Does Christianity Make Us Weak? (Nietzsche) – 8-Bit Philosophy

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Episode 24: Does Christianity Make Us Weak?
(Friedrich Nietzsche on Herd Morality & The Will to Power)

Written by: Matt Reichle
Created & Directed by: Jared Bauer
Narrator: Nathan Lowe
Animation Producer: MB X. McClain
Academic Consultant: Mia Wood
Producer & Additional Artwork by: Jacob S. Salamon

© 2015 Wisecrack, Inc.

[CybermanKing]

>Mega man.
>Ubermensch
I get it.

[gwkonyoutube]

I have a feeling this video will piss people off.

[Edmar_Fecler]

The *real* question here is whether the comments will consist of sincere philosophical discussions, or merely devolve into pointless flame-wars.

[gendoruwo]

In my childhood I once read a comic about Tarzan, the 'king of the jungle' who is actually a human male who is strong and savage but noble, one scene that's most iconic is how Tarzan beats up a tiger who was trying to eat a wounded deer.

Ooo Tarzan, defender of the weak, I'm supposed to say?

But even at that time I wondered: so if the tiger's not allowed to eat the wounded deer, then what's it supposed to eat? Vegetables?

[Oveja_TV]

I always hated the concept of supporting mediocre behavior, but I also loath the concept of "pride" as a way of life. Live in the way you want to live, a person will never be better than the other by their life choices, until they start to commit crimes and morally wrong deeds.

[russellfultz]

“I own one participation trophy. Big, bold letters on it say, “life” it also says “Champion” Woot! Woot!

[johnmars]

What is Will to Power? Well it's one of the most complex and muddled ideas Nietzsche introduced. I'm Nietzsche fanboy as much as they go, but the concept of Will to power was purposefully left unclarified for two obvious reasons. The first is that if Will to Power is the only real drive in the world then Nietzsche is a crypto-metaphysician like Heidegger accused him of being, secondly Will to Power as just a historicist interpretation of history is severely weak and robs us of Nietzsche's more profound moral insights such as "The Transvaluation of all Values". Other Philosophers recognised this such as Foucault, when he refined "Will to Power" as "Will to Knowledge".

One has to be very carefull to take any historical interpretation Nietzsche makes with a grain of salt, for one his claim that Jews created "slave morality" is extremely dubious ( one has only too read the old Testament to see how warlike the Jews were). This also would go in line that Nietzsche hated Christianity not so much for it's political organization or it's fanaticism, but because of it's life denying message which stemmed from Platonism.Secondly Will to Power as a political/moral theory is also extremely problematic, as it solely taken from a collection of fragments Nietzsche wrote known as "Will to Power" that his Nazi sister edited, and is contradicted by a lot of his earlier works such as "Thus Spake Zarathustra".  

[TheJaredtheJaredlong]

"A man _chooses_; A slave _obeys_." - Nietzsche

[rubencollegeabq]

"That's just the way it is" is just a way to handwave away any critique. Nature has as much ecosystemic symbiosis as it does competition. And even if it didn't, something is not a good model for human behavior simply because it is natural for some species.

[deathgripskaraoke]

Video made my family fall apart

10/10

[nightbrand]

I would think a Christian's ability to deny their more basic urges would be a sign of strength, not weakness. Also, for when they were talking about seeking to be more than ordinary; if we have no ordinary then how can anyone be extraordinary?

[oceanmachine]

Christianity turns you into a mere hollow shell of a human being.

[benjaminlonghurst]

As always this is a really good explanation of the herd mentality. As a christian its never a bad thing to agree on some of these points rather than fear them. the height of arrogance in my understanding in my short walk in life so far is to assume we have a complete understanding after going to church and call it a day, find safety in not having to think anymore about it. I can think of nothing worse, whats the point then

[ericvilas]

Hmmm, I'm not sure... "People should strive to be strong and subjugate the weak" sounds a bit Ayn Rand-esque... I mean yeah, overvaluing mediocrity can lead to problems - trust me, I know, but there is such a thing as too much ambition. When you're not even considering the possibility that you might be wrong about something, that can also lead to serious problems.

[dominic]

It takes strength to pick yourself up ... it takes more strength to pick someone else up

[schuubar]

'There is no good and evil, there is only power...and those too weak to seek it.'





-Voldermort

[furyberserk]

"How many participation trophies do you own?"
None, I broke them over my bullies because I'm better than them.

[penelopegreene]

"What doesn't kill us messes us up so bad that we're really lucky ever to get it back together again." --Dennis Miller, when he was funny.

[amaurypineda]

Bro, I find your comments and the way you deliver content amazing. Keep up the good work. Wisecrack rocks!

[mylesschutte]

Wait, if the Natzis won the war would that make their ideologies morally good because of their will to power?