100 Moral Philosophy: Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and WrongNaturalism. The concept is similar to Schopenhauer’s view that
instincts dominate reason, but rather than see that fact as a cause
for pessimism, Nietzsche rejoices in it. While Schopenhauer
sought to overcome instinct through reason and thus temper
desire, Nietzsche saw instinct as natural and good. Anything
which is validated by nature and by the basic natural principals
of survival, striving, and life itself, is worthy. Since whatever
conforms to nature is good, whatever hampers the natural
instincts to power, assertion, and domination is wrong. This
view is at odds with the Europe Nietzsche was born into. As a
matter of fact, Nietzsche saw the whole of western civilization
as the product of a process of rationalism and a liberal demo
cratic tradition— in short decadent, deficient, and doomed.
Schopenhauer called the instinctive force in the world the
Will to Live. Nietzsche called this natural law the Will to Power.
The Will to Power is manifested throughout nature; each crea
ture from high to low seeks to dominate within a natural order.
Larger animals devour smaller ones, stronger ones dominate
weaker ones, faster ones overtake slower ones. When we see the
lion overcome a natural enemy in the forest, then roar to
announce the victory, we do not refer to the lion’s “evil” act. We
understand the natural “valueless” reality of each creature seek
ing to assert that power that is within him. Self preservation of
all species is a natural law, but not the first law. It is an outgrowth
of the Will to Power. If this is so in nature, why should man be
different? Nietzsche, of course, says man is not substantially
different.
In a moral sense, there are no absolutes. What one chooses as
best for himself is good; what one rejects as a hindrance is bad.
Each man seeks to expand his world, and however he does it, it
is good for him. Traditional morality hinders man in this process,
so man must overcome it. In fact, Nietzsche says there are two
types of morality, the “master morality” and the “slave moral
ity.” Master morality is the way the free spirits look at the
world— their actions are “good” or “bad” as they affect them
selves. The herd sees morality “good” and “evil,” terms which
describe absolutes. Nietzsche, a subjectivist, declares that only
the individual can determine what is good for himself; he is the
judge. Once the concept of “evil” is introduced, the judgement
is taken out of the hands of the individual and put into a
definition.