“Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir”- Fredrick Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil). In these words Nietzsche has so lucidly put across the inherent subjectivity in the various philosophical works. The inescapable link between memories and thoughts more so the cognitive personality of the philosopher on his philosophical works.
An analysis of the philosopher behind any philosophy is an act of objective screening of thoughts from the very point of its origin, which is the philosophers mind itself. The process leads to a more objective deciphering and in depth analysis of thoughts. Nietzsche being my subject I would like to quote him again on the issue “All philosophers have the common failing of starting out from man as he is now and thinking they can reach their goal through an analysis of him...Lack of historical sense is the family failing of all philosophers”- (Human All too Human).
Nietzsche son of a minister and a pious religious woman started off with extreme faith in Christianity and its theology. He in a very early age used to enjoying reading bible in seclusion and reciting it to others with extreme devotion and faith. Two major factors that led to him transgressing from this state of extreme religious faith to staunch atheism was the emergence of Darwinism in the field of biology and science and German Nationalism under the Iron hand of Bismarck. Darwinism destroyed his faith in Christian theology completely while German Nationalism under Bismarck which not only criticized piety and altruism among nation but also practiced Realpolitik. This Blood and Iron politics gave a new him a new definition if virtue based only on strengths and struggle. It in fact validated the struggle for existence as a universal virtue.
His faith was so vehemently obliterated that he declared God is dead: but considering the state the species Man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow will be shown. To his faith his anguish can be seen in these words “I call Christianity the one great curse, the one enormous and innermost perversion, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are too venomous, too underhand, too underground and too petty—I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind.” (Antichrist)
Annihilation of faith however left Nietzsche with many daunting questions about the fate and purpose of humanity. The Christian linear progression of time ending in Armageddon and kingdom of heaven meant nothing to him. His earlier works thus gave a naturalistic inclination where in he held evolution as the purpose in itself. In his work “thus spake Zarathustra” where in he held man kind as a transitory phase in the evolution of superman or Cverman he wrote, Man is a rope, tied between beast and Superman—a rope over an abyss. The superman will mock at us like we mock the apes. (Nazis took this concept of superman and super race rather overzealously and embarked on their catastrophic mission)
Conception of superman was however not the end of his woe. It soon occurred to him that superman cannot be an end in himself. His conception of time was infinite, the question what after superman was his next challenge super-super man or God was not an answer because time was not ending at there also. The concept lived happily ever after was unacceptable to him. It is here that he realized perhaps that numbers of actions possible are finite while time infinite. It is thus he concluded that actions will start repeating itself the way day and night repeats itself; that every thing will return back to the chaos the primordial soup from where it started. It also however destroyed all sense of purpose that life can possibly hold everything was reduced to mere occurrences in the face of time. (It is not to be confused with eastern cyclic philosophy of birth and rebirth because eastern philosophy is far from destroying purpose in human life; it in fact gives purpose transcending life and death)
Nietzsche here achieved a cyclic redundancy in time for all occurrences and action leading ultimately to nothing.
I would love to discuss how such a brilliant mind was eaten away by the internal conflicts within his mind against the morality of his time. How it led to his neurosis and finally relegating him to schizophrenia cutting him off from reality…or perhaps returning him back to peace and tranquillity.
An analysis of the philosopher behind any philosophy is an act of objective screening of thoughts from the very point of its origin, which is the philosophers mind itself. The process leads to a more objective deciphering and in depth analysis of thoughts. Nietzsche being my subject I would like to quote him again on the issue “All philosophers have the common failing of starting out from man as he is now and thinking they can reach their goal through an analysis of him...Lack of historical sense is the family failing of all philosophers”- (Human All too Human).
Nietzsche son of a minister and a pious religious woman started off with extreme faith in Christianity and its theology. He in a very early age used to enjoying reading bible in seclusion and reciting it to others with extreme devotion and faith. Two major factors that led to him transgressing from this state of extreme religious faith to staunch atheism was the emergence of Darwinism in the field of biology and science and German Nationalism under the Iron hand of Bismarck. Darwinism destroyed his faith in Christian theology completely while German Nationalism under Bismarck which not only criticized piety and altruism among nation but also practiced Realpolitik. This Blood and Iron politics gave a new him a new definition if virtue based only on strengths and struggle. It in fact validated the struggle for existence as a universal virtue.
His faith was so vehemently obliterated that he declared God is dead: but considering the state the species Man is in, there will perhaps be caves, for ages yet, in which his shadow will be shown. To his faith his anguish can be seen in these words “I call Christianity the one great curse, the one enormous and innermost perversion, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are too venomous, too underhand, too underground and too petty—I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind.” (Antichrist)
Annihilation of faith however left Nietzsche with many daunting questions about the fate and purpose of humanity. The Christian linear progression of time ending in Armageddon and kingdom of heaven meant nothing to him. His earlier works thus gave a naturalistic inclination where in he held evolution as the purpose in itself. In his work “thus spake Zarathustra” where in he held man kind as a transitory phase in the evolution of superman or Cverman he wrote, Man is a rope, tied between beast and Superman—a rope over an abyss. The superman will mock at us like we mock the apes. (Nazis took this concept of superman and super race rather overzealously and embarked on their catastrophic mission)
Conception of superman was however not the end of his woe. It soon occurred to him that superman cannot be an end in himself. His conception of time was infinite, the question what after superman was his next challenge super-super man or God was not an answer because time was not ending at there also. The concept lived happily ever after was unacceptable to him. It is here that he realized perhaps that numbers of actions possible are finite while time infinite. It is thus he concluded that actions will start repeating itself the way day and night repeats itself; that every thing will return back to the chaos the primordial soup from where it started. It also however destroyed all sense of purpose that life can possibly hold everything was reduced to mere occurrences in the face of time. (It is not to be confused with eastern cyclic philosophy of birth and rebirth because eastern philosophy is far from destroying purpose in human life; it in fact gives purpose transcending life and death)
Nietzsche here achieved a cyclic redundancy in time for all occurrences and action leading ultimately to nothing.
I would love to discuss how such a brilliant mind was eaten away by the internal conflicts within his mind against the morality of his time. How it led to his neurosis and finally relegating him to schizophrenia cutting him off from reality…or perhaps returning him back to peace and tranquillity.
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