Nietzsche And Platonism Essay -- essays research papers

In Twilight of the Idols Nietzsche writes, "My objection against the whole of sociology in England and France remains that it knows from experience only the forms of decay, and with perfect sinlessness accepts its instincts of decay as the norm of sociological value-judgments. The decline of life, the decrease in the power to organize, that is to tear open clefts, subordinate and super-ordinate -- all this has been formulated as the perfection in contemporary sociology." (p 541). The culture of Europe at the time of Nietzsches writing was experiencing a general decline in vitality which was exemplified in Christianity (Platonism) and riot or nihilism. Nietzsche saw himself as a kind of philosophical doctor, capable of diagnosing the sickness of man. These two types of decline made it especially apparent what was haywire with mankind, and in this decadence Nietzsche detected symptoms of nihilism, one of his biggest worries for the culture as a whole. To Nietzsche, Christi anity is objectionable because it is a symptom of mankinds world weariness. In rejecting the kingdom of the here and now in favor of a transcendent, heavenly afterlife, the Christian reveals his weakness. This weakness was first observed in Plato, whose logic is eventually carried out into the ripening of Christianity. Plato created the idea that this world is meaningless, and that people do not get rewarded for their actions until after death, and that worldly reality is not worth anything. Nietzsc...