The main ideas of F. Nietzsche, the founder of the philosophy of life, are briefly outlined in this article.
Nietzsche's main ideas
(1844-1900) is a European philosopher. The name of the thinker is known to everyone. His worldview developed under the influence of the works of Schopenhauer and the theory of Darwin. Friedrich Nietzsche founded a philosophy about life, declaring that the reality that must be comprehended is valuable.
Nietzsche outlined the main ideas in his works:
- Death of a God
- Will to power
- Change of world view
- Nihilism
- Superman
Let's consider the most common ideas of the great thinker.
- Will to power
Nietzsche sought dominance and power. This is his main life goal and meaning of existence. For the philosopher, the will represented the basis of the world, consisting of many accidents and filled with disorder and chaos. The will to power led Nietzsche to the idea of creating a “superman”.
- Philosophy of life
Life, according to the philosopher, is unique and separate reality for every person. She harshly criticizes teachings and expressions that refer to thoughts as an indicator of human existence. Also, life should not be identified with the concept of reason. Nietzsche believes that life is constant struggle, the main quality of which is will.
- Superman
Nietzsche's philosophy also touched upon his thoughts regarding the ideal person. He destroys all the rules, ideas and norms prescribed by people. Nietzsche seems to remind us that all this is a fiction that Christianity imposed on us. By the way, the philosopher viewed Christianity as a tool that imposes on people qualities that create slave thinking, from strong personalities make the weak. At the same time, religion too idealizes a weak person.
- True Being
Nietzsche covers the problems of existence briefly. The philosopher is sure that it is impossible to contrast the empirical and the true. Denial of reality contributes to the denial of decadence and human life. The thinker is sure that absolute existence does not exist. There is just a cycle of life in which what once happened is constantly repeated.
In addition, Friedrich Nietzsche criticizes religion, morality, science, and reason. He's sure that most of people on the planet are unreasonable, pathetic and inferior individuals. The only way controlling them is military action.
The Thinker is also aggressive towards women. He identified them with cows, cats and birds. The only role of a woman is to inspire a man, and he, in turn, must keep her strict and use physical punishment.
We hope that from this article you learned what Nietzsche’s main ideas are.
Nietzsche's philosophy: Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most complex philosophers of the 19th century. His ideas are received in completely different ways. The only thing that can be said is that there are no people indifferent to his ideas. Friedrich Nietzsche is a man about whom history has created an ambivalent impression. A person who is impossible to read without experiencing any emotions. You can either accept or hate this thinker.
Nietzsche's philosophy Very for a long time associated with Nazism and fascism, in particular with the ideology of the superior Aryan race. To this day, Nietzsche is accused of being the founder of the fascist view of the world and it is he who is to blame for the fact that Hitler promoted and began to use the idea of the famous “blond beast”. Nietzsche himself said that his philosophy would be accepted and understood only 200 years after his death.
PHILOSOPHY OF NIETZSCHE. LIFE AND ART.
Years of life of Friedrich Nietzsche 1844 - 1900. It is interesting that his whole life was accompanied by terrible headaches, which eventually led him to madness. The fate of the philosopher is quite unique. Initially, Nietzsche in no way connects his life path and creativity with philosophy. He was born into a fairly religious family and received good upbringing. His mother instilled in him a love of music and in the future he will be very good at playing musical instruments. Nietzsche's interest in philosophy manifests itself in student years when he receives the education of a future philologist. Nietzsche was not an ardent admirer of philology. It is known that for some time he was even seriously interested in natural sciences, and in particular chemistry. However, without a doctorate, without PhD thesis, already at the age of 24 he becomes the youngest professor in the field of philology.
Begins in 1870 Franco-Prussian War and Nietzsche asks to volunteer as a soldier or orderly. The government gives him permission to go to the front as a medical orderly. Having become a nurse, he sees all the pain and dirt on the battlefield of this war. During the war, he himself had to be on the verge of death more than once. Returning home, he again engaged in university affairs, but over time he announced his retirement from philology, saying that he felt stuffy and could not do his favorite thing, creativity, namely composing and writing books. At the age of 35, Nietzsche left philology. He lives on a fairly modest pension and writes a lot. Just two years later, Germany will start talking about him not as a philologist, but as a very talented philosopher.
