mostly because people cannot be
anything
else than weak.
Nietzsche - Works - v14 - Will to Power - a
NIHILISM.
29
the mediocre positing themselves as the end and meaning of all things. No one can any longer reply to the question: "Why? "
(4) Belittlement, susceptibility to pain, unrest,
haste, and confusion are steadily increasing--the
materialisation of all these tendencies, which is called "civilisation," becomes every day more simple,
with the result that, in the face of the monstrous machine, the individual despairs and surrenders.
34.
Modern Pessimism is an expression of the use
lessness only of the modern world, not of the world and existence as such.
35.
The "preponderance of pain over pleasure," or
the reverse (Hedonism); both of these doctrines are already signposts to Nihilism. . .
For here, in both cases, no other final purpose is sought than the phenomenon pleasure or pain.
But only a man who no longer dares to posit a will, a purpose, and a final goal can speak in
this way--according to every healthy type of
man, the worth of life is certainly not measured
by the standard of these secondary things. And a preponderance of pain would be possible and, in
spite of mighty will, saying yea life, and holding this preponderance for necessary.
? living"; "Resignation"; "what the good tears? "--this feeble and/
"Life not worth
? ? is
is
it, a
of of
is a
of
a
a
to }|A*|}
? 3O
THE WILL TO POWER.
sentimental attitude of mind. "Un monstre gai vaut mieux qu'un sentimental ennuyeux. "
36.
The philosophic Nihilist is convinced that all
phenomena are without sense and are in vain, and
that there ought to be no such thing as Being without sense and in vain. But whence comes
this "There ought not to be? "--whence this "sense" and this standard? At bottom the
Nihilist supposes that the sight of such a desolate, useless Being is unsatisfying to the philosopher,
and fills him with desolation and despair. This aspect of the case is opposed to our subtle sensi
bilities as a philosopher. It leads to the absurd conclusion that the character of existence must
perforce afford pleasure to the philosopher if it is to have any right to subsist. - -
Now it is easy to understand that happiness and unhappiness, within the phenomena of this
world, can only serve the purpose of means: the question yet remaining to be answered whether
? will ever possible for "object" and "purpose"
problem purposelessness quite beyond our ken.
37,
perceive the
life--whether the the reverse not
The development Nihilism out of Pessimism. The denaturalisation of Values. Scholasticism
values. The values isolated, idealistic, instead
? ? of
it
of
of
be
or of us to
is, is
? zweakness:--
(1) The weak fall
pieces upon it;
NIHILISM.
31
of ruling and leading action, turn against it and condemn
Opposites introduced the place natural
gradations
rank. Opposites are compatible with plebeian age, because they are more easy grasp.
The rejected world opposed an artificially constructed "true and valuable" one. At last we discover out of what material the "true" world was built; all that remains, now, the rejected world, and the account our reasons for rejecting we place our greatest disillusionment,
At this point Nihilism reached; the directing
values have been retained--nothing more!
This gives rise the problem strength and
and ranks. Hatred the order
? (2) The strong destroy what does not fall
pieces own accord;
(3) The strongest overcome the directing
values.
The whole condition affairs produces the
tragic age.
-
THE NIHILISTIC MoveMENT As AN EXPRESSION OF DECADENCE.
38.
Just lately accidental and every way
inappropriate term has been very much misused: everywhere people are speaking "Pessimism,"
? ? of in
of
of
to to
an
3.
of
is
in of
of its
it
it.
to
to to
to
is
is
a
of of
? 32
THE WILL TO POWER.
and there is a fight around the question (to whic some replies must be forthcoming): which right--Pessimism or Optimism P
People have not yet seen what is so terribl obvious--namely, that Pessimism is not a proble but a symptom,-that the term ought to be r placed by "Nihilism,"--that the question, "to
or not to be," is itself an illness, a sign degeneracy, an idiosyncrasy.
The Nihilistic movement is only an expressio of physiological decadence.
39.
To be understood:--That every kind of declir
and tendency to sickness has incessantly been :
work in helping to create general evaluation: that in those valuations which now dominat
decadence has even begun to preponderate, th: we have not only to combat the conditions whic present misery and degeneration have brough into being; but that all decadence, previous
that of our own times, has been transmitted an
has therefore remained an active force
riddle, philosophers.
which -the animal "man" sets to a -
4O.
b
? among us. A universal departure of this kind, on th part of man, from his fundamental instincts, suc
universal decadence of the valuing judgment, the note of interrogation par excellence, the re
The notion "decadence":--Decay, decline, ar waste, are, per no way open objection
? ? se, in
to
? young. And even
NIHILISM.
33
they are the natural consequences of life and vital growth. The phenomenon of decadence is just
as necessary to life as advance or progress is: we are not in a position which enables us to suppress On the contrary, reason would have retain
its rights.
disgraceful on the part socialist-theorists
argue that circumstances and social combina tions could devised which would put an end
vice, illness, crime, prostitution, and poverty.
But that Life society
prime must bring forth ordure and decaying matter. The more
tantamount
not liberty remain
condemning
? energetically and daringly
will be failures and
nearer will fall. Age not deferred by
means of institutions. Nor illness.
Fundamental aspect the nature what has heretofore been regarded are effects.
Nor vice.
decadence: causes
this way, the whole perspective the
problems morality
All the struggle morals against vice, luxury,
crime, and even against illness, seems naivete? , superfluous effort: there no such thing
"improvement" Decadence
zwithstood
word against repentance).
itself not thing that can absolutely necessary and proper
altered.
all ages and all peoples. That which must VOL.
advances, the richer deformities, and the
? ? to
I. : of . a
. to . all
to It it. is
C
of4I.
ais is at
it is
in bebe tois
is
ofis
its in is
(a
a is
of
as of its
it
be be asa
In
its
it it
.
is
is
init its it
of to
to
||
? 34
THE WILL TO POWER.
withstood, and by all means in our power, spreading of the contagion among the sound of the organism.
Is that done? The very reverse is don is precisely on this account that one ma stand on behalf of humanity.
How do the highest values created h
quest biology? Philosophy, religion, morality, art (The remedy: militarism, for instance, Napoleon onwards, who regarded civilisat
his natural enemy. )
42.
stand in relation to this fundamental
? All those things which heretofore have regarded as the causes of degeneration, are
----------
its effects.
