183-193
Saturday, Nietzsche November 12, 2011
1:37 PM
Nietzsche believed that the fundamental creative force that motivates all creation is the will to
power. We all seek to affirm ourselves, to dominate, to flourish.
We are all unequal in ability to do these things, as the strong will succeed over the weak.
Judeo-Christian morality = slave morality. An invention of jealous priests, envious and resentful
of the power of the noble, prescribes that we give up the will to power and excellence and
become meek and mild, that we believe the lie that all humans are of equal worth.
In place of God and intrinsic value, we must create our own value.
Nietzsche agrees with Aristotle and Plato in the beliefs that the masses are worthless.
(Some argued that Nietzsche inspired the Nazi movement, but Nietzsche argue would that Hitler
was the embodiment of the herd mentality.
Existentialism is a call to look inward, to develop one's own personal philosophy of life, to get
one's priorities right. Existentialists deplored the tendency of humanity to become slaves of
technologies, shadows of their shadows. The decried the herd mentality of modern people, their
susceptibility to peer pressure, what others think.
Instead we need to look within ourselves, and find personal truth.
Existence precedes essence: Existentialism denies the priorities of finding objective truth (main
philosophy of Plato and Aristotle). What is important is what we do about ourselves, what we do
with the light we have within ourselves.
Sartre said that there is no human nature. We are what we make out of ourselves.