The Philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Gloria Anzaldua
PHIL 1310-05
It is now nearing the end of this fall semester and throughout these months I have encountered many new philosophies. Many of my ideals have been challenged and I have had to myself, confront my beliefs. Most recently, I’ve discovered the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Gloria Anzaldúa. Compared with the other philosophies, these two seem to be the most similar in at least their belief that there is no one right way to the good life, but rather there are many and are suited to each individual.
I will begin with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche whose ideals he defends with the genealogy of morality. In his book Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche is critical of “bad conscience” and considers it to stem from Christianity. Bad conscience as referred by Nietzsche is “the state in which an individual believes they neither deserve a good life nor are they able to create one for themselves.” Nietzsche believes that we shouldn’t focus on one right path to the good life because there isn’t one; everything depends on a person’s willingness to accept their past, embrace their present, and change for their future.
This is an ideal I strongly embrace due to my past because for the vast majority of my life, I have lived under the oppression of a bad conscience. I have literally lived my life feeling as though I was unworthy of anything, was a complete spiritual screw-up, and that no matter what I ever did, I was never going to measure up. All of this conspired to make me a complete wreck, dealing with severe anxiety, panic, and depression disorders and eventually impacting my physical health. As years went by, I became more and more unstable until I eking out an existence. Then, I was introduced to a different philosophy that changed everything. It was a complete turn-around for me. Religion was making me beyond miserable, but this philosophy, way of life, finally brought me peace.
My past reminds me somewhat of Gloria Anzaldúa’s, in how she felt
It is now nearing the end of this fall semester and throughout these months I have encountered many new philosophies. Many of my ideals have been challenged and I have had to myself, confront my beliefs. Most recently, I’ve discovered the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Gloria Anzaldúa. Compared with the other philosophies, these two seem to be the most similar in at least their belief that there is no one right way to the good life, but rather there are many and are suited to each individual.
I will begin with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche whose ideals he defends with the genealogy of morality. In his book Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche is critical of “bad conscience” and considers it to stem from Christianity. Bad conscience as referred by Nietzsche is “the state in which an individual believes they neither deserve a good life nor are they able to create one for themselves.” Nietzsche believes that we shouldn’t focus on one right path to the good life because there isn’t one; everything depends on a person’s willingness to accept their past, embrace their present, and change for their future.
This is an ideal I strongly embrace due to my past because for the vast majority of my life, I have lived under the oppression of a bad conscience. I have literally lived my life feeling as though I was unworthy of anything, was a complete spiritual screw-up, and that no matter what I ever did, I was never going to measure up. All of this conspired to make me a complete wreck, dealing with severe anxiety, panic, and depression disorders and eventually impacting my physical health. As years went by, I became more and more unstable until I eking out an existence. Then, I was introduced to a different philosophy that changed everything. It was a complete turn-around for me. Religion was making me beyond miserable, but this philosophy, way of life, finally brought me peace.
My past reminds me somewhat of Gloria Anzaldúa’s, in how she felt
References: Anzaldua, G. (2012). Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (4th ed.). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books. Gilbert, E. (2006). Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman 's Search for Everything. New York: Penguin Books. Nietzsche, F. (2014). Beyond Good and Evil: On the Genealogy of Morality. Stanford University Press.