But those things also which have been the remedies degeneration are only pal of certain effects thereof: the "cured ar.
of the degenerate.
The results of decadence vice--viciou illness--sickliness; crime--criminality;
--sterility; hysteria--the
alcoholism; pessimism, anarchy; debaucher
the spirit). The calumniators, under sceptics, and destroyers.
43.
Concerning the notion "decadence. "
(1) Scepticism result decadenc spiritual debauchery
weakness
? ? as
of
as
is.
of
:
is a
of th c.
"
of
re.
? NIHILISM,
35
(2) Moral corruption is a result of decadence (the weakness of the will and the need of strong stimulants).
(3) Remedies, whether psychological or moral,
do not alter the march of decadence, they do not arrest anything; physiologically they do not COunt.
A peep into the enormous futility of these
pretentious "reactions"; they
anaesthetising oneself against certain fatal symptoms resulting from the prevailing condition
of things; they do not eradicate the morbid element; they are often heroic attempts to cancel the decadent man, to allow only a minimum of his deleterious influence to survive.
(4) Nihilism is not a cause, but only the rationale of decadence.
(5) The "good" and the "bad" are no more than two types of decadence: they come together
are forms of
? in all its fundamental
phenomena.
(6) The social problem is a result of decadence. (7) Illnesses, more particularly those attacking
the nerves and the head, are signs that the defensive strength of strong nature is lacking; a
proof of this is that irritability which causes pleasure and pain to be regarded as problems of the first order.
44.
The most common types of decadence:
(1) In the belief that they are remedies, cures are chosen which only precipitate exhaustion;--
this is the case with Christianity (to point to the
? ? ? 36
THE WILL TO POWER.
most egregious example of mistaken instinct);--
this is also the case with "progress. "
(2) The power of resisting stimuli is on the
wane--chance rules supreme: events are inflated
and drawn out until they appear monstrous . . . a suppression of the "personality," a disintegration
of the will; in this regard we may mention a
whole class of morality, the altruistic, that which is incessantly preaching pity, and whose most
essential feature is the weakness of the personality,
so that it rings in unison, and, like an over
sensitive string, does not cease from vibrating . . . extreme irritability. . . .
(3) Cause and effect are confounded: decad
ence is not understood as physiological, and its
? results are tak-en to be the causes of the general indisposition: applies religious
morality.
(4) A state of affairs is desired in which suffer
ing shall cease; life is actually considered the cause of all ills--unconscious and insensitive states
(sleep and syncope) are held in incomparably
higher esteem than the conscious states; hence a method of life.
45.
Concerning the hygiene of the "weak. " All that is done in weakness ends in failure. Moral:
do nothing. The worst of it that precisely the strength required order stop action, and
cease from reacting, most seriously diseased under the influence of weakness: that one never
this to all
? ? in is
to is,
to
? do? tapopta is just as proper to
ness recoiling, suddenness and lack "action," are proper weakness.
self-preservation
instinct
The weak man injures himself.
decadent type.
As matter fact, we
NIHILISM.
37
reacts more promptly or more blindly than when one should not react at all.
The strength of a character is shown by the ability to delay and postpone reaction: a certain
The will weak: and the recipe for preventing foolish acts would be: have strong will and do nothing --contradiction. sort self-destruction, the
involuntari restraint
compromised.
That the
? meet with vast amount thought concerning the means where
with impassibility may induced. To this extent, the instincts are on the right scent;
for do nothing something.
All the practices
philosophers, and
correct -consideration the fact, that certain kind man most useful himself when he
hinders his own action much
possible.
and things that might exact immediate decisions
and actions.
Weakness of Will this
lead astray. For there no will, consequently
more useful than do
private orders, solitary fakirs, are suggested by
Relieving measures: absolute obedience,
mechanical activity, total isolation from men
46-T
fable that can neither strong nor weak one. The multi
? ? a
of of
to
: a
as
of
of
be
to is of
is
is
of
to
a
in
in
. is .
of
is
?
of Aa
.
to
a as . it,
a
of
a to
is .
.
a . is
.
to
as of
? 38
THE WILL TO POWER.
plicity and disintegration of the instincts, the war
of system in their relationship, constitute what known as a "weak will"; their co-ordination, unde the government of one individual among them results in a "strong will"--in the first cas vacillation and a lack of equilibrium is noticeable in the second, precision and definite direction.
47.
That which is inherited is not illness, but a predi. position to illness: a lack of the powers of resistanc against injurious external influences,etc. . etc. , broke
? powers of resistance; expressed morally: resigna tion and humility in the presence of the enemy.
I have often wondered whether it would no
be possible to class all the highest values of th philosophies, moralities, and religions which hav
been devised hitherto, with the values of th
feeble,
milder form, they present the same evils.
The value of all morbid conditions consist
in the fact that they magnify certain norma
the insane and the neurasthenic: in
phenomena
normal conditions. . .
which are difficult to discern i
Health and illness are not essentially differen as the ancient doctors believed and as a fel
practitioners still believe to-day. They canno
be imagined as two distinct principles or entitie which fight for the living organism and make their battlefield. That is nonsense and mere idl
gossip, which no longer holds water. As matter of fact, there is only a difference (
? ? ? NIHILISM.
39
degree between these two living conditions: exaggeration, want of proportion, want of harmony
among the normal phenomena, constitute the
morbid state (Claude Bernard).
Just as "evil" may be regarded as exaggeration,
discord, and want of proportion, so can "good" be
regarded as a sort of protective diet against the danger of exaggeration, discord, and want of proportion.
Hereditary weakness as a dominant feeling: the cause of the prevailing values.
M. B. --Weakness is in demand--why? . .
mostly because people cannot be anything else than weak.
Weakening considered a duty : The weakening of the desires, of the feelings of pleasure and
of pain, of the will to power, of the will to pride, to property and to more property; weakening in
the form of humility; weakening in the form of a belief; weakening in the form of repugnance and
shame in the presence of all that is natural--in the form of a denial of life, in the form of illness and chronic feebleness; weakening in the form of a refusal to take revenge, to offer resistance, to become an enemy, and to show anger.
