INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY - Essay Example Furthermore, it tells us that knowledge is acquired through the exercise of reason, understood as a faculty that can operate independently, in whole or in part, of a posteriori evidence. One of the elements which is most central to Nietzsche’s philosophy is illustrated in his famous declaration that, â€Å"God is Dead!† (Cahn 1227) This affirms a complete rejection of metaphysical, moral, and religious truths as grounds for reality. Unlike the Socratic philosophical canon, Nietzsche contends that the spiritual dimension is illusory. To Nietzsche, the existence of God, religion, morality, ethics, free will, freedom, and laws are mistakes for they are nothing but imaginary causes, an imaginary psychology. In his view, such things are nothing but mere projections of one’s psychological desire for security and calculability in life. In addition, it presupposes a denial of universal morality as the basis for human conduct. Nietzsche believed that once the existence of God is unveiled as an illusion, then it follows that God can no longer be implemented as the foundation for human ethical conducts. This leads to the assertion that all inquiries, dispositions and morals will be founded on the subjective will of individual self. Thus, unlike the Socratic philosophical canon, Nietzsche affirmed the individual self as the basis of all inquires and norms. This is Nietzsche’s theory of the will to power. Nietzsche’s (Cahn 1241) will to power is defined as the drive to dominate the environment. This drive, so central is the Will to Power. This Will to Power is more than simply the will to survive. It is, rather, an inner drive to express a vigorous affirmation of all a person’s powers. In doing so, the individual shall not only reaffirm his or her own subjective standards but moreover, they will gradually reach the consciousness of the higher type of man, the Ubermensch or Superman. For Nietzsche, the temperament of the Superman sha ll enable individuals to revitalize faith in their creative powers and this earthly existence. However, Nietzsche declares that not all people can attain the awareness of this superior type of individual. He claims that only those who excel in their mental and physical constitutions can procure the temperament of the Superman. He insists that the superman must have complete freedom, i.e. that one should not decide to practice a certain code of ethics, for the will to power will gradually decline. By this, the individual weakens and suffers. To explicate further, Nietzsche accused Christianity for advocating virtues that undermine and destabilize one’s will to power. Here, Nietzsche presents his doctrine of the two-fold history of good and evil. This doctrine reveals that there exists two types of morality, i.e. master morality and slave morality. For Nietzsche, master morality is one that is built on the will to power. He is one who considers that which is good = Powerful; ba d = Weakness. Also, he is one who practices generosity, not out of pity but out of excess. Those who practice this type of morality are the elite and noble men, meaning those who determine their morals according to their own personal standards. On the other hand, slave morality is that, which is