Friedrich Nietzsche was an influential late 19th-century German philosopher. His most often referenced ideas are these: God is dead, and we have killed him. The Will to Power is the fundamental fact of history. Slave morality is European thought based on Jewish and Christian teaching. The democratic movement and the push for the common good lead to a degeneration of manliness. Ubermensch is the highest attainment and are the supermen or superior men who throw off yokes of any kind.
One can understand why his ideas, although often misinterpreted and misapplied, became a preparation for Hitler and the Nazis. Moreover, they have fueled the language and actions of tyrants and dictators since then.
His and other European philosophies gained popularity here in the 1960s. The ghost of Nietzsche lingers in the results of the Will to Power and actions of tyrants, He wrote, “we believe that severity, violence slavery, danger in the street and in the heart secrecy, stoicism, tempter’s art and devilry of every kind, … everything wicked, terrible, tyrannical, predatory, and serpentine in man, serves as well for the elevation of the human species as its opposite (Beyond Good and Evil, chapter 44).” Our media surrounds us with stark images of the effects of unleashed power. But enough of Nietzsche!
Our challenge is how to reestablish guidelines, principles, guardrails, and good practices that will cause the ghost to evaporate. The ghost reminds us of the skeletons, goblins, and scary monsters that clutter our neighbors’ yards after Halloween.
Thomas Friedman writing about a separate issue suggests that solving the problems depend on our ability and speed to “detribalize, depolarize, and detoxify ourselves.” Those three are useful guides to help in removing the ghosts haunting us.
The following suggestions are first steps we can take.
Focus on community and the common good as the basis for strength and flourishing for ourselves and our neighbors to create allies to help in our efforts.
Focus on the common good beyond ourselves to open the possibility of transcendence in our lives. The absence of transcendence creates a vacuum that leaves individuals and nations weak in the face of the Will to Power of supermen.
Affirm the existence of truth might move us beyond the relativism that seems grounded in the belief that no objective truth in a post-truth world based on opinions with no basis of adjudication. It is not necessary to claim that any one of us possesses the truth, only to believe that we come closer to the truth. That is the basis of all learning and wisdom.
Reclaim many ideals of the Enlightenment to reestablish foundations of democratic freedoms that have been weakened by post-Enlightenment and post-modern intellectual movements. Equality of individuals before the law. Equal access to opportunities. Protection of the rights of minority individuals and groups. Power to We the People through free and open elections of leaders.
Positive results are more likely through local actions than through posturing about national and international affairs. If we detribalize, depolarize, and detoxify ourselves here in Montgomery County, we can set out to meet the challenges that face us more globally.
Raymond Brady Williams, Crawfordsville, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus, contributed this guest column.