Blunders in the treatment: there is no attempt at combating weakness by means of any fortifying
system; but by a sort of justification consisting of moralising; i. e. , by means of interpretation.
Two totally different conditions are confused: for instance, the repose of strength, which is essen
tially abstinence from reaction (the prototype of the gods whom nothing moves), and the peace of
? ? ? ? THE WILL TO POWER.
exhaustion, rigidity to the point of anaesthesi
All these philosophic and ascetic modes of pr cedure aspire to the second state, but actual pretend to attain to the first . . . for they ascrib to the condition they have reached the attribut that would be in keeping only with a divine stat
48.
The most dangerous misunderstanding. --The
is one concept which apparently allows of n confusion or ambiguity, and that is the concep exhaustion. Exhaustion may be acquired or ir herited--in any case it alters the aspect an
value of things.
Unlike him who involuntarily gives of th
superabundance which he both feels and repre sents, to the things about him, and who see them fuller, mightier, and more pregnant with pro mises,--who, in fact, can bestow,-the exhauste
one belittles and disfigures everything he sees--h impoverishes its worth: he is detrimental. . . .
No mistake seems possible in this matter: an yet history discloses the terrible fact, that th exhausted have always been confounded with thos with the most abundant resources, and the latte with the most detrimental.
The pauper in vitality, the feeble one, in poverishes even life: the wealthy man, in vit
powers, enriches The first the parasite the second the second bestower of
4O
? possible?
When he who was exhausted came forth wit
abundance. How confusion
? ? :
it. is
is
a
is
h; (
? NIHILISM.
41
the bearing of a very active and energetic man (when degeneration implied a certain excess of spiritual and nervous discharge), he was mistaken for the wealthy man. He inspired terror. The cult of the madman is also always the cult of him
who is rich in vitality, and who is a powerful man. The fanatic, the one possessed, the religious
all eccentric creatures have been re
epileptic,
garded as the highest types of power: as divine.
This kind of strength which inspires terror seemed to be, above all, divine: this was the starting-point of authority; here wisdom was interpreted, hearkened to, and sought. Out of this there was developed, everywhere almost, a
will to "deify," i. e. , to a typical degeneration of
spirit, body, and nerves: an attempt to discover the road to this higher form of being. To make oneself mad, provoke the symptoms
What led astray, here, was the experience
intoxication. This increases the feeling power the highest degree, therefore, the mind
the ingenuous, power. On the highest rung power the most intoxicated man must stand, the
ecstatic. (There are two causes intoxication:
superabundant life, nutrition the brain. )
? serious disorder--was called
becoming more superhuman, more terrible and more wise. People thought they would thus attain such wealth power, that they would be able dispense Wheresoever there have been prayers, some one has been sought who had something give away.
getting stronger,
and condition morbid
? ? of
to
to to
ill or
a
of
to
to of
it is
of
of
of of )|
of
sy
it. of to
? 42
THE WILL TO POWER.
49.
Acquired, not inherited exhaustion: (1) inade quate nourishment, often the result of ignorance
concerning diet, as, for instance, in the case of
scholars; (2) erotic precocity: the damnation more especially of the youth of France--Parisian youths, above all, who are already ruined and defiled when they step out of their lyce? es into the world, and who cannot break the chains of de spicable tendencies; ironical and scornful towards themselves -- galley-slaves with every refinement (moreover, in the majority of cases, already a symptom of racial and family decadence, as . all hypersensitiveness is; and examples of the
? by one's environment is also a sign of decadence);
infection of environment: to be influenced
(3) alcoholism, not the instinct but the habit, foolish imitation, the cowardly or vain adaptation
to a ruling fashion. What a blessing a Jew is among Germans! See the obtuseness, the flaxen
head, the blue eye, and the lack of intellect in the face, the language, and the bearing; the lazy habit
of stretching the limbs, and the need of repose
among Germans--a need which is not the result of overwork, but of the disgusting excitation and over-excitation caused by alcohol.
5O.
A theory of exhaustion. --Vice, the insane (also artists), the criminals, the anarchists--these are
? ? ? NIHILISM,
43
not the oppressed classes, but the outcasts of the community of all classes hitherto.
Seeing that all our classes are permeated by
these elements, we have grasped the fact that modern society is not a "society" or a "body," but a diseased agglomeration of Chandala,--a society
which no longer has the strength even to excrete. To what extent living together for centuries
has very much deepened sickliness: modern virtue
modern intellect}as forms of disease, modern science
5 I.
The state of corruption. --The interrelation of all forms of corruption should be understood, and
the Christian form (Pascal as the type), as also
the socialistic and communistic (a result of the
Christian), should not be overlooked (from the standpoint of natural science, the highest concep
tion of society according to socialists, is the lowest
in the order of rank among societies); the "Be yond"--corruption: as though outside the real
world of Becoming there were a world of Being.
Here there must be no compromise, but selec tion, annihilation, and war--the Christian Nihilistic standard of value must be withdrawn from all
things and attacked beneath every disguise . . . for instance, from modern sociology, music, and
Pessimism (all forms of the Christian ideal of values)
? ? ? ? THE WILL TO POWER.
44
is to say, tending to elevate the type man. . . . The priest, the shepherd of souls, should b
looked upon as a form of life which must be sup pressed. All education, hitherto, has been help
less, adrift, without ballast, and afflicted with th contradiction of values.
52.
If Nature have no pity on the degenerate, it not therefore immoral: the growth of physiologic. and moral evils in the human race, is rather th result of morbid and unnatural morality. The ser sitiveness of the majority of men is both morbi and unnatural.
Why is it that mankind is corrupt in a mora and physiological respect? The body degenerate
if one organ is unsound. The right of altruis, cannot be traced to physiology, neither can th right to help and to the equality of fate: thes are all premiums for degenerates and failures.
There can be no solidarity in a society cor
Either one thing or the other is true: true--tha
? taining unfruitful, unproductive,
members, who, by the bye, are bound to hav offspring even more degenerate than they ar themselves.
53.
Decadence exercises a profound and perfectl unconscious influence, even over the ideals c science: all our sociology is a proof of this pro position, and it has yet to be reproached with th
and destructiv
? ? ? NIHILISM,
45
fact that it has only the experience of society in the process of decay, and inevitably takes own
decaying instincts judgment.
