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Like the existentialists, Nietzsche believed that the world contains no inherent meaning or purpose. Even if God existed, religion has ceased to offer a coherent and justifiable view of the cosmos - this is what Nietzsche really meant when he famously wrote that God is dead; we can no longer be satisfied with religious justifications for the horror and meaninglessness of the universe.
Unlike the later existentialists, Nietzsche saw this state of affairs as profoundly liberating, rather than terrifying. The world contains no meaning of its own, so it is up to us. Meaning is not out there somewhere, waiting to be found; it is in us somewhere, waiting to be created. At least, it is in a few of us - the 'higher men', or the 'free spirits', or the 'new philosophers', to use Nietzsche's various terms.
This doesn't mean that we should all go out and act on whatever impulses occur to us. Only the higher men have any values worth creating, and it is a long and hard process which requires tremendous discipline. Nonetheless, for those who feel lost and adrift in the uncertainties of the world, Nietzsche's philosophy can be profoundly helpful.
Unlike the later existentialists, Nietzsche saw this state of affairs as profoundly liberating, rather than terrifying. The world contains no meaning of its own, so it is up to us. Meaning is not out there somewhere, waiting to be found; it is in us somewhere, waiting to be created. At least, it is in a few of us - the 'higher men', or the 'free spirits', or the 'new philosophers', to use Nietzsche's various terms.
This doesn't mean that we should all go out and act on whatever impulses occur to us. Only the higher men have any values worth creating, and it is a long and hard process which requires tremendous discipline. Nonetheless, for those who feel lost and adrift in the uncertainties of the world, Nietzsche's philosophy can be profoundly helpful.
I find it liberating for several reasons.
First, Nietzsche writes so well. Sometimes, when I feel in need of beauty, or I need someone to talk to, I open up one of his books, and the writing either flares up in a dramatic speech or sings in musical tonality. The depth, the passion, the beauty, it's wonderful.
Second, I believe that he talks to each of us personally. Disclaimer: I've never met another person as deeply in love with his works as me. I come to this conclusion through countless conversations with people. They express their ideas, and I think to myself, 'Nietzsche said that.' Sometimes, I'll have a full conversation with a friend and I'll come home, open up Zarathustra, and find the same conversation. And his insights! I think all of us have experienced many of the things he talks about. "Anyone who, in intercourse with men, does not occasionally glisten in all colors of distress, green and gray with disgust, satiety, sympathy, gloominess, and loneliness, is certainly not a man of elevated tastes."
Finally, and this has been touched on, it's liberating because he comes to the conclusion that, even though life is meaningless, you can still make your own meaning. And that, I think, is one of the most liberating ideas I have ever heard. It states that you are in control of your own destiny. It states that you have a responsibility to yourself. It frees you from trying to take upon yourself someone else's meaning--it encourages you to do otherwise.
First, Nietzsche writes so well. Sometimes, when I feel in need of beauty, or I need someone to talk to, I open up one of his books, and the writing either flares up in a dramatic speech or sings in musical tonality. The depth, the passion, the beauty, it's wonderful.
Second, I believe that he talks to each of us personally. Disclaimer: I've never met another person as deeply in love with his works as me. I come to this conclusion through countless conversations with people. They express their ideas, and I think to myself, 'Nietzsche said that.' Sometimes, I'll have a full conversation with a friend and I'll come home, open up Zarathustra, and find the same conversation. And his insights! I think all of us have experienced many of the things he talks about. "Anyone who, in intercourse with men, does not occasionally glisten in all colors of distress, green and gray with disgust, satiety, sympathy, gloominess, and loneliness, is certainly not a man of elevated tastes."
Finally, and this has been touched on, it's liberating because he comes to the conclusion that, even though life is meaningless, you can still make your own meaning. And that, I think, is one of the most liberating ideas I have ever heard. It states that you are in control of your own destiny. It states that you have a responsibility to yourself. It frees you from trying to take upon yourself someone else's meaning--it encourages you to do otherwise.
