Preview

Nietzsce and The Internalization of Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
477 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nietzsce and The Internalization of Man
In section 16, Nietzsche enlightens us with a provisional statement, and by his own accord a hypothesis concerning the origin of the "bad conscience". In terms that may exemplify a state of disbelief on the reader of the section, he states

"It may sound rather strange and needs to be pondered, lived with, and slept on for a long time. I regard bad conscience as the serious illness that man was bound to contract under the stress of the most fundamental change he ever experienced-that change which occurred when he found himself finally enclosed within the walls of society and peace".

Referring back to section 4 and his reference to a "bad conscience" as a "somber thing", Nietzsche uses punishment as a guide for "burning into memory" of failed debtors. Now he regards "bad conscience" as an inevitable occurrence, driven by the plight of man and the fundamental change of society and peace.

Nietzsche dismissing punishment as the origin of bad conscience is based on the ideals of a society transitioning from a simplistic, nomadic and barbaric way of life, to a more serene one, with beliefs of settlements and communities. Herein lies the problem Nietzsche discovers, the basic instincts of man, surrounded by the walls of a new society, rendering all the unconscious thoughts that served as a need for survival, useless. This new society would require men to think instead of using instincts; the structure of society would demand this reliance of our conscious mind.

Nietzsche determines that "all instinct that do not discharge themselves outwardly turn inward, this is what I call the internalization of man". He suggests that the suppression of these primitive instincts of hunting, cruelty, hostility and destruction leads man to turn on himself, developing this bad conscience and setting the stage for a what we would later call a "soul".

Nietzsche finds the development of bad conscious in its earliest forms of tribes and settlements, society would establish a hierarchy of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    In Beyond Good & Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche seeks to develop the idea of moral philosophy beyond basic pleasures, how they relate to the general population, and further into our own personal intricacies and how they create a set of rules that apply to most individuals. Throughout the book, Nietzsche articulate well over 200 epigrams, each of which highlights a different aspect of human morality. Nietzsche’s 68th epigram dictates: “‘I have done that,’ says my memory. ‘I cannot have done that,’ says my pride, and remains inexorable. Eventually--memory yields.” When assessing this aphorism, it is not only important to assess why our memory yields and what ensues as a result, but also what would occur if we didn’t. One could argue that we must remember our mistakes and learn from them and, by choosing to forget our mistakes for our own pride’s sake, we stall our own moral progression. However, it could also be said that forgetting our own mistakes is vital to our moral progression because rather than merely learning from our mistakes, by constantly remembering them, we allow ourselves to be caught in a cycle of guilt, preventing us from truly moving on. Rather than blindly assessing the aphorism on its own, one must look through Nietzsche’s lens regarding the concepts of intention and truth in order to determine which of the above interpretations is more plausible. Although the first notion is a reasonable interpretation of Nietzsche’s epigram regarding widely accepted notions of morality, the second proves to be a more valid conclusion when following Nietzschean philosophy. While the first interpretation allows for moral recognition and awareness, the second allows for actual progress in the individual.…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Hannah Arendt’s book Eichmann in Jerusalem, Arendt gives an account of the trial of Adolf Eichmann and provides analysis of the case, focusing on the question of Eichmann’s conscience. Arendt believes that the judges missed the “greatest moral and even legal challenge of the whole case”: Eichmann’s inability to tell right from wrong. Her argument that Eichmann’s conscience was “quieted” due to the influence of his social environment, peers, and superiors is convincing, and as I read Eichmann in Jerusalem I became convinced that our ability to tell right from wrong is dependent on our faculty of thought.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Nietzsche’s aphorisms 90-95 and 146-162 he attacks what he believes to be the fundamental basis of the “slave” morality prevalent in the Judeo-Christian tradition as well as other religions and societies. From the beginning, he distinguishes the two different types of moralities he believes to exist: the “master morality”, created by rulers of societies, and the “slave” morality, created by the lowest people in societies. The former stresses virtues of the strong and noble while looking down upon the weak and cowardly. This type of morality, however, is not as widespread as the “slave morality” that has been adopted by so many religions. Nietzsche looks through the psychology and logic of the “slave morality” to determine its virtues and origins.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ear and Conscious Activity