The declining vitality
lates social ideals
and these ideals are all so like those of old and
effete races, that they might mistaken for one another.
The gregarious instinct, then,--now sovereign
the basis sociological *
modern Europe formu
power,--is something totally
instinct an aristocratic society: and the value
the sum depends upon the value the units constituting The whole our sociology
knows no other instinct than that the herd, i. e. ,
multitude mere ciphers--of which every cipher has "equal rights," and where virtue to be naught.
The valuation with which the various forms of society are judged to-day absolutely the same
decaying instincts:
different from the
? assigns higher place peace than war but this principle contrary the
with that which
teaching biology, and
decadent life. Life means war.
decadent biology, regarded the triumph
itself mere outcome
sideratum ! ! ! ).
A->
/54. After thousands years
my good
road which leads Yea and
fortune
result
war, society
Mr. Herbert Spencer was also morality (he
altruism de
error and confusion,
have rediscovered the Nay.
? ? to a
in of
a is
of of
be
of
it aisof ofof is a a
to
is is a
of of a is
in of its
as a
is to a
its
in to
it. .
to. . of. aof. .
as
as
.
of
:
of
to
its
to
it of a
*
? 46
THE WILL TO POWER.
I teach people to say Nay in the face of that makes for weakness and exhaustion.
teach people say Yea the face all that makes for strength, that preserves strength,
and justifies the feeling strength.
Up the present, neither the one nor the
other has been taught; but rather virtue, dis interestedness, pity, and even the negation life.
All these are values proceeding from exhausted people.
After having pondered over the physiology
of exhaustion for some time, was led the question: what extent the judgments ex
hausted people had percolated into the world values.
? The result which arrived was
startling
could possibly be--even for one like my self who was already home many strange
world: found that all prevailing values--that say, all those which had gained ascendancy
over humanity,
could be traced back people.
Under the cover
the most destructive
least over tamer portions, the judgment exhausted
the holiest names, found tendencies; people had
actually given the name "God" all that renders
weak, teaches weakness, and infects with weakness,
found that the "good man" was form self-affirmation on the part decadence.
That virtue which Schopenhauer still pro
claimed mental recognised
superior all, and the most funda all virtues; even that same pity
more dangerous than any vice
? ? of as as
to
I
is
of
all
to
of
at to
at
I
to of
|. of .
to
as it
I to
as of to a
its in a
I
in
. I
I
at
of I
as
or
of to
of
of
? logical misunderstandings evil.
are the cause of al
NIHILISM,
47
Deliberately to thwart the law of selection among
species, and their natural means of purging their stock of degenerate members--this, up to my
time, had been the greatest of all virtues. . . . One should do honour to the fatality which
says to the feeble: "perish ! "
The opposing of this fatality, the botching of
mankind and the allowing of it to putrefy, was
given the name "God. " One shall not take the name of the Lord one's God in vain. . . .
The race is corrupted--not by its vices, but by its ignorance: it is corrupted because it has not;
recognised exhaustion as exhaustion: physio
? Virtue is our greatest misunderstanding. Problem: how were the exhausted able to
make the laws of values? In other words, how did they who are the last, come to power? . . . .
How did the instincts of the animal man ever get to stand on their heads? . . .
4. THE CRISIS: NIHILISM AND THE IDEA OF RECURRENCE.
55.
Extreme positions are not relieved by more moderate ones, but by extreme opposite positions.
And thus the belief in the utter immorality of nature, and in the absence of all purpose and sense, are psychologically necessary passions when the
? ? ? 48
THE WILL TO POWER.
belief in God and in an essentially moral order of things is no longer tenable.
Nihilism now appears, not because the sorrows of existence are greater than they were formerly, but because, in a general way, people have grown
suspicious of the "meaning" which might be given
to evil and even to existence. One interpretation has been overthrown: but since it was held to be
the interpretation, it seems as though there were no meaning in existence at all, as though every
thing were in vain.
>k
It yet remains to be shown that this "in vain 1"
is the character of present Nihilism. The mistrust of our former valuations has increased to such an
extent that it has led to the question: "are not
all 'values' merely allurements prolonging the duration of the comedy, without, however, bringing
the unravelment any closer? " The "long period of time" which has culminated in an "in vain. "
without either goal or purpose, is the most par alysing of thoughts, more particularly when one
? sees that one is
able to resist being duped.
duped without, however, being
sk
Let us imagine this thought in its worst form:
existence, as it without either purpose goal, but inevitably recurring, without an end
nonentity:
"Eternal Recurrence. "
This the extremest form Nihilism:
(purposelessness)
nothing
eternal
? ? |
is
of
a
or in a
is,
? NIHILISM,
49
European form of Buddhism: the energy of knowledge and of strength drives us to such a
belief. It is the most scientific of all
ence had a final purpose it would have reached
possible hypotheses. We deny final purposes. If exist
should be understood that what
aimed at, here, contradiction of Pantheism: for "everything perfect, divine, eternal," also leads
the belief Eternal Recurrence. Question:
has this pantheistic and affirmative attitude all things also been made impossible by morality?
At bottom only the moral God has been overcome. there any sense imagining God "beyond
good and evil"? Would Pantheism this sense
be possible? Do we withdraw the idea purpose
from the process, and affirm the process notwith
standing? This were within that process,
something were attained every moment--and
always the same thing. Spinoza won an affirma
tive position this sort, the sense that every moment, according him, has logical necessity:
and he triumphed by means his fundamentally
logical world.
But his case exceptional. every funda
mental trait character, which lies beneath every act, and which finds expression every act, were
recognised by the individual his fundamental VOL. D
instinct over like conformation the
being
? ? ? I.
of
is
of to
in
is
of a as in
>k
in so if,
If
of
a
a
in
a
sk
in of
is to
Is
to
It
it.
? 5O
THE WILL TO POWER.
trait of character, this individual would be driven
to regard every moment of existence in general, triumphantly as good. It would simply be neces
sary for that fundamental trait of character to be felt in oneself as something good, valuable, and
i pleasurable.
>k
Now, in the case of those men and classes of
men who were treated with violence and oppressed by their fellows, morality saved life from despair
and from the leap into nonentity: for impotence 'in relation to mankind and not in relation to
|Nature is what generates the most desperate
bitterness towards existence.
