What Is Nietzsche's View Of Morality As Anti-Nature?
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Twilight of the Idols is one of the Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical masterpieces. The book was published in 1889. Nietzsche gave this book the title Twilight of Idols because his main intention in the book was to criticize some traditional believes which he nicknamed idols. Some of the important themes in the book include, Maxims and Arrows, The Problem of Socrates, Reason in Philosophy, and Morality as Anti-nature. This paper gives a critique of Nietzsche’s main thesis in the theme “Morality as Anti-nature”. In the motif of morality as anti-nature, Nietzsche contends that Christian morality is anti-natural because it tries to exterminate natural passions. In the critique of this view, I have given a counter argument to demonstrate that…show more content… By affirming life here Nietzsche meant that true human morality must be compatible with the human beings’ will to power. For this reason, therefore, Nietzsche contended that true ethics must be unrestrictive; restrictions hinder human beings from pursuing life itself, i.e. the will to life. For Nietzsche, therefore, nothing should be forbidden in life as long as furthers human beings will to power. Nietzsche argued that this kind of ethics will enable human beings to become superman (Ubermensch). For this reason, therefore, Nietzsche saw traditional Christian morality as anti-natural because it tries to exterminate natural passions. In other words, Nietzsche saw the traditional Christian morality as being against the nature of human beings because it discourages being led by our passions in making moral decisions; Nietzsche saw Christian morality as a fiction (Nietzsche). Nietzsche, therefore, concluded that Christian morality is anti-life because it is against the natural passions which are a manifestation of the will to…show more content… In this view, Nietzsche equated human beings with the irrational brutes. But the fact of the matter is that, although, of course human beings are emotional as Nietzsche claims, emotion is not the defining characteristics of human beings. Rationality is the defining characteristic of human beings, and for that reason it is the characteristic of human beings that sets them apart from the rest of the animals. Aristotle got it right when he defined human beings as rational animals (Aristotle’s Definition of Human Being, n.p). For this reason therefore, human ethics should be based on reason rather than on emotions. It is only by basing human morality on right action that we can have an orderly human society. A society governed by Nietzsche’s ethics would be chaotic and disorderly. Consequently, Christian morality is not anti-life as nature argued, but it is actually pro-life because it seeks to promote human life through the use of right reason. This fact, therefore, shows that Nietzsche’s criticism of Christian ethics is flawed and