PHILOSOPHY OF NIETZSCHE. BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS
His new philosophical ideas became very popular because they were unusual and original. The views that he promoted were impossible not to notice.
Nietzsche's Anti-Christian Philosophy: A Work entitled "The Anti-Christian".
In this work, Nietzsche calls on humanity to make a total reassessment of the values of the previous culture, especially Christian culture. Christian culture, morality, literally infuriated the author and he hated it with all his being. What irritated Nietzsche so much about Christianity?
Nietzsche says that in fact, if we try to answer for ourselves the question: “can there be equality between people?” (and this is precisely one of the ideas Christian religion), then we will inevitably answer “NO”. There cannot be any equality because initially, someone may know and be able to do more than others. Nietzsche distinguishes two classes of people; people with strong
will to power, and people with a weak will to power. Those who have weak will to power are many times larger than the former. Nietzsche says that Christianity glorifies the majority (that is, people with a weak will to power) on a pedestal. This majority is not fighters by nature. They are the weak link of humanity. There is no spirit of confrontation in them, they are not a catalyst for the progress of mankind.
Another idea of Christianity to which Nietzsche was extremely categorical is the biblical commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Nietzsche says, “How is it possible to love a neighbor who may be lazy and behave terribly. The neighbor who smells bad, or is infinitely stupid.” He asks the question “Why should I love such a person?” Nietzsche's philosophy relatively this issue like this; If I am destined to love someone in this world, then only “my distant one.” For the simple reason, the less I know about a person, the further he is from me, the less I risk being disappointed in him.
Christian charity, also came under fire from Friedrich Nietzsche. In his opinion; By helping the poor, the sick, the weak and all those in need, Christianity puts on a mask of hypocrisy. Nietzsche seems to accuse Christianity of protecting and promoting weak and unviable elements. If you are exposed to these elements (that is, people), they will die because they are not able to fight for their existence. The main principle of this idea in Nietzsche is that by helping and being compassionate a person over time becomes a weak and unviable element. By helping and becoming merciful, a person contradicts nature itself, which destroys the weak.
Philosophy of Nietzsche: Interaction of conscious and subconscious elements, or “The Will to Power”
This idea is that the entire content of our consciousness, which we are so proud of, is determined by deep life aspirations (unconscious mechanisms). What are these mechanisms? Nietzsche introduces the term “Will to Power” to denote them. This term denotes a blind, unconscious instinctive movement. This is the most powerful impulse that controls this world.
Nietzsche divides “will” into four parts: the will to live, the inner will, the unconscious will and the will to power. All living beings have the will to power. The will to power is defined by Nietzsche as the ultimate principle. We find the action of this principle everywhere at any stage of existence, either to a greater or lesser extent.
Nietzsche's philosophy: “Thus spoke Zarathustra,” or the idea of the superman.
Who is superman according to Nietzsche? Of course, this is a man with enormous will. This is a person who controls not only his own destiny, but also the destinies of others. The superman is the bearer of new values, norms, and moral guidelines. The superman must be deprived; GENERALLY ACCEPTED moral standards, mercy, he has his own A New Look to the world. Only one who is devoid of conscience can be called a superman, because it is she who controls inner world person. Conscience has no statute of limitations; it can drive you crazy and lead to suicide. The superman must be free from its shackles.
Nietzsche’s philosophy, his superman and Nietzsche himself appear before us in a not entirely attractive form, but here I would like to explain that Nietzsche endowed the superman with creative, spiritual qualities, complete concentration on power, and absolute self-control. Nietzsche says that a superman must be characterized by super-individualism (unlike modernity, where a person’s personality is completely leveled). The superman has a bright individuality and strives for self-improvement. In his work, the philosopher clearly says that the supremacy of the superman can only be in the spiritual sphere, that is, not in the sphere of political economics or law “ONLY THE DOMINATION OF THE SPIRIT.” Therefore, it would be wrong to consider Nietzsche the founder of fascism.
Nietzsche's philosophy: slave morality and master morality.
Nietzsche says that the morality of masters is high degree self-respect. This feeling of being a person, a person with capital letters when a person can say about himself I am the master of the spirit.