29
the mediocre positing themselves as the end and meaning of all things. No one can any longer reply to the question: "Why? "
(4) Belittlement, susceptibility to pain, unrest,
haste, and confusion are steadily increasing--the
materialisation of all these tendencies, which is called "civilisation," becomes every day more simple,
with the result that, in the face of the monstrous machine, the individual despairs and surrenders.
34.
Modern Pessimism is an expression of the use
lessness only of the modern world, not of the world and existence as such.
35.
The "preponderance of pain over pleasure," or
the reverse (Hedonism); both of these doctrines are already signposts to Nihilism. . .
For here, in both cases, no other final purpose is sought than the phenomenon pleasure or pain.
But only a man who no longer dares to posit a will, a purpose, and a final goal can speak in
this way--according to every healthy type of
man, the worth of life is certainly not measured
by the standard of these secondary things. And a preponderance of pain would be possible and, in
spite of mighty will, saying yea life, and holding this preponderance for necessary.
? living"; "Resignation"; "what the good tears? "--this feeble and/
"Life not worth
? ? is
is
it, a
of of
is a
of
a
a
to }|A*|}
? 3O
THE WILL TO POWER.
sentimental attitude of mind. "Un monstre gai vaut mieux qu'un sentimental ennuyeux. "
36.
The philosophic Nihilist is convinced that all
phenomena are without sense and are in vain, and
that there ought to be no such thing as Being without sense and in vain. But whence comes
this "There ought not to be? "--whence this "sense" and this standard? At bottom the
Nihilist supposes that the sight of such a desolate, useless Being is unsatisfying to the philosopher,
and fills him with desolation and despair. This aspect of the case is opposed to our subtle sensi
bilities as a philosopher. It leads to the absurd conclusion that the character of existence must
perforce afford pleasure to the philosopher if it is to have any right to subsist. - -
Now it is easy to understand that happiness and unhappiness, within the phenomena of this
world, can only serve the purpose of means: the question yet remaining to be answered whether
? will ever possible for "object" and "purpose"
problem purposelessness quite beyond our ken.
37,
perceive the
life--whether the the reverse not
The development Nihilism out of Pessimism. The denaturalisation of Values. Scholasticism
values. The values isolated, idealistic, instead
? ? of
it
of
of
be
or of us to
is, is
? zweakness:--
(1) The weak fall
pieces upon it;
NIHILISM.
31
of ruling and leading action, turn against it and condemn
Opposites introduced the place natural
gradations
rank. Opposites are compatible with plebeian age, because they are more easy grasp.
The rejected world opposed an artificially constructed "true and valuable" one. At last we discover out of what material the "true" world was built; all that remains, now, the rejected world, and the account our reasons for rejecting we place our greatest disillusionment,
At this point Nihilism reached; the directing
values have been retained--nothing more!
This gives rise the problem strength and
and ranks. Hatred the order
? (2) The strong destroy what does not fall
pieces own accord;
(3) The strongest overcome the directing
values.
The whole condition affairs produces the
tragic age.
-
THE NIHILISTIC MoveMENT As AN EXPRESSION OF DECADENCE.
38.
Just lately accidental and every way
inappropriate term has been very much misused: everywhere people are speaking "Pessimism,"
? ? of in
of
of
to to
an
3.
of
is
in of
of its
it
it.
to
to to
to
is
is
a
of of
? 32
THE WILL TO POWER.
and there is a fight around the question (to whic some replies must be forthcoming): which right--Pessimism or Optimism P
People have not yet seen what is so terribl obvious--namely, that Pessimism is not a proble but a symptom,-that the term ought to be r placed by "Nihilism,"--that the question, "to
or not to be," is itself an illness, a sign degeneracy, an idiosyncrasy.
The Nihilistic movement is only an expressio of physiological decadence.
39.
To be understood:--That every kind of declir
and tendency to sickness has incessantly been :
work in helping to create general evaluation: that in those valuations which now dominat
decadence has even begun to preponderate, th: we have not only to combat the conditions whic present misery and degeneration have brough into being; but that all decadence, previous
that of our own times, has been transmitted an
has therefore remained an active force
riddle, philosophers.
which -the animal "man" sets to a -
4O.
b
? among us. A universal departure of this kind, on th part of man, from his fundamental instincts, suc
universal decadence of the valuing judgment, the note of interrogation par excellence, the re
The notion "decadence":--Decay, decline, ar waste, are, per no way open objection
? ? se, in
to
? young. And even
NIHILISM.
33
they are the natural consequences of life and vital growth. The phenomenon of decadence is just
as necessary to life as advance or progress is: we are not in a position which enables us to suppress On the contrary, reason would have retain
its rights.
disgraceful on the part socialist-theorists
argue that circumstances and social combina tions could devised which would put an end
vice, illness, crime, prostitution, and poverty.
But that Life society
prime must bring forth ordure and decaying matter. The more
tantamount
not liberty remain
condemning
? energetically and daringly
will be failures and
nearer will fall. Age not deferred by
means of institutions. Nor illness.
Fundamental aspect the nature what has heretofore been regarded are effects.
Nor vice.
decadence: causes
this way, the whole perspective the
problems morality
All the struggle morals against vice, luxury,
crime, and even against illness, seems naivete? , superfluous effort: there no such thing
"improvement" Decadence
zwithstood
word against repentance).
itself not thing that can absolutely necessary and proper
altered.
all ages and all peoples. That which must VOL.
advances, the richer deformities, and the
? ? to
I. : of . a
. to . all
to It it. is
C
of4I.
ais is at
it is
in bebe tois
is
ofis
its in is
(a
a is
of
as of its
it
be be asa
In
its
it it
.
is
is
init its it
of to
to
||
? 34
THE WILL TO POWER.
withstood, and by all means in our power, spreading of the contagion among the sound of the organism.
Is that done? The very reverse is don is precisely on this account that one ma stand on behalf of humanity.
How do the highest values created h
quest biology? Philosophy, religion, morality, art (The remedy: militarism, for instance, Napoleon onwards, who regarded civilisat
his natural enemy. )
42.
stand in relation to this fundamental
? All those things which heretofore have regarded as the causes of degeneration, are
----------
its effects.
