Objections to Nietzsche's conception of pity/compassion/love - Essay Example

I. Introduction Commonplace individuals habitually discern pity from cruelty through the governance of the sentiments and the partial absence of cognitive ascendancy. Pity has been generally defined as an outward sign of humaneness or an immediate reaction to negative encounters with actual or imagined adverse, inopportune or ill-fated human being. An individual experiencing pity will undergo complex sentiments of distress and mercy directed to the person whom is under the pretext of bad fortune thus prompting the pitying agent to provide physical and/or monetary assistance to the pitied. Several cultures loathe the nonexistence of compassion, empathy and sympathy because of its connotation of harshness and cruelty. Many people unconsciously interchange the concept of pity to positive emotions such as love and kindness but there were a few brilliant individuals who attempted to enlighten humanity on the real motives and inner functioning of pity. These philosophers such as Spinoza, Kant, Seneca and the most renowned existentialist Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche boldly countered the prevailing belief on pity. The widespread acceptance of pity as a positive human characteristic is promoted by the powerful institution of religion, particularly Christianity as maintained by Nietzsche. Nietzsche belligerently criticized the foundations of Christianity which lay on the principle that basic human instincts such as self-preservation and individualism are wicked and malevolent in nature. For Nietzsche, these basic human natures are in reality the fundamental element of inner strength promotion. Christianity, as he succinctly stated it, is a firmly established societal institution which in actuality operates to motivate individuals to be weak physically, emotionally and mentally through the exercise of pity. Nietzsche's despise of Christianity is strongly reflected in this passage which he wrote in his book The Antichrist (1954): "Christianity is called the religion of pity. Pity stands opposed to the tonic emotions which heighten our vitality: it has a depressing effect. We are deprived of strength when we feel pity. That loss of strength which suffering as such inflicts on life is still further increased and multiplied by pity; pity makes suffering contagious"1 Nietzsche apparently interpreted the Christian psychology as a doctrine that seeks to diminish humanity's "will to power". Human nature can only be affirmed and strengthened through willpower or the tangible attempt to discard the stronghold of church-fabricated identity on individuals which negatively influence one's disposition and personal improvement. Nietzsche defended humanity against mysticism by asserting that human beings are naturally free and autonomous. This gift of independence guarantees individuals skills and aptitudes to wrestle against enervating emotions such as pity. In order to overcome this insurmountable external force, one should completely grasp the essence of acknowledging one's inborn motives and feelings. Moreover, Nietzsche advocated that egoism or individualism is not at all immoral but a strategy in which individuals could attain the highest realization of self-worth. Moreover, Nietzsche regarded pity as a producer of more sufferings than the alleviation of pain that routinely pounces on humanity. Pity is like a vacuum to both the pitying agent and the pitied in a sense that it powerfully germinates depression which can exhaust human strength and willpower. It is perplexing that even the German term for pity which is Mitleid literally indicates "suffering with pain" hence encouraging Nietzsche to probe into the origin and implications of the value and morality of pity. Nietzsche decried the detrimental consequences of pity which are the preservation of those who were selected by nature to perish because of their weakness and the decline of those high in aptitude or the "superhuman" because of pity. 2 A. The Value of Pity Nietzsche fervently argued that the sentiment of pity does only harm to both the philanthropist and the recipient of any form of aid and support. Generally, pity is the blatant manifestation of nihilism or the belief that human existence is devoid of objective meaning, goal and inherent value. Nihilism is advanced through pity because life simply becomes disheartening and corrupt. This is the negation of pity accomplished by Nietzsche in his morality of pity. Yet, it is quite indefinite if the concept of pity put forth by Nietzsche reflects compassion and sympathy. Numerous people use the terms pity, compassion and sympathy interchangeably. Sympathy in the German language is Mitgef'hl which means "feeling with" whereas Mitleid or pity denotes a negative sense of "suffering with". Following this variance in the German terms for sympathy and pity, it is safe to assume that pity in Nietzsche's view is a direct contradiction of the sentiments compassion and sympathy. 