The Four Great Errors
The Error of Confusing Cause and Consequence
Nietzsche argues that moral and religious statements are in error because they mistake causes for effect. Take, for example, this moral statement: If P is virtuous, then P will be happy. Nietzsche insists that the opposite is true: If P is happy, then P will be virtuous. “A well-constituted human being, a ‘happy one,’” he writes, “Must perform certain actions and instinctively shrinks from other actions … s virtue is the consequence of his happiness.”. In Nietzsche’s view, that which follows from instinct is marked by being “easy, necessary, free,” is good. It is instinct, not conscious effort, which is the hallmark of virtuous behavior. Most moral maxims, in Nietzsche's view, reflect an absolutist position which suggest that certain moral behaviors are appropriate for everyone irrespective of the unique histories and circumstances of individual moral agents. "Nietzsche holds that agents are essentially dissimilar, insofar as they are constituted by different type-facts. Since Nietzsche also holds that these natural type-facts fix the different conditions under which particular agents will flourish, it follows that one morality cannot be good for all."The Error of False Causality
Moral and religious statements are in error because they attribute human behavior to the existence of human will, spirit, and ego, the factual reality of which Nietzsche finds questionable. People, Nietzsche maintains, mistakenly believe that they make decisions freely, attributing these decisions to the “inner facts” or notions of will, spirit, and ego. Nietzsche argues against the existence of these three notions. For example, will does not cause events to occur, it only accompanied them (Nietzsche also points out that it is possible for some events to not be accompanied by any will). Similarly, Nietzsche holds that spirit, in the form of motive, is merely an accompaniment to an action, but not a cause of it. Finally, he argues that the ego is simply a fiction. In short, there are no spiritual causes for human behavior.The Error of Imaginary Causes
Nietzsche argues that when an event occurs, this event causes ideas in the mind, ideas which the subject mistakenly believes to be the cause of the original event. Nietzsche attributes the confusion over causes of an event to a basic human psychological need to eliminate the discomfort caused by the unknown. “To trace something unknown back to something known,” he writes,”Is alleviating, soothing, gratifying and gives moreover a feeling of power.”. This human aversion to the unknown or the unexplained, Nietzsche warns, may cause people to accept ideas based solely on their emotional appeal rather than on their factual accuracy. When experiencing an event, Nietzsche describes, a subject compares this current event to similar events in the past in his or her memory. As a result, the subject develops “causal interpretations,” habits ofThe Error of Free Will
Nietzsche argues that the notion of humanNietzsche’s conclusions
Nietzsche’s program of a “revaluation of all values” seeks to deny the concept of “human accountability,” which, he argues, was an invention of religious figures to hold power over mankind. “Men were thought of as 'free' so that they could become guilty; consequently, every action had to be thought of as willed, the origin of every action as lying in the consciousness.”.Nietzsche, Friedrich. ''Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ.'': p. 64 Instead, Nietzsche attributes behaviors to internal physiological states.Notes
Bibliography
* Nietzsche, Friedrich. ''Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ.'': trans. R. J. Hollingdale. New York: Penguin Books; 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Four Great Errors, The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche 1889 introductions