Nietzsche’s Critique of Judeo-Christian Values
Criticism of the Judeo-Christian Tradition
For Nietzsche, all the problems of philosophy are problems of values. The worst consequence of the proclamation of a real world beyond the mundane world has been the vilification of the earthly world and, thus, the underestimation of everything sensible and instinctive.
Ascending and Descending Morality
There are moral questions that have been produced by the ascendant life. If the afternoon of morality is to make man happy, it is to give primacy to human life, and this is, above all, biological life. It is the morality of immorality. Others, however, have been produced by the downward life, and what they preach is impotence, which is the negation of the will to power in man. Here is the Judeo-Christian tradition that gives the values created by man himself but, placed above him for the skills of the priestly caste, oppress your life today. Is morality contranaturalaza? This distinction is moved to the distinction made between morality and moral individuals: flock moral, masters, and slave morality. The moral is the moral noble lords. It arises from the higher states of mind, born of a self that yourself. It is a moral creator, implementer of values, active, own Superman. The slave morality is a passive moral, values found before and simply follow, preaches equality of all men, love of neighbor, denies the vital impulses of man.
Origin and Transmutation of Values
Nietzsche goes to the very origin of values; he does so through the method of genealogy. Find the origin of morality, but morality that first undergo a spin through Socrates and Plato. It is the resentment that generates these new values, which is proper resentment of the priests. With this morality, the strong end up being defeated by the weak, the gregarious predominates. This moral, the herd, is the one to subvert. Nietzsche considers that the history of Western culture is a growing rise of the commoners and values involving the marginalization of an aristocratic sense of morality. In “Genealogy of Morals,” we find the analysis of the transmutation of meaning. There are many moral systems, and the opposition right/wrong has had various interpretations. The one Nietzsche is interested in is:
- Gut meaning noble, beautiful, powerful, happy…
- Schlecht meaning bad, vulgar, poor, unfortunate…
At first, there is a difference between noble and slave and is antithetical to good/bad, who picks up this difference. The term designates what good are not actions but to individuals and their actions.
But the term gut also means commoner, unhappy, miserable… Assuming that interpretation correct, the explanation of the revaluation takes place in the aristocracy. The aristocracy was divided into two classes: the priestly and warrior. Clashes between the priestly caste and warrior in the priestly caste produce a pact with the slaves to meet the warrior caste.
The Priestly Ideal
The priest is the one guy who used to assert ascetic ideals, to dominate. He valued the ascetic ideal as worthless, positive or negative in itself. Its value is dependent upon the principle upon which it is utilized. While in the hands of the ascetic philosopher, it has a positive value; in the hands of the priest, it is an element of control over man.
The reason is not that God is acting behind the priests, as is believed ordinary, but for lack of anything better, good is the ascetic ideal. The value is that the slave has nothing else to cling to. But in “Genealogy of Morals” reveals the real truth, the will that is guided by ascetic ideals they really want is nothing.