Anderson Ritzhaupt: A Little History of Philosophy - Chapter 29

The Death Of God

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most provocative figures in the history of philosophy. Chapter 29 of Warburton's A Little History of Philosophy offers one of the clearest introductions to Nietzsche's philosophy. This includes his critique of morality, his opinions of modern culture, and his call for humans to transform themselves.

Nietzsche's Starting Point: Morality as a Human Creation

Warburton begins by highlighting one of Nietzsche's most famous and disruptive ideas: morality is not created or given by God nor a universal truth, but a human creation. This idea is rooted is in genealogical approach, which is how he found the origins and development of moral concepts, developed in works like On the Genealogy of Morality.

Instead of timeless commandments, Nietzsche sees moral rules as outcomes of struggles or, coping, especially between groups with different forms of power. The "slave morality" of humility and obedience was a strategy by the weak to undermine the strong. He describes in The Genealogy of Morality Ancient Greece and how aristocrats, "built their lives around ideas of honour, shame and heroism...rather than kindness, generosity..." (LHP 173) and the slaves saw this and envied it. This feeling of envy eventually turned into, "a new set of values." (LHP 173) The prior aristocratic values strength and honor was no longer held by the slaves and instead, "the slaves made generosity and care for the weak into virtues." (LHP 174) Nietzsche thought that people who followed the slave morality, "treated the acts of the powerful as evil and their own fellow feelings as good." (LHP 174) Nietzsche's idea of humans creating morality was something that was not very popular, as many people had not thought about the origins of morality or just believed that God created it. This is just one example of a philosophical idea that many people agreed upon and offered a counterargument to the popular held belief.

God is Dead - But What Now?

Warburton opens up the chapter with the words, "God is Dead" (LHP 171) but what does this actually mean. Is he saying Nietzsche is claiming that God has been slain and no longer exists in any form. Not quite. Moreover, Nietzsche claims that, "belief in God had stopped being reasonable." (LHP 171) This means that traditional sources of meaning were no longer valid: Christianity and moral systems. Many problems are created if this is true. For example, if God was really dead, there would be no basis for morality. Our ideas of right and wrong no longer hold any value. Clear guidelines of how we should live vanish as nothing is there to hold us accountable. But for Nietzsche, he most feared humans drifting into nihilism, a state where nothing seems valuable or reasonable. His answer to this question was that if God has died, "individuals could now create their own values for themselves." (LHP 173) If God has really died, there is no longer a, "safety net" (LHP 172). In other words, religion was put in place to provide rules on how humans should live their lives. If that is taken away then their are no guidelines on how humans need to act. This would, in Nietzsches mind, allow humans to live for themselves and not try to please God. Humans would develop their own style of living and not be limited to the restrictions religion puts on them.

The Übermensch and Self-Creation

One of the most intriguing ideas in the chapter is Nietzsche's notion of The Übermensch, or Super-Man. Warburton often clarifies that Nietzsche is not stating that their is a "superior race" or the domination of others. Rather the Super-Man is a new state in human evolution. A state that is achievable by self-overcoming, a person who creates meaning in a world without set in stone rules. This person is not held back by moral codes, but goes beyond them, and creates new values for themselves. Warburton thought this was worrying because he believed this, "support those who see themselves as heroic and want to have their way without consideration of other people's interests." (LHP 174) Warburton believed that thinking of yourself as a Super-Man would cause you to lose touch in reality and treat other people as if they do not matter. Unfortunately, many people believe that this idea was taken and used by the Nazis to support the belief of a supreme race. This caused the general public to associate Nietzsche with anti-semitism, ruining his image.

The Problem of Herd Thinking

Chapter 29 begins to introduce Nietzsche's critique of herd thinking, meaning conforming with society. Nietzsche argues that most people prefer comfort and safety over expressing themselves. He believes people do this because it is familiar, avoids conflict, and because it provides easy answers. Warburton describes how Nietzsche rebels against this effect. He thought that Christianity and other modern democracies promoted equity and conformity at the expense of excellence. Nietzsche did not agree with this way of thinking. He thought that, "Christianity and the morality from it treats every individual as having the same worth; Nietzsche thought that was a serious mistake." (LHP 174) This idea was not very popular because the progressive notion of the time was trying to promote equality. Nietzsche flips that on its head and states that people that can break from the herd are not worth the same as people who are stuck in the herd, making them superior.

Saying Yes to Existence

Warburton ends off the chapter by emphasizing Nietzsche's idea of life affirmation, the courage to embrace existence, with all it's suffering and uncertainty. This is where is famous quote of, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger. " Meaning that humans will prevail through the inevitable tough times and be able to apply them to future suffering. This way of thinking is best captured in Nietzsche's idea of eternal recurrence. This means that every event in life will repeat infinitely and identically. The question is will you curse it or embrace it?

The Ongoing Challenge of Nietzsche

Warburton's presentation of Nietzsche is concise but powerful. Nietzsche challenges us to examine the origins of morality and our values, to resist the herd and conformity, and to live creatively without restrictions within a world with no guaranteed meaning. Chapter 29 captures a philosopher who is both unsettling and inspiring. One who forces us to confront ourselves and rethink what it means to live a meaningful life. His beliefs are not meant to destroy, but to clear away old ideas and make room for growth to occur. And that remains one of the most urgent philosophical tasks of our time.