Friedrich Nietzsche​ (1844-1900​)

Denigrate

To attack the reputation of or defame. Criticize, sometimes unfairly. 

• For Nietzsche, it was a sign that he respected you if he attacked you.

Nietzsche has been criticized for being polemic, what does this mean?

Argumentative, harsh, and critical.

Aphorism

A short saying that requires interpretation.

Ex. You cannot step into the same river twice. -Heraclitus

Übermensch

Translates roughly to “over man” or superman. Someone who has broken free

from society’s generally accepted norms and traditions no longer follows the “herd,” those who mindlessly follow moral and social rules. The ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional Christian morality to create and impose his own values. Breaks away from the slave morality.

• “Trans-valuation of all values”= becoming an übermensch.

Nihilism

The rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.

Moral Nihilism​

There are no moral values, principles, truths.

Active Nihilism​

Recognizes that everything is nihilistic and rejects the values given to us by others to erect values of our own.​

Passive Nihilism​

Believe in traditional values, despite having doubts about the true value of those values.​

Nietzsche is considered a existentialist, what does this mean?

Emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Ex. Existentialist philosophers: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Beauvoir, Heidegger, and Camus.

Slave Morality

Values kindness, empathy, and sympathy.​ Encourages herd morality​ a