Good Example Of The Slave Morality example essay topic

The Question: State your understanding of the philosophy of F. Nietzsche. What does he mean by saying 'God is Dead'? Nietzsche's philosophy is that of a radical view as it calls for the complete reevaluation of morals and blatantly attacks the Judeo-Christian tradition in modern society. He believed one should dare to become who they are.

In order to ascertain one's full potential as a human being, the ethic system of which by society runs, must be changed as it only hampers one's will to power. According to Nietzsche, philosophy is not the pursuit of truth, for there are not ruths, only interpretations, instead it is an attempt on the creator's behalf to interpret reality in their favor. To illustrate this point he examines master morality as opposed to slave morality. Master morality simply defined is a system of what is good and what is evil, set up by and based on those who have power. So it is not surprising that it would regard the attributes of a noble to be inherently good and those of a weaker peasant to be evil or, rather, undesirable. Since it is the rich and powerful who define this morality, it is built to their benefit.

Contrary to master morality, there is slave morality and likewise it is built with the same biases only differing as it leans to benefit the poor. This system of ethics overturned that of the master, by twisting all virtues hailed as good by noble aristocrats, into evils, slowly over the course of time. Then goodness is translated into weaker friendlier virtues such as that of sympathy and equality. A good example of the slave morality can be seen in Judeo-Christian values which encompass and encourage all the characteristics of the weak while suppressing power.

Nietzsche saw these values to be unnatural of human nature. So for one to deny their power and surrender to a value system that is irrelevant to our times would be decadent to themselves. He also believed this system to be against everything that has produced culture and civilization, mainly the continuous elimination of the weak by the strong. This process, which separated human kind from it's animal state, has been put into reverse, causing natural leaders and those with abilities over the mediocrity of the masses to be un-self ed. Everyone wants control over their environment, a will to power. According to Nietzsche, that is the flaw in Judeo-Christian beliefs; they suppress this power and when it finally breaks out, they are in turn hypocrites.

Nietzsche has stated 'God is dead'. He justifies this statement on one end on the soul ground that religious clout has diminished to the point where he can make that comment without consequence. On the other end the sheer hypocrisy of their beliefs in itself is proof of a system that does not work, therefor " God is dead'. This statement is not meant to be taken literally for it must be understood that Nietzsche did not write his thoughts in the same format as other philosophers whose prose was to write at length an argument followed by a counter-argument. Nietzsche used metaphors to express his philosophy as an insight rather than an argument.

In place of this slave morality, Nietzsche suggested using Greek morality. Instead of denying power, he embraces and balances it between two personifications of human nature: Dionysus and Apollo. Dionysus representing rebellion, unity with life, the force of a savage dance, etc. and Apollo representing harmony and discipline; as to keep the raw energy of Dionysus in check while giving him form in art. Under this morality, good and evil are reduced to good specimen and bad specimen. For example a good mania potent, healthy, and on top of his game as opposed to a bad man who would be diseased and weak.

In conjunction with that, Nietzsche believed we should work towards a higher plane inhabited by the Ubermensch or Superman. The Superman is the future and the unrealized potential from within. One should feel compelled to this level since 'God is dead's ome one else must perfect the world. To transcend unto this level all one must do is rid themselves of the constraints strewed upon them by Judeo-Christian beliefs and the weak. In closing, three lines of Shakespeare being spoken by Richard seem to embody Nietzsche: Conscience is but a word that cowards use Devised at first to keep the strong in awe. Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law!

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