Nietzsche's philosophical thought paper
On Nietzsche's Historical Philosophy Thought
Abstract: Nietzsche believes that the value of history lies in promoting the growth of individual life in reality. People need history, but too much history will damage life. History is necessary for three kinds of people, and there are three forms of history. In the later period, Nietzsche put forward the idea of eternal cycle, and thought that world history is the eternal cycle of power will. On the historical role of individuals, Nietzsche advocated the role of outstanding individuals. Nietzsche's view of history mainly involves historical evaluation, which is a historical axiology to a great extent.
Keywords: history; Eternal reincarnation; Non-historical; Superhistorical
This paper analyzes an important part of Nietzsche's philosophy ―― philosophy of history. He paid attention to historical issues all his life, took the meaning of life based on historical consciousness as the object, focused on his own era, and consciously devoted himself to a historical moment he wanted to grasp to understand what the key is today.
Nietzsche's early philosophy of history focused on the use and abuse of history, mainly discussing the problems of historical value and worthless, that is, the standard of historical value. A basic point that runs through it is that history is not pure knowledge and science, and history is not an educational factor that gives people strength; History should serve life; Only from the perspective of life can we ask about the value and non-value of history. Only those who have known life and are fully prepared for their own actions need history. Therefore, history is a desire for life, a desire for action, a desire to serve life, not a desire for knowledge. If the study of history pays too much attention to history, so that life shrinks and degenerates, the relationship between life and history will be reversed. Among them, life is the purpose, history is the means, and history serves life, not the other way around. Nietzsche's criterion for judging the pros and cons of history is very clear, that is, whether it is conducive to the growth of real individual life.
On the basis of this basic view, Nietzsche believes that people not only eat, drink and sleep, day after day, but also "are busy with their little love and hate and temporary favor, neither depressed nor bored" [1]. Compared with animals without history, people always trace back to their own past, "can't learn to forget, but always miss the past" [2]. Human nature is different from animals, which is created by history, unconscious traditional customs and conscious memory: animals live in the present and are dominated by life instinct; People, on the other hand, live in time series and construct the meaning of their lives in the past and the future. Without history, people are not people. People always grasp the past in a brand-new way and reject it. People know they have a future. Therefore, people need history, so that people can take the great things they can do as an example, glow with the courage to act now, gain their own substantive sublimation, and get comfort when they are discouraged; People need history to realize their origin with love and piety; Man needs history in order to overcome what belongs to the past from the rich power of his own life. Moreover, the task of history seems to be to regard everything in the past as an indispensable jar for human beings, carry it on their weak bodies without omission, and think that this is to inherit the historical heritage. As a result, the past has become a great burden to mankind. But people don't think so. They think they are very happy. In fact, the burden of history has made them lose themselves in life. People exist in the present, but live in the past. However, people are at a loss and always look for history with greedy eyes, as if history were a lost paradise. Because of this, human life is very hard, and the heavy history is overwhelming.
In this regard, Nietzsche believes that people need history and even have to live in it; However, if the memory of history endangers the will of real people, then this kind of history will become a "poison" of people and must be removed in time. Too much history will make people decline and make people have no courage to start. Too much historical knowledge is the enemy of the times and harmful to life. First of all, it weakens people's personality, because historical consciousness has become a performing art, assuming any kind of strange mind from time to time, so that people who only know the past lack the essential heart because they are just acting, which is out of touch with this person's actual reality. Secondly, history makes people think that they have achieved objectivity and justice, but the result is that history has destroyed human instinct. It believes that human beings are aging and bring a sense of imitation before they realize their nothingness and the degradation of everything, leaving a certain irony. Third, people form a bad belief that we are ancient survivors and followers; At present, I have to think about the rare morality and justice in other times; The instinct of the nation is frustrated, and the maturity of individuals and the maturity of the whole are also hindered; The times will fall into a dangerous state of cynicism, and then into a more dangerous tendency of cynicism. Excessive history deprives people of the value of recalling history through these channels. Because of history, people only know great men in the magnificent history. People talk about the past in archaeological history without piety, and also unnecessarily judge and criticize the past in history.