But those things also which have been the remedies degeneration are only pal of certain effects thereof: the "cured ar.
of the degenerate.
The results of decadence vice--viciou illness--sickliness; crime--criminality;
--sterility; hysteria--the
alcoholism; pessimism, anarchy; debaucher
the spirit). The calumniators, under sceptics, and destroyers.
43.
Concerning the notion "decadence. "
(1) Scepticism result decadenc spiritual debauchery
weakness
? ? as
of
as
is.
of
:
is a
of th c.
"
of
re.
? NIHILISM,
35
(2) Moral corruption is a result of decadence (the weakness of the will and the need of strong stimulants).
(3) Remedies, whether psychological or moral,
do not alter the march of decadence, they do not arrest anything; physiologically they do not COunt.
A peep into the enormous futility of these
pretentious "reactions"; they
anaesthetising oneself against certain fatal symptoms resulting from the prevailing condition
of things; they do not eradicate the morbid element; they are often heroic attempts to cancel the decadent man, to allow only a minimum of his deleterious influence to survive.
(4) Nihilism is not a cause, but only the rationale of decadence.
(5) The "good" and the "bad" are no more than two types of decadence: they come together
are forms of
? in all its fundamental
phenomena.
(6) The social problem is a result of decadence. (7) Illnesses, more particularly those attacking
the nerves and the head, are signs that the defensive strength of strong nature is lacking; a
proof of this is that irritability which causes pleasure and pain to be regarded as problems of the first order.
44.
The most common types of decadence:
(1) In the belief that they are remedies, cures are chosen which only precipitate exhaustion;--
this is the case with Christianity (to point to the
? ? ? 36
THE WILL TO POWER.
most egregious example of mistaken instinct);--
this is also the case with "progress. "
(2) The power of resisting stimuli is on the
wane--chance rules supreme: events are inflated
and drawn out until they appear monstrous . . . a suppression of the "personality," a disintegration
of the will; in this regard we may mention a
whole class of morality, the altruistic, that which is incessantly preaching pity, and whose most
essential feature is the weakness of the personality,
so that it rings in unison, and, like an over
sensitive string, does not cease from vibrating . . . extreme irritability. . . .
(3) Cause and effect are confounded: decad
ence is not understood as physiological, and its
? results are tak-en to be the causes of the general indisposition: applies religious
morality.
(4) A state of affairs is desired in which suffer
ing shall cease; life is actually considered the cause of all ills--unconscious and insensitive states
(sleep and syncope) are held in incomparably
higher esteem than the conscious states; hence a method of life.
45.
Concerning the hygiene of the "weak. " All that is done in weakness ends in failure. Moral:
do nothing. The worst of it that precisely the strength required order stop action, and
cease from reacting, most seriously diseased under the influence of weakness: that one never
this to all
? ? in is
to is,
to
? do? tapopta is just as proper to
ness recoiling, suddenness and lack "action," are proper weakness.
self-preservation
instinct
The weak man injures himself.
decadent type.
As matter fact, we
NIHILISM.
37
reacts more promptly or more blindly than when one should not react at all.
The strength of a character is shown by the ability to delay and postpone reaction: a certain
The will weak: and the recipe for preventing foolish acts would be: have strong will and do nothing --contradiction. sort self-destruction, the
involuntari restraint
compromised.
That the
? meet with vast amount thought concerning the means where
with impassibility may induced. To this extent, the instincts are on the right scent;
for do nothing something.
All the practices
philosophers, and
correct -consideration the fact, that certain kind man most useful himself when he
hinders his own action much
possible.
and things that might exact immediate decisions
and actions.
Weakness of Will this
lead astray. For there no will, consequently
more useful than do
private orders, solitary fakirs, are suggested by
Relieving measures: absolute obedience,
mechanical activity, total isolation from men
46-T
fable that can neither strong nor weak one. The multi
? ? a
of of
to
: a
as
of
of
be
to is of
is
is
of
to
a
in
in
. is .
of
is
?
of Aa
.
to
a as . it,
a
of
a to
is .
.
a . is
.
to
as of
? 38
THE WILL TO POWER.
plicity and disintegration of the instincts, the war
of system in their relationship, constitute what known as a "weak will"; their co-ordination, unde the government of one individual among them results in a "strong will"--in the first cas vacillation and a lack of equilibrium is noticeable in the second, precision and definite direction.
47.
That which is inherited is not illness, but a predi. position to illness: a lack of the powers of resistanc against injurious external influences,etc. . etc. , broke
? powers of resistance; expressed morally: resigna tion and humility in the presence of the enemy.
I have often wondered whether it would no
be possible to class all the highest values of th philosophies, moralities, and religions which hav
been devised hitherto, with the values of th
feeble,
milder form, they present the same evils.
The value of all morbid conditions consist
in the fact that they magnify certain norma
the insane and the neurasthenic: in
phenomena
normal conditions. . .
which are difficult to discern i
Health and illness are not essentially differen as the ancient doctors believed and as a fel
practitioners still believe to-day. They canno
be imagined as two distinct principles or entitie which fight for the living organism and make their battlefield. That is nonsense and mere idl
gossip, which no longer holds water. As matter of fact, there is only a difference (
? ? ? NIHILISM.
39
degree between these two living conditions: exaggeration, want of proportion, want of harmony
among the normal phenomena, constitute the
morbid state (Claude Bernard).
Just as "evil" may be regarded as exaggeration,
discord, and want of proportion, so can "good" be
regarded as a sort of protective diet against the danger of exaggeration, discord, and want of proportion.
Hereditary weakness as a dominant feeling: the cause of the prevailing values.
M. B. --Weakness is in demand--why? . .
mostly because people cannot be anything else than weak.
Weakening considered a duty : The weakening of the desires, of the feelings of pleasure and
of pain, of the will to power, of the will to pride, to property and to more property; weakening in
the form of humility; weakening in the form of a belief; weakening in the form of repugnance and
shame in the presence of all that is natural--in the form of a denial of life, in the form of illness and chronic feebleness; weakening in the form of a refusal to take revenge, to offer resistance, to become an enemy, and to show anger.
Blunders in the treatment: there is no attempt at combating weakness by means of any fortifying
system; but by a sort of justification consisting of moralising; i. e. , by means of interpretation.
