Friedrich Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals offers an account of the historical development of morals and values from their earliest origin in the basic forms of human social interaction. More specifically, Nietzsche’s account theorizes about the origins of power and ethics and their implications on society. William Golding’s Lord of Flies exemplifies Nietzsche’s fundamental beliefs concerning power and ethics through the distinct characters and their power struggles on the island. In an absence of civilization and social controls, true nature is revealed through the characters in the novel and the power struggles that develop on the island. Similarly to Nietzsche’s beliefs, Golding uses the plot of Lord of the Flies as “an attempt to trace …show more content…
Furthermore, Nietzsche argues that anything that has existed for any length of time has been given different meanings and interpretations by different powers that master and subdue it. For this reason, if something has a purpose, it is a sign that a “will to power” is acting upon it. Concepts do not have an inherent purpose, but rather different forces construct their purpose through the intrinsic drive to dominate. More specifically, “the cause of the origin of a thing and its eventual utility, its actual employment and place in a system of purposes, lie worlds apart; whatever exists, having somehow come into being, is again and again reinterpreted to new ends, taken over, transformed, and redirected by some power superior to it”(Nietzsche 77). Nietzsche’s claim is that the will to power is the fundamental drive that influences all things. This idea is exemplified through the concept of punishment and Nietzsche contends, “Thus one also imagined that punishment was devised for punishing. But purposes and utilities are only signs that a will to power has become a master of something less powerful and imposed upon it the character of a function; and the entire history of a “thing,” an organ, a custom can in this way be a continuous sign-chain of ever new interpretations and adaptations whose causes do not even have to be related to one another”(Nietzsche 77). This example illustrates that while the act of punishing has always been
Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with
Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.
Nietzsche also goes back and forth about inflicting pain and cruelty to enable one to see reason more clearly and whether or not public spectacles of pain are beneficial or a further cause of ressentiment. Many of his ideas seem rather drastic but he changes his mind about some of them as he continues to spill his thoughts on paper as they go through his mind.
He proposes that all social contracts are based on the first masters, who had the power and stability to make promises that could be kept. In this early time Nietzsche explains, when a punishment is served, the creditor would be the one to dole punishment to the debtor. This idea of the social debt also mirrors Freud’s hypothesis of guilt as Nietzsche explains the similarity between the two words in German. Anyhow, Nietzsche claims that the current morality has reached a point of exhaustion. Mainly in the way punishment was valued. Whereas in the ancient system a punishment was the debt owed by the debtor, it had been transfigured into a different form entirely. The judicial system system imposing interpretations on actions doesn’t translate into different thinking by the actions, due to the growing stability of society as it advances. In other words, the negative consequences of an unlawful act would no longer threaten the integrity of the society, and thus would no longer necessitate a similar punishment. As the treat moves away from the victim and to justice in itself, punishment no longer induces a sense of guilt, but rather misfortune that one was caught. He doesn’t find the
Nietzsche introduces the initial concepts of what is good to be determined by those who have benefitted from unegoistical
Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel.
Many philosophers believe that a correct government can make a strong society. However, these philosophers do not agree on what form of government is the most “correct”. English philosopher John Locke believed that Man is inherently moral and that the purpose for government is to grant the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its people. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, however, held the belief that mankind is naturally evil and that society needs an absolute central authority to contain this evilness and grant its people with the common protection. Hobbes believes that in a state of nature, when there are no rules and everyone is granted equal power, the inherent evil impulses of Man are exposed. One
Throughout his writings, Nietzsche aims to inform his readers that we as humans can only reach our potential by following our passions and ignoring the flawed ideals of the church. Under the doctrine of the church’s morality, innate passions of its followers must be abolished in order to become proper Christians. By destroying the inner passions of its followers, the church is doing a great disfavor by using morality to rule out nature from their lives.
Nietzsche's madman allegory represents the current moral situation of society during his time--a growing belief that God does not exist, a movement away from religious values. Nietzsche does not mean literally that God has been murdered, but because mankind created God, we also have the ability to kill God. In Nietzsche’s point of view, mankind created God by also creating a belief in God. By saying that mankind ‘murdered’ God, Nietzsche is proposing that we no longer believe in Him. With the grounding that religion provided in the past, Nietzsche fears that mankind will be left without purpose and virtues to lead them to do the correct thing. The ‘light,’ in Nietzsche’s allegory is belief in God; for this paper, light is a focus because of the implications that follow when there is none. With no light, everything previously known about moral beliefs and the world is overturned. Nietzsche proposes that instead of God guiding people (because people no longer believe in Him), people can follow their own virtues, such as courage, faith in oneself, and patience for the future.
“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
This distinction between meaning and act not only applies to punishment, but to almost all moral concepts. For example, the act of harming a person whether it is for the purpose of self-preservation, or to exercise power over another, is still the same act. The difference lies in the will of the person who is performing or interpreting the act. The will to power, which Nietzsche identifies as an instinct for freedom, is the drive to avoid being dominated by another. Man is forced to subdue this instinct, as well as other instincts and drives in order to participate in modern society.
Reading the works of Nietzsche it becomes clear that he calls for individuals to denounce the assumptions held to form their basis of reasoning. Nietzsche is a deeper thinker since he puts all values held into question and attempts to bring up a different perspective other than the traditionally held assumptions. He succeeds to untangle the assumptions held on various things by differentiating a thing and the meaning of such a thing. As such, he succeeds to lure individuals unravel the Inherent meanings in things. For Instance, individuals have one meaning attached to punishment, that is, the punishing act and the reason necessitating the punishment. According to Nietzsche, the punishing act could have different meanings attached to it depending
We have grown weary of man. Nietzsche wants something better, to believe in human ability once again. Nietzsche’s weariness is based almost entirely in the culmination of ressentiment, the dissolution of Nietzsche’s concept of morality and the prevailing priestly morality. Nietzsche wants to move beyond simple concepts of good and evil, abandon the assessment of individuals through ressentiment, and restore men to their former wonderful ability.
That all strive to self-overcome, and in turn, attain freedom, is a fact accepted by Nietzsche. What the thundering philosopher renounces is morality and its ill-mannered objective comprehension of the will to power. This he sees as the culprit who impedes on (modern) man 's ability to understand and attain said power. The perplexity of objectivity and will to freedom is inevitably space from which the concept of morality arises. Nietzsche provides a detailed account of two forms of morality, that of the master and the slave. The individuals who correlate to master morality are characterized as strong individuals with a set of self-manifested which they live in accordance with. The masters think themselves powerful beings and equate this power to the Good. These individuals value create and determine good is that which is noble, good, strong, and powerful. This is affirmed by power and in turn, affirms the beliefs. (Nietzsche 115). Once a definition is ascribed to the concept of Good, the Bad is defined. That which is labeled as the Bad is likened to the weak-will, confused, oppressed individual. These are the individuals who compose the mentally of the slave morality. In likeness to their counterpart, they also long for power but due to subtle suspicion of the masters, attain it differently. Deducing a new set of values of that which is the Good, and declaring it that which is good for the whole. This Good they identify as the practice of patience, humility, pity, and
5. Discuss Nietzsche’s theory of “will to power” and “the innocence of becoming”. Does the hypothesis of the will to power successfully “debunk” traditional religion, morality, and philosophical claims to provide the “disinterested” or “objective” truth?