Nietzsche s Philosophy as Background to an Examination of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings

Nietzsche s Philosophy as Background to an Examination of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings

Friedrich Nietzsche Nietzsche once stated, God is dead. And we have killed him. He meant that no absolute truth / no clear moral code exist. All is relative and depends upon one s perspective. Nietzsche (along with his contemporaries Freud, Darwin, and Marx) brought attention to the deep and burgeoning cultural shift perceived in Europe, already prior to WWI. Nietzsche is one of the philosophers and thinkers who sets the stage for the movement eventually known as Existentialism.

The following slides will present some of the defining beliefs described by Nietzsche. They are by no means all-inclusive. Also, please note that they do not purport to be Truth, nor even true. They are merely one philosophical viewpoint embraced during the modern period. Anyway, remember, Truth does not exist in the modern and postmodern periods.

We have absolute freedom to create our own values. But, this creates a loss of orientation and results in nihilism, i.e. values emptiness. The crisis of nihilism How do we create meaning in the moral void? (Nietzsche s answer is coming in a few slides!) Nietzsche identified 2 kinds of nihilism Nietzsche and Nihilism

Passive Nihilism - Nihilism as an end point. A rejection of all traditional sources of meaning, truth, knowledge and value with no further progress being possible. - Characterized by fatalism, rejection, paralysis, withdrawal, defeat, and suicide (literal or figurative).

Active Nihilism - Nihilism as a starting point. A rejection of all traditional sources of meaning, truth, knowledge and value and an embrace of the resulting freedom. - Characterized by the active creation of new sources of meaning, truth, knowledge and value out of the freedom of nothingness.

Mortality and Anxiety Existentialists posit that: the human consciousness of death creates anxiety. death is a state of nothingness, of non-being. After WWI, this fear encompasses not only of individual death, but the death of entire cultures. This is premise of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings.

Nietzsche s Ugly Truth According to Nietzsche: Life s meaningless and purposelessness are too ugly for us to bear. Good and Evil do not exist in any measurable form, and any objective morality is pointless and unnatural. Doing good deeds because we believe that God assigns moral value to these things is merely lying to ourselves. Science led us to nihilism, and only art can distract us from that terror. Beauty will save us from truth. Artists affirm life in the midst of great suffering and pain. Technology is dangerous! It denies imagination and creativity, and alienates us from who we really are (from our origins).

NIETZSCHE S THEORY OF THE WILL TO POWER Reality is the Will to Power. It is seen in the struggle for survival between species and men, in the exercise of power over others. The highest level is seen in power over oneself, in the self-mastery of artists and geniuses. Domination over another confesses an inability to dominate one s internal conflicts.

Nietzsche identifies two types of modern humans: 1) The Slave, made up of the masses = the wretched and the botched, who assign blame and seek sympathy for their suffering. The masses are frightened by the death of God, since it places responsibility for creating values on them. The Slave denies the will to power, and invents afterworlds (life after death). 2) The Master, or noble man = a human capable of overcoming mere humanity, of honestly facing and accepting the meaninglessness of life, of assigning to it whatever values or purposes the Master finds acceptable/responsible. In this way, one can become the mythical hero (Superman, or Übermensch). The Master affirms the will to power. The superior individual assumes this responsibility without fear and also utilizes fear to achieve what he/she believes is right. Master Soul / Slave Soul

The Slave Soul Slaves refuse to give up established moral codes/religion. They are nostalgic for a better past. They believe that good still exists, and that the good person is meek and humble, while the bad person is prideful. Nietzsche believes that this inability to accept reality (i.e., no morality, no afterlife, no God, etc.) stems from an unconscious resentment of the weak against the strong (i.e., those who accept and embrace the Will to Power).

THE MASTER SOUL The noble man/superman does not require others approval May helps the unfortunate, not out of pity, but rather out of an impulse generated by his immense power and generosity The Master Soul has power over himself (self-will) The Master takes pleasure in subjecting himself to great severity and hardships.

Nietzsche, Myth, and Modernism Again, according to Nietzsche: o o o Every vital society has a unifying myth, but rationalism (science) has destroyed every such myth in the West. The rebirth of the West from its present nihilism requires a new myth of the Superman. The Superman lives dangerously, risking himself, renouncing security, exhausting his health in heroic effort. One should die with one s boots on. One should stride forth and embrace one s fate (amor fati).

Tolkien s Version of Modernism - A Master/Superman asserts a continual effort of his/her free will to be virtuous in a world without objective virtue. - In more existential (and modern) terms, a Superman chooses the difficult or impossible, but fundamentally virtuous answer to problems, over the easy and personally satisfying solution. - The Lord of the Rings is, in some respects, a response to Nietzsche s call for a new myth of the Superman. Resistance to temptation and indomitable endurance are key concepts. However, in Tolkien s world, personal choice is still based on compassion, pity, preservation, and a conscious pursuit of common good. This is a nostalgic notion. - In other words, some of Tolkien s work is modernist, and some is traditional.

Memory and Forgetfulness Memories can come upon us unawares, and lead either to joy or anguish. All memories are not always accessible to us, and memory is therefore beyond our control, beyond our will. Because some memories hurt our ability to live a full and useful life, Nietzsche believes that many humans tend to run from memory, by keeping active and never stopping to think or allow thoughts to come naturally. We flee from our past, which can haunt us, and make us inauthentic beings. Nietzsche believes that we should strive to remember the positive, but forget the harmful, that which will keep us from living an authentic life. (I m pretty sure Freud would disagree! Can you say repression?)

History as Memory Nietzsche differentiates three attitudes toward history: 1. Historical (geschichtlich): memory is needed to our survival. We need history to remember the past and stabilize our identity. Remember who you are. 2. Unhistorical (ungeschichtlich): But if it is necessary, we must be able to forget the past for our happiness. Forget what weakens you. 3. Super-historical (übergeschichtlich): history is cyclical, we live our lives over and over again the past can teach us the meaning of the future and anticipate the future.

Authentic vs. Inauthentic Life Inauthentic Life: Lived by people who never seriously question themselves or whether or not they are simply being led around by the institutions designed to help them. Are they genuine, or merely acting a part? If humans never know who they really are as individuals, they lead a zombie kind of existence. They forget who they are.

Authentic vs. Inauthentic Life Authentic Life: Lived by people who recognize and dissolve the artificial chains that bind us, and that come from outside forces, such as religion. Nietzsche concludes there is no originating force that creates a man, and that this fact "alone is the great liberation" (65). To break free of imposed restraints is to accept responsibility for one s fate, and to affirm life, even in the face of great suffering. People who lead an authentic life remember who they are.

This all leads to Existentialism A) Existence precedes essence (hence the name existentialism ): there are no pre-existing conditions that guide or determine man s behavior or essence. B) This leads to the absurd condition man seeks meaning in a meaningless world (universe unconscious of our existence). C) Man is condemned to be free. A lack of external meaning leads to modern despair, due to man s overwhelming sense of responsibility and recognition of his fundamental aloneness in an indifferent universe. D) However, the artist and the existentialist achieve meaningful happiness by facing the pain and still affirming life.