FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

1. Nietzsche's Critical Project

In 1981, the British philosopher Bernard Williams hailed Nietzsche as the most significant moral philosopher of his time. Williams emphasized Nietzsche's profound insights into the problematic nature of morality as it had been understood for centuries. Nietzsche's ethical thought is primarily critical, aiming to undermine and problematize existing moral frameworks. As Nietzsche himself articulates, there is a pressing need for a thorough critique of moral values, including an examination of the value of these values themselves.

1. Critical Examination of Morality: Nietzsche's core objective is to challenge and critique traditional moral values. He recognizes the complexity involved in reevaluating long-standing moral concepts and standards. By questioning the foundations of morality, Nietzsche initiates a critical dialogue that delves into the inherent complexities of ethical systems.

2. Two Senses of Value: Nietzsche's critique involves two distinct notions of value. One aspect involves scrutinizing the actual set of values prevalent in society and subjecting them to evaluation and assessment. The other aspect pertains to the standards or criteria used to evaluate these values. Nietzsche's critique extends beyond mere rejection and instead prompts a deeper reflection on the nature of value itself.

3. Not Against All Evaluative Systems: It's crucial to note that Nietzsche's critique of moral values does not imply a rejection of all possible evaluative systems. While he challenges prevailing moral norms, Nietzsche also engages in constructing his own evaluative framework. This nuanced approach reflects Nietzsche's recognition of the multifaceted nature of ethics and value systems.

4. Revaluation of All Values: Nietzsche proposes a comprehensive revaluation of all values as part of his ethical project. This revaluation involves a critical reassessment of existing values, leading toward the development of a new system of evaluations. Nietzsche's aim is not mere deconstruction but the creation of a robust ethical framework that incorporates critical insights and positive ethical claims.

2. Nietzsche's Targets and Critiques

a. Diverse Targets of Nietzsche's Critique

• Nietzsche's critical project encompasses a range of targets within moral philosophy. While he primarily challenges the Judeo-Christian moral-religious outlook, he also confronts post-religious secular legacies, Kantian morality, and emerging utilitarianism.
• Additionally, Nietzsche's critiques extend to Platonist metaphysical accounts and their Christian interpretations, as well as specific evaluative commitments like the emphasis on pity or compassion and future-oriented value systems.

• Nietzsche vehemently rejects metaphysical accounts of value grounded in supernatural or otherworldly sources. He aims to "translate humanity back into nature," opposing the notion that human activity is answerable to a divine or transcendent authority.
• This rejection includes dismissing the idea of morality based on God's commands or Platonic ideals like the "Form of the Good."
• Nietzsche's proclamation of the "death of God" signifies the widespread loss of religious faith and its cultural implications.
• He critiques fellow atheists for overlooking the profound impact of this shift, emphasizing the need to understand the associated metaphysical worldview's influence on moral and evaluative systems, even in modern naturalistic perspectives.

c. Attacks on the Metaphysical Basis of Moral Agency: Nietzsche challenges traditional metaphysical concepts underpinning moral agency, such as free will and consciousness as the source of action.

1. Rejection of Free Will: Nietzsche argues against the metaphysical notion of free will, highlighting its logical contradictions and questioning its coherence. His critique extends to the practical and psychological motivations behind the belief in free will, impacting notions of moral responsibility and agency.

2. Denial of Conscious Control: Nietzsche contests the idea that human action primarily arises from conscious decision and control. He underscores the significant role of unconscious processes in human behaviour, challenging the conventional understanding of consciousness and its causal influence on action.

• Nietzsche's objections extend to the normative content of morality, particularly focusing on the concept of "Mitleid" or pity/compassion. He views Christianity as a religion of pity and critiques the centrality of pity in moral codes prevalent in his time.
• Nietzsche links the morality of pity not only to Christianity but also to utilitarianism, socialism, and Schopenhauer's ethics.
• Nietzsche argues that pity's emphasis on eradicating suffering overlooks its potential for growth and creativity. He sees pity as fostering a "softness of feeling" and prioritizing the collective well-being of "the herd" over individual greatness.
• Nietzsche's critique of pity delves into its psychological implications, suggesting hidden motives and a self-serving aspect that ultimately leads to nihilism.
• The distinction between pity and compassion plays a role in Nietzsche's critique, with some scholars highlighting compassion as a genuine other-regarding concern compared to pity's potential for superiority and contempt.