The morality of slaves is the morality of usefulness, cowardice and pettiness. When a person humbly accepts humiliation for his own benefit.
Nietzsche was multifaceted, his works can be divided into several ideas:
1) Will to power.
2) Death is a god.
3) Nihilism.
4) Reassessment of values.
5) Superman.
Nietzsche's philosophy briefly mentions the theories that inform his thinking, such as Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection and Schopenhauer's metaphysics. Despite the enormous influence of these theories on Nietzsche's works, in his thoughts he mercilessly criticizes them. However, natural selection and the struggle for survival, in which the strongest survive, led to the philosopher’s desire to create a certain ideal of man.
The main ideas of Nietzsche's works:
Will to power
Nietzsche's mature philosophy can be summarized in his desire for power and dominance. This was his main life goal, the meaning of existence. The will for the philosopher was the basis of the world, which consists of accidents and filled with chaos and disorder. The will to power led to the idea of creating a “superman”.
Philosophy of life
The philosopher believes that life is a separate and unique reality for each person. He does not equate the concepts of mind and life and harshly criticizes expressions and teachings regarding thoughts as an indicator of human existence. Nietzsche presents life as a constant struggle, and therefore the main quality of a person in it is will.
True Being
Nietzsche's philosophy briefly illuminates the problems of existence. He believes that it is impossible to contrast the true and the empirical. Denial of the reality of the world contributes to the denial of the reality of human life and decadence. He claims that there is no absolute existence, and there could not be. There is only the cycle of life, a constant repetition of what once happened.
Nietzsche fiercely criticizes absolutely everything: science, religion, morality, reason. He believes that most of humanity are pathetic, unreasonable, inferior people whose only way to control is war.
The meaning of life should be only the will to power, and reason does not have such a significant place in the world. He is also aggressive towards women. The philosopher identified them with cats and birds, as well as cows. A woman should inspire a man, and the man should keep the woman strict, sometimes with the help of physical punishment. Despite this, the philosopher has many positive works on art and health.
Superman
Who is the superman, according to Nietzsche? Of course, this is a person with enormous will. This is a person who controls not only his own destiny, but also the destinies of others. The superman is the bearer of new values, norms, and moral guidelines. The superman must be deprived of: generally accepted moral standards, mercy, he has his own, new view of the world. A superman can only be called someone who is devoid of conscience, because it is she who controls the inner world of man. Conscience has no statute of limitations; it can drive you crazy and lead to suicide. The superman must be free from its shackles.
Let us take a closer look at the theory of the superman.
The idea of the superman in Thus Spoke Zarathustra
“Thus spoke Zarathustra. A book for everyone and for no one" - first published in 1885, one of the most controversial and famous philosophical books. The book originally consisted of three separate parts, written over several years. Nietzsche intended to write three more parts, but completed only one - the fourth. After Nietzsche's death, Thus Spoke Zarathustra was published in one volume.
The book tells the story of the fate and teachings of a wandering philosopher who took the name Zarathustra in honor of the ancient Persian prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra). Through his speeches and actions, Nietzsche expresses his thoughts. One of the central ideas of the novel is the idea that man is an intermediate step in the transformation of an ape into a superman: “Man is a rope stretched between an animal and a superman. A rope over the abyss." The philosopher, whose important theme is decadence, also emphasizes that humanity has fallen into decline, has exhausted itself: “Man is that which must be surpassed.”
In contrast to the superman, the author creates the image of the Last Man, which Zarathustra talks about in his speech to the crowd in the square. He combines all the negative traits, according to the writer: he does not know what love is, creation is aspiration, he is an opportunist, lives the longest, is indestructible, but “makes everything small.” Having forgotten about the highest ideals, he, having stopped in development, thinks that he has already found happiness. For him, work is not a means to achieve a goal, but only entertainment, and even then in moderation, so as not to get tired. He unites into a herd, wanting equality and despising those who feel differently. The crowd rejoices at the words of Zarathustra and asks to make them like the last man, which makes us understand that, according to Nietzsche, the whole world is striving for the wrong goals, guided by false ideals. Zarathustra in his speeches calls his opponents superfluous people, mediocrity. Another false virtue of theirs is sound sleep, which governs their entire life. It is from this that their moderation and evenness in desires come, and not from considerations of duty.