Two totally different conditions are confused: for instance, the repose of strength, which is essen
tially abstinence from reaction (the prototype of the gods whom nothing moves), and the peace of
? ? ? ? THE WILL TO POWER.
exhaustion, rigidity to the point of anaesthesi
All these philosophic and ascetic modes of pr cedure aspire to the second state, but actual pretend to attain to the first . . . for they ascrib to the condition they have reached the attribut that would be in keeping only with a divine stat
48.
The most dangerous misunderstanding. --The
is one concept which apparently allows of n confusion or ambiguity, and that is the concep exhaustion. Exhaustion may be acquired or ir herited--in any case it alters the aspect an
value of things.
Unlike him who involuntarily gives of th
superabundance which he both feels and repre sents, to the things about him, and who see them fuller, mightier, and more pregnant with pro mises,--who, in fact, can bestow,-the exhauste
one belittles and disfigures everything he sees--h impoverishes its worth: he is detrimental. . . .
No mistake seems possible in this matter: an yet history discloses the terrible fact, that th exhausted have always been confounded with thos with the most abundant resources, and the latte with the most detrimental.
The pauper in vitality, the feeble one, in poverishes even life: the wealthy man, in vit
powers, enriches The first the parasite the second the second bestower of
4O
? possible?
When he who was exhausted came forth wit
abundance. How confusion
? ? :
it. is
is
a
is
h; (
? NIHILISM.
41
the bearing of a very active and energetic man (when degeneration implied a certain excess of spiritual and nervous discharge), he was mistaken for the wealthy man. He inspired terror. The cult of the madman is also always the cult of him
who is rich in vitality, and who is a powerful man. The fanatic, the one possessed, the religious
all eccentric creatures have been re
epileptic,
garded as the highest types of power: as divine.
This kind of strength which inspires terror seemed to be, above all, divine: this was the starting-point of authority; here wisdom was interpreted, hearkened to, and sought. Out of this there was developed, everywhere almost, a
will to "deify," i. e. , to a typical degeneration of
spirit, body, and nerves: an attempt to discover the road to this higher form of being. To make oneself mad, provoke the symptoms
What led astray, here, was the experience
intoxication. This increases the feeling power the highest degree, therefore, the mind
the ingenuous, power. On the highest rung power the most intoxicated man must stand, the
ecstatic. (There are two causes intoxication:
superabundant life, nutrition the brain. )
? serious disorder--was called
becoming more superhuman, more terrible and more wise. People thought they would thus attain such wealth power, that they would be able dispense Wheresoever there have been prayers, some one has been sought who had something give away.
getting stronger,
and condition morbid
? ? of
to
to to
ill or
a
of
to
to of
it is
of
of
of of )|
of
sy
it. of to
? 42
THE WILL TO POWER.
49.
Acquired, not inherited exhaustion: (1) inade quate nourishment, often the result of ignorance
concerning diet, as, for instance, in the case of
scholars; (2) erotic precocity: the damnation more especially of the youth of France--Parisian youths, above all, who are already ruined and defiled when they step out of their lyce? es into the world, and who cannot break the chains of de spicable tendencies; ironical and scornful towards themselves -- galley-slaves with every refinement (moreover, in the majority of cases, already a symptom of racial and family decadence, as . all hypersensitiveness is; and examples of the
? by one's environment is also a sign of decadence);
infection of environment: to be influenced
(3) alcoholism, not the instinct but the habit, foolish imitation, the cowardly or vain adaptation
to a ruling fashion. What a blessing a Jew is among Germans! See the obtuseness, the flaxen
head, the blue eye, and the lack of intellect in the face, the language, and the bearing; the lazy habit
of stretching the limbs, and the need of repose
among Germans--a need which is not the result of overwork, but of the disgusting excitation and over-excitation caused by alcohol.
5O.
A theory of exhaustion. --Vice, the insane (also artists), the criminals, the anarchists--these are
? ? ? NIHILISM,
43
not the oppressed classes, but the outcasts of the community of all classes hitherto.
Seeing that all our classes are permeated by
these elements, we have grasped the fact that modern society is not a "society" or a "body," but a diseased agglomeration of Chandala,--a society
which no longer has the strength even to excrete. To what extent living together for centuries
has very much deepened sickliness: modern virtue
modern intellect}as forms of disease, modern science
5 I.
The state of corruption. --The interrelation of all forms of corruption should be understood, and
the Christian form (Pascal as the type), as also
the socialistic and communistic (a result of the
Christian), should not be overlooked (from the standpoint of natural science, the highest concep
tion of society according to socialists, is the lowest
in the order of rank among societies); the "Be yond"--corruption: as though outside the real
world of Becoming there were a world of Being.
Here there must be no compromise, but selec tion, annihilation, and war--the Christian Nihilistic standard of value must be withdrawn from all
things and attacked beneath every disguise . . . for instance, from modern sociology, music, and
Pessimism (all forms of the Christian ideal of values)
? ? ? ? THE WILL TO POWER.
44
is to say, tending to elevate the type man. . . . The priest, the shepherd of souls, should b
looked upon as a form of life which must be sup pressed. All education, hitherto, has been help
less, adrift, without ballast, and afflicted with th contradiction of values.
52.
If Nature have no pity on the degenerate, it not therefore immoral: the growth of physiologic. and moral evils in the human race, is rather th result of morbid and unnatural morality. The ser sitiveness of the majority of men is both morbi and unnatural.
Why is it that mankind is corrupt in a mora and physiological respect? The body degenerate
if one organ is unsound. The right of altruis, cannot be traced to physiology, neither can th right to help and to the equality of fate: thes are all premiums for degenerates and failures.
There can be no solidarity in a society cor
Either one thing or the other is true: true--tha
? taining unfruitful, unproductive,
members, who, by the bye, are bound to hav offspring even more degenerate than they ar themselves.
53.
Decadence exercises a profound and perfectl unconscious influence, even over the ideals c science: all our sociology is a proof of this pro position, and it has yet to be reproached with th
and destructiv
? ? ? NIHILISM,
45
fact that it has only the experience of society in the process of decay, and inevitably takes own
decaying instincts judgment.
