Friedrich Nietzsche asks & answers, “What does your consciousness say? You should become the person you are.”
I would always find it strange to be the self & yet, not be able to know the self, to reflect on myself & see but a mystery, a vessel to fill & to spill. Now, I understand that the fundamental basis of the self, of what we are, is a thing that can become anything, & we are always in a state of becoming; however, authenticity seems to go beyond oneself. For Nietzsche, as a nihilist, he sees no truth to life, only interpretations of truth. Nonetheless, Nietzsche derives authenticity from nowhere else but in life, not beyond it, as in an afterlife or an apprehending God.
Furthermore, in order to establish our authenticity, we must not abide by the common ideology of society & at times go against the herd mentality. We should abide our authenticity in what Nietzsche describes as our “will to power”. He provides a sort of method of how we can be aware if we are acting inauthentically by what he calls “On Eternal Recurrence”. Nietzsche, however, views humans as an evolutionary progress & to continue our evolution by becoming something more than just human, we need to become the übermensch.
As for Jean Paul-Sartre, he tells us that in order to live authentically, we are not to lie about our own facticity & not shy away from our transcendence. He also states that, in many ways, we are shaped by others, & so, they are also a part of our authenticity. For Sartre, in order to act authentically we must be sincere to who we are & not act in bad faith, meaning acting in a way we know we are not.
In being authentic, both Nietzsche & Sartre, affirm that we are free to take charge of our lives, to transcend that of the herd & the environment, though however, Nietzsche reckons we are to push the bounds towards the übermensch.
To wake up in life & be consciously aware of what we are & that of what we are in, all we ever do is interpret. Each individual can posit his/her own truth of life, but in reality, behind it all, there really is no truth in life, only our interpretations of it. As Nietzsche says, “No, fact is precisely what there is not, only interpretations” Nietzsche tells us that we only put forth a truth or a meaning towards life because that is an inner desire we conscious humans have. As Nietzsche states, “Truth is the kind of error without which a certain species of life could not live. The value for life is ultimately decisive.” We are free to decide whatever truths we want, but he believes they are all made of the human conscious of that witch we invent. That being said, Nietzsche believes that the only truth in life is life itself, & in life we can adhere to many truths. He writes, “There are many kinds of eyes. Even the sphinx has eyes — & consequently there are many kinds of “truths,” & consequently there is no truth.” We each live different lives, producing different perspectives. Therefore, looking & hearing at the same thing may be interpreted differently. The fundamental basis of Nietzsche’s thinking is that there is no absolute truth, there is only life, & in life there are many truths.
Without any absolute truth, this leads to Nietzsche’s statement, “God is dead.” During his time more & more people have been moving away from faith towards God. He ponders about how society should become now that many people’s faith in God have been lost, since society was mainly built upon faith. People have been raised to cater to God(s) & its moral standards instead of catering to themselves & their own standards. Nietzsche writes, “By morality the individual is taught to become a function of the herd, & to ascribe to himself value only as a function.” Many people live by the herd & for the herd, & thereby following the norms of the herd. For Nietzsche, this is a mistake towards our own authenticity since by being governed by the herd, it puts a restraint on our own way of thinking. However, Nietzsche does understand that even though morals are subjective, it is still necessary in order to live in harmony amongst each other. As Nietzsche writes, “Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.” It is natural to care & to help others to be able to form communities & societies. Nonetheless, the main point is that is to go into the herd as an individual. By abiding by the herd it creates many inauthentic people. It causes people to not be able to fully derive their own thinking & meaning in their own way, ultimately becoming a follower of the herd & living inauthentically.
Nietzsche tells us that we are free, & we don’t need religion to find & be our authentic selves. What Nietzsche proposes is that in order to be our authentic selves, we should seek our will to power. Our will is our greatest strength & is what promotes power for our lives. Nietzsche declares, “This world is the will to power & nothing besides! & you yourselves are also this will to power & nothing besides!” Nietzsche affirms that from this will to power, we will live a fulfilling life & reach our higher self. We will master ourselves & become worthy human beings for society. Nietzsche writes, “What are our evaluations & moral tables really worth? What is the outcome of their rule?… Answer: for life. But what is life? Here we need a new, more definite formulation of the concept “life.” My formula for it is: Life is will to power.” Nietzsche points out that all our value & meanings that we create is what makes life life, & anything that heightens the feeling of power is what’s good, & to be happy is “the feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome.” We should feed the flames of our will to overcome any obstacle in order that we may become that which we set out to be, & if we turn our backs to the obstacle, we are turning our backs against ourselves. It is this will to power that Nietzsche pronounces as our guide towards our highest self, our authentic self.
In order to help us understand how we are being inauthentic, Nietzsche proposes the question, “Do you want this once more and innumerable times more?” If you knew you would have to do this life over again, to live out every pain & every joy, would you want to? This question helps us be more aware of how we are presently living our lives. What Nietzsche is saying, is that if we were to live authentically, then we would have no problem in living our every pain & every joy in infinitum.
Nietzsche despises the inauthentic self. He sees humans as something complex & with his nihilistic view on life, with our free will, we have the ability to be anything. However, he condemns religion & the crowd because he believes it suppresses our authenticity. We should not accept things on blind faith but be open minded to everything. Nietzsche wants us to seek our will to power because it will bring fulfillment to our lives & help us be authentic.
