The Life

& Philosophy Of Friedrich Nietzsche Essay, Research Paper

The Life & Philosophy of Friedrich NietzschePhilosophy Class EssayBorn: 1844. Rocken, GermanyDied: 1900. Weimar, GermanyMajor Works: The Gay Science (1882),Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885),Beyond Good & Evil (1886),On the Genealogy of Morals (1887),MAJOR IDEAS Self deception is a particularly destructive characteristic of West Culture. Life is The Will To Power; our natural desire is to dominate and reshape the worldto fit our own preferences and assert our personal strength to the fullest degree possible. Struggle, through which individuals achieve a degree of power commensurate withtheir abilities, is the basic fact of human existence. Ideals of human equality perpetuate mediocrity — a truth that has been distorted andconcealed by modern value systems. Christian morality, which identifies goodness with meekness and servility is theprime culprit in creating a cultural climate that thwarts the drive for excellence and selfrealization God is dead; a new era of human creativity and achievement is at hand. — Great Thinkers In The Western World. By: Ian P. McGreal, 1992PREFACEMuch information is available on Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche, including many books that hewrote himself, during his philosophical career. I took this as a good sign I would find afountain of enlightened material produced by the man. I’ve had to go through a bit of myown philosophical meditations to put my own value judgements aside, and truly look for thecontributions Nietzsche gave to philosophy. Much of my understanding came only after Ihad a grasp of Neitzsche’s history; therefore, I encourage you to read-up on his historybefore diving into his philosophy (see Appendix I). The modern Westerner might disagreewith every aspect of his philosophy, but there are many things one must unfortunatelyadmit are true (only if you put your morality aside). So, from here, I will present hiscontributions to philosophy, and do my best to delete my own opinions, other than to saythat he was not the chosen topic of this paper out of any admiration. THE PHILOSOPHY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHESometimes philosophy is called “timeless,” implying that it’s lessons are of value to anygeneration. This may be hard to see in Nietzsche’s work; but, we are assured that it wasappropriate thought for his time. However, even Nietzsche’s critics admit that his wordshold an undeniable truth, as hard as it is to accept. Perhaps this is why his work is timeless,and has survived 150 years in print. Christianity”God is Dead!” announced Zarathustra (better known as Zoroaster), in Neitzsche’sproudest book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885). Unlike many philosophers, Nietzschenever tried to prove or disprove the existence of God, just that belief in God can createsickness; and to convince that highest achievements in human life depend on elimination ofGod. Whether God existed had no relevance in his goal. Proclamation of the death ofGod was a fundamental ingredient in the revaluation of values Nietzsche advocated. “Nothing has done more than Christianity to entrench the morality of mediocrity inhuman consciousness.” “Christian love extols qualities of weakness; it causes guilt. Charity is just teachinghatred and revenge directed toward nobility.” “Belief in God is a tool to bring submission to the individual of noble character.”– F. Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Hero MoralityNietzsche had an ideal world in mind, with an ideal government and an ideal God: the”Overman” or “Superman.” These Gods were a product of natural selection, or socialDarwinism. He felt, very strongly, that any kind of moral limitations upon man would onlystand in the way of The Overman. “The Will To Power,” his strongest teaching, meant thatThe Overman should and would do anything possible to gain power, control and strength. If one showed the smallest bit of weakness or morality, he would be killed by the strongerOverman, and taken over. Thus, the advancement of The Master Race (Nietzsche’s”Master Race” will be discussed later). “Not mankind, but superman is the goal. The very last thing a sensible man wouldundertake would be to improve mankind: mankind does not improve, it doesn’t even exist — it is an abstraction.” “… his superman as the individual rising precariously out of the mire of massmediocrity, and owing his existence more to deliberate breeding and careful nurture than tothe hazards of natural selection.”Master RaceNietzsche is often referred to as a pre-Nazi thinker, by his idealism of The Master Race. Hewas, in fact, a prime influence on the writing of Hitler’s highest men, and quoted in Hitler’sspeeches. But, his writings were mostly taken out of context, because he was very openabout his distaste for “those anti-semites.” If one is able to come from a more intelligentplace, regarding the breeding of best-fit humans, Nietzsche was far beyond Hitler. Nietzsche understood the necessity for variation in a population, and especially was able toappreciate the contributions of other races and cultures. His ideal society would be a racethat included select bits from many races/cultures. The only culture that he seemed to havea special appreciation for were the Polish. He wrote, “The Poles, I consider the most giftedand gallant among Slavic people…” Still, he wrote about his value for the Jews, as responseto the growing anti-semite culture in Germany during his time: “The whole problem of the Jews exists only