In order to cure the harm caused by historical surplus, Nietzsche put forward the views of "non-history" and "super-history". In his view, the so-called "non-historical" refers to "the power and skills that can be forgotten, as well as their own strength and skills in limited circumstances" [3], that is to say, they can forget and close themselves in limited horizons. If history is the memory of the past, "non-history" is the eliminator of historical memory, constantly clearing and diluting the historical "chronic disease" in our minds. In "non-history", we should learn to reasonably forget everything that harms people's vitality and creativity, and abandon it. The so-called "super-historicity" means "turning our eyes to generations and giving them immortal significance, that is, pointing to the power of art and religion" [4]. This "super-historical" view transcends the historical memory of isolated individuals, gets rid of the one-dimensional irreversible time flow, and finally crosses the inherent boundaries between man and animals, morality and nature. In Nietzsche's view, this kind of history is the real history ―― an infinitely great life history and world history beyond human beings. "Transcendence" also means that from now on, always take the present as the starting point and destination of life. Obtaining a "super-historical" vision requires such a condition that we can get rid of the compulsion of the past and develop a self-confident second nature, so as to obtain a decomposable product through this understanding.
From Nietzsche's point of view, we can see that history is a necessity of life, and this is the value of history. With history, human beings will not become ignorant, but will surpass other animals and become human beings. But if a person becomes an eternal memory and keeps everything that happened in the past firmly in his heart, that is to say, he is not non-historical at all and cannot forget everything that happened, he may completely lose his ability to live. To a certain extent, forgetting is a kind of strength of life and a manifestation of vitality. Therefore, in order to make mankind truly happy, we need to forget, that is, the ability to feel non-history in the whole process of history, or we need people to make appropriate choices about the historical baggage that they have always been proud of. Because, "if a person can't forget himself and the past on the threshold of this moment, and can't stand on a single point like the goddess of victory without feeling fear and dizziness, he will never know what happiness is;" To make matters worse, he will never make others happy. "[5] Human beings need history as well as forgetting. Forgetting is the characteristic of all behaviors, just as all living things need sunshine and darkness to survive. People can live without memory and almost without memory, and such a life is actually happy; But life without forgetting is absolutely impossible. So, "whether it is for a person, a nation or a cultural system, if you don't sleep, or ruminate, or its? Sense of history? To a certain extent, it will hurt and eventually destroy this creature. " [6] "The deeper the root of a person's inner nature, the more he can absorb the past. The greatest and most powerful nature will grow too fast because of the lack of restrictions on the sense of history, which is harmful. " [7] However, without history, people would live like animals. Therefore, people must know when to forget and when to remember, and instinctively see when to have a sense of history and when not to have a sense of history. While human beings live historically, they must also live non-historically. Non-history and history are also essential for the health of a person, a nation and a culture. Nietzsche believes that history is necessary for the living, and it belongs to three kinds of people: people who act, work and struggle; People who maintain and respect the past; People who suffer and need to be saved. Accordingly, there are three forms of history: commemorative history, nostalgic history and critical history.
Commemorating history belongs to those who have action and strength, worked hard and struggled. They are fighting great battles, so they need role models, teachers and comforters, but they can't be found among their peers. In Nietzsche's view, contemporary people have been influenced by civilization into mediocre and lazy people, and it is impossible to become omnipotent people. Heroes in history are everywhere, because it is those heroes and great men who created history, and their legendary experiences can provide reference for people with lofty ideals in the contemporary era. So, they tried to find such a great man in the past history. For them, history is made up of great legends and great moments of personal struggle. History inspires them to believe that what happened in the past may happen again. They think of the great men of the past, observe their great achievements, gain courage and strength from them, and open up their own path. However, this historical form can easily lead to disadvantages. Because this form often takes the past as a mirror, thinking that what happened in the past will reappear in a changing environment, but history does not tell us whether today's greatness is possible; This historical form has set a great example for the past, which will hinder the generation of the great example now. Egoists, fanatics and lazy and incompetent people will use history to hinder the efforts and actions of great men.
