Nietzsche’s Critique of Western Culture: Morality, Philosophy, and Religion
Nietzsche: Critique of Western Culture
Nietzsche, along with Marx and Freud, forms the group of philosophers of suspicion, going beyond the cultural and social events of his time. Nietzsche delivered the most radical critique in the West against culture in all its forms. Some dismissed him as irrational, although he is rather a-rational, contrary to rationality forms that ignore the vital; thus, in reality, he is a vitalist. Vitalism originated in the 19th century when thinkers established a philosophy centered on exalting the vital and emotional. It advocates irrationalism and the affirmation of life as the fundamental reality of human beings.
For Nietzsche, life is not individual but an all-embracing organic reality, characterized by constant evolution and improvement. For him, the essence of life is the will to power.
Our philosopher qualifies culture as “healthy” or “sick” according to whether it affirms or denies life. For him, Western culture is sick because it denies life, attacking three pillars: ethics, philosophy, and religion. This critical dimension is the part of Nietzsche’s philosophy that says “no,” using a psychological analysis method to uncover instincts underlying cultural events. It has two moments: denial and criticism (philosophy of the hammer) and the creation and affirmation of new values. The diagnosis: the West is the result of nihilism, its own destruction. The enemy: Christianity.
Critique of Morality
In his critique of morality, Nietzsche contrasts two aesthetic ideals: the Apollonian and the Dionysian. Apollo represents beauty and moderation, while Dionysus embodies wine, intoxication, and excess. Nietzsche’s critique of traditional morality targets its opposition to nature, life, and Dionysus. He blames Socratic intellectualism for launching a negative worldview and also charges against Plato, the philosophical basis of Western morality.
He proposes a new morality: life morality. Nietzsche distinguishes between two types: master morality and slave morality. The former, typical of ancient warrior aristocracy, results from authentic creative activity, self-affirmation, and life, based on the concepts of “good” and “bad” (gut and schlecht). Slave morality, the instrument of vengeance of the weak and servile, stems from resentment against the strong, a re-action against noble values, based on “good” (gut) and “evil” (böse).
The moral critique is addressed in “On the Genealogy of Morality,” studying “good and evil” and “good and bad.” He shows that “good” initially meant noble, and “bad” meant tacky. Later, these terms acquire a moral character, with the poor (commoners) rebelling, calling themselves good and the nobles wicked. This transmutation, initiated by Jews and continued by Christians, is a product of resentment. Thus, Western society is created from resentment.
Critique of Philosophy
Regarding the critique of philosophy, Nietzsche rejects Western metaphysics, except for Heraclitus. He attacks the concept of “self,” rejecting Cartesian and Kantian notions of self, substance, and cause. For him, there are no causes or effects, only events; blind necessity and randomness control the world. Nietzsche also transforms the concept of truth. There is no truth in itself, no things in themselves, no facts themselves, but perspectives or interpretations.
Critique of Religion
The critique of religion focuses on Christianity, arising from the moralism of antiquity and Platonism. For Nietzsche, Christianity represents the loss of instincts, annihilating life’s values with the concept of sin. For him, Christianity is a vulgar morality from God. It is necessary to kill God for man to regain ownership of his existence (Nietzsche would be among the harshest critics of Western culture).
The death of God reveals a culture doomed to nihilism due to the absence of values. We use two senses of nihilism: passive, the declining power of the mind (weakened will power), and active, the growing power of the mind (strengthened will). Compared to passive nihilism, Nietzsche wants to react with active nihilism, annihilating current values as a precondition for revaluation.