Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Key Concepts
Apparent World vs. Real World
For Nietzsche, the apparent world is the phenomenal world we perceive through our senses—the world of life. Some philosophers, like Plato, viewed this world as misleading, as it isn’t grasped through fixed, immutable metaphysical concepts. However, Nietzsche believed this apparent world is the only real one.
Traditional metaphysics posits a “real world” with characteristics like immutability, perfection, and unity. Nietzsche argued these are empty, invented properties in opposition to the changing, pluralistic world. He believed philosophers invented this “real world” out of resentment toward life’s values, seeking a perfect revenge in another world.
Nietzsche concludes that the distinction between these two worlds undervalues the real world and symbolizes Western decadence.
Decadent Life
Decadent life, a characteristic of Western culture, is based on values contrary to life and the belief in an objective, true, immutable, and rational world. Nietzsche identifies several periods of Western decline:
- Greek World to the Age of Pericles (5th Century BC): Harmony between Dionysian and Apollonian.
- Euripides, Socrates, and Plato: The beginning of the decline; the triumph of Apollonian over Dionysian; the rise of Platonism.
- Christianity: Platonism for the people; the triumph of slave morality and resentment toward life.
- Contemporary Age: The beginning of the metaphysical crisis and the “death of God”.
- Future: Potential overcoming of Platonism and the emergence of the Superman.
Will to Power
The will to power is a continuous momentum or impulse, a universal driving force for the constant increase of life. It’s a desire for self-mastery, manifested in all aspects of reality. Not a law, but a chaotic struggle of forces, it governs reality as a plurality of expressions.
It has two meanings: a cosmic, universal force constituting the world, and an anthropological effect on humans, influencing moral life and knowledge. In humans, it manifests as a will to life (master morality) or a will to nothingness (slave morality, a weak will). Nietzsche sees the latter as the source of Western decline, as it’s founded on the negation of life.
Nihilism
Nihilism, from the Latin “nihil” (nothing), is used to disqualify doctrines denying important realities or values. For Nietzsche, it’s a historical movement in Western culture with three stages:
- Passive Nihilism (Idealistic Decay): Weak willpower degenerates into nothingness (Platonic-Christian tradition).
- Active Nihilism (Denial of Values): Man becomes aware of the “death of God” and confronts the absurdity of existence, destroying old values.
- Overcoming Nihilism: Creation of new values affirming life and joy, a new perspective for human existence—the emergence of the Superman.