Nietzsche: Unmasking Reason's Errors in Philosophy

Nietzsche's Critique of Reason and Philosophical Error

For Nietzsche, the error lies not in the senses but in reason, which is compelled to develop concepts to comprehend life, regulate, manage, and survive constant change (becoming). However, recognizing that error originates there does not mean we can avoid it; in fact, we "need the error." While reason provides us with categories like identity, unity, and substance, we understand that reality itself does not conform to them. Yet, our language requires these concepts to be meaningful.

The Genesis of Psychological Concepts

The genesis of "rudimentary" psychology occurs as humans become aware of their language and question what lies behind words. What they discover are the very concepts they have worshipped ever since (a form of crude fetishism). The operation of reason led to the creation of entities such as the "I," "will," "substance," and "thing." The first concept constructed is the "I," and the primary habit of language is to attribute an action to an agent. For Nietzsche, however, this is not a reality but a postulate or a logical-metaphysical belief.

The Subject, Causality, and Philosophical Habits

The subject is conceived as the one who performs the action and, therefore, is credited with an existence independent of that action—a substance. Nietzsche discusses this pre-philosophical habit, noting its persistence into the philosophical period (e.g., Descartes, Plato). The attribution of causality to the self establishes a model for understanding other cause-effect relationships, thereby organizing the world according to the principle of causality.

Reason's Origin of Categories and Platonic Ideas

Nietzsche also refers to early philosophers who attributed the origin of categories to reason itself, arguing that, given their characteristics, these categories could not have originated from the sensible world. He further alludes to the Platonic theory of the preexistence of the soul, reincarnation, and the innateness of ideas.

Linguistic Constraints and Metaphysical Assertions

Even if we deny the validity of reason and its categories, we cannot cease to speak. And in speaking, we must employ grammatical structures, inevitably asserting that "something" is. To that extent, language continues to affirm the existence of a substance and, ultimately, of God, as the cause and explanatory principle of all substances.