The superman, on the contrary, must harmoniously combine physical perfection and high intellectual qualities in order to renew humanity by embodying the idea eternal return Nietzsche, which is expressed in the cyclical nature of existence. A superman must have, first of all, an indestructible will. With her help, he will overcome all difficulties and build a new world. But the superman is more a genius or a rebel than a ruler or hero. He is a destroyer of old values. Zarathustra calls to “break the old tablets, for God is dead.” In order to achieve his goal, a superman can neglect generally accepted morality (“There is no truth, everything is permitted”), since his mind should not be fooled by anything. Adhering to a pragmatic approach, Nietzsche gave him the right to be “beyond good and evil.” But this is not where the aphorism “nudge someone who is falling” comes from. It should not be understood in the simplified sense that you should not help your neighbors. Since the author has experienced the influence of Darwinism, he is confident that the most effective help to his neighbor is to give him the opportunity to reach an extreme in which he can rely only on his survival instincts, in order to be reborn from there, or die. This manifests Nietzsche’s faith in life, in its ability to self-regenerate and resist everything fatal (“What does not kill us makes us stronger”).
Comparing the great man and the latter, the author draws a parallel to the difference between diamond and charcoal. After all, they are one and the same thing, they consist of carbon, but diamond is hard and unbending, like the will of those striving for the coming of a superman, and coal is soft and crumbly, since the last person is weak and weak-willed. Concluding the comparison, Nietzsche laments that even great people are still too similar to people, that is, man is at the very beginning of his path to renewal.
Renewal must occur through three transformations. Camel's first transformation. He is a symbol of perseverance and endurance. A person must contrast these qualities with the spirit of the time, withstand all the tests without giving up, without turning into a small person. Second transformation of Leo. With his strength and rage, a person must destroy old foundations and traditions, and without destroying the old, he cannot get a new one. (“Carefree, mocking, strong - this is how wisdom wants to see us; she is a woman and always loves only a warrior”). Last transformation Child. He is a symbol of innocence, oblivion, a new beginning, initial movement, since Leo the destroyer is not able to create, he is replaced by the Child.
Nietzsche proclaims the freedom of death, the slogan of which is “Die in time.” This implies that death, as a part of life, must also be subordinated to a goal. A person must manage it, he has the right to do so. That is, for Nietzsche, God no longer has a monopoly on life, for God is dead. And man, subordinating death to the idea of the superman, blesses his vows on his bed big people be true to your goal.
The superman is freed not only from morality and religion, but also from authorities. Even such strong ones as the prophet of the superman - Zarathustra, who teaches his followers: lose me and find yourself. That is, every person must find himself, accept himself.
Traditions and institutions of society interfere with the search for oneself... The author declares priests to be enemies of the superman, because they are preachers of slow death, they serve a dead God and they are false (“When the commandments were especially sacred, there was the most robberies and murders in the world”). The good and righteous stand next to them. These are contented and compassionate townspeople, “whose bowstring has forgotten how to tremble and they will not become arrows of melancholy.” They can never become a bridge over the abyss, because they are happy with what they have. The aristocracy is also subject to harsh criticism, because who else but they should lead people to a bright future, but they are mired in vices, in fornication and lies, in self-interest and laziness.
In contrast to the aristocracy, Nietzsche elevates the common peasant who is capable of change. He has a will and that's what makes him strong. In support of this idea, the author tells us about a shepherd, a snake crawled into his mouth while he was sleeping, he bit off its head and threw it away at the prompting of Zarathustra, thus surviving. With this Nietzsche signifies his main idea: listen to Zarathustra and you will live.
The name of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most famous in the world. His main ideas are imbued with the spirit of nihilism and harsh, sobering criticism. current situation in science and worldview. Nietzsche's brief philosophy includes several main points. We should start by mentioning the sources of the thinker’s views, namely, Schopenhauer’s metaphysics and Darwin’s law of the struggle for existence. Although these theories influenced Nietzsche's ideas, he subjected them to serious criticism in his works.
