Unpacking Nietzsche: Values, Nihilism, and the Übermensch

Nietzsche's Critique of Language and Metaphysics

Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy offers a profound critique of language and truth, even acknowledging a multiple and plural reality. This stands in stark contrast to the criticism he waged against traditional metaphysics, which posited that things of highest value reside in another world, characterized by being good, real, static, or false. Yet, Nietzsche asserts that no such division exists; it is merely an invention of philosophers, heavily influenced by Socrates and Plato.

Challenging Western Philosophical Tradition

Nietzsche believed that the biggest mistake of Western culture lies in its attempt to establish rationality based on the immobility of being, a concept self-invented by Plato. This dogmatism, he argues, is a system in decline that opposes the instinctive and biological nature of humanity. Therefore, it is imperative to embrace moral values that affirm life.

The Transmutation of Values

In his critique of traditional morality, Nietzsche defends the idea that this morality is unnatural because it upholds laws or provisions contrary to the principles of life. Furthermore, its ideal – to 'do good' to humanity – is alienating as it is based on another world. This refers to Plato's world of Ideas and, later, Christian metaphysics. Nietzsche, by contrast, denies God and the concept of human responsibility to a divine being, famously stating that "life ends at the kingdom of God." He therefore opposes a moral world order that considers itself external to the world itself.

Nietzsche's View on Positive Sciences

Nietzsche also takes his stance against the positive sciences in his critique of traditional metaphysics. He argues that while they offer new nuances of reality, they cannot explain the world because they are only valid for quantities, not qualities like passion or tenderness. Therefore, he contends that we need to transcend this tradition.

Understanding Nietzschean Nihilism

Nihilism, for Nietzsche, marks a time characterized by the loss of traditional values. It has a downside, as its essence is rooted in the Platonic-Christian tradition, but it is also positive because it represents a starting point for liberation. Nietzschean nihilism unfolds in three stages:

• Destruction: In the first stage, the destruction of traditional values and the re-evaluation of the natural world's order leads to a loss of meaning.
• Acceptance: The second stage, however, is the acceptance of nihilism as a necessary consequence and a departure from the Platonic-Christian tradition.
• New Perspective: The final stage of nihilism serves as a starting point for reflection, leading to a new perspective of being and of humanity through the Will to Power, which culminates in the concept of the Übermensch.

The Concept of the Übermensch

The Übermensch embodies the Will to Power to live on Earth creatively, *beyond good and evil*. Therefore, the Übermensch is capable of creating new values and ideals not directed towards God, accepting life as it is, with all its diversity, contrasts, and hierarchies. Furthermore, this Übermensch denies any spiritual utopia, gentleness, meekness, or spiritual alignment.

Metamorphoses of the Spirit

The Übermensch is forged through the three metamorphoses of the spirit:

1. The camel (I must) becomes a lion (I can), representing sheer force.
2. The lion eventually transforms into the child (I will).

The child embodies the affirmation of life in every action, representing pure Will to Power. The child accepts and desires difference, which is essential because reality is diversity, evolution, and perspective.

Affirming Life: Eternal Recurrence and Dionysian Art

In fact, Nietzsche defended the Eternal Recurrence, arguing that the world consists of a finite number of elements; therefore, their combinations are also finite and must repeat themselves if we consider an infinite time ahead. On the other hand, like reality, humanity is a multitude of instincts and impulses at war. Nietzsche represents this worldview through Dionysian Greek art (life, passion, ecstasy, chaos) instead of the Apollonian art (beauty, order, harmony), which had represented Western philosophy developed after Socrates and Plato, whom Nietzsche, along with Christianity, held responsible for Western cultural deviance.