Friedrich Nietzsche

The purpose of philosophy is NOT a "critique of words by means of other words". The purpose is to facilitate the emergence of the great individual.

Higher Man

Nietzsche is only writing for the Higher man. They are separated from the rest of mankind by the constitution of his internal being. He has an array of powerful and potent drives/instincts engaged in battle with each other. In order to attain greatness, he should impose order on himself. This is his lives mission.

Herd Morality

But because this is difficult, there is a chance that he will seek out mediocrity by conforming. This is the herd instinct - an innate need to obey and conform. Eg. obeying what is good/bad(Morality). The generally accepted morality is called the Herd Morality.

To escape this, it is necessary to live the life of solitude - away from the herd. He should ask himself questions like...

• Why do I live?
• What lesson have I learned from life?
• How do I become what I am and why do I suffer from being what I am?

The most important questions are 'Why do I live' and 'why do I suffer'.

Man does not mind suffering - as long as it has a meaning.

Existentialism

When he said "God is Dead", he understood that the dominant ideas about life's purpose has become just stories. This will drive many to despair - as our lives do not have any inherent meaning.

This might lead to Nihilism - there is no meaning.

But Nietzsche was an 'Anti-Nihilist'. He believed that Nihilism was a result of misguided desire to give life an objective meaning. The thought that truth does not exist - hence objective meaning was impossible.

One can know the world only thru ones own interpretation of it. They should make their interpretation of the world to be 'life promoting'. This is how people can escape Nihilism - by creating meaning in their own life.

Suffering

The discipline of going thru suffering has created all enhancements of man.

Uberman

Nietzsche created this as an Ideal for the Higher man to pursue. He is a perfect and powerful being - he has overcome all his fears and deficiencies.

There hasn't been such a man yet. And it can be attained only at some rapturous moments. After that they go back to being "human, all too human".

The higher man can see the difference between himself and the uberman - this might cause him to have self-hate - but this can drive him towards growth.

Affirmation of life

Amor Fate / Love of Fate

Even if life has much suffering, we should love it/affirm it.

Eternal Recurrence

This is a psychological test to see if one is in a state of 'yes-saying'(life affirming).

If you had to repeat your current life for all eternity, will you be happy or sad?

The higher man understands that his tremendous moments were born from his darkest experiences. This lets him celebrate tragedy as an 'Yes-sayer'.