humanly, all-to-humanly

Human, All Too Human is a philosophical work by Friedrich Nietzsche that appeared in 1878. The first edition appeared on the 100th anniversary of Voltaire's death and is dedicated to it. In the second edition of 1886 the author expanded the book by a second part, which contained a preface and the parts mixed opinions and sayings from 1879 and the collection Der Wanderer und seine Schatten published in 1880 . The book has the subtitle A Book for Free Spirits and is a collection of aphorisms that are grouped around thematic focal points (main pieces). The book also contains some poems.

Title page of the first edition

structure

The book consists of two volumes. The second volume was not added until the second edition in 1886. The first volume was expanded to include a preface from 1886.

First volume

Facsimile of a manuscript by Friedrich Nietzsche (end of the preface to the second edition of Menschliches Allzumenschliches, second volume)

The first volume consists of a preface and 9 main pieces.

• 1. Main part: From the first and the last things
• 2. Main Part: On the History of Moral Sensations
• Section 3: The Religious Life
• 4th main piece: From the soul of the artist and writer
• Chapter 5: Signs of higher and lower culture
• 6th main part: Man in traffic
• 7th main part: woman and child
• 8th main part: A look at the state
• 9th main part: Man alone with himself

Second volume

• preface
• Mixed opinions and sayings
• The wanderer and his shadow

content

Of the first and last things

Nietzsche criticizes philosophy , especially metaphysics , which deals with the first and last things. The origin of metaphysics lies in the dream, which is seen as real in original societies. This results in the belief in a soul that is different from the body. The dream is nothing more than the reinterpretation of bodily functions in the form of images during sleep. Nietzsche considers a metaphysical world to be possible, but completely uninteresting, since one could only establish that it is different. In the future, metaphysical explanations will be replaced by scientific ones once they have explained the true nature of religion, art and morals. Nietzsche also criticizes belief in language. One believes that it expresses the essence of things. But that is a mistake. Even the supposed depth of metaphysical thoughts is only the strong feeling that arises in such complicated groups of thoughts, but does not guarantee the truth of what is thought in this way. The belief in metaphysics can be explained from the history of the development of the human organism and was also necessary for this development. In the scientific phase, however, mankind no longer needs it.

On the history of moral feelings

In this chapter Nietzsche tries to show that the moral feelings and especially the belief in good and bad arose because of an error and took place in several phases. Nietzsche puts it this way:

“The history of sensations [...] runs in the following main phases. First, individual actions are called good or bad, regardless of their motives, but solely because of their useful or harmful consequences. Soon, however, one forgets the origin of these designations and imagines that actions in themselves, regardless of their consequences, have the property 'good' or 'bad' inherent: with the same fallacy according to which language calls the stone itself hard, the tree referred to as green - that is, by taking what is effect as a cause. Then one places good or bad being into the motives and regards the deeds as being morally ambiguous. One goes further and gives the predicate good or bad no longer to the individual motive, but to the whole being of a person, out of which the motive, like the plant grows out of the ground. So one after the other makes people responsible for their effects, then for their actions, then for their motives, and finally for their being. Now one finally discovers that this being cannot be responsible either, insofar as it is an absolutely necessary consequence and concretizes from the elements and influences of past and present things: that is, that man is not to be made responsible for anything, neither for his being, nor its motives, nor its actions, nor its effects. With this one has come to the knowledge that the history of moral sensations is the history of an error, of the error of responsibility: as which rests on the error of the freedom of the will. "

If a person does something, the consequences of which we suffer, belief in free will induces us to call him immoral. But just as one cannot accuse the bad weather of immorality because it is just naturally necessary, so one cannot accuse man of immorality, because he acts out of the same necessity that also governs natural events.

The religious life

Nietzsche's core judgment on religions in this section is: “[N] och never has a religion, either indirectly or directly, neither as dogma nor as parable, contained a truth.” Consequently, all phenomena of religious life are based on errors and omissions can only be explained psychologically. Thus "a certain false psychology, a certain kind of fantasy in the interpretation of motives and experiences [...] is the necessary precondition for one to become a Christian and feel the need for redemption. With the insight into this aberration of reason and imagination one ceases to be a Christian. ”Thus the ascetic makes life easy by subordinating his will completely to a foreign will. The ascetic is constantly at war with his sensuality, which he heretics. This spectacle of an essentially nonsensical struggle constitutes the “world-historical” value of the ascetic and saint. "Belief in him supported the belief in the divine and the miraculous, in a religious sense of all existence, in an imminent last day of judgment." The only positive way out of the errors of religion is science, through which everyone "feels." complete sinlessness, complete irresponsibility […] ”.

