Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Historical Context and Nihilism
Nietzsche’s Historical Context
Economy
During the Second Industrial Revolution, large cities saw the rise of big factories, fueled by railway development, electricity, and the chemical industry. This led to significant lifestyle changes.
Society
A new class, the “proletariat,” emerged, living on minimal earnings. This class existed alongside the bourgeoisie. These two classes challenged the old aristocracy.
Politics
Nineteenth-century liberalism aimed to dismantle the privileges of the nobility and establish a state based on freedom and equality. This involved creating a government with a division of powers (judicial, legislative, and executive).
Culture
The most important cultural movements were Romanticism in the first half of the nineteenth century and positivism in the second half.
Nihilism and Nietzsche’s Critique
Nietzsche’s intellectual environment was marked by a reaction against positivism. Nihilism represented the perceived end of Western cultural values. Nietzsche criticized Western culture for what he saw as its total decadence. His critique can be summarized in four points:
Critique of Morality
- Nietzsche viewed traditional morality as unnatural and believed that all institutions had failed.
- He argued that Western morality favored the weak, contrasting it with the stronger moral values of the Greeks.
- Nietzsche criticized the “alteration of personality,” where Western individuals attributed positive values to God and retained negative ones.
Critique of Christian Religion
Nietzsche believed that Christian values promoted weakness and inhibited the will. He saw religion as a product of fear and self-loathing, where humans attributed positive qualities to God and retained negative ones.
Critique of Philosophy
Nietzsche argued that metaphysics was meaningless after the perceived death of God, considering it an unreal construct. He believed that only becoming (constant change) existed, leading to his philosophy of Vitality.
Critique of Science
Nietzsche considered positivism a mistake and a lie. He thought science was doomed to failure because it sought to discover nature as something static, while only becoming or flux truly existed.
The New Dawn: Nietzsche’s Vision
Nietzsche proposed a “new dawn,” a rebirth of Western civilization with a new human prototype: the Übermensch (superman). This individual would embrace different values, needing no religion and assuming the risks of life. The superman embodies vitality, akin to a Greek hero valuing strength, ambition, and courage. This figure breaks with Western philosophical values, embodying what Nietzsche defined as the “Dionysian spirit.”