• Nietzsche's critical project includes a genealogical examination of morality's origins and development over time. He connects understanding morality's historical roots with evaluating its current value and authority. While some criticize this approach as committing the "genetic fallacy," Nietzsche argues that historical origins can affect current assessments.
• Nietzsche's genealogy of morality reveals its contingent and historical nature, challenging notions of timeless moral truths. He explores the emergence of distinct evaluative systems master morality and slave morality highlighting shifts in values and power dynamics. The slave revolt in morality, according to Nietzsche, led to the dominance of morality that he finds life-denying and not conducive to human flourishing.
• The genealogical critique extends to ascetic ideals and their diverse meanings across different groups. Nietzsche questions even the value of truth as an outgrowth of life-denying ascetic ideals found in morality's historical evolution.

f. Psychological Critique

• Nietzsche delves into a psychological analysis of moral feelings and behaviour, aiming to reveal hidden motives and inaccuracies in our self-understanding of moral experiences. He suggests that seemingly compassionate responses often conceal self-serving thoughts and even cruelty.
• Nietzsche argues that feelings of sympathy and compassion can secretly be pleasurable, rooted in a desire for power and superiority over those who suffer.
• Using metaphors of "going underground," Nietzsche connects his psychological analysis with his genealogical critique of morality's historical origins.
• He suggests that our present psychic constitution carries imprints from historical events and struggles, influencing our subconscious motives and responses.
• Nietzsche's insights into hidden motives and self-aggrandizement resonate with many commentators, highlighting the discrepancy between professed moral values and actual behaviours.
• His critique targets the hypocrisy of supposedly moral feelings, aiming to shake readers from uncritical acceptance and prompt a deeper reevaluation of moral ideals.

g. The Threat of Nihilism

• Nietzsche's main concern with our current moral outlook is the potential it holds for leading to nihilism. He perceives a looming danger in the morality of compassion, viewing it as a symptom of a culture on the brink of nihilism.
• Nietzsche's analysis is framed within the context of Europe's post-religious era, where traditional religious underpinnings are collapsing.
• The "death of God" in Nietzsche's view signals a loss of meaning and purpose, with morality facing a crisis of legitimacy. He argues that without supernatural metaphysical foundations, morality's focus on alleviating suffering and promoting equality can lead to a homogenous and mediocre society.
• Nietzsche paints a grim picture of the "last human being" as the embodiment of a nihilistic worldview focused solely on comfort and avoiding suffering, devoid of higher aspirations or values.

3. The Positive Project

Nietzsche's critical project aimed to unsettle our commitment to traditional moral values, which he saw as life-denying and leading to nihilism. In contrast, his positive project offers an alternative ethical worldview focused on questions of how to live a good, flourishing, or healthy life. This positive vision can be broadly categorized as ethical rather than narrowly moral, emphasizing individual flourishing rather than strict moral obligations.

• Higher Types: Nietzsche distinguishes between "higher" and "lower" types of individuals based on their psycho-physical makeup. He rejects the idea of a universal ethical code, instead focusing on what constitutes flourishing for higher types and the conditions for achieving it. Higher types are not limited to specific groups or historical contexts but exhibit traits conducive to flourishing, such as intellectual and artistic endeavours.
• Autonomy: Recent interpretations highlight autonomy as central to Nietzsche's ethical ideal for higher types. Autonomy involves self-mastery and unity of drives, allowing individuals to undertake great tasks and assert their will in the world. Nietzsche's concept of autonomy is distinct from traditional notions of freedom and often involves a robust unity of drives rather than arbitrary choices.
• Authenticity and Self-Creation: Nietzsche emphasizes becoming who one is and self-creation as essential aspects of his ethical vision. Becoming who one is involves fulfilling one's inherent nature, while self-creation requires responding to inner necessities rather than external influences. Nietzsche's concept of creation aligns with notions of necessity and law-governed activity, contrasting with arbitrary choices.
• Affirmation: Central to Nietzsche's positive vision is the notion of affirmation, which involves embracing life's hardships and joys without denial or resentment. Affirmation includes loving one's fate (amor fati) and accepting the idea of eternal recurrence, where one willingly accepts the repetition of one's life, including its challenges, for all eternity. This radical affirmation stands in contrast to life-denying moral values and is a key aspect of Nietzsche's rejection of nihilism.