Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Culture and Comparison with Plato
Nietzsche and the 19th Century
Nietzsche lived in the second half of the nineteenth century, a time of great change in all areas. From an economic standpoint, there was a consolidation of industrial capitalism and European colonialism in Asia and Africa. This involved the substitution of a society stratified by class, represented by the capitalist bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Politically, European nationalities (Germany, Italy, Greece) arose, and liberal revolutions extended the political triumph of the bourgeoisie and workers’ claims. There was also a demographic revolution as nutrition, hygiene, and health improved, shaping modern cities with cafes, theaters, newspapers, etc. The most important cultural movements of the nineteenth century were Romanticism in the first half, exalting sentiment and tradition against reason and progress (Goethe, Larra, Espronceda, Wagner…), and Naturalism and Realism in the second half. During this period, Darwinian evolution theory was proposed, Newtonian physics was in crisis, and significant advances in chemistry and medicine allowed the fight against many diseases. New sciences like sociology, psychology, and anthropology emerged, alongside scientific and technical breakthroughs.
In the philosophical context, several trends stand out: 1) German Idealism (Hegel) in the first half of the century, and the reaction to this movement (Schopenhauer, Marx…) in the second. 2) French utopian socialism, advocating societal changes to improve the conditions of the disadvantaged classes. 3) Scientific Socialism (Marx and Engels), proposing a materialist conception of history (class struggle as the engine of history) and surplus value as the key to the capitalist production system. 4) Positivism, maintaining that science and philosophy must be limited to factual findings, implying a renunciation of metaphysics. 5) Historicism, asserting the role of historical knowledge. 6) Vitalism, claiming current life as the essential reality to which everything else must be subordinated. Nietzsche critically examined the values of Western society, opposing them to life and announcing the arrival of the Übermensch (Superman). Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche, the most important philosophers of this century, have been called the fathers of atheism and masters of suspicion because they believed reality has always been masked. Marx suspected class conflicts and the economy were behind all social events. Freud suspected that much of human behavior is determined by unconscious motives. Nietzsche suspected that our interpretation of reality has been incorrect, leading to false consciousness and an inversion of values.
Nietzsche vs. Plato
Nietzsche critiques Western culture, and since Plato is one of its greatest representatives, a comparison is pertinent. Both use myths and metaphors as teaching resources and advocate an aristocratic conception of life (not based on blood or money). Plato defends the aristocracy of knowledge (the wise should rule), and Nietzsche an aristocracy in the biological sense and as a way of evaluating (the noble is good). However, their differences are significant. Plato posits two worlds: the sensible world of objects and images, formed by physical things, and the intelligible world, consisting of mathematical entities and ideas. The sensible world is material, mutable, multiple, and perishable; the intelligible world is intangible, immutable, unique, and eternal. The relationship between the two worlds is imitation, making the world of things an imperfect copy of the world of ideas. For Nietzsche, this ontological dualism is a mistake because there is only the world of becoming. In his epistemology, Plato proposes two ways of knowing: “Opinion or knowledge of the senses,” including conjecture (knowledge of shadows) and belief (knowledge of things), and “Science or knowledge” of the intelligible world, including discursive reasoning (mathematical entities) and pure intelligence (ideas through dialectic). Nietzsche denies this epistemological dualism, defending perspectivism – subjective knowledge based on senses and intuition. In his anthropology, Plato presents the human being as composed of body and soul. The body is a prison for the soul, whose natural place is the world of ideas. Plato distinguishes three parts in the soul: concupiscence (desires and appetites), irascible passions (linked to the noble), and the rational part (which knows and is immortal). For Nietzsche, life is instinct and passion, and reason cannot eliminate them as Plato’s thought suggests. The human being should be transformed into the Superman, who says yes to life. In ethics, Plato defends moral intellectualism (only those who know can act accordingly) and proposes three virtues: moderation, fortitude, and prudence. In politics, he advocates an ideal society consisting of three groups: producers, guardians, and philosopher-rulers. Justice represents the balance between these groups, and aristocracy is the best form of government. According to Nietzsche, these values are typical of a slave morality and should be replaced by vital and sensitive values. The Superman defends hierarchy and risk, versus the equality and security of the herd morality (Platonic-Christian).
Conclusion
Nietzsche is one of the most important thinkers of contemporary philosophy. His unsystematic and metaphorical philosophy has influenced diverse political movements like Nazism and anarchism, avant-garde art, vitalist thinkers like Ortega y Gasset, existentialism, hermeneutics, and more.