Fredrich Nietzsche and Thomas Hobbes
In regards to the issues of Christianity, Human Nature, and Morality philosophers Fredrich Nietzsche and Thomas Hobbes express radical views that are completely in opposition to one another. Hobbes' philosophy is dominated by loyalty to the crown, riddled with references to the Christian scriptures, and centered on a belief that life is "nasty, brutish, and short." (Leviathan) Nietzsche's philosophy is dominated by the pessimistic views of Arthur Schopenhauer and his belief that the human race is nothing more than a herd. Nietzsche believes that God is inert and thus "the enemy of life." (Anti-Nature) Both Hobbes and Nietzsche look at the world in a completely different light. Hobbes was a Christian who defended the bible, while Nietzsche refers to Christianity as being a great curse, one of stupidity in fact. "There is nothing we envy less than the moralistic cow and the fat happiness of the good conscience...peace of soul, the Christian desideratum." (Anti-Nature)On the topic of human nature Hobbes thought life to be the "war of every man, against every man." (Leviathan) Nietzsche, on the other hand, took a nihilistic approach and declared that human nature is simply a euphemism for inertia, cultural conditioning, and what we
The human race, in Nietzsche's mind, should be the development of a class of human beings that is not part of the herd, which hinders mankind's development. Hobbes was a hypocrite, he believed that a King could violate God's laws if the violations were in the best interest of the state. " (Anti-Nature) Nietzsche believed that modern Christian civilization is demented. In conclusion, the philosophies of both philosophers are justified in their reasoning due to the experiences that served as precursors to their mind frames. Nietzsche, however, thought that human nature was nothing more than cultural conditioning on a mass scale. Nietzsche believed that morals are one of the root problems of society, Hobbes on the other hand defends Christian morality in Leviathan; he believes that only a society with a strong moral base is capable of keeping the wicked nature of man in check. " (Leviathan) Throughout his life, Nietzsche held the belief that "Christianity has taken the side of everything weak, base, ill-constituted, it has made an ideal out of opposition to the preservative instincts of a strong life; it has depraved the reason even of the intellectually strongest natures by teaching men to feel the supreme values of intellectuality as sinful, as misleading, as temptations. But of course, Nietzsche (1844) did not have to worry about being hunted as a heretic if his ideas w!ere unacceptable to the members of the Christian community, Hobbes did. Hobbes makes references to the scripture quite frequently in his works, he uses them to strengthen his philosophical ideas. Hobbes' views on morality were strictly biblical, straight out of Exodus. Nietzsche, however, held morality as an impediment to the development of a new and better civilization; after all how could a religion that believes in turning the other cheek proclaim any intelligence? "If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out. Hobbes, however, declared that "God, when he speaks to any subject, he ought to be obeyed. He condemned those who profited from the well being of the church and he opposed those who showed interest in public religion of the artificial state. " (Anti-Christ) Nietzsche was an atheist, an anti-Christ, and thus an anti-Christian. However, Hobbes did have some radical views for his time (1588), in considering that religious wars were fought across the European continent because views on religion were taken heavy heartedly.
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