From: Juan Cruz <juancarloscruz-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: What made Nietzsches philosophy so special?
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 13:28:02 PST


What made Nietzsches philosophy so special and complex? For one thing we 
can say that he is one of the most aggressive philosophers, and another 
thing is form of writing.  Nietzsche called his school of philosophy 
Immoralist, it was a way of turning away from the common view of 
scientists, philosophers and priests.  Nietzsche gives us most of his 
writings as a fusion of Metaphor, poetry and science, so mostly when he 
makes an intellectual or science statements it falls apart at the joints.  
Nietzsche writes in that form because he gives a lot of value to the 
aesthetically notion of the world.  In fact he said that before Socrates in 
the pre-Socratic period everything was beautiful, strong, aesthetic and that 
Socrates destroyed all that.  Nietzsche said that Socrates taking reason and 
science to extreme destroyed the beauty of Greece.  He never forgave Plato 
for setting up a hero, which talked everybody down with reason statements.
  For Nietzsche individuality was very important trait in a man, also 
personal pride, being able to stand on your own two feet, and not having to 
depend on a special God to do everything for you.  But we have to point out 
that Nietzsche does not profess a dumb or stupid atheism but someone who is 
committed personally to deny any form of divine justice and existence.
  But Nietzsche saw mankind as weak slaves to convention that most people 
dont even examine their way of living.  In other words we are like sheep of 
the herd, followers.  So thats what makes our lives so inauthentic.
  Nietzsche said that there are four great mistakes, world mistakes which 
must be attacked and they are: the Christian morality, the morality of the 
philosophers, the ordinary peoples morality (the herd), and the morality 
coming from Greece, in which played a big part.  Nietzsche was against 
Christianity not Christ because the positive values of Christianity take 
away mans strength, pride and individuality.  He said that morality and 
religion leaves a man dead and empty.  Another thing he attacked was secular 
morality or the morality of philosophers, because they are based on systems, 
laws which limits mans imagination and greatness.  The other one he hated 
very much was the ordinary morality.  Nietzsche attacked compassion when it 
comes from the powerful and strong.  As I understand it in plain words he 
said that all compassion does is take away your individuality, personality 
and self-hood, by not being able to care for your own self and authenticity. 
  For example, lets say that Im sick, so if I am strong I would instead of 
crying of whining for help or compassion from others, care for my own self. 
Christianity is called the religion of pity.-- Pity stands in opposition to 
all the tonic passions that augment the energy of the feeling of aliveness: 
it is a depressant. A man loses power when he pities. Through pity that 
drain upon strength which suffering works is multiplied a thousandfold. 
Suffering is made contagious by pity; under certain circumstances it may 
lead to a total sacrifice of life and living energy--a loss out of all 
proportion to the magnitude of the cause (--the case of the death of the 
Nazarene). This is the first view of it; there is, however, a still more 
important one. If one measures the effects of pity by the gravity of the 
reactions it sets up, its character as a menace to life appears in a much 
clearer light. Pity thwarts the whole law of evolution, which is the law of 
natural selection. It preserves whatever is ripe for destruction; it fights 
on the side of those disinherited and condemned by life; by maintaining life 
in so many of the botched of all kinds, it gives life itself a gloomy and 
dubious aspect. Mankind has ventured to call pity a virtue (--in every 
superior moral system it appears as a weakness--); going still further, it 
has been called the virtue, the source and foundation of all other 
virtues--but let us always bear in mind that this was from the standpoint of 
a philosophy that was nihilistic, and upon whose shield the denial of life 
was inscribed.
  Aristotle, as every one knows, saw in pity a sickly and dangerous state of 
mind, the remedy for which was an occasional purgative: he regarded tragedy 
as that purgative. The instinct of life should prompt us to seek some means 
of puncturing any such pathological and dangerous accumulation of pity as 
that appearing in Schopenhauer's case (and also, alack, in that of our whole 
literary decadence, from St. Petersburg to Paris, from Tolstoi to Wagner), 
that it may burst and be discharged. . . Nothing is more unhealthy, amid all 
our unhealthy modernism, than Christian pity. To be the doctors here, to be 
unmerciful here, to wield the knife here--all this is our business, all this 
is our sort of humanity, by this sign we are philosophers, we Hyperboreans 
!-
  Even Makiaveli said that the only actions that are right are those that 
comes from our own self.
  Another thing he was against was systems.  He said that weather they are 
scientific systems or moral systems or laws, regulations and rules in 
general.
  For Nietzsche the value of the democratic ideal is very low, and we can 
see it clearly.  He said that democracy is a system based on human rights 
or equal rights.  He never forgave Rousseau for encouraging the French 
Revolution.  He praised the Great and the Noble, and that in democratic 
system  everyone would have equal rights and that goes against his 
philosophy of nobles and aristocratics which should have a law onto himself 
and not be limited to rules, laws and regulations of the common, the herd as 
he called them.
  One thing that I liked about Nietzsche  was that he was more of a realist 
than an idealist philosopher.  He considered that too much knowledge and 
science can destroy and individual or a society.  He said that often and 
excess of knowledge cannot even be used positively but rather destructively.
  For him his philosophy would create conflict and enemies and in fact he 
even praised having enemies.  In one of his works: Twilight of the Idols 
he said  that The spiritualisation of enmity consists in the importance 
that has having enemies.
  He said that Political Parties in order to be stronger need enemies, even 
the German Impire needed enemies in order to maintain their power and 
strength.  In one of his quotes about war he said: The paradise exists at 
the shadow of the sword and that marks the symbol of the noble
  Thats why he praised great men like Alexander the Great, Caesar, 
Friedrich The Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Helvetius, Hafis, Davinci, Goncour, 
Dancour, Louis XIV, Thucydides, Goethe, Makiaveli and others because of 
their self-hood, desires and drive to excel to greatness and strive to be 
the best.
  Nietzsches last of goals were: The will to power, the eternal return or 
occurrence, the superman, the aesthetical view of the world.
  Nietzsche is very misunderstood,  just as most people cant understand the 
Bible and Revelations from the Bible, Nietzsche is very misunderstood.  He 
was misunderstood by the Nazis, Hitler and some other dictators of our era 
who have used his statements of aggressiveness for their own interest and 
not to share it with the people to enhance their lives.  Nietzsche  is all 
about greatness, aristocratism, health, strength, knowledge and power, in 
other words all the things that can enhance the human specie, and not about 
evil or corruption as other people dont know how to read him.
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