Nevertheless, the idea of the struggle of the strongest and the weakest for existence in this world led to the fact that he was imbued with the desire to create a certain ideal of man - the so-called “superman”. Nietzsche's philosophy of life, briefly speaking, includes the principles that are described below. Philosophy of life From the point of view of a philosopher, life is given to the knowing subject in the form of the only reality that exists for a certain person. If you highlight the main idea, brief philosophy Nietzsche denies the identification of mind and life. The well-known statement “I think, therefore I am” is subject to severe criticism. Life is understood primarily as a constant struggle of opposing forces. Here the concept of will, namely the will to it, comes to the fore.
Will to power
In fact, Nietzsche’s entire mature philosophy comes down to a description of this phenomenon. Summary This idea can be summarized as follows. The will to power is not a banal desire for dominance, for command. This is the essence of life. This is the creative, active, active nature of the forces that make up existence. Nietzsche asserted will as the basis of the world. Since the entire universe is chaos, a series of accidents and disorder, it is she (and not the mind) that is the cause of everything. In connection with ideas about the will to power, the “superman” appears in Nietzsche’s writings.
Superman
He appears as a kind of ideal, a starting point around which Nietzsche’s brief philosophy is centered. Since all norms, ideals and rules are nothing more than a fiction created by Christianity (which inculcates slave morality and the idealization of weakness and suffering), the superman crushes them in his path. From this point of view, the idea of God as the product of the cowardly and weak is rejected. In general, Nietzsche’s brief philosophy considers the idea of Christianity as the implantation of a slave worldview with the goal of making the strong weak and elevating the weak to an ideal. The superman, personifying the will to power, is called upon to destroy all this lies and pain in the world. Christian ideas are seen as hostile to life, as denying it.
True Being
Friedrich Nietzsche fiercely criticized the opposition of a certain “true” to the empirical. Supposedly there must be some better world, opposite to the one in which a person lives. According to Nietzsche, the denial of the correctness of reality leads to the denial of life, to decadence. This should also include the concept of absolute being. It does not exist, there is only the eternal cycle of life, countless repetitions of everything that has already taken place.
One of the most mysterious figures in the history of European non-classical thought is Friedrich Nietzsche. The philosophy of life, of which he is considered the founder, was born in the era of crisis of the nineteenth century. In those days, many thinkers began to rebel against traditional rationalism, denying its very basis - reason. There is disappointment in the idea of progress. Existing methods and methods of cognition are seriously criticized as unnecessary for a person and unimportant for the meaning of his life. A kind of “rebellion against reason” occurs. As a criterion for philosophizing, the principle of connection with the individual, with his feelings, moods, experiences, with the hopelessness and tragedy of his existence is put forward. The attitude towards reason and rationalistic systems becomes negative, since they are accused of the impossibility of guiding a person both in life and in history. This style of thinking begins to dominate Western Europe. Nietzsche's philosophy of life (we will get to know it briefly in this article) is bright that example.
Biography of the thinker
Friedrich Nietzsche was born in a small town near Leipzig, in large family Protestant pastor. He studied at a classical gymnasium, from where he developed a love for history, ancient texts and music. His favorite poets were Byron, Hölderlin and Schiller, and his composer was Wagner. At the Universities of Bonn and Leipzig, the young man studied philology and theology, but even then his classmates did not understand him. But he was so capable that at the age of twenty-four he was invited to be a professor. He took up a position in the department of philology at the University of Basel. For many years he was friends with Wagner, until he became disillusioned with the latter. By the age of thirty, he became very ill and began to live on a pension for health reasons. This time is the most fruitful in his life. However, even those closest to him gradually ceased to understand his writings. It was only in the eighties of the nineteenth century that Nietzsche’s works became truly popular. But he was not destined to see this. He did not receive any income from the publication of his works. Even his friends did not fully understand him. From the second half of the eighties, the philosopher began to experience clouding of reason, then madness. He spends some time in a mental hospital and eventually dies of apoplexy in the city of Weimar.
