Nietzsche's Metaphysics: Will to Power and Eternal Return
Nietzsche's Metaphysics
The Phenomenon of God's Death
Nietzsche proclaims the phenomenon of God's death. Men who no longer believe in God, or who realize that He has been "killed," often cannot understand the magnitude of this echo. This transformation results in a profound loss of order.
Many still deny the existence of God but maintain processes and behaviors that only make sense within the context of His existence. Nietzsche regarded a profound reflection on the consequences of the death of God as a priority for his philosophy.
The Dual Task of Nietzschean Philosophy
Nietzsche's work required two major efforts:
- Performing a critique of Western culture.
- Creating a new philosophy (Zarathustra) with topics like the death of the will, the Superman (Übermensch), and the Will to Power.
For a long time, metaphysics was linked to the existence of God, representing a way of seeing the world that Nietzsche believed must be overcome.
From Tragic Wisdom to the Metaphysics of Being
The ancient Greeks accepted the tragic nature of human life. To express the mystery of life, two aesthetic forces developed:
- The Apollonian: Values of reason, order, and balance.
- The Dionysian: Unbridled desire, chaos, and intoxication.
When these forces were balanced, a wisdom existed—a tragic wisdom—that accepted life as a mystery. However, the downfall of many virtues supported this tragic wisdom. When the balance between these two forces led to a crisis, this aesthetic disappeared.
Following the arguments of philosophers, the conclusion was reached that Platonic Being is intelligible, immutable, and eternal. With the triumph of Apollonian reason, the Metaphysics of Being was born.
The Central Concept: Life and Will to Power
Once men stop believing in God, they can no longer maintain the framework containing Platonic philosophy. Nietzsche attempts to describe the central concept of his philosophy: Life. He consistently uses this concept to refer to the real, because the ultimate nature of reality is life itself.
Influence of Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer was the philosopher who most influenced Nietzsche. Schopenhauer argued that reality is the Will—that at the bottom of everything there is a force, the Will to Live. This force feeds desires, turning them into an absence of fulfillment due to non-compliance.
Nietzsche's Affirmation of Life
Zarathustra's philosophy is positive towards life. Life is random, unchecked, and the way of our destiny. It possesses a creative capacity that emerges through time. Therefore, Nietzsche defines this force not merely as a desire to live, but as the Will to Power (Wille zur Macht).
In Nietzsche's metaphysics, Becoming (Devenir) suggests that there is only one finite world, and this world is like life itself. In Nietzsche's philosophy, we see a radical conception of reality and irrationality.
The Eternal Return of the Same
This radical conception developed into his idea of the Eternal Return of the Same. Life, understood as the Will to Power, must be grasped as a reality stripped of any inherent purpose.
This concept is difficult to understand after centuries of Christianity, which implemented a linear conception of time where everything has meaning and purpose. Nietzsche, however, discovers a circular conception of time in which there is no beginning or end, and everything is random, without inherent order or sense. The moment is all there is.