Nietzsche's Philosophy: Will to Power, Nihilism, and the Death of God

Friedrich Nietzsche's Core Philosophy

His philosophy presented the world as illusory yet real. Nietzsche reproaches Kant's metaphysical knowledge, and his sarcasm targets Kant's Critique. For Nietzsche, Kant is a despised figure, a "German platter" due to his rationalist and mystical tinge. Nietzsche uses the term "Dionysian."

Regarding the Ding an sich (thing in itself), questions about the soul, God, and freedom find their application in Kant's moral practice and moral faith.

Nietzsche and Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner was, for a time, the prototype of the creative artist for Nietzsche. However, Nietzsche's hope regarding the work Parsifal led to disappointment and a subsequent break between them.

The Philosophy of Life and Will to Power

Both Nietzsche and Unamuno are considered proponents of tragic forms of the philosophy of life (philosophia vitae). They seek to determine the truth of life. Nietzsche and Unamuno provide solutions to the absurdity of the world by affirming the will. Life is viewed as a constant Dionysian force, a world called the Will to Power.

The Philosophers of Suspicion

Nietzsche, along with Freud and Marx, are called the Philosophers of Suspicion due to their attempt to unmask the unseen realities behind appearances.

Nihilism and the Death of God

Nietzsche's philosophy is also nihilistic par excellence. The key moment for nihilism comes when Nietzsche presents it through the metaphor of the Death of God. This event opens a gap in symbolic resources used to represent the world and life. Nihilism begins with the negation of the real world in favor of a higher world. Nihilism is the reaction against the supersensible world, resulting in "nothing of higher values."

Nietzsche is left alone with life devoid of values and purpose; the nihilist agent has killed God.

Forms of Nihilism

• Passive Nihilism: Everything is equal, everything is completed; the nihilist perspective does not change.
• Active Nihilism: Sets the stage for the next revaluation, carried out by the Übermensch (Superman).

Rejection of Traditional Morality

Nietzsche rejects egalitarianism and decline. He loathes the idealizing process initiated by Kantian morality, utilitarianism, and Christianity. For Nietzsche, true virtue is hostile (to conventional morality); life is asserted through it. The Will to Power is the sign of the Übermensch's self-overcoming.

He admired all Pre-Socratics, summarized by the phrase: "Comodeseodesaber."

Legacy and Influence

Nietzsche has influenced many thinkers:

• Karl Jaspers: Capable of detecting the situation of our time as a state of crisis created by man from a continued desire for transformation.
• Martin Heidegger: Concerned with the sense of Being in a historical and temporal context, and individual freedom.
• Miguel de Unamuno: Developed the doctrine of the "man of flesh and blood," a clear opposition to rationalist ratio-vitalism.
• José Ortega y Gasset.

Impact on Political and Social Thought

• Individualists: Admire the individualism he defends against the abstract concept of "mankind."
• Anarchists: Admire him because he defends a force (the Will to Power) that replaces the will of God, making us masters of ourselves and overcoming slavery.