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For Jean Paul-Sartre, he also believes that we are free to create ourselves & that only we are responsible for our lives. Sartre, though, puts a lot more emphasis towards taking responsibility as a consequence of free will. Sartre takes it to another level & goes on to say that in making choices for yourself, you are not just affecting yourself, but you are also affecting humanity itself. He states, “If moreover, existence precedes essence & we exist at the same time as we fashion our image, that image is valid for all & for the entire epoch in which we find ourselves.” Sartre continues on to say, “The essential consequence of our earlier remarks is that man being condemned to be free carries the weight of the whole world on his shoulders; he is responsible for the world & for himself as a way of being.” By the actions one decides for oneself, it is not only himself that is affected, but it also inadvertently affects all those around you, & in so doing, you also take on that responsibility. As the individual affects others, others also have an affect on the individual.
Unlike Nietzsche, Sartre is aware that the people around us also take part in our authenticity. Sartre goes on to say, “Thus, I have a comprehension of this ontological structure: I am responsible for my being-for-others, but I am not the foundation of it.” We as free individuals have the ability to choose our own ways of life, but Sartre reminds us that in so doing, you are also responsible for your affect on humanity as a whole. Nietzsche would totally disagree on being responsible for others & would probably counter argue that we should not put any responsibilities for others, for they are responsible for themselves already.
Nevertheless, Sartre remarks that most of us tend to act on bad faith, either for temporary pleasure or just to make an excuse for ourselves in order to not act authentically. As absurd as it may seem, many will act on bad faith because for many, they would rather choose the path of least resistance & not enact on their goal, where obstacles, suffering, & fear lie. And so, we lie to ourselves, making a bunch of excuses of why we can’t do what we want; moreover, we lie to others about ourselves. Sartre tells us that we should not lie about our facticity, for, past experiences do not determine your authenticity. You always have a choice to change who you are & therefore able to transcend from your past experiences, your doubts, & your fears.
Transcendence for Sartre is similar to Nietzsche’s will to power. Existence precedes essence, Sartre states, you first are & from any period you can always change your essence. Sartre writes, “… affirming at once that I am what I have been (the man who deliberately arrests himself at one period in his life & refuses to take into consideration the later changes) & that I am not what I have been (the man who in the face of reproaches or rancor dissociates himself from his past by insisting on his freedom & on his perpetual re-creation).” Many of us get stuck in our past and think that we are unable to change or freeze at the idea of facing our goals because of the fear it induces. This way of thinking blocks all the opportunities & potential that could help us transcend from our past. Sartre explains that the future that we think in our mind is a nothingness that “has slipped into the heart of this relation.” You are not your future self, you are yet to become it. However, Sartre understands this anguish we create in thinking of our future, but there are counter anguishes that can help if you do not act sincere.
For Sartre, to be sincere is to be authentic & to be in bad faith is living inauthentically. He proposes that bad faith is denying your facticity, denying your transcendence, being too selfish and too selfless. Sartre combines facticity & transcendence, saying that if you act in facticity you are understanding your transcendence, and if you don’t deny your transcendence you are affirming your facticity. As Sartre explains, “It must affirm facticity as being transcendence & transcendence as being facticity.” When you affirm your facticity you understand that you are not what you are & not subject to what you are at present. What you are does not determine what you could be.
Furthermore, in contrast to Nietzsche, Sartre argues in being-for-myself you should be aware that you are also at the same time being-for-others. Being-for-others is also important because others help us understand ourselves & how we are with others. Sartre writes, “The equal dignity of being, possessed by my being-for-others and by my being-for-myself, permits a perpetually disintegrating synthesis & a perpetual game of escape from the for-itself to the for-others & from the for-others to the for-itself.” We are in constant relation with others & this relation cannot be disregarded even when you act for yourself. We play a force in the heap of humanity & each force enacts on each other. Nevertheless, Sartre points out, “We are not lumps of clay, & what is important is not what people make of us but what we ourselves make of what they have made of us.” Even though others have an impact to our authenticity, we have the power to choose how to respond by their intruding forces. Be aware of how your authenticity is embodied in the integration of humanity & know that you can always transcend from what you are.
While it may feel that Nietzsche goes a bit extreme in becoming our authentic self by avoiding religion & the herd mentality, Nietzsche’s view on life & the human stratum can be very inspiring. I agree with Nietzsche’s nihilistic views, of how there is no absolute truth, but it is still part of life, & in many ways necessary to posit truths & attain meaning for our lives. To feel meaningless causes one to live in despair. It at first may seem uninspiring to believe that behind it all it doesn’t really matter, for in the absurdity of it all, we are all going to die anyways. However, this belief, in essence, is what makes life more sacred & in many ways more inspiring. It provides us with a life with no boundaries, a life to live as we please knowing in the end, nothing happens but an eternal sleep. Nietzsche opens up the world to a limitless life, a life not restricted by rule or religion.
Moreover, Nietzsche goes beyond the authentic self, & says we need to go further. Not many philosophers have made an attempt to push beyond what is human. Nietzsche writes, “Man is a rope, tied between beast & overman — -a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping.” Nietzsche looks at the human chain of our past & into the future of our evolutionary progress. He argues that we must adhere to our will to power, for it is essential & one of the qualities of the übermensch.While it is not fully clear on what is to be beyond human, it inspires us to push our limits as a human being towards something beyond. Nietzsche seems to over-idealize humans in becoming something more; & for many it may feel as if Nietzsche is asking too much; to be isolated & undertake too daunting of a task. However, I think & agree that this is our task, although I wouldn’t put it for everyone. We are always trying to become better & be something more. We seem to always try to push the limits of our potential. When we try to reach something beyond the limits where nobody else has reached, & happen to make many failed attempts, it can cause us to be in despair & fall into an abyss, to risk & sacrifice everything in order to become this übermensch. In our despair, Nietzsche would say, “I say unto you: one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. I say unto you: you still have chaos in yourselves.”