3 Pity in Nietzsche's contemplation is an extremely negative idea since aside from suffering with the one who committed mistake or chosen by nature to suffer, it doesn't achieve any end. Pity, aside from being devoid of internal meaning and purpose is also a squandering of emotional vigor to those who are impossibly dejected and aggravated by off-putting circumstances of life. To further delineate between compassion and pity, it is important to consider the focus of the two sentiments. Compassion centers its attention on the suffering subject whereas pity tends to put much notice on the endured situation such as desolation or disease. Logically, the emphasis on the suffered condition of pity will tolerate a leeway for disparity, disconnection and apartness to build up between the pitying individual and the pitied. This gap that will develop between the two agents of pity will consequently produce moods of superiority and disdain on the giver of pity and estrangement, humiliation and inferiority on the recipient of pity. On the contrary, compassion gives importance to the communality of humanity hence bridging the gap between the pitying agent and the pitied. 4 Nietzsche took off from this premise that pity and not compassion generates negative feelings of superiority, anger, disgrace and inferiority thus encouraging him to deliver his most lethal objections against the sentiment of pity. However, before examining Nietzsche's morality of pity in an in-depth manner, it is relevant to first discuss briefly the influences that stimulated his antagonism towards this basic moral sentiment. Nietzsche is commonly misinterpreted as the pioneer of antipathy and aversion. Nonetheless, it is imperative to note that Nietzsche simply continued and enhanced the anti-pity tradition set off by Socrates and the Stoics. a.1. The Socratic Tradition of Pity The long tradition of ancient opposition to the sentiment of pity was instigated by Socrates who maintained that virtue and self-sufficiency are the only plausible factors that could enhance a human life. By proclaiming that pity is insignificant to both the pitying agent and the pitied, Socrates put forth a rigid idea that only self-autonomy is needed by individuals to conquer a successful life. The virtue or eudaimonia that Socrates was championing is self-sustaining or beyond the influence of external forces that could sway the fate of people. 5 This virtue is independently powerful because it strappingly fuses itself on the realm of internal manipulation or simply "it masters its own destiny". If this virtue is transgressed it logically follows that the individual committed a blunder through erratic decisions and choices hence harming one's own virtue. In this case, pity is inapplicable since bad fortune to the agonizing party was caused by internal erroneousness and not by unforeseen and remote circumstances. Only blame should be granted to the erring individual and not the sentiment of pity. On the other hand, the occurrences that many regard as major catastrophes to one's life such as demise of a loved one, dire health condition, failure to seize critical opportunities for personal growth and others are considered insignificant by the Socratic tradition.6 Eudaimonia is a solitary and field independent identity. It is absolute and self-contained. Possessing such a virtue, according to Socrates is sufficient to thwart all the external strains that could destroy one's disposition in life. Individuals who upheld similar view will certainly perceive pity as a repulsive human sentiment. Antagonists of pity such as Nietzsche believe that it merely gratifies trivial or inconsequential things and events in life. For them, misfortune only happens because of bad choices and wicked actions thus bestowing pity upon the tormented party is quite appalling. Moreover, pity just aggravate the already ill-fated condition of the sufferer through alluding that the person is in dire need of material things that the world offer and that the person is lacking eudaimonia and autonomy because of these superficial needs. Likewise, this denigration accompanied by pity is extended to the pitying agent since it implies that only feeble and brittle individuals can be affected by pity. 7 The inverse relationship between virtue and pity is substantially exemplified by Nietzsche in his plethora of writings on the possibility of greatness through self-actualization and ethos of self-command. Socrates, even though unconfirmed, could have motivated Nietzsche to abominate pity as a fundamental human sentiment. Nonetheless, the continuing anti-pity tradition was then reinforced and prolonged by the Greek and Roman stoics who resultantly generated the fiery convention of attack on pity. a.2. The Greek and Roman Stoics Assault on Pity The philosophical treatise of the stoics on pity was anchored on Socrates concept of eudaimonia. They adhered to the argument that virtue alone can produce a thriving and prosperous life. However, the stoics strengthened the assertion of Socrates though supplementing and enhancing the idea of virtue as a mechanism towards a good life. Instead of lumbering on a one-sided idea that virtue leads to eudaimonia, the stoics followed a more systematize and coherent analysis of pity through considering all other key human emotions such as anger, fear, love, bliss, anguish, resentment and others as products of human reflection on the ways to achieve a virtuous life. Nevertheless, because of the misleading scheme of pity, individuals mistakenly associate virtue to material things or external entities of the self such as utter failures in the domestic and public sphere of one's existence. 