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Nietzsche Part 2
Aug. 9th, 2020 03:31 pmFor the record, I'm still looking up Nietzsche every time I have to spell it.
More thoughts today in reaction to this video in particular - Nietzsche and Morality: The Higher Man and The Herd.
This video focuses on the concept of "herd morality," Nietzsche's name for the predominant morality of a given society. It talks about how modern herd morality is both anti-natural and destructive to anyone in search of a truly fulfilling life - all things which push that 'narrating my brain back at itself' button. The ways in which predominant American society demands the human animal squeeze itself into a tiny box drives me up a wall. Has for basically my whole lifetime.
And then the video veers for a moment into current social commentary, and references social justice movements as an effort to assert a new herd morality. which. mmm. I can see where you're coming from there, but.
It smacks of bias to bring up that one example of herd morality without also mentioning the currently predominant herd morality, which is based on Western Christianity and white supremacy. Maybe social justice movements are an effort to overcome and replace that morality, but to call out only one side of the fight without bringing up the other... that proposes that one side is more damaging than the other or, at best, that one side simply doesn't exist.
Anyway, why should wanting to make changes to herd morality be a bad thing necessarily? Isn't it built into Nietzsche's writings that the work of greater human beings will never be done? It follows that herd morality will therefore always exist in some form, and there will always be people who are trying to shift it one way or another. Shouldn't we therefore support herd-morality-shifting causes which align to our inner morality, to put more of what we consider good into the world? If we decide we don't care what "the herd" is doing because herd morality will always exist so it doesn't matter, how is that not succumbing to nihilism? (Not to mention extreme egoism, to assume we ourselves are unaffected by herd morality. Like most things, I have a feeling Greater Human Being and The Herd miiiight not be so binary.)
I actually left a comment on the video cause I was feeling brave. I'm going to keep watching and delving into Nietzcshe's philosophy because it's still saying a lot of things that make sense, but I have a feeling my critical mind is going to keep getting activated.
More thoughts today in reaction to this video in particular - Nietzsche and Morality: The Higher Man and The Herd.
This video focuses on the concept of "herd morality," Nietzsche's name for the predominant morality of a given society. It talks about how modern herd morality is both anti-natural and destructive to anyone in search of a truly fulfilling life - all things which push that 'narrating my brain back at itself' button. The ways in which predominant American society demands the human animal squeeze itself into a tiny box drives me up a wall. Has for basically my whole lifetime.
And then the video veers for a moment into current social commentary, and references social justice movements as an effort to assert a new herd morality. which. mmm. I can see where you're coming from there, but.
It smacks of bias to bring up that one example of herd morality without also mentioning the currently predominant herd morality, which is based on Western Christianity and white supremacy. Maybe social justice movements are an effort to overcome and replace that morality, but to call out only one side of the fight without bringing up the other... that proposes that one side is more damaging than the other or, at best, that one side simply doesn't exist.
Anyway, why should wanting to make changes to herd morality be a bad thing necessarily? Isn't it built into Nietzsche's writings that the work of greater human beings will never be done? It follows that herd morality will therefore always exist in some form, and there will always be people who are trying to shift it one way or another. Shouldn't we therefore support herd-morality-shifting causes which align to our inner morality, to put more of what we consider good into the world? If we decide we don't care what "the herd" is doing because herd morality will always exist so it doesn't matter, how is that not succumbing to nihilism? (Not to mention extreme egoism, to assume we ourselves are unaffected by herd morality. Like most things, I have a feeling Greater Human Being and The Herd miiiight not be so binary.)
I actually left a comment on the video cause I was feeling brave. I'm going to keep watching and delving into Nietzcshe's philosophy because it's still saying a lot of things that make sense, but I have a feeling my critical mind is going to keep getting activated.
