How Nietzsche Outwits Descarte Essay, Research Paper
Friedrich Nietzsche is not only one of the most influential
philosophers the world has seen, but he is also one of the most
controversial. He has influenced twentieth century thought more than
almost any other thinker. In his numerous works, Nietzsche constantly
criticizes and restructures the strongly held philosophical and
religious beliefs of his time. One such principle that he refutes
belongs to his predecessor Rene’ Descartes, and concerns the apparent
distinction and significance of the human mind over the body. Descartes
explains this elaborate theory in his Meditations on First Philosophy,
claiming that the mind (the conscious) is the lone essential part of the
human essence. On the other hand, Nietzsche expresses in his work, On
the Genealogy of Morality, his beliefs that the body (the unconscious)
is key to the human essence. One may find it difficult to decide
between these two ideas, for both philosophers pose good arguments on
the contradicting sides of this famous dilemma.
However, by analyzing them further, I realize
that the qualities of their arguments are only as good as the
foundations that they are based upon; one cannot have an understanding
of the mind or the body without first having knowledge of the essence of
human existence. With this in mind, I will prove that the body is
superior to the mind by showing that the center for Nietzsche’s ideas,
the human essence, is more valid than that of Descartes.
Descartes’ idea of the human essence is based solely on his formed
concept of “radical doubt.” He believes the essence of human existence
to be simply “a thinking thing” [1]. We must now analyze how he
arrived at this conclusion. Descartes is famous for radical doubt, a
concept that questions everything, and assumes nothing to be true unless
it can be proved so with his idea of “clear and distinct perception.”
From this he states that the only thing he can clearly and distinctively
perceive is that “I exist” [2]. He concludes that since he ceases to
exist when he ceases to think, he can then clearly and distinctively
call himself a “thinking thing” [3]. Descartes explains this train of
thought when he says:
From the fact that I know that I exist, and that at the same time I
judge that obviously nothing else belongs to my nature or essence except
that I am a thinking thing, I rightly conclude that my essence consists
entirely in my being a thinking thing. And although perhaps I have a
body that is very closely joined to me, nevertheless, because on the one
hand I have a clear and distinct idea of myself, insofar as I am merely
a thinking thing and not an extended thing, and because on the other
hand I have a distinct idea of a body, insofar as it is merely an
extended thing and not a thinking thing, it is certain that I am really
distinct from my body, and can exist without it [4].
It is obvious that Descartes’ arrival of the human essence as a
“thinking thing” in this way is fully based on his beliefs of radical
doubt and clear and distinct perception. He bases all of his inferences
on other inferences.
Descartes also devaluates the human body and places the mind at the
essence of the human existence based on his concept. Due to his radical
doubt, Descartes quickly omits the body and the entire physical world as
having any significance because of the simple fact that they can be
doubted. He establishes a strong sense of doubt in his senses, because,
according to Descartes, one cannot know clearly and distinctly that they
are not being deceived into their physical sensations [5]. Descartes
thus condemns the significance of the body when he proclaims that it is
“not a substance endowed with understanding” [6]. He places the body
into the physical, unintelligible realm of his concept of dualism,
opposite from the thinking, knowledgeable realm. Descartes now
acknowledges the body as being useful only within the limits of “moving
from one place to another, of taking on various shapes, and so on” [7].
It is from this condemnation of the body into the physical,
unintelligible !
realm that Descartes further places the mind on a pedestal, and at the
essence of human existence. To him the mind is superior because it
thinks, which is in itself our essence. He explains this in the
indented quote I have already cited (4), saying that the mind can exist
without the body. Analyzing things with radical doubt clearly finalizes
all of Descartes’ ideas.
Therefore, Descartes’ argument is not valid because of the fact that it
is solely derived from assumptions. His idea of the superiority of the
mind is based on the assumption that humans are thinking things, which
itself is based on the assumption of clear and distinct perception,
which is further based on the assumption that radical doubt is valid.
Descartes’ entire argument includes the use of clear and distinct
perception, a concept that he concocted, to evaluate what is true and
what is false. It is absurd to dub something valid when it is based on
an assumption, let alone many assumptions. Henceforth, it is false to
grant Descartes’ ideas any relevance because they are derived by judging
things on his basis. Steven J. Wagner, in his essay “Descartes’s
Arguments for Mind-Body Distinctness,” supports this point when he says;
“Descartes’s procedure only makes good sense once we see it as a product
of his system…Too much in Descartes depends on things that are far too
w!
rong” [8]. He explains that Cartesian (Descartes’ thinking) dualism and
the Cartesian mind can only be supported along Cartesian lines [9]. It
requires little intelligence to prove a point when one bases their
argument for it on invalid theories of their own fabrication. The
superiority of the mind in the human essence, therefore, has not been
clearly proven because its ideal is based on Descartes’ numerous
assumptions.
