184 Nietzscheindivisible core of man, Nietzsche pondered the nuclear fission of the
individual, declaring that, "in matters of morality, people treat them-
selves not as Individuum* but as 'dividuum(2,76). Because the individual
is not a discrete entity, it can also become the setting for an interior
world history, and anyone who studies it may well become the "adven-
turer and circumnavigator of the inner world known as 'human'" (2,21 ;
HHI Preface § 7). Just like Nietzsche.
Morality was a lifelong obsession for Nietzsche. As he pondered this
topic, he began to realize that the basic human condition was actually a
person's relationship to himself. Man—the dividuum—can and must
relate to himself. He is not a harmonious being, but a discordant one,
both condemned and privileged to conduct experiments on himself.
Individual life as well as the life of cultures as a whole is therefore a
series of self-experimentations. Man is the "undetermined animal"
(5,81; BGE § 62). If we cannot be determined, how we deal with our-
selves is cruciaL Nietzsche's philosophy provided a response to the
tremendous demands posed by freedom, which he then proceeded to
minimize. Nietzsche was well versed in the medley of voices within us,
which offer people a choice as to which of the voices they will grant the
power of determination. We tend to regard the medley as profusion. But
could we be wrong? Perhaps in the beginning there were only the weak
and the strong, who differed according to the unanimity and hence the
strength of their wills. A strong will was able to subjugate and command
a weaker one. Although the weaker one obeyed, the sting of these com-
mands remained behind as a foreign body. The commands were "incor-
porated," and evolved into our conscience. Perhaps this is how the
dividuum originated, as a creature wounded and torn apart by the sting of
commands who painstakingly learns to transform the passion of obedi-
ence into the obsession of domination, but who is plagued by a bad con-
science. We have learned to obey and now need to learn how to
command, particularly to command ourselves. In order to do so, how-
ever, we must gain a strong sense of self-esteem and discover the mas-
ter within ourselves. Anyone who has learned how to obey too well will