Friedrich Nietzsche The Limit of Modernity

Aphorism Nietzsche writes his works not systematically. He fights against System. So, he writes his thought in aphorism. This literary form consists of short paragraph that formulates certain idea. The collection of aphorisms has an internal coherence, but they are fragments that represent separate ideas.

Die Geburt der Tragoedie aus dem Geist der Musik (The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music) In this early work Nietzsche analyses two kinds of mentality that dominated Greek Culture: 1. Dionysian Mentality: the inclination of Greek culture to break any border and norm, and to lose self control. This mentality follows the basic forces of life 2. Apollonian Mentality: reflects the principle of individuation, self control, order, equilibrium. This mentality in the Greek culture kept the balance and control over the Dionysian mentality.

Decadence in the Western Civilization According to Nietzsche the decadence began when the dialecticians like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle appeared in the history of western civilization. The spirit of dialectics destroyed the primordial instincts and life forces of man and culture. Nietzsche glorifies the pre-Socratic thinker as “the republic of genius” because the people like Heraclitus, Thales, Empedocles etc. were authentic and creative seekers that didn’t sell their thought to the universal principles.

Beyond History Nietzsche differentiates three attitudes toward history: 1. “Geschichtlich” (historical): memory is needed to our survival. We need history to remember the past and stabilize our identity. 2. “Ungeschichtlich” (unhistorical): But if it is necessary, we must be able to forget the past for our happiness. 3. “Uebergeschichtlich” (super-historical): the past can teach us the meaning of the future and anticipate the future. This view is then adopted by the hermeneutic

Critique on Democracy Democracy, socialism and nationalism are the spirit of mediocrity. They are the enemies of the vital forces and authenticity of the individual. The rationalization in the western civilization is the permanent destruction. So, democracy is a manifestation of decadence in the western culture. After Plato Nietzsche is the sharp critic of democracy.

Genealogy of Morality For Nietzsche morality reflects the emotions that is hidden behind the rationality. The claim of justice, for example, is nothing but a cry of ‘ressentiment’. Morality and objectivity is the mask of affection. So, we can trace the moral claims like a genealogy and find the interests behind them. The philosophical systems are nothing but the confessions of the philosophers on their own life.

Herren- and Herdenmoral In his work Jenseits vom Guten und Boesen Nietzsche tells us about two kinds of people and two kinds of morality, i.e. the class of masters and slaves. Master morality: don’t show what ought to be done, but what is really done. It is the expression of self esteem, and not the universal principles. The main categories are not ‘bad and good’, but ‘high and low’. Crowd morality: Good doesn’t mean ‘strong’, but ‘tenderness’, ‘mercy’, ‘sympathy’ , ‘humility’. This morality is reactive and has its resource in the fear of the master.

Umwertung aller Werte (Transvaluation of all values) In Genealogie der Moral Nietzsche describes how the transvaluation of values happens in the Christianity. The slave class cannot revenge actually the power of the master. Also, they revenge it in the form of imagination. There is moral revolution against the class of masters. What was formerly ‘strong’ and ‘high’ now becomes ‘bad’ and ‘evil’. What is now good is ‘humility’, ‘love’ and ‘sympathy’. But this transvaluation is nothing but ressentiment. Nietzsche says that with this transvaluation the conscience (Gewissen) is invented.

Der Wille zur Macht The world and we are according to Nietzsche the will to power (der Wille zur Macht). Contrary to Schopenhauer Nietzsche doesn’t accept the Kantian distinction between phenomenal and noumenal world. The will to power is all pervasive and heterogeneous life-forces that express in our psychical moods, physiological metabolism, chemical reaction, physical movement, our thought, …It is the process of becoming of all thing (Werden). Knowledge transforms Becoming into Being. Therefore knowledge is power.

Perspectivism According to Nietzsche there is no absolute truth. The truth depends on our interpretations. And our interpretation depends on our standpoint. The idea of absolute truth is a fiction that relates to the will to power. Also, there is no single truth, but many truths that depend on our perspective to see them.

Uebermensch [Overman] In his book Also sprach Zarathustra, Nietzsche says that the overman is the future species of human being. The difference between man and overman is like the difference between man and ape. Overman is an authentic self that says yes to this world with its tragic or happy sides, dark and light moments. The purpose of civilization is not humanity, but overman or authentic individual that creates his own values. He is a combination of Caesar and Christ in one person.

The Eternal Recurrence of All thing Following the first Greek philosophers Nietzsche believes that our life is an eternal recurrence. We’ll experience this life with all its tragic or happy side precisely again and again. This doctrine refuses the idea of transcendence in all form. If our life is an eternal recurrence, there is no other life outside this worldly life.

God is Dead - Nihilism If God is dead, then the wide horizon of life is open to us. We can create our own values. But the death of God results nihilism, i.e. the values emptiness. The human being experience lost of orientation. There are two kinds of nihilism: active and passive. The active nihilism longs for the return of the morality and values. But the active nihilism accepts the value vacuum as a form of emancipation.