How are the philosophies of Nietzsche and Hobbes different on topics of
Christianity, Human Nature, and Morality. The philosophies of Nietzsche and
Hobbes’ are radically different, Hobbes’ philosophy is dominated by loyalty
to the crown, riddled with references to the Christian scriptures, and a belief
that life is “nasty, brutish, and short”(Leviathan, 133); while
Nietzsche’s philosophy was dominated by the pessimistic Schopenhauer, a belief
that the human race was a herd, and that “God is dead”(Thus Spoke
Zarathustra, S. 13). Hobbes and Nietzsche look at the world completely
differently. Hobbes was a Christian who defended the bible, while Nietzsche
called “Christianity the one great curse”(The Anti-Christ, s. 62). On the
topic of human nature Hobbes thought life to be a ”warre...of every man,
against every man”(Leviathan, 232) while Nietzsche took a nihilistic approach
and declared that “ human nature is just a euphemism for inertia, cultural
conditioning, and what we are before we make something of ourselves...”(Human,
all to Human, 67). On morality these two philosophers have opposing views,
Hobbes views on morality were straight out of Exodus, while Nietzsche holds that
“morality is a hindrance to the development of new and better customs: it
makes stupid [people]”(Daybreak, s. 19). These two philosophers lived at
different times, in different locations, and their differing philosophies
reflect the lives that they lived. Thomas Hobbes was born into an English upper
class family in 1588, his father was the parish priest. Thomas was educated by
his uncle until he was fifteen, when he was sent to Oxford to continue his
studies. In 1608 he finished his formal education and took up with the son of
Lord Cavendish, they undertook an adventure which saw them travel across Europe.
Hobbes remained in England until the start of the English civil war when he fled
to France. The civil war took place from 1642 till 1649, this conflict had a
profound affect on Hobbes, particularly the execution of Charles I in 1649. All
his writings after this event reflect Hobbes’ quest to find a peaceful, stable
form of government. Hobbes died in 1679. Fredrich Nietzsche was born into a
upper class family in Germany, on 15 October 1844, his father was tutor for the
royal family and also a priest. Nietzsche father died when he was twelve, this
had life-long impact on him. At age eight-teen he discovered the philosopher
Schopenhauer, the basis for much of his early work, and gave up Christianity. He
was educated at the University of Bonn, at the age of twenty-five Nietzsche was
appointed Professor of Philosophy at the University of Basle. He became close
friends with composer Richard Wanger, who’s work he enthusiastically
supported. Nietzsche most productive years were to be his last, he drove insane
by syphilis and died at the dawn of this century. Nietzsche declared in that
”modern Christian civilization is sick and must be overcome”(The
Anti-Christ, 156), Hobbes would have found that excerpt to be repugnant having
declared that “God...when he speaks to any subject...he ought to be obeyed”
(Leviathan, 492). Hobbes was a Christian, while Nietzsche was a atheist, their
views on Christianity are completely opposite. Nietzsche held the belief
throughout his life that “Christianity has taken the side of everything weak,
base, ill-constituted, it has made an ideal out of opposition to the
preservative instincts of a strong life; it has depraved the reason even of the
intellectually strongest natures by teaching men to feel the supreme values of
intellectuality as sinful, as misleading, as temptations,”(The Anti-Christ, S.
5) Professor Howard Rainer of Davis University states that “Nietzsche was
uncompromisingly anti-Christian, for Christianity was the most potent force
against those values which he prized most highly.” Nietzsche felt that
Christianity would hinder the emergence of the “overman”(The Will to Power,
546), a human being that follows their own path and not the herd’s. Hobbes
while being a Christian to the end, had a rather pessimistic view of it;
Professor Ian Johnston of Malaspina University states that “ Hobbes believed
the public religion of the artificial state must serve the need for security to
protect the selfish economic interests of the individuals composing it.”
Hobbes view of Christianity was quite radical for his time and he publicly
scorned for his belief that Christendom was nothing more economic security
blanket; Hobbes attacked the elements in the Christian church which profited
from religion. The times in which Hobbes and Nietzsche lived in were very
different, in Hobbes times “Deadly religious wars were fought across the
European continent. It was in this climate the Thomas Hobbes proposed...[his]
philosophy.”(Howard Rainer, Lecture Notes) Nietzsche did not have to worry
about being hunted as a heretic if his ideas were not like by members of the
Christian community, Hobbes did. Hobbes makes references to the scripture quite
frequently in his works, he uses them to strengthen his ideas surrounding
philosophy; Nietzsche never quotes from the Bible but he make many references to
the parables of Jesus, he uses these in his critiques on modern Christianity.