Revolutionary teaching
So, what is Nietzsche's philosophy of life? First of all, it should be said that this is a very controversial teaching. At the same time, it was often subject to various distortions, including from leading politicians. It was born under the influence of the theory of Schopenhauer and the music of Wagner. The main works of the philosopher, where this theory is presented, can be called “Dawn”, “Beyond Good and Evil” and “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. Nietzsche is very characterized by polysemantic concepts and symbols. In the Western European philosophical tradition, Nietzsche's theory is recognized as revolutionary in its structure and the problems it raises. Although she had nothing to do with radical politics at all. It simply offers a unique approach to the entire heritage of humanity.
Criticism of culture
The philosopher greatly yearned for the mythical times when gods and heroes acted, and therefore began to develop his ideas by analyzing ancient tragedy. In it he distinguished two principles, which he called Dionysian and Apollonian. These terms are very important to Nietzsche. His main ideas in the field of culture are connected precisely with these concepts. The Dionysian principle is an unbridled, passionate, irrational desire that does not obey any laws and is not limited by boundaries, coming from the depths of life itself. Apollonian is the desire to measure, to give everything shape and harmony, to streamline chaos. An ideal culture, as the philosopher believed, is one in which these tendencies are in harmonious interaction with each other, when there is a kind of balance. Such a model, according to Nietzsche’s thought, is pre-Socratic Greece. Then came the dictatorship of reason, the Apollonian principle eclipsed everything and became rational and logical, and the Dionysian principle was completely banished. Since then, culture has been taking leaps and bounds towards destruction, civilization is rotting, spiritual values have no meaning, and all ideas have lost their meaning.
About religion: criticism of Christianity
Many popular phrases today belong to Nietzsche. His statements, such as “God is dead,” are still quoted in literature, in polemics, and even in Everyday life. But what is the meaning of the philosopher's attitude to religion? In various of his works, including the pamphlet “Antichristian,” Nietzsche reproaches this particular religion for the death of God. Modern churches, he says, have become His tombs. Christianity with its apology for the weak is to blame for everything. The compassion it preaches kills the will to live. It perverted the commandments of Christ. Instead of teaching people to act as the Teacher does, it only requires them to believe. Christ demanded not to judge people, but his followers do the exact opposite all the time. It radiates a hatred of life. It gave birth to the principle of equality before God, which socialists are now trying to introduce on earth. All Christian values are vices, lies and hypocrisy. In fact, there is a fundamental inequality between people - some of them are masters by nature, while others are slaves. Christ in modern society would be considered an idiot. However, it cannot be said that Nietzsche was merciless towards other religions. For example, he considered Buddhism to be a model of successful teaching. However, many modern researchers It is believed that the thinker criticized not so much the foundations of Christianity as its modern institutionalized form.
Nietzsche's actual philosophy of life
These ideas can be summarized in the following way. The central concept of all his theories is the spontaneously becoming Being. Its essence is the “will to power”, which is cosmic beginning, independent of the subject, a play of forces, energies and passions. All this arose from nothingness. But this game leads nowhere, it is meaningless, meaningless. Man, as a social being, seeks to consolidate his inherent “will to power”, constancy, and believes that this is possible. But these are groundless hopes. There is nothing permanent either in nature or in society. Our world itself is a lie that changes all the time. This tragic contradiction is revealed by Nietzsche. The philosophy of life is also based on the fact that people need illusion. The weak in order to survive, and the strong in order to rule. The philosopher often emphasizes this point. Life is not just existence. This is growth, strengthening, strengthening. If the will to power is absent, any Living being degrades.
About history
The philosopher proves this thesis by considering social development. Nietzsche, whose statements are very vivid and precise, and therefore often turned into aphorisms, came to the conclusion that civilization had put shackles on people. This, as well as public morality and prevailing Christian tradition They turned a person from a strong, strong-willed creature into some kind of sick paralytic. At the same time, Nietzsche emphasizes the mystery of history as a science. This phenomenon appears to him as something the opposite of life and will, and even dangerous for them. But this is also a necessary phenomenon. Such a danger can paralyze a person, or it can stimulate his development. There are several types of understanding history. The philosopher calls one of them monumental. He uses superficial analogies with the past and can become dangerous weapon in the hands of politicians. The second is “antique”. It consists of a tendentious selection of facts, far from analyzing the real meaning of events. And only the third - critical - is a real and practical method. He struggles with the past, which is always worthy of condemnation. These words of Nietzsche about the life of all humanity may seem terrible. But he just proposes an argument with the past as an equal opponent. This discussion will allow us to “master” history and put it at the service of life. Then it will be possible to both honor tradition and try to free ourselves from it.