The declining vitality
lates social ideals
and these ideals are all so like those of old and
effete races, that they might mistaken for one another.
The gregarious instinct, then,--now sovereign
the basis sociological *
modern Europe formu
power,--is something totally
instinct an aristocratic society: and the value
the sum depends upon the value the units constituting The whole our sociology
knows no other instinct than that the herd, i. e. ,
multitude mere ciphers--of which every cipher has "equal rights," and where virtue to be naught.
The valuation with which the various forms of society are judged to-day absolutely the same
decaying instincts:
different from the
? assigns higher place peace than war but this principle contrary the
with that which
teaching biology, and
decadent life. Life means war.
decadent biology, regarded the triumph
itself mere outcome
sideratum ! ! ! ).
A->
/54. After thousands years
my good
road which leads Yea and
fortune
result
war, society
Mr. Herbert Spencer was also morality (he
altruism de
error and confusion,
have rediscovered the Nay.
? ? to a
in of
a is
of of
be
of
it aisof ofof is a a
to
is is a
of of a is
in of its
as a
is to a
its
in to
it. .
to. . of. aof. .
as
as
.
of
:
of
to
its
to
it of a
*
? 46
THE WILL TO POWER.
I teach people to say Nay in the face of that makes for weakness and exhaustion.
teach people say Yea the face all that makes for strength, that preserves strength,
and justifies the feeling strength.
Up the present, neither the one nor the
other has been taught; but rather virtue, dis interestedness, pity, and even the negation life.
All these are values proceeding from exhausted people.
After having pondered over the physiology
of exhaustion for some time, was led the question: what extent the judgments ex
hausted people had percolated into the world values.
? The result which arrived was
startling
could possibly be--even for one like my self who was already home many strange
world: found that all prevailing values--that say, all those which had gained ascendancy
over humanity,
could be traced back people.
Under the cover
the most destructive
least over tamer portions, the judgment exhausted
the holiest names, found tendencies; people had
actually given the name "God" all that renders
weak, teaches weakness, and infects with weakness,
found that the "good man" was form self-affirmation on the part decadence.
That virtue which Schopenhauer still pro
claimed mental recognised
superior all, and the most funda all virtues; even that same pity
more dangerous than any vice
? ? of as as
to
I
is
of
all
to
of
at to
at
I
to of
|. of .
to
as it
I to
as of to a
its in a
I
in
. I
I
at
of I
as
or
of to
of
of
? logical misunderstandings evil.
are the cause of al
NIHILISM,
47
Deliberately to thwart the law of selection among
species, and their natural means of purging their stock of degenerate members--this, up to my
time, had been the greatest of all virtues. . . . One should do honour to the fatality which
says to the feeble: "perish ! "
The opposing of this fatality, the botching of
mankind and the allowing of it to putrefy, was
given the name "God. " One shall not take the name of the Lord one's God in vain. . . .
The race is corrupted--not by its vices, but by its ignorance: it is corrupted because it has not;
recognised exhaustion as exhaustion: physio
? Virtue is our greatest misunderstanding. Problem: how were the exhausted able to
make the laws of values? In other words, how did they who are the last, come to power? . . . .
How did the instincts of the animal man ever get to stand on their heads? . . .
4. THE CRISIS: NIHILISM AND THE IDEA OF RECURRENCE.
55.
Extreme positions are not relieved by more moderate ones, but by extreme opposite positions.
And thus the belief in the utter immorality of nature, and in the absence of all purpose and sense, are psychologically necessary passions when the
? ? ? 48
THE WILL TO POWER.
belief in God and in an essentially moral order of things is no longer tenable.
Nihilism now appears, not because the sorrows of existence are greater than they were formerly, but because, in a general way, people have grown
suspicious of the "meaning" which might be given
to evil and even to existence. One interpretation has been overthrown: but since it was held to be
the interpretation, it seems as though there were no meaning in existence at all, as though every
thing were in vain.
>k
It yet remains to be shown that this "in vain 1"
is the character of present Nihilism. The mistrust of our former valuations has increased to such an
extent that it has led to the question: "are not
all 'values' merely allurements prolonging the duration of the comedy, without, however, bringing
the unravelment any closer? " The "long period of time" which has culminated in an "in vain. "
without either goal or purpose, is the most par alysing of thoughts, more particularly when one
? sees that one is
able to resist being duped.
duped without, however, being
sk
Let us imagine this thought in its worst form:
existence, as it without either purpose goal, but inevitably recurring, without an end
nonentity:
"Eternal Recurrence. "
This the extremest form Nihilism:
(purposelessness)
nothing
eternal
? ? |
is
of
a
or in a
is,
? NIHILISM,
49
European form of Buddhism: the energy of knowledge and of strength drives us to such a
belief. It is the most scientific of all
ence had a final purpose it would have reached
possible hypotheses. We deny final purposes. If exist
should be understood that what
aimed at, here, contradiction of Pantheism: for "everything perfect, divine, eternal," also leads
the belief Eternal Recurrence. Question:
has this pantheistic and affirmative attitude all things also been made impossible by morality?
At bottom only the moral God has been overcome. there any sense imagining God "beyond
good and evil"? Would Pantheism this sense
be possible? Do we withdraw the idea purpose
from the process, and affirm the process notwith
standing? This were within that process,
something were attained every moment--and
always the same thing. Spinoza won an affirma
tive position this sort, the sense that every moment, according him, has logical necessity:
and he triumphed by means his fundamentally
logical world.
But his case exceptional. every funda
mental trait character, which lies beneath every act, and which finds expression every act, were
recognised by the individual his fundamental VOL. D
instinct over like conformation the
being
? ? ? I.
of
is
of to
in
is
of a as in
>k
in so if,
If
of
a
a
in
a
sk
in of
is to
Is
to
It
it.
? 5O
THE WILL TO POWER.
trait of character, this individual would be driven
to regard every moment of existence in general, triumphantly as good. It would simply be neces
sary for that fundamental trait of character to be felt in oneself as something good, valuable, and
i pleasurable.
>k
Now, in the case of those men and classes of
men who were treated with violence and oppressed by their fellows, morality saved life from despair
and from the leap into nonentity: for impotence 'in relation to mankind and not in relation to
|Nature is what generates the most desperate
bitterness towards existence.
