If there's ever a philosopher who doesn't get the love he deserves, it's probably Nietzsche. Whenever I had heard of him before this class, he was always some sort of villainous philosopher, or at least the philosopher of choice for people to justify their misdeeds. They're the ubermensch and above god and god is dead anyways and they'll destroy everything because that's what the world really is or somesuch nonsense.
I think two problems plague Nietzsche as in retrospect: an abundance of quotes that can be taken out of context and his issues with Christianity. And yet he was about as anti-Christan as I am anti-medicine; you shouldn't rely on it as the only way to get through life, but it is a good way to get back on your feet. Still, he made an enemy of the largest propaganda center in the world, basically calling out Christianity as a religion by slaves, for slaves make slavery less harsh.
If there's one thing that makes no sense to attribute to Nietzsche, it's a support of Nihilism. His ideas of Selbstuberwindung and of the Ubermensch don't really fit with the straw Nihilism that people think of when they think Nietzsche. After all, if nothingness is everything, then what is the goal when you are trying to became who you really are, that being nothing? Why own up to envy when it's just a desire for someone else's nothing? Nietzsche was actually a critic of Nihilism, and he seemed to think that its rise in the wake of god's death was an incoming catastrophe. In this context, I have trouble believing that Nietzsche really thought Nihilism was a good thing.
What Nietzsche thought was a more positive outlook on God's death was to treat God's death as a sort of moral adventure. The proverbial seas had been freed for the new ships to explore them and according to Nietzsche, the "free spirits" would feel the gratitude, amazement and expectation of a new dawn. There is no old god or Bible or religions to tell people who is right, who is wrong and who calls the storms on humanity because they refuse to play its game, science and reason must come in to fill this void and chart out this brave new world.
For someone who hated his family was rejected by women, couldn't make money off his work, had a mental breakdown at 44 and is associated with destructive nihilism, Nietzsche actually seems rather optimistic and idealistic in regards to the promise of science. He thoroughly believed in the power of the individual to conquer the struggles that life throws at them, and what we believe is the sin of envy is really just a call to go forth, struggle heroically and, if necessary, lose gracefully. It's just that it's very easy to twist what he's said into the deranged monologue of a supervillain and he had some major beef with Christianity, which had a far larger base of people willing to listen without thinking.
Really, I think if anyone needs to give the writings of Nietzsche thorough consideration, it's us Americans.
LINKS:
http://www.lexido.com/EBOOK_TEXTS/THE_GAY_SCIENCE_FOURTH_BOOK_.aspx?S=341
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