Philosophical Roots of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy Part II

People may have misunderstood what Nietzsche meant by
"God is dead" but this picture is still quite amusing

Some consider Nietzsche a
madman

Nietzsche and his mustache in
popular culture

   We shall continue to explore the philosophical roots of existential psychology and psychotherapy, turning our attention to the other father of existentialism - Friedrich Nietzsche, who was most famous for the statement - "God is dead"! Some people think of him as a madman, an anti-christ, a nihilist but the truth is, Nietzsche is often misunderstood (Hoffman, 2004). His ideas had even been twisted to support Hitler's ideologies such that his name is often mistakenly associated with the Nazis! Yet, Nietzsche and his mustache remain with us in the popular culture and we shall soon understand how contemporary thoughts and existential psychology have been influenced by him...

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 - August, 25, 1900)

Born in a small German village, Nietzsche was named after the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Nietzsche, who vigorously challenged the foundations of Christianity, had ironically come from a very religious family. Not only were his father, uncle, and grandfathers all Lutheran ministers, his paternal grandfather was even a distinguished Protestant scholar (Wicks, 1997)!
As a philologist, philosopher, cultural critic, poet, and composer, Nietzsche inspired many leading figures in philosophy, psychology, sociology, art, and literature. His work can be divided into three stages with later writings said to be influenced by his deteriorating health as he battled with what appeared to be syphilis. Toward the end of his life, he had a mental breakdown followed by multiple strokes, leaving him partially paralyzed,unable to speak or walk...
Click here for a documentary on Nietzsche's life  

 

God is dead

The phrase - "God is dead" appeared in several of Nietzsche's work and was also portrayed in the film, When Nietzsche Wept. But what did Nietzsche really mean by that? The idea was stated in his parable of The Madman in The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs (1887/1974, Section 125) as follows: 

"Have you not heard of that madman who... cried incessantly: 'I seek God! I seek God!'---As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around... he provoked much laughter.... 'Whither is God?' he cried; 'I will tell you. We have killed him....What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving?...Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? ...How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? ...what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?..."

What Nietzsche tried to convey in the phrase "God is dead" was his observation that the Christian worldview no longer held a prominent explanatory role in people's lives with the rise of science in the late 19th century. Yet, without introducing a new set of values to replace the discarded Christian values, Nietzsche saw future generations as facing  a fundamental crisis whereby there would be a lack of meaning and value in life, namely nihilism. Contrary to popular beliefs, Nietzsche was not a fan of nihilism. He believed that people need to identify some source of meaning and value in their lives and saw the demise of the divine as an opportunity for the transformation (or overcoming) of human into a being that derives meaning of its existence from within itself, not from external authority. For the first time in history, human is called to give meaning both to its existence and to the existence of the world and this idea has become a tenet of existential psychology and psychotherapy. 

        

Affirmation of Life and Eternal Return  
As mentioned in the last entry, Kierkegaard believed that people must take the leap of faith in face of anxiety if they are to flourish and become truly aware of their potential and identity,  Nietzsche, on the other hand, emphasized on self-creation and affirmation of life for humans to overcome themselves and move toward becoming the Übermensch (German word for "overman", "above-human", "superman").Click here for more information on Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch.

Nietzsche's idea on affirmation of life is particularly inspiring, I find. What he meant by that is to affirm life unconditionally, in its entirety, including all the suffering it has involved, in face of all the basic givens of life that cannot be changed. In The Heaviest Burden, The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs (1887/1974, Section 341), Nietzsche asked us to consider this: 

"What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence... The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!' Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine'? If this thought gained possession of you, it would change you as you are, or perhaps crush you." 

Are you able to embrace the idea that each moment of your life will be repeated infinitely? For Nietzsche, one who affirms his life would gladly will its eternal return. For me, I am struck by this thought: what if I don't only live once, what if all the choices I make, I make for an eternity of lifetimes. Nietzsche did not call this the heaviest burden for no reason... I feel an immense sense of responsibility over my life or lives, you? Is this thought not more powerful than today's YOLO (You Only Live Once)? 

References
Burnham, D., & Papandreopoulos, G. (n.d.). Existentialism. The internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/existent/
Friedrich, N. (1974). In W. Kaufmann (Ed.), The gay science: With a prelude in rhymes and an appendix of songs. New York, NY: Random House. (Reprinted from Die frohliche wissenschaft 2nd ed., 1887)
Hoffman, L.  (2004). Philosophical forerunners of existential psychotherapy. Existential Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.existential-therapy.com/key%20figures/Philosophical_Forefathers.htm
Wicks, R. (1997). Friedrich Nietzsche. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Apr 2011 ed.). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/


Upcoming...
Let us fast forward into the 20th century next to look at the existentialist movement...