It can be a liberating philosophy in the sense that it removes the greatest burden of guilt, penance and sin from your shoulders. Also, by disparaging the very concept of Free Will it establishes the true nature of the concept, which is to evoke guilt in humans. Once, human being realise that the end, the God, is dead, he would no longer be held by anything, he would become as free as he is in true sense, but doesn't that mean, he would go mad with its own possibilities of being? Sure he could, and Netizsche doesn't deny it, ( he himself went mad , though not exactly for the same reason), but he says that in his going under, he would discover that he will be re-born as a child, and that is the liberation. He would no longer be the human bound by the set of values and passions of herds, but that of his own, and thus he would be the torch bearer to the superman ( both in himself ,and by surpassing his own self for the world).
Also, Neitzsche's concept of Eternal Recurrence, expounds the true state of liberation.
This is a liberating thought. What if , we are bound to repeat ourselves numerous times, in the same manner, over and over again. Shouldn't we then, in the present cycle ( oblivious of the fact ,whether this is our first or repeating cycle), strive to live in a way as we would want to live again and again, in numerous cycles. Shouldn't we then "love" this earthly self of ours and be completely our self and thus transcend it , and go beyond our self , so that we pave the path to the uberman in our self.
Also, Neitzsche's concept of Eternal Recurrence, expounds the true state of liberation.
He wants the humans to do a thought experiment in their loneliest of loneliness, that of imagining a Demon, telling the huaman, that all the life that it has lived upto now, all its pain and joy, and the demon himself, would repeat itself numerous times in its numerous recurring lives, in the very same manner and order. That there is no escape from that. What would be the human response to that? Will he shout in agony over the Demon, or will it thank him for the realization that would dawn upon him?
This is a liberating thought. What if , we are bound to repeat ourselves numerous times, in the same manner, over and over again. Shouldn't we then, in the present cycle ( oblivious of the fact ,whether this is our first or repeating cycle), strive to live in a way as we would want to live again and again, in numerous cycles. Shouldn't we then "love" this earthly self of ours and be completely our self and thus transcend it , and go beyond our self , so that we pave the path to the uberman in our self.
How can it not be liberating? In a world where people follow all the rules and do as they're told, Nietzsche reminds us that it is we who must make the rules and if we do not we follow rules set out for us by someone else. It is our responsibility to understand the rules we make and the rules we follow. Nietzsche feels we must never follow the path of others (he uses Christian dogma as an example of this) but should instead forge our own system of ethics, thereby creating our own lives as we feel we ought to live them.
A wonderful part of Nietzsche's philosophy is his idea of the recurring demon. He asks, if a demon of time were to arrive to you one night and tell you that he would sentence you to repeat all of your lived days eternally, over and over again, would you be happy or sad? This is one of the most useful thought experiments I have ever read where I felt I could genuinely apply it to my life and be the better and the freer for it.
A wonderful part of Nietzsche's philosophy is his idea of the recurring demon. He asks, if a demon of time were to arrive to you one night and tell you that he would sentence you to repeat all of your lived days eternally, over and over again, would you be happy or sad? This is one of the most useful thought experiments I have ever read where I felt I could genuinely apply it to my life and be the better and the freer for it.
To speak of just one facet of his philosophy: the doctrine of eternal recurrence.
From one perspective, it commands a person to be able to say, "If my life recurs, I will that my life shall play out in exactly the same way, till eternity." Same situation of birth, same personality, experiences, character flaws, desires, mistakes. To say, despite knowing the good/bad consequences, "I want to make the same choices all over again."
The strength of mind required to say this with pure sincerity and full awareness of the the implications -- can you see it? And with such strength comes liberation from the past and freedom for the future.
From one perspective, it commands a person to be able to say, "If my life recurs, I will that my life shall play out in exactly the same way, till eternity." Same situation of birth, same personality, experiences, character flaws, desires, mistakes. To say, despite knowing the good/bad consequences, "I want to make the same choices all over again."
The strength of mind required to say this with pure sincerity and full awareness of the the implications -- can you see it? And with such strength comes liberation from the past and freedom for the future.
One faces the terrific heights + nadirs of freedom whilst in the maelstrom of creation-destruction as idealized in the Apollonian-Dionysian movement which yields both a means of living with truth + epitomizes becoming or the eternal return. For Sartre, it takes the form of nausea (however one wants to interpret that).
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