Nihilism, Morality And Human Potential
“But hesitation, suspense, conflict between belief and disbelief—is sometimes such torture to a conscientious man, such as you are, that it's better to hang oneself at once”Humans shall always be profound because they are torn between two extremes, belief, disbelief, virtue, vice, etc. , and can never fully commit to one. Thus they create conflict, disorder, and suffering for themselves, and thus are they profound. What sets humans apart from animals is that an animal will never inflict harm on itself without genuine reason.
Even when people are experiencing the highest escasties of righteousness and purity or leaping headlong into the pit and reveling in the fact, they still cannot escape their human nature. No one is exempt from this rule, and it seeps into everything they do, everything they create. Nietzsche wrote a treatise on human potential. He full-heartedly believed in the human race. He thought humans were capable of perfection without the supernatural. The Ubermensch, the pinnacle of human achievement, the perfection of humanity. It was the highest form humans could achieve in the absence of God. It was the pinnacle of man, the dispensing of God in favour of the absolute authority and power of man. And it was used for the authorization of the Nazi regime. The pinnacle of human belief and achievement. Nothing more than a ratification for nihilism. Humans, and what they create, can never be perfect. No matter what, they are tainted and prone to sin. What makes man sinful and corrupt is not that he is inherently sinful and corrupt, but that he has the capability to sin and is corruptible. Man is inherently good, but cannot resist evil, and as a result is intrinsically evil. The very capability condemns them. But because they are still inherently good, humans can never be completely evil and can never fully abandon truth. Descend into anarchy and nihilism, but do so in an orderly and logical fashion. One cannot become a nihilist without first justifying it and appeasing his conscience.
The very existence of that immutable conscience redeems man. The acknowledgement and regret entailed by sin are the first half of redemption. The most pure and the most evil person are never free from guilt. Morality is a burden on man, denying him either extreme without guilt and convicting those in the middle of hypocrisy and complacency. Freedom from morality is what made the Ubermensch appealing and radical, because morality is one of the key divides between humans and God-God may do whatever pleases him without fearing moral ramifications. And one of the near universal goals of mankind is to become gods. Man has never stopped building the tower of Babel. If there is no God, then by virtue of being the most advanced species to populate the earth, we are gods, the supreme rulers of the world. Inversely, and quite obviously, if we are to become gods, then we must accept there is no God. And if the idea of God is to be renounced, so must all the implications and values associated with God that have been taken for granted. Without God, the life of man is one long rebellion against its own insignificance. Man is merely an animal, a speck of dust lost in the cosmos. Man is no longer significant because he was created in the image of God. Mankind must prove to himself that he is worth something. Perhaps on an individual level he can. He can assert his dominance over his fellow humans and make himself significant to other people. But to assert his significance on a cosmic scale-that mankind is more than a speck of dust lost in the cosmos, powerless against nature, is impossible. Relying on himself, man remains insignificant as ever, unable to overcome himself and his morality. Natural law dooms man to be confined within his limits. Perhaps united, mankind could push the limits of human accomplishment.
Humans are infinitely more powerful united the way cells are more powerful united. Normal human limitations, death, limited power, limited time, would all mean nothing. If they had stuck to it, the tower of Babel would at least have reached the death zone. But mankind can never unite itself- a world government remains exclusive to God and the devil. Seeing beyond himself and coexisting and cooperating with one another for a lifetime is beyond the ability of man. Unifying humanity requires the supernatural. And as a result, man is confined an existence as a speck of dust, lost in the cosmos. Without God, what point is there in maintaining a morality? Without God, without divine appointment, man is nothing more than another, perhaps more advanced, animal. Without God, morality becomes a sort of altruistic impulse encoded into our genetics as a result of evolution. The apes who refrained from slaughtering one another and instead worked together to slaughter the lesser species were more prone to survive. But is survival still the goal of life? The rate of suicide today seems to answer the question. People all over killing themselves, to escape pain, to escape stress, hopelessness, because they weren’t happy. The focus of life has shifted over from survival to happiness, and morality has lost its purpose. Therefore, if morality is simply an antiquated vestigial construct, like an appendix, why can’t it simply be removed as such? Perhaps morality had some use in antiquity, when people were mainly judged by their actions. That is still true today. But the world is becoming more and more materialistic, and material possessions are valued over good deeds. People don’t want to be nice, they want to be rich and famous.
And morality stands in the way. It can be a useful guise, but discarded when necessary. Not many people become rich and famous because they were nice and kind and not because they were shrewd and cunning. Without an afterlife, all reasons for maintaining a morality disappear. Rejecting God but accepting morality would be simply immoral. Without God, we are gods, and “where God stands, the ground is holy”. But Man remains unable to overcome himself and his morality. So far, no scientific has been able to undo the work of evolution. Morality is ingrained beyond human reach. To deny God and therefore morality is rebellion fueled by scorn, quixotic rebellion against natural law for the sake of ideals. People must appease their morality in order to be happy. Their morals can be warped and corrupted, but can never be abandoned. Claiming to abandon one’s morality is only losing all outwards signs of remorse and guilt. Nihilism may be gratifying as a sort of warped masochism or spiteful, childish rebellion, but only in that way. And juvenile rebellion and masochism can only be kept up for so long. Anger, hatred and scorn can overcome much, but they still are the emotions of a weak, meager, human, inept and incapable of constant rebellion. “One must imagine Sisyphus happy,” but Sisyphus is only human, and eventually his strength will fail and his rock will roll back upon him and crush him, causing Sisyphus to commit true philosophical suicide. Quixotically upholding self-destructive morals until the repercussions catch up with and destroy oneself is suicide. Philosophies produce passionate martyrs. Morality without God is illogical.
Logic leads to God or nihilism. Life without morality is an endless struggle against natural law. Accepting God would be an easier and more fulfilling choice. It seems the only logical choice is to accept God and to accept morality as His divine injunction. Likewise, we should simply accept Providence and resign ourselves to God’s will, to abandon the tower of Babel and align oneself with God- a sort of philosophical detachment. As an individual, man remains insignificant, but when united to one another and the supernatural through a common belief, following after his conscience, when he realizes he is not an independent organism but only a cell, then they can amount to something. Of course, he still maintains his individualism, and perhaps possesses more than someone engrained in today’s materialistic society. But if one does not expect special treatment or accolades as a result of their individuality, they will not be disappointed if they receive none. In the broad scheme, man is insignificant, unable even to overcome himself. It is not his position to question his stance in life, or the suffering that will come his way. All suffering is either the will of God or the result of man’s tendency towards destruction. As man is responsible for the dual nature engrained within him-the cause of suffering in the world, so he must bear the responsibility and ask for amnesty. Absolution brings resolution to internal conflict by cleansing guilt and clearing the conscience. Happiness, significance, resolution, fulfilment- the ultimate goals of mankind for so long- can all be found in a resignation to Providence.