From the soul of the artist and writer

This main piece is dedicated to the critique of art or the artist. So the artist deceives his audience about the question of the creation of the work of art: Although the perfect work of art is created through hard work, it should appear different. “The artist knows that his work is only fully effective if it arouses the belief in improvisation, in a miraculous suddenness of creation [...]” “All the great ones were great workers, tireless not only in inventing, but also in discarding, sifting "Remodel, Arrange". In addition, he does not take it very seriously with the truth, he has a "weaker morality" with regard to the recognition of truths and introduces many elements into his work that cannot be scientifically proven. Again and again, art falls back on elements that humanity has already overcome, and thus becomes a “death conjurer”. In doing so, they keep "people from working on a real improvement in their condition". An example of this backward-looking way of thinking is the adoption of "feelings and moods generated by religion" in their inventory. A work of art like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony can also put the “free spirit”, which is actually beyond the phase of religion and metaphysics, back into a state of regressive longing. Another mistake made by art lies in the fact that one can better recognize people's “characters” in it. But art does not understand anything about real people and remains on the surface while the philosopher looks deeper. Many people also believed that the emotion a work of art evokes in us was a measure of its goodness. But that is a fallacy: "Our own goodness would first have to be proven in judgment and feeling: which is not the case".

Signs of lower and higher culture

In this main piece Nietzsche tries to establish his idea of ​​a development path for humanity and the individual in relation to “culture”. He takes up ideas from Darwin's theory of evolution , but develops them further by also recognizing the role of the exceptions and the "degenerate" in the history of the species. “In this respect, the famous struggle for existence does not seem to me to be the only point of view from which the progression or growth of a person or a race can be explained. Rather, two things must come together: on the one hand, the increase in stable power through the binding of the spirits in faith and community feeling; then the possibility of attaining higher goals, in that degenerating natures and, as a result of them, partial weakenings and wounds of the stable force occur ”.

Man in traffic

This main piece contains 85 aphorisms on psychological aspects of how people interact with one another. Many of the observations revolve around problems of rank within society or with one another, which often lead to paradoxical situations. For example, a gift does not always generate gratitude on the part of the recipient, but often provokes his anger because he owes the giver to him.

As with many other topics, Nietzsche also traces the psychological peculiarities of people in traffic back to their tribal history:

“Original states echoing in the speech. In the way in which the men now make claims in traffic, one can often see an echo of the times when they knew better about weapons than anything: they sometimes handle their claims like aiming shooters with their rifles, sometimes one believes that To hear the rustle and clink of blades; and with some men an assertion rumbles down like a coarse stick. - Women, on the other hand, speak like beings who have sat at the loom for millennia or guided the needle or were childish with children. "

Wife and child

The seventh main piece comprises 61 aphorisms (nos. 377–437) with the following themes:

• Children (in relation to their parents) (379, 380, 381, 382, ​​385, 386, 387, 395, 422, 423)
• The love of women for men (384, 388, 390, 392, 396, 397, 400, 401, 407, 408, 410, 411, 413, 415)
• Marriage (378, 389, 393, 394, 399, 402, 406, 418, 420, 421 424, 426, 427, 428, 430, 434, 435)

"A good wife, who is supposed to be a friend, assistant, child-bearer, mother, head of the family, administrator, and who perhaps has to head her own business and office apart from the husband, cannot be concubine at the same time: it would generally mean asking too much of her"

- Friedrich Nietzsche : Human, All Too Human. 424

• The special character of women in contrast to that of men (377, 383, 391, 398, 403, 404, 405, 409, 411, 412, 414, 416, 417, 419, 425, 431)
• The (harmful) influence of women / marriage on the free spirit (425, 429, 432, 433, 436, 437)

"It is laughable when a society of have-nots decrees the abolition of the right of inheritance, and it is no less laughable when childless people work on the practical legislation of a country: - they do not have enough weight in their ship to be safe in the To be able to sail into the ocean of the future. But it seems just as absurd when he who has chosen the most general knowledge and the assessment of the whole existence for his task, burdens himself with personal considerations for a family, for nutrition, security, respect for woman and child, and in front of his telescope those a cloudy veil, through which hardly a few rays of the distant celestial world are able to penetrate. So I too come to the conclusion that in matters of the highest philosophical kind all married people are suspect. "

- Friedrich Nietzsche : Human, All Too Human. 436

Web links

• Volume 1 of the digital critical edition
• Volume 2 of the digital critical edition
• Text at zeno.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dedication on the anniversary of Voltaire's death
2. ↑ Text of the first and last things
3. ↑ Digital Critical Edition, 39
4. ↑ Digital Critical Edition, 102
5. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 110
6. ↑ Digital Critical Edition, 135
7. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 143
8. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 144
9. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 145
10. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 155
11. ↑ Digital Critical Edition, 148
12. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 153
13. ↑ Digital Critical Edition, 160
14. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 161
15. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 224
16. ^ Digital Critical Edition, 342