Sunday, March 22, 2015
Strenth being good and evil
In class we went over how Nietzsche showed strength and weakness being depicted in society. But where the lines become blurry are when we look at this idea from the eyes of the weak and the strong. As the strong there is no other way to show they are strong then by the display of their strength and to show weakness would be wasting the gift of strength that they have. But only by conquering other strong opponent or obstacles can they really show their strength. On the other side, the weak see the strong as overpowering them and actually brought about the idea of morals coming into play. By the strong not showing their strength and instead humbling themselves they are showing strength. What this does is it allow the strong to be on the same level as the weak and give them some since of guilt. What is the problem with the strength of people is it all is dependent on the person is. We used Hitler as an example in class. He was strong by showing his strength and conquering other people, but some would say that he was evil. I am not saying that i agree with what he did, i am merely pointing out what and Ubermensch could be if there is strength or weakness taken to the extreme.
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I think that Hitler is a bad example because he was a bird of prey and half of Europe was his lambs. I do agree with you that Hitler was strong but in the wrong sense. One cannot look at Hitler's dominance over people as strength, similarly the birds of prey cannot simply stop preying on the lambs as it is survival of the fittest. The strength has an obligation to be strong and it is hard to look at Hitler and the birds of prey and say "Don't do that, humble yourself and don't prey on the weak." Nietzsche points out that morality was almost a scapegoat and an excuse for weak people to cope and and feel better about themselves. They justify their weakness by saying that God loves them for their inferiority. The part that I do not agree with is that the slave revolt morality states that the strong are evil. It's a double standard to say to them that they should be humbled enough to not express their strength as strength. The weak themselves are manipulative because of their "ressentiment" ideology.
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ReplyDeleteI do agree with your comment above that those who exemplify true strength are those who can humble themselves. Humility is sometimes a sign of strength, I do not believe that the strongest person is the one who overpowers another "strong" individual. Some are strong in other senses and don't need to prove this by overpowering. If this were the case you indeed get people like Hitler, who might have been "strong" in the sense of conquering people, but morally he was weak.
ReplyDeleteI, too, agree with your comment. However, most people believe that those who humble themselves are considered weak. To some people, being at the same level as the weak will make you weak. Today, some people like to assert their dominance and prey on the weak. To them, being meek and humble is in no way a strength.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that an Ubermensch could use display their strength in potentially extreme ways, I disagree with the notion that what Hitler did was an actual display of strength as defined by Nietzsche. Essentially, Hitler rose to power using his charisma to manipulate and exploit the weak in society and in doing so created an army of puppets which he used to achieve his goals. Moreover, Hitler's goal was never to display his strength by defeating equal opponents, but was instead interested in annihilating those who he found to be threatening, namely the Jews. While I can understand why you would think this ideology is flawed, I feel like a better example, like Kayne, help better define what problems arise from this state of mind.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Today I was penalized for being "strong". I am most times the one who looks at situation, see what's wrong and say something about it. I realized today many people do not like that. People rather you let things continue t stay the same even if you feel strongly about it. People don't like to be forced to do the right thing either. I feel sometimes it is unfair that the only way the strong can display their strength is to be weak.
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