Nostalgic history belongs to those "conservative and pious people by nature" [8], who are deeply pious and love life. They cherish the legacy of the past, carefully protect their living conditions, patiently pursue the details that have been almost completely erased, and try their best to understand them and understand them correctly. History can help them find the root of their existence in memory, produce love and faith, and make people feel grateful for life. They regard themselves as a link in the chain of life, carefully seize the legacy left by their predecessors, protect it, and then solemnly pass it on to future generations, realizing a sacred link in the continuation of life. A person, no matter what position he is in reality, no matter what embarrassing situation he is experiencing, as long as he stands in front of magnificent historical sites or comes into contact with historical books, he will feel a sense of integration with history, and he will feel proud, glorious and happy because he knows history. However, maintaining a simple attitude of respecting the past will be counterproductive to life. Nostalgic history arouses people's devotion to ancient and outdated things, and makes people lose their desire to act and find it difficult to adapt to present life. Because its function is only to retain the past, not to promote real life, not to spur people to the future.
Critical history mainly serves life, and this historical form belongs to people who are suffering and eager for liberation. In order to live in the present, these people destroy the past, dispel the past, strengthen their criticism of the past, and make due judgments about the past in order to correct past mistakes. For them, any past can be condemned, because "secular affairs always contain a lot of human rights and human weaknesses" [9]. It is neither justice nor mercy that presides over the trial, but "only life itself." This trial is cruel and unfair. This critical historical form will cause a sad feeling, which is very dangerous to life. "Because we are only the products of our ancestors, we are also the products of their mistakes, passions and sins, and we cannot get rid of this chain." [10] In this way, people have to live in the constant tension between old and new nature; Not only that, because this historical form serves the present, it will deny everything in the past and destroy the foundation of existence.
According to the advantages and disadvantages of life, Nietzsche analyzed three kinds of history. He believes that anyone and any nation will make their own evaluation of the value of history according to their different purposes, strengths and needs, or it is a history that needs commemoration, nostalgia or criticism. People of all ages need history, not only to satisfy their thirst for knowledge, but also to weaken the present and destroy the future, but to survive, enrich the present and connect the future.
In order to realize the continuation of history and individual transcendence, Nietzsche put forward the idea of "eternal reincarnation" in his later period. "God is dead", people no longer need to bind their real life according to the previous rules and regulations. However, people have also lost the norms of their lifetime and the sustenance of their future. Because even superman is bound to die, and where is the destination after death? If people can't transcend the boundary between life and death, then all self-transcendence in real life will be extremely limited. If Nietzsche wants to completely surpass himself, he should not only rearrange his present life, but also reinterpret the afterlife of mankind, that is, not only explain what life should be like, but also answer what will happen after death. After a long period of hard thinking, Nietzsche made his own judgment on this issue, which is the so-called "eternal reincarnation" thought. He said: "life is the life you have lived now or in the past, and it will be repeated in the future. There is nothing new." The eternal hourglass will keep turning over and over, and you are just a dust in the hourglass's eyes! "[1 1] In Nietzsche's view, the world, as a representation, has formed a surging ocean of power driven by the will to power, which is always changing its shape, with more or less, one after another and various forms of tides alternating. He said: "Alas, human beings will always cycle, and so will small human beings!" " "[12] On this basis, Nietzsche pointed out that the hero of the Dionysian world, which is always self-creating and self-destroying, is the tireless" will to power ". It destroys in creation, creates in destruction, proves itself in an eternal cycle, realizes itself and surpasses itself. He believes that the world is an established circular force, always moving forward on the spiral road. The history of the world is the eternal cycle of the will to power, and the picture of the world is the various manifestations in its eternal cycle. The will to power is always alive and self-improving, and the development process of the world is the eternal repetition process of the will to power from destruction to creation and from creation to destruction. This shows that the eternal cycle of world history is a spiral road, and the cycle does not return to the original starting point, but to the starting point that has experienced the rising process. Due to the eternal cycle of history, world history constitutes a huge circle. Through reincarnation, man and eternity, history and eternity are combined. Nietzsche's idea of eternal reincarnation is a comprehensive affirmation of history. If everything has eternal reincarnation, then the past is also the future. Only when the past is also the future can the past be controlled and affirmed. For Nietzsche, acquiring the past is the source of the future. People distinguish themselves from the past by grasping the past, and become a brand-new self by realizing the existence of the future.
On the role of the masses and outstanding individuals in history, Nietzsche advocated the personal role of outstanding figures, belittling and obliterating the role of the masses. Based on his theory of will to rights, Nietzsche believes that every individual is the embodiment of some kind of will to rights, but the will to rights embodied by different individuals is unequal. The correct will of the strong is to rule the weak and make them their own tools and slaves. This is a creative right will, which sustains existence and promotes the development of social history. The weak's right will is manifested in hatred and jealousy of the strong, and it will inevitably lead to the denial of life if they want to eliminate differences and achieve equality. This right will is destructive. Nietzsche believes that history is not composed of everyone's life experience, but the product of heroes' instantaneous artistic creation impulse. History is essentially the life will of outstanding figures and heroes. They are the witnesses of history and the superiors with strong personalities. The public is only a vague imitation of great men, made of broken patterns on rotten paper and used as a tool for great men. Therefore, anyone who is active in history is strong-willed. They are the elite group of society and the subject and creator of history. As for the masses, they are neither creators nor recorders of history, let alone interpreters of history. In the face of history, they are just the background on the stage or the tools of great people. Therefore, Nietzsche believes that in order to promote the development and progress of social history, we should give full play to the will of the strong and restrain the will of the weak. Generally speaking, Nietzsche's view of history is a rising view of history, based on the present and foretelling the future. Its main topic is the thematic interpretation and historical evaluation of history, so it is a historical axiology to a great extent.
Nietzsche's Philosophical Thought II
The Application of Nietzsche's Philosophical Thought in Contemporary Education
Nietzsche is also an important member of the hall of philosophy in the19th century. His philosophical views are very prescient and of great reference significance to our education. From will to power, to god's death, and then to the eternal cycle, all bring some enlightenment to our contemporary education.
1 Introduction to Nietzsche's Philosophical Thought
1. 1 will to power
Nietzsche's view of power will is developed on the basis of Schopenhauer's view of life will. Nietzsche believes that any creature is well thought out and even willing to risk its own life for a certain purpose. At this time, to a certain extent, it has surpassed the simple will of life and showed another will, strength and will. In order to achieve a certain goal, people need to constantly consolidate themselves through power and make themselves stronger. Nietzsche does not deny the differences between people, but he emphasizes transcendence. Even if people are born in different ways, they can be reborn through constant transcendence. Nietzsche attacked Schopenhauer's pessimistic spirit of denying and destroying the meaning of life to a certain extent, and injected optimism of creating, striving and loving life. Life is not static, let alone a tragedy from the beginning. The value of life lies in people's will to use power to improve themselves reasonably, thus making themselves more exciting.
1.2 Death
In the past, the core value system was the moral value of _ _ _ _, and God was the highest standard of everything. However, the will to power has transcended the tragic color of the past. Nietzsche believes that in judging standards, we should also transcend the gap of Christ, subvert the shackles of theology and yearn for the spirit of freedom. Nietzsche wrote in his book "The Science of Happiness": "I hold a lantern every morning and look for God everywhere, but I can't find him. God is dead, and so is God. " At that time, no one believed and accepted Nietzsche's point of view. People don't believe that God is dead, but only that Nietzsche is crazy. However, Nietzsche was right. Driven by the will to power, God is not the highest standard. God is dead, people are still alive, and talents are the highest standard of all values. The concept of God's death is a challenge to traditional values, and transcendence and creation are its core.
1.3 eternal cycle
Nietzsche's concept of eternal samsara was developed on the basis of the ancient Greek myth Sisyphus and the Stone. The mythical Sisyphus repeats the work of pushing stones every day, and the stones will roll down as soon as they reach the top of the mountain, and so on, endlessly. This endless work cycle is undoubtedly a meaningless consumption of life, just in vain. Homer's comments on rocks in Sisyphus are both a source of pain and a springboard to regain happiness. Sadly, we often lose ourselves in repeated mechanical movements and find no pleasure in life. Happy again, but at this moment, Sisyphus is in control of his own destiny. As long as he is not numb in the face of grief, he can still find hope, and he will still have the desire to live. Even in the face of tragic reincarnation, he can still go on unswervingly. Nietzsche's eternal view of reincarnation has the same effect. Nietzsche believes that death is not the end of life, and everything in life will continue to circulate in the universe according to a certain order and cause and effect. It is because of eternal reincarnation that we should seize every moment, seize every moment, make every moment eternal, and give full play to our value in every moment.
