The Philosophy Book

THE MODERN WORLD 219

Western philosophy. The story
begins, Nietzsche says, with the
Greek philosopher Plato.

The real world
Plato divided the world into an
“apparent” world that appears to
us through our senses, and a “real”
world that we can grasp through
the intellect. For Plato, the world
we perceive through the senses is
not “real” because it is changeable
and subject to decay. Plato suggests
that there is also an unchanging,
permanent “real world” that can
be attained with the help of the
intellect. This idea comes from
Plato’s study of mathematics.
The form or idea of a triangle, for
example, is eternal and can be
grasped by the intellect. We know
that a triangle is a three-sided,
two-dimensional figure whose
angles add up to 180º, and that
this will always be true, whether
anyone is thinking about it or not
and however many triangles exist
in the world. On the other hand,
the triangular things that do exist
in the world (such as sandwiches,
pyramids, and triangular shapes
drawn on a chalkboard), are
triangular only insofar as they
are reflections of this idea or form
of the triangle.
Influenced by mathematics in
this way, Plato proposed that the
intellect can gain access to a
whole world of Ideal Forms, which
is permanent and unchanging,
whereas the senses have access
only to the world of appearances.
So, for example, if we want to know
about goodness, we need to have
an intellectual appreciation of the
Form of Goodness, of which the
various examples of goodness in
the world are only reflections.
This is an idea that has had far-
reaching consequences for our
understanding of the world; not least

because, as Nietzsche points out,

this way of dividing up the world

makes the “real world” of the

intellect the place where everything

of value resides. In contrast, it

makes the “apparent world” of the

senses a world that is, relatively

speaking, unimportant.

Christian values

Nietzsche traces the fortunes of

this tendency to split the world into

two and finds that the same idea

appears within Christian thought.

In place of the “real world” of Plato’s

Forms, Christianity substitutes an

alternative “real world”; a future world

of heaven that is promised to the

virtuous. Nietzsche believes that

Some religions and philosophies insist that a more

important “real world” exists elsewhere. Nietzsche sees

this as a myth that tragically prevents us from living

fully now, in this world.

this world, even beauty, is

only a “shadow” of Forms

in another world.

Christianity views the world we live

in now as somehow less real than

heaven, but in this version of the

“two worlds” idea the “real world” is

attainable, albeit after death and on

condition that we follow Christian

rules in this life. The present world

is devalued, as it is with Plato, except

insofar as it acts as a stepping stone

to the world beyond. Nietzsche

claims that Christianity asks us to

deny the present life in favor of the

promise of a life to come.

Both the Platonic and Christian

versions of the idea that the world

is divided into a “real” and an

“apparent” one have profoundly

affected our thoughts about

ourselves. The suggestion that ❯❯

Christianity sees this

life as merely a forerunner

to the more important

“life after death.”