Hedonism, pessimism, utilitarianism, eudamonianism: these are all ways of thinking that measure the value of things according to pleasure and pain, which is to say according to incidental states and trivialities. They are all foreground ways of thinking and naivetés, and nobody who is conscious of both formative powers and an artist’s conscience will fail to regard them with scorn as well as pity. Pity for you! That is certainly not pity as you understand it: it is not pity for social “distress,” for “society” with its sick and injured, for people depraved and destroyed from the beginning as
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A Moral system based on alleviation of suffering and the maximization of pleasure (incidental states) are supeficial for they dont recognize the need for a creative force in man
CHATGPT
This passage is quintessential Nietzsche, dense with his trademark provocations and challenges to conventional moral wisdom. Here’s a breakdown:
1. **Critique of Common Ethical Systems**: Nietzsche begins by listing popular ethical systems like hedonism, pessimism, utilitarianism, and eudaimonism. He criticizes them for being superficial because they evaluate things based on pleasure and pain. In Nietzsche's view, these are "incidental states" and don't touch upon deeper truths or the true nature of human existence.
2. **Artistry and Creation**: Nietzsche values artistic and creative powers, seeing them as far more significant than fleeting states like pleasure and pain. He implies that these ethical systems lack depth and are naive.
3. **Different Kinds of Pity**: Nietzsche differentiates between the common understanding of pity (feeling sorry for someone's suffering) and a "higher" kind of pity. The common pity looks at suffering and wants to alleviate it. The "higher" pity sees the decline and diminishing of human potential, feeling sorrowful not for suffering but for the lack of growth and strength in humanity.
4. **Suffering as a Crucible for Growth**: A key Nietzschean theme is the idea that suffering, far from being something to be eliminated, is crucial for human growth, strength, and depth. Greatness in humans often arises from overcoming challenges and adversities. Eliminating suffering would thus undermine human potential.
5. **Humans as Both Creature and Creator**: Nietzsche portrays humans as dual-natured: part creature (made of material, chaotic, needing to be molded) and part creator (having the power to shape, refine, and redefine oneself). Pitying the "creature" part, wanting to shield it from suffering, means denying the "creator" part its tools and materials. The creator aspect of humanity needs the raw, chaotic, and sometimes painful experiences to mold and refine.
6. **Pity Against Pity**: Nietzsche's "higher" form of pity opposes the common form of pity because he sees the latter as weakening, as something that inhibits growth and strength.
7. **Beyond Pleasure and Pain**: The passage concludes by suggesting that there are issues and truths deeper and more profound than transient states of pleasure, pain, or pity. Any philosophy that doesn’t go beyond these states is naive in Nietzsche's view.
In essence, Nietzsche is critiquing popular moral systems for their shortsightedness and for prioritizing immediate comfort over long-term growth and depth. He's advocating for a reevaluation of suffering's role in human development and for recognizing the deep potential within humans to create and reshape themselves.