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Man’s nature is evil; goodness is a result of a conscious activity. The nature of man is such that he is born with a fondness for profit. If he indulges this fondness, it will lead him to wrangling and strife, and all sense of courtesy and humility will disappear. He is born with feelings of envy and hate, and if he indulges these, they will lead him to violence and crime, and all sense of loyalty and good faith will disappear. Man is born with the desires of eyes and ears, with a fondness for beautiful sights and sounds. If he indulges these, they will lead him to license and wantonness, and all ritual principles and correct forms will be lost. Hence, any man who follows his nature and indulges his emotions will inevitably become involved in wrangling and strife, will violate the forms and rules of society and will end as a criminal. Therefore, man must first be transformed by the instructions of the teacher and guided by ritual principles, and only then he will be able to observe the dictates of courtesy and humility, obey the forms and rules of society, and achieve order. It is obvious from this then, that man’s nature is evil, and that his goodness is the result of conscious activity.…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ability for a class of people to scheme and plot their next movie to destroy their enemy. Nietzsche elaborates further, stating that those with the slave morality complex, or those that do not murder for example, has succumbed to this complex. This is due to the fact that since the slave morality concept of “good”, has intertwined itself in with the slave morality. He goes on further to include concepts such as “justice” as having essentially succumbed to the slave morality, and how in their viewpoint, it is best to let things sort themselves out. Which in turn from the standpoint of Nietzsche, is succumbing to weakness. The world that Nietzsche paints is one of only right and wrong, and not much of a middle ground for alternate…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Beyond Good & Evil”, Friedrich Nietzsche analyzes the role of a figure he creates called the Free Spirit. In today’s technological day and age, the world is filled with followers and people who simply go with the grain as opposed to going against it and forgoing what everyone else is doing. On the off hand, those who do go against the crowd evidently stand out, and arguably, they live a better life in search of their own greatness as opposed to the concept of the ‘common good’. In the book, the Free Spirit is plays the person who goes against the grain, seeking knowledge that no one else even dreams of. The Free Spirit stands above the masses, and in effect nears making substantial progress for society, against their moral intelligence.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nietzsche makes the point how even within Christianity that living a pious life, would set people up as thinking they were good. Religious followers try to create a clear distinction that those who do not follow their example are considered evil. Nietzsche says that as people continued to live up to moral codes they perceived themselves as the masters of all things good. The problem is they eventually become self-diluted taking on the characteristics of, “the good, themselves, meaning the noble, the mighty, and high-placed, who… saw themselves as good.” (Nietzsche, 2) What he was saying was that “good” was now obtained by a position or a mindset, and diminishing the very concept of “good”, from its nobility and purpose. Good now has become positional, causing those impoverished to be classified as evil.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within our world we have described many things and called them into scrutiny and this act of thorough observation has brought transparency to our senses. The soul, also known as the subject, has been questioned and attempted to be defined by German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, in his 1887 work entitled “On the Genealogy of Morality.” The heart of the problems Nietzsche pursues lie within each subjects’ understanding of their origin of thought. Nietzsche examines the origins of Western morality and begins his analysis of what good and evil can come from our definitions of “good” and “evil”, themselves. Nietzsche’s understanding of spontaneous emotion, daily habit, good, bad, and whatever lies in between, adds to our knowledge of ethics and propels our inquiry into the universality of…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is easy for readers, especially modern readers, to see Nietzsche’s work as promoting hatred and bigotry. But upon a closer reading of the text, this does not seem to be the case. The strong are right and just in their actions because they are strong, with not further justification needed. Nietzsche does not advocate a mistreatment or hatred towards the weak. Instead, he sees the rational thing for the strong to do is to be indifferent towards them, in the same way that the wolf does not bother himself with the opinions or goings-on of lambs. From a certain perspective, because of Nietzsche’s admiration of strength, he seems to be open towards the weak empowering themselves and becoming strong – which would be a much more favorable fate for the weak than seen in many societies, where the weak are seen as the always-weak. Nietzsche seems open to the idea of the weak challenging and…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    n this respect, according to Nietzsche the value of a certain morality is to be determined in the light of the question “does it further life or does it stultify life?” . Accordingly, we find in The Genealogy of Morals that ‘[…] all events in the organic world are a subduing, a becoming master, and all subduing and becoming master involves a fresh interpretation, an adaptation through which any previous “meaning” and “purpose” are necessarily obscured or even obliterated’ (GM 12). Insofar as our values are an expression of the Will to Power – that is, a will to self-overcoming - then our values are involved with a will to become master of ourselves. Subsequently, it follows that one set of values is the more perfect the more empowers our capacity…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nietzsche begins the second essay, which is an exploration of the origins of guilt and morality, by presenting the problem of humankind: breeding an animal with the ‘prerogative to promise’. Humans must actively forget things in order to cope with life – without doing this we could not have mental order or any semblance of happiness. Forgetting things, then, is a strength, but is also the natural tendency of our minds. Memory is not the passive retention of impressions that many believe it to be, but rather an active desire not to let something go – to suspend forgetfulness. We need to be able to do this in order to make promises and thus have control over the future. It is important for man to anticipate the future and calculate what may happen – to develop reliability and regularity so that he can be answerable for his own future.…

    • 1317 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nietzsche's Philosophy

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nietzsche begins by tearing apart the philosopher and his views. They idolize concepts and threaten the life of anything they worship. In Nietzsche’s opinion, once the philosophers got to these concepts nothing managed to escape alive. In response Nietzsche says, “that which is, does not become; that which becomes, is not.” Nietzsche explains that the philosophers all believe in the which is, however they fail to understand so instead they search for a reason why it withholds itself from them. Finally this “trickster” is revealed and is the senses. The senses are believed to have tricked them about the true world. Nietzsche reveals a moral as to not trust history because it is nothing but belief in the senses, which has discovered to be a lie.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nietzsche and Platonism

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Christian, Nietzsche claims, is similar to the nihilist. He denies the natural rank order of the world in favor of an unrealistic vision of the equality of all souls. This rejection of super- and subordination is a symptom of resentment against reality. It is the dissatisfied cry of the weak who, instead of acting in accord with their own…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nietzsche explains nature as an overall relative to humans; he proposes a potent and significant explanation of the development of language and the realization of concepts. He achieves this by exploiting the successive effects on human awareness. He suggests that originally humans were "an artistically creating subject" as he puts it. Whose essential human determination is the construction of metaphors? Due to evolution, humankind developed a capacity to reason, distrust, remember, and control. Humans were driven by instincts which established themselves directly into inventive sounds, gestures and metaphors. Humans thereof signify the motivation, which ultimately develops into the base of language. As a result, humans manipulate this metaphor of understanding a stimulus, which may well vary from one to another; as it is totally subjective.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Those who led and fed the religion were not able to handle their own passions. Passion, which is life, ultimately “comes to an end” when religion allows “the kingdom of God’ to begin” (350). When morality and religion enter life, life itself ends, because passion cannot be realized. The integral part of what makes one up is hidden, because weakness disguises it. Religion is what was used to discourage those who are strong and to empower those who are weak. I do think Nietzsche has some valid points. Some “desires” that are considered to be immoral do seem like they are not a part of the conscious mind. People like to appear strong, and they will oppose anything that shows that they are anything…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays