Letter to a Continental Philosopher

Dear Mr. Nietzsche,

I have long been an admirer of your work. I have read most of your published works, and have been impressed and intrigued by the arguments you have proposed. Currently I am enrolled in a course that is teaching me to not only about new philosophies, but also how to analyze the philosophical arguments of various philosophers, including yours. The current assignment has asked me to analyze the views of a philosopher, and identify areas of the views that I believe are logically incorrect.

I would like to begin by addressing the concept you proposed in your essay, Twilight of the Idols, in which you sought to explain why humans place value on certain concepts, ideas, and materials, and not others. You explained that humans project values onto objects, concepts, and ideas, based on that individual’s specific conditioning throughout their life. You wrote that, “Judgments, value judgments concerning life, for or against, can in the last resort never be true: they possess value only as symptoms, they come into consideration only as symptoms—in themselves such judgments are stupidities” (Nietzsche, & Large, 1998).

From this argument, we must assume that values and morals in your opinion are nothing more than illusions, and humans should realize your concept of Will to Power. According to my understanding or your concept of Will to Power, you propose that this will to power is the natural, unconscious force that resides within all humans and directs all human behavior. You go on to argue that this desire for power should be encouraged as opposed to the sentimental and habituated values of the supernatural and dogma that exists in society. You proposed that on the rare occasion when an individual can embrace the concept of Will to Power he or she would be able to rid himself or herself of the slave mentality that is rampant in religion and society, you deemed this concept the Superman, or Übermensch (Bruder & Moore, 2008).

The problem...