About ethics
Nietzsche is often called the founder of nihilism. There is truth in this. However, we should not oversimplify Nietzsche. The philosophy of life suggests that nothing can be built on nihilism alone. We need to replace it with something. The basis of human life is will. Schopenhauer thought so. However, for him the concept of will means something universal, abstract. Nietzsche has in mind a specific individual. And the main thing driving force man is still the same “will to power”. It is its presence that can explain the behavior of most people. This basis of behavior is not a psychological, but rather an ontological phenomenon.
This is the basis of the philosopher’s teaching about the ideal, or about the superman. If life has unconditional value, then those most worthy of it strong people, in which the will to power is best realized. Such a person is a natural aristocrat, and therefore he is free from the era and traditions imposed on him false values, which represent good and evil. Nietzsche described his ideal in his famous work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Everything is permitted to such a person. After all, God is dead, as Nietzsche often argued. The philosophy of life, however, gives no reason to believe that the superman lacks ethics. He just has his own rules. This is a man of the future who transgresses ordinary nature and is capable of founding a new humanism. On the other hand, the philosopher was very critical of the next century and prophesied that “it will face such colic, in comparison with which Paris Commune“Just a little indigestion.”
About eternal return
Nietzsche was sure that the eras when such people could manifest themselves ideal people, have already existed in history. First of all, this is the “Golden Age” of pre-Socratic antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. This also shows the benefits of history for life. What does it consist of? After all, as the philosopher believes, it leads society to degradation. But history is the guarantor of the “eternal return” of those very “golden eras” that, it would seem, have long since sunk into the past. Nietzsche was a supporter of the so-called mythological time, which involves the repetition of any significant events. The superman is a rebel and a genius who will break old morality slaves But the values he created will again be frozen by categories and institutions, and will be replaced by the era of the dragon, which will again dominate the new man. And this will be repeated ad infinitum, but between these two extremes there will exist at least some time “ golden era", for which life is worth living.
Style and popularity
For this you just need to read Nietzsche. Quotes from this amazing philosopher-prophet are so attractive because he is trying to break down outdated, from his point of view, moral foundations, revise generally accepted values, appeals to feelings, intuition, life experience, historical reality. Of course, his works contain a lot of bravado, designed for external effect. Since he was a philologist, he was very concerned with the literary aspect of his works. They are very succinct, clear, and his statements are often provocative and unexpected. This is a very shocking and “literary” philosopher. But the words of Nietzsche, whose quotes (like “If you go to a woman, do not forget the whip,” “Push the falling one,” and others) are taken out of context, should not be taken literally. This philosopher requires a heightened understanding and attunement to a completely different universe than the one to which we are accustomed. It was this revolutionary nature of presentation that brought Nietzsche’s works such amazing popularity. His radical questioning of values and the objectivity of truth caused many fierce discussions and comments during the thinker’s lifetime. The metaphorical nature and irony of his statements and aphorisms was difficult to surpass. However, many contemporaries, especially Russian philosophers, did not understand Nietzsche. They criticized him, reducing the thinker's ideas exclusively to the preaching of pride, atheism and self-will. IN Soviet time There was a widespread tendency to consider Nietzsche as the person who contributed to the emergence of the ideology of National Socialism. But all these reproaches towards the thinker do not have the slightest basis.
Followers
Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy of life was expressed in chaotic, troubled writings. But she received a second wind, oddly enough, in the systematic logical reasoning and clear conclusions of Wilhelm Dilthey. It was he who put the philosophy of life founded by Nietzsche on a par with academic schools and forced leading scientists to take it into account. He brought all these chaotic ideas into system. Rethinking the theories of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Schleiermacher, Dilthey combined the philosophy of life with hermeneutics. It adds new meanings and interpretations developed by the German tragic genius theory. Dilthey and Bergson used the philosophy of life to create an alternative picture of the world to rationalism. And his ideas about individual overcoming values, structures and contexts had strong impact on thinkers of the late twentieth and beginning of the XXI centuries who used his concepts as a starting point for their own theories.