Nietzsche’s Radical Philosophy: Values, Reality, Becoming
Unnatural Morality
Nietzsche believes morality is unnatural because it opposes life and its inherent nature. He equates the strength of life with the strength of instincts, which are manifested as passions. This natural morality is healthy, yet we are taught an alternative, unnatural morality. This unnatural morality often conceives God as a condemnation or criticism of life itself. Nietzsche critiques Platonism for positing ideas in a separate realm, detached from this world. For Nietzsche, life is the sole reality; conventional morality is merely fiction, falsehood, and slander. He distinguishes between two fundamental types of morality: master morality and slave morality.
The Apparent World as Reality
For Nietzsche, the senses do not deceive. The only world that truly exists is the one perceived through our senses. This leads him to assert that the apparent world is the real world. Conversely, the so-called “true world” posited by other philosophers is merely a fabrication. He criticizes Plato for championing a “real world” of Forms separate from tangible things, and Kant for positing a noumenal world beyond the phenomenal. According to Nietzsche, the sole existing world is our own—the earthly world, situated in space and time. He views the invention of a separate, “true” world as the fundamental error of metaphysics since Socrates, an error that confuses the nature of becoming. This philosophical tradition culminates in the defense of two distinct worlds: one apparent (dismissed as unreal) and another rational (held as true).
The Dionysian and Apollonian
Nietzsche introduces two fundamental concepts: the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Apollonian represents the world as appearance, order, and form, while the Dionysian expresses the primal will, chaos, and intoxication. Nietzsche exalts the Dionysian as the embodiment of the will to live, contrasting it with the Apollonian, which he sees as an escape from life’s raw realities. The aesthetic ideal of the Dionysian spirit, for Nietzsche, was initially found in Wagnerian drama. Apollo signifies the art of perfect forms and clear distinctions. In contrast, Dionysus is an indefinable, untamed force, constantly striving to live, feel, and express itself through ecstatic, rhythmic, and often chaotic music and dance. He is the god of excess, of sexual ardor, the god of the night. Nietzsche posits a fundamental tension or “dislocation” between the Apollonian tendency towards rational, ordered contemplation and the tragic, eternal, Dionysian flux of the world.
Nihilism: The Decline of Western Values
Nietzsche observes that Western humanity is increasingly finding itself without metaphysics, without God, and without a foundation for traditional morality. He views Western history as a story of decadence, a progressive negation of life-affirming values. He distinguishes between two forms of nihilism:
- Passive Nihilism: A pessimistic acceptance of the perceived meaninglessness and lack of inherent value in life.
- Active Nihilism: A force that seeks to destroy existing, decadent values, thereby clearing the path for a new horizon of values.
Nietzsche proposes overcoming nihilism through a radical transformation based on three core concepts: the Overman (Übermensch), the Will to Power, and the Eternal Recurrence.
Revaluation of All Values
For Nietzsche, conventional morality is a deceptive force that has led to humanity’s decay. He considers the prevailing morality the great lie against life, history, and society. To unmask this deception, he investigates the origins of moral concepts like “good” and “evil,” revealing a double standard stemming from the distinct moralities of masters and slaves. Nietzsche affirms the necessity of a radical reform of values—a “revaluation of all values” (Umwertung aller Werte). This involves shattering the old tables of values and establishing a new hierarchy. Through this revaluation, Western civilization will be left without the values it has held until now, because those values were false and ultimately denied life itself.
The Innocence of Becoming
Nietzsche articulates his thesis on the innocence of becoming, a concept intertwined with the Overman and eternal recurrence. He argues that if we acknowledge no inherent, transcendent order or ultimate purpose in the world, then we cannot subject it to moral judgment. Consequently, he proposes replacing all moral condemnations and approvals with a profound affirmation of existence, liberated from teleological constraints or external valuations. To fully embrace and affirm the innocence of becoming is to achieve ultimate freedom. This involves accepting life in its entirety, with all its creation and destruction. To die is to pass out of being. Life is not simply a progression towards death; rather, an understanding and acceptance of death and cyclical change are conditions for the emergence of new life and the continuous affirmation of existence.