The Aesthetic Pursuit
Especially in his early writings, Nietzsche focused on the value of aesthetics and the pursuit of the artistic ideal. Unlike most philosophers, in works like The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche endows the creative artistic with metaphysical dimensions ordinarily reserved for the scholar or theologian. Many of the writings contained in this volume are directed toward critiques and analyses of composers, poets and writers and Nietzsche himself expresses his ideas often in more accessible aesthetic forms like prose narratives, epigrams, songs and poetry.
The Self v. the Community
A persistent theme running throughout much of Nietzsche’s writing which coalesce to become the closest he ever gets to outlining a systematic philosophy is the evolution of mankind. The primitive man pursuing all instinctual desires to full all his needs is symbolized by the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. The counterpart is the Greek god of music and poetry, Apollo, who represents codified society. It is the self versus the community and these two conflicting cultural movements resulted in both the majesty of Greek sculpture and the bondage of one society under another.
Master/Slave Morality
What is most surprising to some about Nietzsche’s conceptualization of man’s evolution is that both the extremities of Dionysian self-interest perverted into despotism and the Apollonian sense of community operate under a master/slave morality. Despotism breeds a sense of community among slaves that rejects power and strength since those attributes are associated with their slave masters. Once slavery falls by the wayside through economic evolution, the same sense of morality still holds: those exhibiting untoward displays of power and strength are to be rejected in favor of conformist adherence to the mentality of the slave.
The Overman
The evolution of man is leading to the arrival of the Overman. As Nietzsche puts it, man as we know him is merely the rope stretched between his inferiors—animals—and his superior: the Overman. (Or, as it is sometimes more commonly known, the Superman.) The Overman rejects the slave morality of the past in favor of a new moral code more aristocratic and respectful of strength and power. At the same time, the Overman is not to be confused with the Nazi superior race which co-opted it; Nietzsche explicitly rejects anti-Semitism to the extent that it was an underlying cause of the break with in his relationship with noted anti-Semite, the German composer Wagner. The Overman is a state of evolution which rejects all the conventional notions of supremacy based on fulfilling the darker desires of the will to power. The Overman is psychologically evolved to the point where the destruction desires of a man like Hitler would be overcome by sublimating them into positive outcomes.
