Nietzsche

I haven't read Nietzsche since 11th grade, and I forgot how much fun the philosophes are. I really like his two different "types of morality." Here's a quote to describe them: "(a) one which harnessed the passions in such a way that productive and creative activities were encouraged by a kind of sublimation of the initial direction of the passions, and (b) the other which denied that the passions really ruled man and hence repressed them below the surface of consiusness, where they would emerge in ways destructive to the society or to the individual. The latter morality Nietzsche tended to identify with Christianity (the slave morality), while the former he identified with ancient Greece (the master morality)."

I think that's brilliant. I've never been much of a fan of the Church or modern religion, and ancient Greece fascinates me. The slave and master definitions are especially amusing. They remind me of a conversation I had with a friend yesterday about whether people can be "good" or "bad." I don't think anyone is good or bad; there are people, perceptions, actions, and consequences, and that's about it. Nietzsche's idea that morality can be defined by societal customs really resonates with that (and with me). Perceptions are so incredibly powerful, and they're part psychology, part emotion, and part societal custom (sociology?). I love that he challenges them.

That's the biggest problem I have with law. As far as I can tell, law is people deciding what their morals are and then making them "official" and enforcing them as rules. I don't have anything terribly deep to say about that, it just gets on my nerves. I generally like people, and I also don't like when people tell each other what to do. Talk about unproductive. I know it works for society, but I don't think it's the best we can do.