preview

Nietzsche Vs Rousseau Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

The assumptions that Rousseau made about human nature were that humans are born naturally good, free, and have good intentions, but they are made bad by society. He also believed that humans were by nature social animals that desired to live with other humans in harmony. Moreover, he stated that humans have an individual will and a general will, but for the government to work people had to refute their individual will. Rousseau meant by his statement “Man is born free, yet we see him everywhere in chains,” that the governments in Europe at the time were based on the assumption that humans needed to be governed. He thought the only admissible government was one that would allow humans to express free will and reach their full potential.

Existentialism …show more content…

Nietzsche proposed two aspects of human nature: Apollonian and Dionysian. The Apollonian aspect was the rational side and a desire for serenity, predictability, and orderliness. On the other hand, the Dionysian aspect was the irrational side also known as “barbarian.” This aspect could not express itself without abolishing the individual. An aspect of Freudian psychoanalysis anticipated by Nietzsche was referring to these “barbarian” urges as the id. He stated for Dionysian urges to gain appearance, they need to be altered by Apollonian rationality, this can be seen as sublimation. For both men, sublimation explained the content of dreams. Further, Nietzsche explained without Apollonian influence, the Dionysian aspect of personality would remain shapeless, while without Dionysian influence, the Apollonian aspect of personality would be without emotion (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2013, p. 210). If those Dionysian urges become threatening the Apollonian rationality can ultimately repress them. It is also here that Nietzsche anticipated an important aspect of Freudian psychoanalysis because the concept of repression would become a foundation of Freudian

Get Access