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by gone on July 3rd, 2006

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Was Nietzsche opposed to nihilism or was he actually a nihilist?

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  • by Josef K on October 2nd, 2008

    Josef K

    Nietzsche was certainly, absolutely NOT A NIHILIST. He acknowledges nihilism as a powerful force, but as a force that shamelessly expresses values superior to life, a consequence of the "reactive forces" accusing life of being no good. Nihilism is the will to nothingness, a depreciation of the kind of life that reigns, the predominance of the negative as will to power. Inferior nihilistic forces are defined as "reactive," namely mechanical, utilitarian accommodations which express the power of the dominated. "Active" forces metamorphize and transform reality by serving life. The active type seeks power and responsibility. The reactive type is fueled by resentment, internalization of a bad conscience, and establishes ascetic ideals to make its resentment bearable, expressed through its will to nothingness (i.e. setting up a world beyond this one, usurping culture and forming ideas of the herd, confuses creativity with mere memory). Under the sway of nihilism the individual turns against himself/herself, separated from what s/he can do to become a mere servant of reactive forces. What Nietzsche means by a transvaluation of values is not the change of values, perhaps mistakenly understood as the absence of values or "nihilism" in a general sense; but the value of the drives from which those values are derived. Appreciation instead of depreciation. Affirmation as will to power, not negation. As long as one remains under the thrall of the negative and nihilistic, values remain unchanged. But when the values are attributed a meaning, values are known and can be reversed. Nietzsche claims that nihilism has been defeated when active forces recover their powers from the reactive forces keeping them intact. Becoming active is identical with the affirmation of the will to power. Nietzsche's project is wholly about defeating nihilism, substituting affirmation for negation, activity for reactivity.

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  • by philosopher-saint on August 11th, 2008

    philosopher-saint

    N. advocated a philosophy to effectively address the pointless negativity and existential horror of life without meaning; just the very *opposite* of "nihilism", yo.

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  • by Mirage V2.0 AWOL on February 10th, 2007

    Mirage V2.0 AWOL

    Nietzche was an Existentialist.
    Nihilism may have stretched his philosophy a bit.

    And this stretches my knowledge of philosophy, so goodbye!

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  • by clay70 on December 18th, 2008

    clay70

    Nietzsche was most certainly a nihilist. He says its the only way to be. But to overcome it he gives us the superman.

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  • by philosopher-saint on November 11th, 2008

    philosopher-saint

    Often misunderstood, his philosophy is diametrically opposed to nihilism!
    -
    (sorry - I hadn't realized that I already answered this one!)

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  • by The Wanderer on February 10th, 2007

    The Wanderer

    In my opinion, he was opposed to neither view.

    For example, in his book The Gay Science, he writes:

    "...Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? - gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him..."

    However, in this same book, he also writes:

    "...We philosophers and'free spirits' in fact feel at the news that the 'old God is dead' as if illumined by a new dawn;...-at last the horizon seems to us gain free,... at last our ships can put out again, no matter what the danger, every daring venture of knowledge is again permitted, the sea, OUR sea again lies there open before us, perhaps there has never yet been such an 'open sea'..."

    I hope my opinion has helped you with this question...

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