Nietszche's Philosophy : Friedrich Nietzsche And Existentialism

Nietzsche is widely known as a critic of religion. In fact, he talks in depth about morality in regards to religion in his essays about the genealogy of morals. But the problem is not within religion itself or within morals. The problem is involved in the combination of the two to create society’s understanding of morality through a very religious lens. In fact, Nietzsche has criticism for almost any set of morals constructed by a group of individuals and meant to be applied to society as a whole. True morality, according to Nietzsche, requires a separation from these group dynamic views of morality- or at least a sincere look into where they originated and why they persist- and a movement towards a more introverted, and intrinsically personalized understanding of what morals mean in spite of the fact that “the normative force to which every member of society is exposed, in the form of obligations, codes of behavior, and other moral rules and guidelines, is disproportionally high” (Korfmacher 6).

A second concept of existentialism is Bad Faith. French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre believed that Bad Faith is the fundamental issue that prevents individuals from living an authentic life. He focused on the concept of radical freedom, in which the individual always has a choice. Since life itself and the universe is absurd, humans are completely responsible for creating their own destiny. Every action performed by the individual ultimately stems from the innate freedom they possess. Sartre looks at the darker aspects of freedom, and notes how “Man is condemned to be free” (Löwith 123). He is suggesting that individuals are thrown into a meaningless world, where he or she is forced to decide for him or herself. As rational beings, humans seek answers and guidelines for how to live, because they do not want to decide for themselves. Because, deciding for oneself means holding oneself responsible for every action performed. The thought of complete and utter responsibility frightens people and influences their decisions to commit acts of bad faith.

Existentialism was in part a reaction to modernism, but its roots can be traced to ancient philosophical traditions ranging from Zoroastrianism and Judaism, Buddhism and Platonism (Flynn). The essence of existentialism is authenticity of experience, asking the philosopher to undergo deep introspection. However, existentialism is perhaps most famous for its probing questions about what Friedrich Nietzsche called the "tension of the soul," (2). Known colloquially as existential angst, the "tension of the soul," search for meaning and purpose in life has characterized personal and collective identity formation in the twentieth century. Books like Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning is quintessentially existential in its approach to the author's coming to terms with his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Existentialism made its mark on the social sciences, and especially psychology. When psychology emerged as a discipline, Sigmund Freud's theories had a clear existential basis due to his emphasis on the death wish and the deeper realms of human consciousness and its phenomenology. Therefore, existentialism has had a tremendous impact on the evolution of Western society in the twentieth century and well into the 21st as well.

“As soon as a religion comes to dominate it has as its opponents all those who would have been its first disciples.” Nietzsche was one of the first modern philosophers to rebel against rationalism and when World War I came about, the revolution against religion truly became a legitimate statement. Friedrich Nietzsche strongly believed that many of those that practiced religion were led to the acceptance of slave morality. Religion had always played a fundamental role in society as it sets strict boundaries and standards of what is morally correct and incorrect. However, Nietzsche claims that, “Human nature is always driven by “ ‘the will to power’ ”, but religion will tell one otherwise, saying that one should forbid their bad desires. In Nietzsche’s

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

In Nietzche’s story, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche uses his character Zarathustra to explain his philosophical beliefs on existentialism. Existentialism, as I interpret it from reading Thus Spoke Zarathurstra, is a belief where the existence of the individual is emphasized. The individual is responsible for their own destiny and must accept this responsibility if they wish to achieve greatness. This theme has influenced western society greatly as in today’s times, as a large emphasis is placed on the individual and the choice of the individual. It is definitely a popular theme in America that everyone should “find themselves”. Nietzche’s philosophical story definitely expands upon that notion significantly.

Although the problem of the relationship between Nietzsche and metaphysics might seem to be a settled issue, this is in fact a quite complicated and fascinating problematic. The difficulty with this subject lies in the often unacknowledged ambiguity that the term ‘metaphysics’ exhibits in Nietzsche's writing, as this word assumes different nuances and connotations in different contexts. Therefore, if we can get past the usual rhetoric on the topic, we come to realize that Nietzsche addresses the topic of metaphysics in at least two distinct ways.

