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Nietzsche's Life-Affirmation And Nihilism

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Nietzsche: Life-Affirmation and Nihilism
In Nietzsche’s writings, he attributes some of the blame for Western culture’s decline on nihilism through a pessimistic outlook on society’s ability to cope without a Judeo-Christian God. Nietzsche views nihilism as a deteriorating disability of one’s mentality and physicality, yet there appear to be moments where he leaves hints of being a nihilist himself. This is an interesting aspect in his writings that deserves attention: Nietzsche wishes only to be a Yes-sayer, with a life-affirming philosophy including Eternal Recurrence and Amor fati; yet, a pessimistic side also exists, who exhibits nihilistic tendencies in his writing. And here lies the contradiction. While criticizing nihilism as a disease in Western culture, he appears to possess nihilistic characteristics. I will analyze Nietzsche’s role as both a Yes-sayer and a possible nihilist in order to shed light on this possible contradiction. Through specific evidence in his works, I will attempt to show …show more content…
In order to better the world of men, man must learn to take charge of his own self. This requires the use of the concepts Amor fati and Eternal Recurrence. Man has to love life, the good with the bad, in order to gain control over his life. Once he has established this control, then he can control his values as well, which frees him from the shackles of God. Nietzsche summarizes this concept in “Will to Power” with: “Now that the shabby origin of these values is becoming clear, the universe seems to have lost value, seems ‘meaningless’ – but that is only a transitional stage” (WP 7). Nihilism is a natural result from the death of God. Once man has no Judeo-Christian values, he is left with no sense of direction. Utilizing nihilism as a transitional phase, man is able to once again restore direction by loving his life and following a life-affirming

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