Nietzche

This week we discussed Nietzche and how he believes morality has evolved. I was most interested in the idea that the noble class was considered good while the slaves were considered bad. While most people would agree that rich is better than poor and beautiful is better than ugly, I see no morality in these ideas. Noble values are still ideals that we look for in our lives, but they have nothing to do with morality. I also thought it was odd that slaves were considered bad and unhappy; that they were not able to say yes to life like the nobles were. This idea is ridiculous. While I agree that the poor or sick are not able to experience complete and absolute happiness- like Aristotle’s idea of Eudaimonia- I do believe that they are able to enjoy life. In my opinion it is the slaves who are saying yes to life. The nobles have been handed life on a pretty platter. It is the slaves who decide, despite the bad that occurs in their lives, that they want to continue living. I also thought it was interesting how it scares the majority of us to consider living our same lives over and over again. If it scares us we know we have a slave mentality. I am frightened by the idea because it means that our lives and our choices lack any meaning. I could live knowing that every decision I was making was already known, but it would be difficult to grasp the idea that it would be on a continuous loop. I believe we all need to think that there is an end to our lives. If we kept going, if we believed we had no free will, and just repeated our lives, what would be the point in trying? I’d curl up on the couch and simply think “Who cares. It’s not my choice.” Of course our human nature makes us move and work and desire knowledge. Certainly there has to be a reason for us.