8 The moment an individual allows thyself to be overcome by grief due to disappointments that are beyond control, pity would then manifest which will further plague the spirit of the sufferer hence creating a prospect for the obliteration of one's virtue. Furthermore, the stoics contested the prevailing view that pity is intimately linked to positive feelings such as compassion, sympathy and love while the disclaiming of it attracts negative reactions such as insensitivity, cruelty and roughness. The stoics countered this optimistic outlook towards pity by asserting that the presence of pity and not the nonexistence of it encourage fury and coldness. Pity directs individuals to worldly objects thus making the giver of it susceptible to physical damages and injury. Pity is only beneficial if and only if the hopeless situation is not of the pitying agent. Once the givers of pity experienced spoils in their own material condition, the tendency for them is to lounge on uncontrollable anger which can lead to more suffering. The stoics eloquently explained that it is gentleness and not rigidity that people should dread. 9 Nietzsche built his philosophical thoughts under the guidance of the stoicism tradition. He venerated in his works popular stoics such as Diogenes Laertius, Seneca and Epictetus. Yet, Nietzsche's philosophical arguments were not prejudiced because he was also well-aware of the pro stance of Rousseau to pity as a contributor of democracy and socialism and Schopenhauer who termed pity as the basic moral sentiment. However, it is quite apparent from the myriad of his renowned works that he was profoundly influenced by the philosophical convictions of post- Christian and post-Romantic stoicism.10 Nietzsche's popular works entitled Zarathustra, Daybreak and the Genealogy of Morals, elaborated on Nietzsche's own interpretation and account of the stoics' standpoint on pity. a.3. Zarathustra Nietzsche creatively made use of the image of Zoroaster or the Persian prophet to illustrate the capability of mortals to go beyond the confines of good and evil. The speaker, Zarathustra the prophet, was deliberately chosen by Nietzsche because of the credence that since prophets are messengers of good and evil then they are the foremost individuals who have the competence to tread on beyond the limitations of morality. In the character of Zarathustra, Nietzsche reinforced his condemnation of pity through arguing that the purpose of humanity is not primarily to exhibit compassion, sympathy, love and most importantly pity. These emotions, according to Nietzsche, are the Achilles heels that deliver humanity as fragile creatures of the universe. Nietzsche created the concept of the "overman" to provide a concrete representation of Socrate's virtuous individual. The "overman" is a being who had attained the highest morality through self-enlightenment, control and discipline. The "overman" is not affected by outside realities and constraints such as human laws because it only abides by the rules of his own creation. The art of self-mastery which fortifies it from the bigotry and polluted ventures of humanity yielded for it a creative will and commanding disposition. However, as Zarathustra proclaimed, the overman is still absent from the commune of the mortals. But, this revelation should not be a hindrance to the fulfillment of the aspiration to become one. According to Nietzsche, the overman is not mere ridiculousness or just a figment of the playful imagination because exceptional people who constantly intermingle with ordinary mortals are only a step away from becoming free-thinking and enlightened individuals. 11 The perversion of the "overman" occurs during the process of handing out and receiving pity. Nietzsche views people who display a profuse and irrelevant amount of importance in the misery of others as weedy and pathetic group of the corporeal. He zealously believes that pity not only do more impairment to the person who is suffering but also increases humiliation and indignity to the tormented party. Pity does anybody no good. The unfortunate people are offended by other people's flaunting of pity towards them because their weaknesses and powerlessness are inadvertently exposed; the harboring of these negative feelings gradually eats away the already shabby disposition of the anguishing individual. 12 It is healthier to elicit happiness or joy rather than pity; sustaining a blissful reaction and character in the face of unconstructive phenomenon remove the possibility of hurting the temperament of the others. a.4. Beyond Good and Evil For Nietzsche, the fundamental driving force that propels truth, thought and morality is the will to power. The truth that we are ardently sought for is actually a mere expression of humanity's will to power. Assertive individuals usually parade their perspective on reality as bias-free and omnipresent while people of shaky disposition commonly resort to self-denial instead of challenging the willpower of the confident. Reality is constructed by the constant clashing of contradicting wills. Nietzsche absolutely admires individuals who do their utmost effort to free themselves from the fetters of prejudices of others and to evaluate their own assumptions. These individuals who possess a remarkable strength of character will not allow themselves to be averted by the morality that undermines the genuine potentialities of humanity but instead on the unconsciously ignored meta-morality that put emphasis on unconscious drives that decide on humanity's concrete choices and manifest activities. 