Nietzsche's Philosophy: Essential Concepts

Nietzsche's Core Philosophical Concepts

The Problem of "Egyptianism" in Philosophy

The term "Egyptianism" (or a similar concept in Nietzsche's thought) refers to a philosophical tendency that defines a certain quality among Western philosophers and the historical spirit. It is characterized by a failure to grasp genuine historical understanding and a reliance on fixed, rather than useful, sources of moral values. This approach, which reflects a static notion of becoming, ultimately leads philosophy to develop empty concepts.

The Primacy of the Senses

For Nietzsche, the senses provide us with immediate and individual knowledge. This is the basic form of all knowledge, supplied by both our internal and external perceptual systems. The senses, in his view, are not deceptive; they reveal plurality and constant modification.

"Cobweb Weavers": Nietzsche's Critique of Philosophers

Nietzsche referred to certain Western philosophers as "cobweb weavers," implying they were 'sick' due to their intellectual problems. He believed their minds created grand concepts like God, positing them as self-caused entities, thereby deceiving humankind.

The "Death of God" and Moral Collapse

For Nietzsche, God represented the ideal moral underpinning of Western culture. He argued that the 'death of God' signified the collapse of this moral foundation and the downfall of the values upon which Western culture had been built.

Nietzsche's Rejection of Decadent Reason

Reason, one of the key values underlying Western civilization alongside progress and science, reveals for Nietzsche a decadent vitality. He saw it as incapable of achieving high goals for humanity. Nietzsche rejected positivism and, consequently, this form of reason, which he believed provided false testimony regarding the senses.

The Affirmation of Life (Vitalism)

For Nietzsche, life is fundamentally life itself; human life is something one controls and decides upon. As a vitalist, he believed life does not possess a mechanistic sense but is rather a matter of human values transcending mere biological processes.

Language, Appearance, and the Nature of Reality

For Nietzsche, language merely creates metaphors that attempt to express the relations of things concerning human beings. Thus, a word is nothing more than a metaphor, often a socially acceptable appearance or error. The concepts of error and appearance are closely linked to Nietzsche's conception of life. He argued that Western civilization, particularly through Platonism, erroneously founded all its values by establishing a hierarchy between two worlds: truth and appearance. This framework, he believed, permanently altered what is manifest to the senses and the process of becoming. For Nietzsche, the apparent world is the only real world.

Nietzsche's View on Empiricism

Empiricism, a philosophical system based on experience, contradicts the categories of reason as understood by many Western philosophers.

Rejecting the Immortality of the Soul

For Nietzsche, the Judeo-Christian concept of the immortality of the soul is rejected as a negation of life itself. His radical atheism leads the philosopher to assert that only the triumph of earthly life—multiple, and in constant motion—is truly possible.

The Emptiness of "Supreme Concepts"

For Nietzsche, "supreme concepts" or abstract images are empty. They occupy the space that was once filled by earlier intuitions, like the last wisps of smoke that eventually evaporate.