Nietzsche’s idea of the human essence, on the other hand, clearly holds
more validity than Descartes’ because it is not based on assumed
principles. Nietzsche believes the human essence to be one of
competition, survival and a will to power. Unlike Descartes,
Nietzsche’s ideal is based on a foundation of facts. He concocts his
ideal mostly by observing nature and the world around him. Bertram M.
Laing, in his essay “The Metaphysics of Nietzsche’s Immoralism,”
explains Nietzsche’s belief called the “organic process,” whereas the
world is “a continual distribution and redistribution of force or power”
[10]. Nietzsche observes society as a barbaric, predatory world that he
separates it into two groups: one having “slave morality,” and the other
“master morality” [11]. Those who possess master morality, or noble
morality, are the ones who live their lives instinctively by trying to
achieve heightened power, often at the expense of others. These people,
according to Nietzsc!
he, are the active and productive members of society. They exude power
and confidence, and prioritize success over popularity [12]. They are
the ones who gain the power in the “organic process.” Nietzsche
preaches for people to have this kind of morality, for he sees this as
being “good” [13]. On the other hand, those who possess slave morality
are the ones who do not act instinctively and thus are weak. Their
weakness is apparent by observing their lack of productivity and success
[14]. They became clever in order to compensate for not being powerful,
doing things like congregating for chances of greater defense. These
people, according to Nietzsche, developed “ressentiment” towards their
superiors’ power [15]. Nietzsche thus calls them “the regression of
humankind,” because their morality develops out of hatred and a denial
of our bodily instincts [16]. The human essence, therefore, is one of a
desire for power and success. Nietzsche cleverly legitimizes this claim
!
by comparing it to the `survival of the fittest’ aspects of nature [17].
“Beasts of Prey” hold the qualities of master morality, for they achieve
their goals instinctively at the expense of their prey. They do what is
needed for them to survive. Lambs, the prey, are equal to those
included in Nietzsche’s slave morality because they are weak, and
congregate in herds for protection [18]. The Beasts of Prey are
obviously the ones who survive, so Nietzsche believes that we should
strive to act instinctively like them. Rather than following in
Descartes’ footsteps to leading a trivial argument, it is clear that
Nietzsche based his concoction of the human essence mostly on
irrefutable observations. In this way his idea surpasses Descartes’ in
relevance and validity, thus giving him clear ground to employ this
ideal in proving the superiority of the body.
Finally, Nietzsche uses this valid assertion of the human essence to
prove that the body is more essential to the human existence than the
mind. Nietzsche argues that since the human essence is based on
predatory competition necessary in the “organic process” of the world,
the body is more important than the mind. Instinct, he says, is rooted
in the body that we are given. Thus our bodies define who we are
because they determine what morality, master or slave, we adhere to.
Nietzsche believes that one’s placement within these categories is
decided at birth as an unalterable “assignment” determined by the
genealogy of a person’s morals. Our bodies determine whether we act
according to our natural instincts for success and the will of power
(master morality), or if we turn away from them (slave morality). These
bodily instincts are the key element to our existence, for they
completely govern our personalities. By analyzing the Beasts of Prey
argument again, it is clear th!
at the lambs were born into their existence as non-instinctive and
defensive beings due to their bodies. The bodies of the birds also held
their propensity to act on their natural instinct. In this way the body
is therefore the principal element of our existence; it is the
difference between eating, and getting eaten. Bertram M. Laing
describes Nietzsche’s “body” when she calls it “the source of all
inspiration; the power that breathes or speaks through one is not an
alien deity, but the self, the man as he really is” [19]. The body,
then, is superior to the mind, because it holds our natural instincts
that fully determine who we are and how we will fare in the “organic
process” of our existence.
So as you can see, the body is a greater element of human existence
than the mind. I have achieved this conclusion in a simple, systematic
fashion. I did so by (1) stating that the ideas of the human essence
are the foundations for Nietzsche’s and Descartes’ arguments, (2)
proving that Descartes’ idea of human essence is not valid because it is
based mostly on his own assumed principles, (3) proving that Descartes’
entire argument for the superiority of the mind can now be deemed
invalid as a result of this, (4) proving that Nietzsche’s idea of human
essence is more valid than Descartes’ because it is based on undeniable
facts, (5) and finally proving that the body is superior to the mind
because of the legitimacy of Nietzsche’s argument. It is clear that
Nietzsche has outwitted his great predecessor here.