2
2. 1 Will to Power and Self-transcendence
Nietzsche's view of power will does not deny the differences between people, but emphasizes people's efforts to overcome such differences, that is, transcendence. When this view is transferred to education, as far as students are concerned, students may have discovered their own shortcomings and the gap with others, but discovery is only the premise, and what is important is how to solve it. This requires students to make use of the existing learning resources and interpersonal relationships, learn to combine theory with practice, organically fill knowledge into their own cognitive system, draw inferences from others, and constantly consolidate and improve themselves, thus completing the real transcendence. For teachers, education should pay attention to "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude", and individual differences are inevitable. Although it is not a simple matter to really teach students in accordance with their aptitude under the current education system in China, teachers can make efforts in some small aspects. For example, students who are interested in the same subject can be organized together on a regular basis to hold forums or other learning activities, which can not only meet the learning needs of different students, but also give full play to their "will to power" towards talented students in this respect, so as to achieve greater achievements in a certain respect and achieve self-transcendence.
2.2 The Death of God and Innovative Education
Nietzsche's view of "the death of God" represents a revaluation of all values. Transferring this view to education can be understood as the innovation of education. The education system in reality is a classic preserved after decades of continuous development. In the face of classics, we don't deny them, but we should learn to look at problems from a developmental perspective and learn to innovate. Innovative education includes innovation in educational system, curriculum and teaching mode.
In the innovation of education system, some achievements have been made in recent years. For example, the current senior high school entrance examination and college entrance examination have gradually moved towards diversification, and the phenomenon of "winning by one test" in the past has gradually faded. Policies such as "consistent test scores", "self-enrollment", "principal's real name recommendation" and "extra test for special students" are also new achievements of China's education system innovation. The innovation of education system provides a platform for more students to display their talents, and also better reflects the fairness of education.
During the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" and "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, the proportion of practical courses in basic education has increased, and more practical courses such as information technology courses and general technology courses have been gradually valued. In the past, we overemphasized the importance of examination subjects and paid much less attention to courses such as physical education, music, art and information technology. With the strong demand of society for compound talents, the importance of these disciplines has also increased. The so-called talents should not only have rich professional knowledge and healthy body, but also have a soul that knows how to appreciate and understand beauty.
In recent years, the innovation of teaching mode has been subverted. From the single teacher teaching and blackboard writing to the present group cooperative inquiry learning (continued on page 157), the classroom is equipped with a large screen, e-books are packed into the classroom, and mobile devices are used to assist teaching, which can be said to be a great change in teaching mode. In recent years, brand-new teaching models such as "flip classroom" and "leap classroom" are new attempts of basic education in China, which have played an important role in exploring students' cognitive level and stimulating students' intrinsic learning motivation.
2.3 Eternal reincarnation and lifelong education
Moving Nietzsche's view of "eternal reincarnation" into education reminds people of lifelong education, and education is also reincarnation. When we were young, we were educated by teachers and elders. When we are adults, we begin to educate the younger generation, and so on. A person's quality depends largely on his education. In recent years, in order to realize the general improvement of national quality, the action of practicing lifelong education has been widely carried out. The construction of open university education and education portal has laid the foundation for the development of lifelong education. The ancients said, "It is never too old to learn." Lifelong education is the best proof of this old saying. Besides school education, life education is everywhere. At every moment, we face what happened and make a comprehensive judgment and choice. This is a kind of learning. It is a pursuit to surpass ourselves and face challenges bravely all the time. It is this moment that interweaves into the long river of the whole life. In this long river, we are constantly innovating and pursuing, constantly expanding all kinds of knowledge into our cognitive system, using it to educate the younger generation, using it to guide our lives, using it to study and work, and harvesting all kinds of benefits brought by lifelong education through practice.
3 Conclusion
Nietzsche is a bright pearl in the history of German philosophy, and many of his philosophical views have been well practiced in education. Not only Nietzsche, but also many philosophers have a strong view of practice. The value of philosophy lies not only in thinking about life, but also in guiding people to live a better life. The wheel of history is rolling forward, and the long river of life is endless. Philosophy guides education and educational practice philosophy. Under the joint action of philosophy and education, people will know themselves better and forge ahead in life seriously and firmly.
People who read Nietzsche's philosophical thoughts also read:
1. Understanding of philosophy
2. Model essay on high school philosophy and politics.
3. China's Philosophy Related Papers
4. What is Plato's philosophical thought?
5. Philosophy and Life Papers
6. Articles about philosophy and life
7. Philosophy of Education Thesis