Hobbes and Nietzsche views on Christianity could never be reconciled, Hobbes
died a Christian, while Nietzsche is reputed as saying ”let me go to my grave
a honest pagan”. Both Nietzsche and Hobbes share a pessimistic view of human
nature, Hobbes asserted that life was “nasty, brutish, and short”(Leviathan,
278) while Nietzsche believed that human nature was akin to that of an animal
herd. Professor Howard Rainer of Davis University states that “Nietzsche
thought that human nature was nothing more than cultural conditioning on a mass
scale. Nietzsche and Hobbes both shared the view that human nature changed
depending on the situations a person found themselves in. Hobbes ideas on human
nature were gloomy, in Leviathan Hobbes states “in the nature of man, we find
three principall causes of quarell. First, Competition; Secondly, Diffidence;
Thirdly, Glory. The first, maketh men invade for Gain; the second for Safety;
and the third, for Reputation.”(Leviathan, 345) Most of Hobbes ideas were born
out of his experience with the English Civil War, Hobbes; “attitude toward
man, whom he considered a wicked animal, knowing no restraint to his passions,
was, doubtlessly formulated in England during the turbulent years of the
Revolution.”(Ethics:Origins and Development, 172). Nietzsche thoughts on human
nature are revealed in this quote: “ It is not things, but opinions about
things that have absolutely no existence, which have so deranged
mankind!”(Daybreak, s. 563) Nietzsche held the belief that man had no such
thing as human nature to battle against, he belief that the idea of human nature
was fictitious creation of past philosophers who sought to explain life.
Nietzsche advanced the opinion that mankind has a ”Herd mentality [that]
overcomes master morality by making all the noble qualities appear to be vices
and all weak qualities appear to be virtues. Mediocre values are the values of
the herd.”(Helen Grayman, Lecture Notes). Nietzsche’s writings on human
nature, for the most part are an attack on the herd mentality, which he holds
great contempt for. Nietzsche put forth this idea “Our entire sociology simply
does not know any other instinct than that of the herd, i.e., that of the sum of
zeros-where every zero has ‘equal rights,’ where it is virtuous to be
zero.”(The Will to Power, 33) Nietzsche believes that “Not ‘mankind’ but
overman is the goal!”(The Will to Power, 519 ), this means that the goal of
the human race, in Nietzsche’s mind, should be the development of a class of
human beings that is not part of the herd, which hinders mankind’s
development. Both Hobbes and Nietzsche’s views on human nature were
misanthropic, Nietzsche held the belief that mankind was nothing more than a
herd, and Hobbes views on human nature can be summed up wonderfully with three
words: competition, diffidence, and glory. Hobbes and Nietzsche have differing
opinions on morality, Hobbes adhered to the Christian mores during his time,
Nietzsche would have found this funny because he was an atheist and also because
he did not beleive in any moral code. Nietzsche thought “Morality makes
stupid.-- Custom represents the experiences of men of earlier times as to what
they supposed useful and harmful - but the sense for custom (morality) applies,
not to these experiences as such, but to the age, the sanctity, the
indiscussability of the custom. And so this feeling is a hindrance to the
acquisition of new experiences and the correction of customs: that is to say,
morality is a hindrance to the development of new and better customs: it makes
stupid.” (Daybreak,s. 19), he believed that morality prevents people from
reaching their full potential in life, he uses the example of the head mentality
to show how people are controlled by their morals. Nietzsche believed that
morals are one of the root problems of society, Howard Rainer of Davis
University states ”Nietzsche felt morals destroyed the basic framework of
society.” Hobbes view on morals was affected by his fanatical belief in
Christianity, he basically referred back to the scriptures for all his idea on
morality; his greatest source for ideas on morality was the Book of Exodus.
“Many of Hobbes ideas concerning morality have there base in the Bible, which
he constantly refers to in his works.”(Howard Rainer, Lecture Notes) Hobbes
defends Christian morality in Leviathan, he believes that only a society with a
strong moral base is capable of keeping the wicked nature of man in check.
Hobbes was also a hypocrite, he believed that a King could violate God’s laws
if they were in the best interests of the state. Hobbes maintained that
everything must be done to protect the commonwealth, even morals could be tossed
aside for the advancement of the commonwealth. Nietzsche believed that
“Because we have for millennia made moral, aesthetic, religious demands on the
world, looked upon it with blind desire, passion or fear, and abandoned
ourselves to the bad habits of illogical thinking, this world has gradually
become so marvelously variegated, frightful, meaningful, soulful, it has
acquired color - but we have been the colorists: it is the human intellect that
has made appearances appear and transported its erroneous basic conceptions into
things.”( Human, all too Human, s.16) these morals compounded themselves over
the centuries making errors seem like truths, Nietzsche was against these
commonplace errors in our societies morals. Hobbes and Nietzsche have absolutely
nothing similar in the realm of morals. The beliefs of Hobbes and Nietzsche
contradict each other at every available opportunity, their philosophies are
totally different on almost every level. Nietzsche has a hatred of Christianity
which is unsurpassed, he believed that Christianity was one of the leading
reasons for a herd mentality in society; Hobbes embrace Christianity and uses
the scriptures as one of his main sources of inspiration. Only on the topic of
human nature do Hobbes and Nietzsche ideas come closer together, both of these
philosopher held a pessimistic view of human nature; Hobbes believed it was a
”warre...of every man, against every man”(Leviathan, 232), while Nietzsche
held the belief that the human race was a large herd. On morality Nietzsche and
Hobbes do not see eye to eye, Nietzsche did not belief in any sort of morals
while Hobbes used the Bible as his main moral cookbook, these two radically
different ideas do not match up whatsoever. In conclusion Nietzsche and Hobbes
are two philosophers with very different life philosophies.
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Friedrich. The Will To Power. Toronto, 1982. Penguin Books. Nietzsche,
Friedrich. Daybreak. Toronto, 1984. Penguin Books. Secondary Sources: Grayman,
Helen. Broward College. Lecture Notes. Johnston, Ian. Malaspina University.
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