The Life ; Philosophy Of Friedrich Nietzsche (1823 words)

The Life & Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzscheannon
Born: 1844. Rocken, Germany
Died: 1900. Weimar, Germany
Major 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 world to fit our own preferences and assert our personal
strength to the fullest degree possible.

Struggle, through which individuals achieve a degree of power
commensurate with their abilities, is the basic fact of human existence.

Ideals of human equality perpetuate mediocrity — a truth that has
been distorted and concealed by modern value systems.

Christian morality, which identifies goodness with meekness and
servility is the prime culprit in creating a cultural climate that thwarts
the drive for excellence and self realization
God is dead; a new era of human creativity and achievement is at
hand. — Great Thinkers In The Western World. By: Ian P. McGreal, 1992
PREFACE
Much information is available on Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche, including many
books that he wrote himself, during his philosophical career. I took this
as a good sign I would find a fountain of enlightened material produced by
the man. I’ve had to go through a bit of my own philosophical meditations
to put my own value judgements aside, and truly look for the contributions
Nietzsche gave to philosophy. Much of my understanding came only after I
had a grasp of Neitzsche’s history; therefore, I encourage you to read-up
on his history before diving into his philosophy (see Appendix I). The
modern Westerner might disagree with every aspect of his philosophy, but
there are many things one must unfortunately admit are true (only if you
put your morality aside). So, from here, I will present his contributions
to philosophy, and do my best to delete my own opinions, other than to say
that he was not the chosen topic of this paper out of any admiration.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Sometimes philosophy is called “timeless,” implying that it’s
lessons are of value to any generation. This may be hard to see in
Nietzsche’s work; but, we are assured that it was appropriate thought for
his time. However, even Nietzsche’s critics admit that his words hold 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’s proudest book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
(1883-1885). Unlike many philosophers, Nietzsche never tried to prove or
disprove the existence of God, just that belief in God can create
sickness; and to convince that highest achievements in human life depend
on elimination of God. Whether God existed had no relevance in his goal.

Proclamation of the death of God was a fundamental ingredient in the
revaluation of values Nietzsche advocated.

“Nothing has done more than Christianity to entrench the morality of mediocrity in
human consciousness.”
“Christian love extols qualities of weakness; it causes guilt. Charity is just teaching
hatred 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 Morality Nietzsche 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
social Darwinism. He felt, very strongly, that any kind of moral
limitations upon man would only stand in the way of The Overman.

“The Will To Power,” his strongest teaching, meant that The
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 stronger Overman, 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 would
undertake 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 mass
mediocrity, and owing his existence more to deliberate breeding and careful nurture than to
the hazards of natural selection.”
Master Race Nietzsche is often referred to as a pre-Nazi thinker, by his
idealism of The Master Race. He was, in fact, a prime influence on the
writing of Hitler’s highest men, and quoted in Hitler’s speeches. But,
his writings were mostly taken out of context, because he