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Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good And Evil

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In Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical work, Beyond Good and Evil, he accuses every age of having its excesses, meaning that society is overindulgent in some of its habits and overly critical of other practices. In response to the excesses, Nietzsche says that philosophers “have found their task, their hard, unwarranted, inescapable task, but eventually also the greatness of their task, in being the bad conscience of their time” (section 212). In his work, Nietzsche recognizes that the excesses that are reflected in society throughout the ages change, so a good philosopher will change with the times and provide lessons that correspond to the excesses of the age. In accordance with Nietzsche’s beliefs about the world, I believe that the modern …show more content…

Individuals believe that by buying luxury things, they will be able to possibly feel better or more confident about themselves in addition to impressing others. However, there are many negatives that the excess of material possessions can have on individuals as well as society in general. The people who rely on their possessions for self-worth are not living life as fully as they might be able to. Many psychological research studies have been conducted that show that such a reliance on materialism can lead to higher rates of depression and less happiness in people. Additionally, when some people see the luxuries owned by others, then they become jealous of those possessions, which will impact the happiness of their lives as well. A solution to this excess in the modern world is for people to try to incorporate aspects of a minimalist lifestyles into their own lives. This lifestyle involves getting rid of excess possessions and only keeping things that are used frequently. Minimalists recognize that we should not be placing significant meanings on everything that we own because most of it is replaceable. If people in our age were able to remove their focus from their possessions, then they would be able to focus more on their happiness and relationships that they have with others around

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Nevertheless, the interviewees frown upon being labelled as someone that values luxury over reasonable spending. Hence, they expressed their emphasis on the importance of needs over wants, and that practicality should triumph over extravagance. They see “limited” consumption as a form of self discipline, where excessive spending was only justifiable when it is spent on the family and invested in the children. If

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Therefore, living a highly prioritised lifestyle means one does not have time to think about the importance of what they are buying, and this leads to more sales. Buying things in large quantities is an ideal example of buying what we want rather than what we need because we feel like it fills the gaping hole of true happiness. Andrew Barker, author of an article titled ‘consumerism’ states that ‘Healthy, happy people don’t feel like they need much they don’t already have.’ This has effectively become a problem as our money is feeding these hungry giants, who deceive us into thinking their services are for our benefit.

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For this piece of writing entitled, “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts”, journalist and commentator Alfred Lubrano focuses in on the areas of working-class and middle-class families. Lubrano uses real-life examples and noticeable characteristics to further explain the differences between the two social groups. Lubrano attempts to engage U.S. high school graduates and newly enrolled college students as the audience of readers. After gathering information from the text, Alfred Lubrano is depicted as a well-educated individual. Alfred Lubrano has shifted between two worlds: living in a working-class environment and attending an elite school.

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To give one’s evil side continuing hold indicates that there is a possibility the person in question would continue to make poor choices inasmuch as he feels he is limited to the label of evil awarded to him. In other words, forgiveness should be granted to a sinner in order to give him the opportunity to change, to ensure his wellbeing in the future. What if, however, the deed has been so enmeshed in the past that the future has already been altered forever? What if the situation has reached beyond the point of repair? The Jewish nation could have progressed into something so much bigger and greater had these families not been eradicated.

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But lately, many people are buying too many products but they really shouldn't be. The author uses strong word choice, expresses voice and gives facts and evidence to state his point. In this article, Carolyn Gregoire expresses her thoughts and articulate her point view. “Americans today, compared to 55 years ago own twice as many cars and eat out twice as much per person, but we don’t seem to be any happier because of it.”

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This statement expresses how people spend large amounts of money on materialistic things, such as homes, but they are really just causing harm. Instead of living simplistically, people choose extravagance and allow it to consume them. 6. Two quotations a. The first quote i. Relation to theme b.

