The Bicameral System of Culture 191"self-reflection," which could reach well beyond the level of the individ-
ual. He considered the possibility that an entire civilization, by gaining a
clear understanding of itself and taking leave of the old religious belief
in fate, might be capable of setting for itself "ecumenical goals spanning
the whole earth" (2,46; HH I § 25). If mankind is not to be destroyed by
such deliberate total regulation, "a knowledge of the conditions of cul-
ture exceeding all previous degrees of such knowledge would have to be
found as a scientific measure for ecumenical goals" (2,46).
Nietzsche was approaching Max Weber's subsequent distinction
between value judgments and factual research of the means of their
realization. Science cannot make value judgments; by elucidating the cul-
tural network, however, it provides actions with criteria to assess the
expediency of its means. Nietzsche also expected science to provide
insight into the "conditions of culture," which could be used to deter-
mine whether the "ecumenical goals" can even be realized. As for the
goals themselves, Nietzsche had not departed from his visions in Tfje
Birth of Tragedy. His basic principle of anthropodicy, according to which
mankind and history are justified only by the birth of genius, continued
to inform his work, as did his insistence that history attains the "peak of
rapture" in great individuals and great works.
When scientific observation undermines the metaphysical basis of
truth, morality, religion, and, ultimately, art are all affected. As for reli-
gion, Human, All Too Human and Daybreak portray it initially as meta-
physics for the people, altogether in keeping with enlightened critiques
of religion in Nietzsche's era. He experimented with the simple idea that
religion serves the function of "narcoticizing" (2,107; HHl § 108) peo-
ple when misfortunes cannot be mitigated in any other way. If our
knowledge of nature advances and the true causalities are discovered to
take the place of "imaginary causality" (3,24; D § 10), it will no longer
be necessary to view illness, for example, as a divine punishment. In lieu
of prayer and sacrifice, the correct medicine can be administered. The
authority of fate—the source of all sorts of religious fantasies—will not
be gone altogether, but restricted, limiting the authority of "priests" and