Nihilism and The New in Nietzsche's Thought

Document Type : .

Authors

1 PhD in Philosophy, Islamic Azad University (North-Tehran Branch)-Iran

2 Associate professor of philosophy, Islamic Azad University (North-Tehran Branch)-Iran

Abstract

Abstract
Nietzsche unfolds his radical critique of Western culture due to its emergence from the metaphysical thinking. For Nietzsche, Western culture as a set of metaphysical valuation systems has resulted in nihilism and absurdity of all values. With a genealogical, etymological and historical method, Nietzsche exhibited the logic of metaphysical decadence under his criticisms in the three fields of philosophy, ethics and religion, and sought to get rid of Western metaphysics and the resulting nihilism as a new thing by marketing values ​​in the personality of the Artist-philosopher. he does. Meanwhile, in his thought, the “Artist-philosopher” figure goes beyond the metaphysical oppositions. He is aware of his difference from others due to the hierarchy resulted from will to power, and the “pathos of distance” has caused him to be in the ruling caste. He lives in the realm of fronties and dangers with his creation power, creates new values for overcoming nihilism with his noble form of life, a different form of life which embraces the fusion of mind and passion in the Dionysian-Apollonian unity, and joyously affirms his spiritual world.
 
Keywords: Metaphysics, Nihilism, Decadence, New Thing, Artist-Philosopher
 
 
Introduction
Nietzsche, as one of the main critics of Western philosophy, introduces nihilism as the final result of Western metaphysical thinking and the dominant intellectual current of the two centuries after him, in which old values have become meaningless and cannot be considered a prescription for today's human life. Nietzsche considers the soil of the metaphysical plant to be the concept of decadence, which the more it distances itself from the Hellenic bio-world, it prepares for itself the path of irreversible decline and decadence, the inevitable result of which will be meaninglessness. From Nietzsche's point of view, decadence is the matter by which life, and nature are emptied of their meaningful form and the existence is transformed into a meaningless thing, therefore it leads to nihilism. Therefore, according to the concept of decadence as the bedrock of nihilism, the thought so far has suffered It has become a metaphysical disease of thought, which Nietzsche criticizes radically under the three domains of philosophy, ethics and religion.
    The main issue and question in this article is whether, from Nietzsche's point of view, metaphysical thinking, like Western philosophy, has led to nihilism, and how has this been realized? What is the main figure of nihilism and what are the signs and symptoms of nihilism? How has the logic of decadence as the bedrock of nihilism led to the construction of the last man, and finally, what will be the way or ways to pass this nihilism from Nietzsche's point of view?
 
Methodology
Nietzsche criticizes Western philosophy with a genealogical, etymological and historical method and considers the way to get rid of Western metaphysics and the resulting nihilism to be a re-evaluation of values in the way and behavior of art and artist. What in Nietzsche's thought is from the realm of illness, which is the realm of metaphysical thought and is discussed with the logic of decadence, will lead to Nietzsche's triple criticism of metaphysics, and what is raised under the realm of health in Nietzsche's thought refers to Nietzsche's solution to overcome metaphysical nihilism.
    In Nietzsche's genealogical critique, from the field of philosophy by returning to Platonic-Aristotelian-Kantian thinking under the concept of similarity, and in the field of ethics, which has led to general orders and to the thought of homogenizing and leveling people, under herd ethics, and in the field of Christianity, by presenting its generalizing, unifying and democratic theoretical values to It leads to the equalization of all strong and weak species and makes the patient equal next to the healthy under original sin.
 
In this article and in the following, Nietzsche's critiques of Western metaphysical philosophy, we have presented a section entitled "The New" in his thought. The new in Nietzsche's thinking is obtained as a result of philosophizing with a hammer, as a result of which all dominant metaphysical values are overturned at once. Nietzsche considers the European man to be the last man who has the legacy of metaphysical nihilism and is necessary for the emergence of a new post-metaphysical era, because with his decadent and democratic values, he brings nihilism to its peak and helps to build a new world. Nietzsche's new perspective provides multiple possibilities for life, thinking and truth and makes the future pregnant with multiple ideas.
    The new in Nietzsche's thinking invites us to overcome the dualisms of the metaphysical tradition. In Nietzsche's thinking, returning to nature is the first way out of nihilism. Nietzsche considers the alternative of metaphysical thinking in the field of knowledge to be the idea of difference, and in the field of ethics, the superior caste, and in the field of religion, art as a noble style, meaning the unity of poetic reason and joyful passion, which is an Apollonian-Dionysian unity.
 
Conclusion
The new in Nietzsche's thinking can be seen as the final summation of his main opinions, which are expressed in the general format of the new valuations of the post-metaphysical world. Nietzsche followed the roots of Western thought in the opinions of Plato and Aristotle with the genealogical method and by returning to the origin of Western culture i.e. Greece, and influenced by the origin of this culture, he shows us its destination, which is metaphysical thought. Nietzsche, who is struggling with the crisis of meaning, considers the flow of Western culture, which is completely immersed in metaphysical thinking, towards nihilism. Nietzsche saw nihilism as the result of metaphysical thinking, the definitive trend of the next two centuries after him. In his three criticisms, Nietzsche considers the logic of decadence as a platform for nihilism in the three domains of philosophy, ethics, and Christianity. In Nietzsche's thinking, the new is simultaneously destructive and creative: the destruction of the concepts and values of the metaphysical world and the creation of new values of the post-metaphysical world. In the depth of Nietzsche's aristocratic culture, the new is present, which means multiple possibilities of living and thinking in the future. In Nietzsche's view, the superhuman and post-metaphysical character is the artist-philosopher who bears the heavy burden of the new. At the heart of Nietzsche's alternative plan for the nihilism of metaphysical thinking, there is a place for the artist-philosopher, who, from his point of view, is a different character, he is beyond confrontations, lives in danger, stands at the borders and makes the existence of the new thing clear and visible. Finally, the personality of the artist in Nietzsche's modern world, with the example of the noble style, which is the Apollonian-Dionysian unity of art, enables new thinking.

Keywords


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