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In his first essay of On the Genealogy of Morals, “‘Good and Evil,’ ‘Good and Bad,” Nietzsche makes accusations against priests that could easily be interpreted in a pro-Nazi light if misinterpreted. At first glance, this charge seems to be an attack against Judaism; however careful reading of text reveals that Nietzsche is actually criticizing Christianity. Nietzsche asserts that “priests are, as is notorious, the worst enemies—why? Because they are the weakest, their weakness causes their hate to expand into a monstrous and sinister shape, a shape which is most crafty and most poisonous” (1.7). Because the Jewish priests that Nietzsche describes are powerless and weak, they turn to hate.

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This causes us to be materialistic. “The definition of materialistic is to be excessively concerned with material possessions or to be money-oriented” (Snyder). This definition describes most of America today. The belief that material possessions improve individuals’ personal and social well being permeates America. If one can simply obtain the next new item, they believe they will be more socially accepted and will be overall happier.

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Nietzsche was influenced by Greek philosophers. His philosophical work is the foundation for existentialism and expressionism. Nietzsche believes that a man is responsible for his own growth and change and always looking for answers for unanswerable questions. Nietzsche’s philosophical text Beyond Good and Evil consists of nine different chapters and each chapter presents a distinctive point of view. In Nietzsche view, every philosopher put forward their personal view in a philosophical way.

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In chapter two of Alain de Botton’s book “Status Anxiety,” he explains the increase of status anxiety in western civilizations. By using a reference group, people are able to scrutinize their success and this often leads to envy. Every person is capable of making their own choices, composing a more urgent need to achieve in life. The increase of media usage and people’s intensifying obsession with celebrities have altered the way modern societies measure wealth. Infinite life choices allow people to constantly compare themselves to their peers and media to determine wealth and success.

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We have all been molded around the idea that have material possessions will make us feel “happiness, joy, and satisfaction” as stated in an article from Personal Excellence. Being happy is and never has been defined by the expensive thing that we own. Getting satisfaction from showing off possessions and making people wish they have what you do is unhealthy and not true happiness nor

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However, if we read Nietzsche’s texts and his perspective critically, we realize that this idea just doesn’t have a theological aspect, in fact the main aspect to it is directed at the plight of western/modern world and its culture. In addition, to the great decline of religion in society, the absence of a higher moral authority and character of being. This statement has brought advancements to the concepts of existentialism and nihilism too, here we can also see how severely these notions have evolved in terms of their meaning and has brought the world into chaos. Now, many people think that their lives run through a divine intervention and they observe different positive signs for good things and negative signs for the bad deeds they have

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In the end of Goethe’s book Faust, Faust is redeemed and not sent to hell even though he did some pretty bad things. Some of these bad things include taking advantage of a girl named Margaret, who was only 14. He made her accidentally kill her own mother so he could sneak in and fulfil his lustful desires, killed Valentine, her brother when he found out, and ran away to go party. But even after all of this he doesn't go to hell, shouldn't bad people, who did bad things go to hell?

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Simplifying life is a long process, but people can gradually eliminate minimal worries in order to solely focus on what should truly concern them. When we eliminate little stressors, we tend to lead happier lives. In a society infatuated with small details, Thoreau’s advice from “Walden” becomes more beneficial than ever, “do not trouble yourself much about new things, whether clothes or friends...do not seek...to be developed, to subject yourself to so many influences to be played on…” Following Thoreau’s advice to lose to focus on specifics will make a difference over time. The willingness to minimize concerns of small details is

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I hope I have shown you enough reasons as why minimalism is the best lifestyle. I do acknowledge that I do not have the right to tell you on how you have to lead your life and you might be saying that you got the full right to live your life as you wish. However, I recommend you to understand and apply minimalism slowly in your life and you will find its unconditional benefits that you are not well-informed and how it might change your life in the most pleasant way. After all, the only things that will remain in the end are your memories, dreams and experiences and you would not get all of these from all your material possessions. So, own your things before they own you.

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