as a tool of the will. Values derive their worth from their service to life. Noble and weak lives, each striving for assertion, establish their own moral values.
4.2. Master Morality and Slave Morality
Nietzsche distinguishes between master morality and slave morality, not in their specific values, but in their origins. Master morality arises from the strong’s self-affirmation. The weak, experiencing the strong as obstacles, develop resentment, a complaint against perceived harm.
Slave morality defines values negatively, identifying what causes pain as bad. This leads to what Nietzsche calls the transvaluation of values, culminating in the ascetic ideal: weakness, withdrawal, and denial of instincts. Nietzsche argues that this anti-vital morality has led to the decadence of Western culture.