13 This principle on morality exemplified by Nietzsche strengthens his resolve against the subsistence of the sentiment of pity. Pity will successfully override any attempt of individuals to achieve a higher morality or that is beyond the incarceration of the conventional morality that Christianity propagates if the willpower is not securely anchored on the core of one's self. At first, this argument on willpower will sound rather conceited, egotistical and insensitive. Yet, Nietzsche possibly suggests that the bracing of one's determination will grant individuals a steady conviction that would help them in their everyday engagement with their fellowmen. The dogmatic morality, for Nietzsche is harmful at all levels because of its shortcoming in enhancing individual characters through guiding them in understanding both their visible and latent motives first before assuming a personal and civic space in a society of heterogeneous people. Pity has the power the successfully plague a society that is comprised of people who are highly reliant on the external merchandises of human life. Revisiting Socrates premise on virtue, individual who had achieved a morality beyond what is shallowly accepted by the material world will more likely be victorious in defying the prevailing human sentiment, pity. a.5. On the Genealogy of Morals As a continuation of the discourse on the significance of acknowledging "extra morality" in the attainment of self-command or willpower, Nietzsche claims that the suffering individuals experiences is caused by humanity's constant struggle to gratify a form of morality that is distantly remote from one's own true convictions and ethical system. Human beings strive hard to achieve an inner life that is largely distinct from lower forms of animals through painful self-denial and wrestling against one's own nature; yet, the true accomplishment of individuals who give their all-out for the success in achieving a productive inner life is a wretched and unstable replica of morality. Nietzsche defended that the greatest triumph is to take pleasure on one's self-torture and struggle in order for the self to perceive the entire endeavor as a determined act of creation in which one can liberate the self from the chains of destructive instincts and unconstructive evolutionary past to recreate the self in one's own molder. However, Nietzsche observed that individuals ordinarily distinguish these struggles as hardships and punishments. Plausibly, if people view life as a continuous cycle of suffering, then life becomes an object of pity and physical, mental and emotional sickness. 14Those who are easily infected by this sickness of humanity are deficient in self-discipline hence weaklings and disgrace to the humankind in the eyes of Nietzsche. The term "sickness" was appropriately used by Nietzsche to refer to a moral disorder that is contagious. This generates a slave morality that convinces the determined and the strong that they are malevolent in nature because of their steady belittling of the power of self-denial. If the strong bends to the influence of the slave morality they will began conceding their self-reliance to hatred and eventually to sickness. The solitary way that these resolute individuals can do to avoid the manipulation of the sick masses is to discard and ignore any attempt of the slave class to moralize them. 15 The ascetic model of the slave morality bestows an increased power to the sentiment of pity because the willpower is consciously restrained from manifesting itself. The sick individuals will consequently regard life as an overarching system of suffering and misfortune. This negative perception of life then will yield pity among them and to other people who they assess are suffering similar conditions. According to Nietzsche, slave morality wills only nothingness thus giving primacy to the sentiment of pity. These sick individuals do not have the capability or the initiative to will on positive acts such as good health, happiness, strength, contentment, etc hence keeping them on the command of pity. a.6. Nietzsche's Six Premises on Pity 1. Pity is an acknowledgment of weakness and insufficiency in the pitied. 2. Pity is an acknowledgment of weakness and insufficiency in the pitier. 3. Pity is not really altruistic but rather egoistic 4. Pity does no good; it simply increase the amount of suffering 5. The things for which we pity people are, on the whole, things that are not bad but good for them. 6. Pity is connected with revenge and even cruelty T Wan, I will explain this part comprehensively. Just give me time =) B. Morality of Pity T Wan, Here I will discuss the higher men by Leiter. 1. The higher type is solitary and deals with others only instrumentally. 4. The higher type affirms life meaning that he is prepared to will the eternal return of his life. 5. The higher men have a distinctive bearing towards others and especially towards himself: he has self-reverence. I will try to explain these three propositions by Nietzsche on higher men in the remaining 15 pages. I hope I could find more information relating to this. Thanks. Sincerely, Imee Read More