You can enjoy a slideshow on Friedrich Nietzche's life by clicking here.
Friedrich Nietzsche: myth or truth??
''Was Nietzsche a proto-Nazi philosopher?
****Myth. His reputation as a proto-Nazi philosopher is probably due to his sister, who after his death compiled part of his works to make him look as if he supported nazism since she herself supported this ideology. He believed that "God is dead" and that a kind of superman was going to take religion's place. This self-affirmation meant to have a justified pride in one's achievement and not to use power to oppress others.
''Was he influenced by Schopenhauer?
****Truth. He developed Schopenhauer's idea of "will to live," extending it to "will to power." This entails that living things are not just driven by the meer need to stay alive but by a greater need to wield and use power, to expand their strenght. This is in keeping with his central idea of a "superman," which was developed in the previous question.
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Was Nietzsche crazy?
****Truth. By the end of the 19th century, he had become completely insane. He had to be taken care of and it was his sister the one in charge of him. She took advantage of the situation and published some of his latest works, adjusting them to her ideology.
NIETZSCHE’S ETHICS
He believed there were two types of morality: master and slave morality.
Master morality is the morality of the superior people. The superior person makes his/her own rules, superior people are “beyond good and evil”.
For the noble soul, “good” means power-enhancing, tending to the full development of natural ability, while “bad” means contemptible, power-diminishing, tending to the artificial limitation of natural ability.
The noble soul defines good and bad in terms of power or lack of power, to fulfil human potential, the noble soul lives in accordance with the primary law of nature, the will to power.
The superior person looks with profound suspicion on values such as comparison, pity, and selflessness, as well as on the ideal of equality of all persons.
On the other hand, most slaves choose to be victims. Slave morality is timid, and favours a limited existence; it “makes the best of a bad situation”. It promotes the virtues that “serve to ease existence for those who suffer: her pity, the complaisant and obliging hand, the warm heart, patience, industry, humility, and friendliness are honoured. Slave morality is essentially a morality of utility.
In slave morality “good” means “tending to ease suffering” and “evil” means “tending to inspire fear”.
Nietzsche thinks the triumph of ideals of equality and democracy in modern times is a great tragedy for humanity. Equality and democracy are for Nietzsche the worst, not the best, values, they are the exact opposite of what humans in their hearts actually values.
Watch our slideshow on Friedrich Nietzche's ideas by clicking on this link: http://ethicsforteachers.pbwiki.com/f/Presentation%20Nietzsche.ppt
Comments (3)
Anonymous said
at 3:54 pm on Oct 31, 2008
Nietzche´s ideas are very deep and interesting, although, I must admit, I don´t agree with most of them.
If there are only slaves and maters, who determines who is who? Is it something you are born with?
Also, he believes democracy is the worst things for humanity. Aren´t human rights and choice one of the best things that people can experience?
I´ll keep thinking about it
Miriam
Anonymous said
at 7:13 am on Nov 11, 2008
Yes, you are right Miriam.But, we have to take into account that He exerted an important influence on 20th century philosophy,particularly the movement known as existentialism. According to him, human are divided into "superior" and "inferior" people, and I also do not agree with these concepts. But it's just a fact of life for Nietzsche.
Anonymous said
at 2:10 pm on Nov 12, 2008
I agree with both of you in that Nitzche´s aideas are quite interesting. It is as if he intended to see morality from the point of view of our basic insticts, relating them to power-holding. I completely disagree with his idea of democracy being a tragedy for humankind,I think he may be pointing out the naive ideals of a true and absolute democracy in every aspect of our lives, though.
Lucía Girolimini
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