Author: M. Farahi Tojegi
The Evolution of Nihilism and Its Opposition to Religious Faith (Part Four)
Nietzschean Nihilism
Dio Robinson writes: “Nietzsche knew that he was himself a prophet, and the photographers who captured his image usually portrayed him as a man with a mocking appearance, the face of a hippopotamus mustache, and wild, piercing eyes. Nietzsche always imagined he was writing for a more appreciative audience of the future, and he saw himself as a philosopher whose true importance would only be revealed after his death. Perhaps, a hundred years later, we are that audience—and we might regard him as the first great postmodernist.”[1]
Nietzsche considers the beginning of nihilism to be the denial of the joyful and life-affirming Dionysian approach by the rational and moral Apollonian approach in ancient Greece.
According to him, with the emergence of Socratic and later Christian thought, a Socratic-Christian metaphysics appeared, which formed the inner core of Western thinking and produced a set of values. Nietzsche believes that these metaphysical values—the foundation of Socratic-Christian civilization—are now, at the end of modern civilization and the dawn of the postmodern era, in crisis and self-denial. He calls this process of self-negation of the metaphysical values of Western civilization nihilism.
Nietzsche asks: “Why must nihilism now come into being?” His answer: “Because our existing values lead to this conclusion—that is, nihilism—since it is the logical outcome of our greatest values and highest ideals when we think them through to the end.”[2]
In The Will to Power, Nietzsche divides nihilism into two types: active and passive. He describes active nihilism as self-overcoming nihilism and passive nihilism as a form of weakness, baseness, and the emptiness of worldly concerns.
Nietzsche depicts the cultural state of Europe in the modern era as follows: “We Europeans are surrounded by vast ruins, where a few tall buildings still stand, though many of them have been worn and weakened by the force of time and survive only by a miracle, while many others have collapsed. It is, therefore, a rather vivid and fascinating scene. Where else have such beautiful ruins existed? Weeds and wild grass cover everything. This ruined land is the Church. Today we witness that the fundamental pillars of Christian society are trembling, and faith in God has collapsed. The belief in the ideal of Christian asceticism is reaching its final sermon.”[3]
Regarding ideals, Nietzsche asserts: “The lie called ‘the ideal’ has long been the calamity of reality. Because of it, man has become false and artificial to his very core—worshiping values that contradict what alone could ensure his flourishing, his future, and his noble pride.”[4]
Concerning humanity, he writes: “The time will come when we shall pay for two thousand years of Christianity; when we shall lose that heavy burden by which we once managed to live. For a long time, we shall not know what to do—no way back, no way forward, no inward, no outward.”[5]
Nietzsche portrays life in this way: “A learning has emerged, and a belief beside it. Everything is empty; everything is the same; everything has ended. From all the hills, the echo comes back: everything is empty, everything is the same, everything has ended. Indeed, we have harvested, but why are our fruits all rotten and black? What fell last night from the evil moon? Our labor was vain; our wine has turned to poison; an evil eye has struck our crops and our hearts with early decay. We are all dried up, and if fire touches us, we will turn to ashes. Yes, even fire is weary of us. Our eyes are all dried up.”[6]
Nietzsche sees intransigent nihilism as the conviction that existence is absolutely indefensible when compared with the highest values we know. Moreover, it recognizes that we have no right to assign to things a “beyond” or an “in-itself” that is divine or moral in nature.[7]
He describes his nihilism thus: “Why live? Everything is futile. Life is throwing bricks into water; life is burning oneself without ever becoming warm—where the ancient babblings are still called wisdom.”[8]
Nietzsche even justifies suicide: “No one chooses to be born, but one can atone for this mistake—sometimes truly a mistake. To lessen the world’s evil is the best thing one can do; by this, one becomes, more or less, worthy of life.” [9]
Continues…
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References:
[1]. Robbins, Dio. Nietzsche and the Postmodern School, trans. Abutorab Sohrab & Forouzan Nikookar, Forouzan Publications, 1st ed., 2001, p. 2.
[2]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. European Nihilism, trans. Mohammad Baqir Houshyar, Porsesh Publications, 2003, p. 56.
[3]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science, trans. Hamed Fouladvand et al., Jami Publications, 1980, p. 344.
[4]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Ecce Homo, trans. Roya Monajjem, Fekr-e-Rooz Publications, 1995, p. 45.
[5]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science, p. 73.
[6]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, trans. Dariush Ashouri, Nili Publications, 1973, p. 78.
[7]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Will to Power, trans. Majid Sharif, Jami Publications, 1998, p. 26.
[8]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, p. 279.
[9]. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of the Idols, trans. Dariush Ashouri, Agah Publications, 2002, p. 133.
