FREE ESSAY ON FREDERICH NIETZSCHE AND HIS PHILOSOPHIES

FREDERICH NIETZSCHE AND HIS PHILOSOPHIES

FRIEDERICH NIETZSCHE AND HIS PHILOSOPHIES
Friederich Nietzsche was born in 1844 in the Prussian province of Saxony. He was the
offspring of a long line of clergymen including his father, who was the pastor of a
Lutheran congregation. His childhood was consumed with the haunting death of his father
and, soon after, brother. 
After enrolling in school, he suffered from intense, painful headaches and myopia which
caused burning sensations and blurred vision. This may have been syphilis and it may have
been contracted from his father who had shown similar symptoms. 
In 1858, he enrolled in the prestigious Pforte boarding school. His illness continued to
plague him, resulting in several "pilgrimages" to the sanitarium yet, he was able to form
a group called Germania, which was devoted to the continuing study of "intellectual
subjects." He delivered impressive lectures on subjects ranging from Nordic legends to
German poetry. Shortly before graduation, he made the decision to study philology due to
his intrigue of it's emphasis on analysis and logic.
It was after he left the University of Bonn that Nietzsche's life took a significant
course. After acquiring a massive debt at Bonn, Nietzsche left for Leipzig for a more
affordable solution to a quality education. There, he discovered Arthur Schopenhauer's
The World as Will and Representation. In his work, Schopenhauer declared that conflict
and suffering were the purpose of life. This predilection intrigued Nietzsche. He
(Nietzsche) soon developed a routine of little rest and an excess of study. It was then
that he had decided to become a philologist and the world became introduced to his
philosophies.
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 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 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. 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 (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 precariously rising out of the mire of mass mediocrity, and owing his
existence more to intentional breeding and careful nurture than to the hazards of natural
selection. 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 was very open about his distaste for those anti- Semites. If one is able to
come from a more intelligent place, regarding the breeding of "best-fit humans",
Nietzsche was far beyond Hitler. Nietzsche understood the necessity for variety in a
population, and was able to appreciate the contributions of other races and cultures. His
ideal society would be a race that included select bits from many races/cultures. The
only culture that he seemed to have a special appreciation for were the Polish. He wrote,
The Poles, I consider the most gifted and gallant among Slavic people... Still, he wrote
about his value for the Jews, as a response to the growing anti-Semite culture in Germany
during his time: The whole problem of the Jews exists only in nation states, for here
their energy and higher intelligence, their accumulated capital of spirit and will,
gathered from generation to generation though a long schooling in suffering, must become
so preponderant as to arouse mass envy and hatred. In almost all contemporary nations,
therefore -- in direct proportion to the degree which they act up nationalistically --
the literary obscenity of leading the Jews to slaughter as scapegoats of every
conceivable public and internal misfortune is spreading. As soon as it is no longer a
matter of preserving nations, but of producing the strongest possible Euro-Mixed race,
the Jew is just as useful and desirable as ingredient as any other national remnant.
Nietzsche had an incredible infatuation with evil and violence. He did so much to find
evil and cruelty in the world, that he seemed to have a sadistic pleasure in celebrating
it; man is the cruelest animal, he states in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In his book, Beyond
Good and Evil, he really aims at changing the reader's opinion as to what is good and
what is evil, but professes, except at moments, to be raising what is evil and diminish
what is good. It is necessary for higher men to make war upon the masses, and resist the
democratic tendencies of the age, for in all directions mediocre people are joining hands
to make themselves masters. Everything that pampers, that softens, and that brings the
'people' or 'woman' to the front, operates in favor of universal suffrage -- that is to
say, the dominion of 'inferior' men. This brings us to Nietzsche's view of women. At this
point, I believe it's important to note Nietzsche's experience with women, because his
writings about them seemed to begin closely after being rejected by the only woman he
admitted to love. She rejected him as he asked her hand in marriage. Men shall be trained
for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior. All else is folly. The patriotic
member of a militant society will look upon bravery and strength as the highest virtues
of a man; upon obedience as the highest virtue of the citizen; and upon silent submission
to multiple motherhood as the highest virtue of woman. Thou goest to woman? Do not forget
thy whip. From Nietzsche's experience with women, as author Betrand Russell said, Nine
out of ten women would get the whip away from him, and he knew it, so he kept away from
women, and soothed his wounded vanity with unkind remarks. Many of his comments toward
women reflected what a lonely and "unloved" person he was. In some poems he wrote after
his prospective wife left him, he wrote this lonely line: I could sing a song, and I will
sing it, although I am alone in an empty house and must sing it to mine own ears. So, he
added appropriately to his beliefs the following: How absurd it is, after all, to let
higher individuals marry for love -- heroes with servant girls and geniuses with
seamstresses! When a man is in love he should not be permitted to make decisions
affecting his entire life. We should declare invalid the vows of lovers and should make
love a legal impediment to marriage. Nietzsche loved his anarchism, and had such a hate
for democracy, that it takes up nearly every bit of his philosophy. His ideal society was
divided into three classes: producers (farmers, merchants, business men), officials
(soldiers and government), and rulers. The latter would rule, but they would not
officiate in government; the actual government is a menial task. The rulers would be
philosopher-statesmen rather than office-holders. Their power will rest on the control of
credit and the army; but they would live more like the proud- soldier than like the
financier. Nietzsche believed that some people were distinctively more important than
others; their happiness or unhappiness counted for more than the happiness of average
people. He dismissed John Stuart Mill as a blockhead for the presupposition that everyone
was equal. He wrote about Mill: I abhor the man's vulgarity when he says what is right
for one man is right for another. Such principals wild fain establish the whole of human
traffic upon mutual services, so every action would appear to be a cash payment for
something done to us. The hypothesis here is ignoble to the last degree; it is taken for
granted that there is some sort of equivalence in value between my actions and thine.
Nietzsche, as said before, hated democracy, but he recognized Christianity as a greater
risk. Perhaps this was because people are always more loyal to their God, than their
government. He felt that democracy began with Christianity: ...holy epileptics like saint
Paul, who had no honesty. The new testament is the gospel of a completely ignoble species
of man. Christianity is the most fatal and seductive lie that ever existed. So, before
stripping people of their choice and equality, their God had to be taken first, then the
government. Consequently, the road to the superman must lie through aristocracy.
Democracy -- this manner for counting noses -- must be eradicated before it is too late.
The first step here is the destruction of Christianity so far as all higher men are
concerned. Nietzsche's life was hindered by his ailments and his obsession with his
father and brother's death. His ideal society was, inadvertently based upon this. I have
no doubt, that if Nietzsche lived in his ideal society, he would have no honor, as he
misses every requirement, being a sickly man who was rejected from the army, and lacking
the strength to compete with his own superman. After his death in 1900, his sister,
Elizabeth, shamelessly used his work, often times misrepresented, to promote her own self
interests and even provide Adolph Hitler with war propaganda. Still, Nietzsche provided
an influence on Western culture that still exists today. We now know that much of
Nietzsche's work was misconstrued and that he wanted not to be a "holy man" but a
respected man.
Bibliography
Works Cited Kaufmann, Walter. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a Book for None and All. NewYork:
Viking Penguin, 1966.
Lampert, Laurence. Leo Strauss and Nietzsche. Chicago & London: The University
of Chicago Press, 1996.
Solomon, Robert C., and Kathleen Higgins. What Nietzsche Really Said. New York:
Schocken Books, 2000.
Zimmern, Helen. Beyond Good and Evil. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1989.
Cecil, Andrew R. "The Widening Gap Between the Rich and the Poor." Vital 
Speeches of the Day. 15 January 1996: pp197-202.