Nietzsche and Kierkegaard are both considered to be the top existentialists for solely different reasons, as well as being very different from each other. They have different philosophies when it comes to their thoughts on religion and it is important to see exactly how they line up in this regard. The best way to do this is to start from the beginning of each’s work, their history and how they grew into their respective roles in their fields. It is also important to note exactly what existentialism is. It is the theory of exercising the idea that the individual has the freedom and free will to develop their own path and existence in a responsible manner. It is a very interesting subject that is debated on the concepts of thinking in absolutes. The need to compare and contrast these two is a volatile understanding of this particular philosophical theory. It is also important to review their thoughts and critique them in the sense of saying what makes sense, and what does not make sense.

Existentialism is a philosophy in which people believe that their actions determine their own expansion as a person. The Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia states, “Sartre nevertheless insisted that his existentialism is a form of humanism, and he strongly emphasized human freedom, choice, and responsibility”

Another philosopher who also a pioneer of existentialism was Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s faith, like Kierkegaard’s, was at one time rooted in Christianity. However, Kierkegaard remained embedded in his faith and Nietzsche abandoned his. Nietzsche’s existentialism had many of the same beliefs as Kierkegaard’s such as – both believed that philosophy should be based on the value of people’s beliefs and that people had to find their own way in life and decide for themselves what the meanings of life and existence are (Cline, 2011). Nietzsche was concerned

Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher and held in regard amongst the greatest philosophers of the early part century. He sharpened his philosophical skills through reading the works of the earlier philosophers of the 18th century such as Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Arthur Schopenhauer and African Spir; however, their works and beliefs were opposite to his own. His primary mentor was Author Schopenhauer, whose belief was that reality was built on the foundation of experience. Such as it is, one of his essays, Schopenhauer als Erzieher, published in 1874, was dedicated to Schopenhauer (Mencken, 2008). In the past two centuries, his work has had authority and influence in both

Humans need the appearance of some sort of structure to live. They need rules to live by to tell them whether or not they are living “right”, in a good way or a bad way. We humans have come up with many different ways to tell whether we are living right “right” or not. We have come up with all of the different types of religions and the different sets of morals , all of which change throughout history and time depending on and reflecting it’s episteme. How can any religion or set of morals be considered the “right one” when there has been no consistency with either? Both Feuerbach and Nietzsche have the same belief, that religions and morals are only a crutch that humans grab on to in order to give some meaning to the random assortment of life on earth. Both think that religion was a crutch for humans because of our inability to be perfect. Religions especially Christianity (Jesus) have their own destruction built in to them because of the humanity aspect. Though Feuerbach and Nietzsche agreed upon this they had very different opinions on how it would come about.

Existentialism can be defined as a branch of philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It focuses on the question of human existence and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation for existence. Although they never used the term existentialism in their works, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered two of the first and significant philosophers to the existentialist movement. They focused on subjective human experience and were interested in the struggle to escape boredom and find meaning in life. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche also stressed the importance of making free choices and how these choices change the identity of the individual. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche felt that life is

The existence and purpose of human live has always posed a question for society. To answer this question, philosophers ponder Existentialism. Existentialism is the philosophy that humans exist for no true purpose and that each individual changes essence in his or her lifetime by finding meaning in life through freewill, choice, and personal responsibility without certain knowledge of right and wrong. This theory gained popularity in the mid-1900s after WWII caused many people to lose hope in an ordered world and accept that no cosmic justice exists. According to this theory, no absolute rules govern humans’ lives. This theory appears throughout literature and offers a grim perspective on human existence. The Metamorphosis, written by

Jean Paul Sartre is a philosopher that supports the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism is a twentieth century philosophy that denies any crucial human nature and embraces that each of us produces our own essence through our free actions. Existentialists like Sartre believe there isn’t a God that determines people’s nature. So, existentialists believe that humans have no purpose or nature except the ones that they create for themselves. We are free and responsible for what we are and our engagements; even though we are mindful that this can cause agony.