We are Weary of Man...

“We are weary of man.” This is the most prominent argument featured in the selected reading for this weekend, in my opinion.  Nietzsche says that we as humans are “putting on a show,” for example.  Humanity is masking their true identity in hopes of acting proper, refined and being respected.  This is an extension of the arguments Nietzsche presents in the first chapter in which he defines good and evil.  The philosopher says that the Jews and Christians are the good and the strong and powerful are the evil, according to Nietzsche.   The Christians and Jews altered the views of what is considered good.   They felt that the meek, mild and submissive were good.  The evil were the strong and gifted.  Nietzsche feels that this is incorrect and the reverse order in which the submissive members of society were considered evil (this is because they are weak and not ambitious; they tended to be the priests and plebeians), while the good were the “super humans” (these were the people who were authority figures, the warrior class and the nobles who tended to have a lot of power in society).   Nietzsche continually alludes to the Romans and their perfect society and citizens; he says in one section as well that they are still to this day, considered the most similar to his idea of the super human. 

    With extreme confidence, Nietzsche says, “here is precisely what has become a fatality for Europe- together with a fear of man we have also lost our love of him, our reverence for him, our hopes for him, even the will to him.  The sight of him now makes us really weary,” (page 44).  This section, put in bold writing, may also be alluding to the idea that man is preventing himself from advancing in society.  If humanity continues to act in a submissive fashion, then innovation may cease or countries will become dissolved because we will have meek and mild leaders as opposed to the strong willed, powerful leader that we need (not hinting at totalitarianism or authoritarianism).  With that said, we need to reverse the definitions of good and evil: the good should be the ones who are powerful, strong and go-getters, while the evil should be the weak and undesirable.  If we live our lives by this principle, we will be more conscientious and ambitious.