Morality as Anti-Nature vs. Morality and Religion
Friedrich Nietzsche a prominent German philosopher in the 19th century is one of the most well-read philosophers of the past two-centuries, his ideas regarding morality and nature continue to be discussed and debated to this day among scholars of all beliefs. Irish Murdoch perhaps one of the best novelists of the 20th century; with her background in philosophy and literature always engages her readers into an unbiased discussion on moral-philosophy and its connection with religion and nature. Both of these philosophers deal with the problem of morality in a very similar, yet different way. Nietzsche presupposes subjective morality and atheism (arguably agnosticism) and argues from a naturalistic perspective on how religion is anti-nature and about how humanity is responsible for controlling their nature-given passions. Murdoch, like Nietzsche (though being a Deist, most likely a Buddhist Christian) argues that morality also comes from human nature. Murdoch in many cases does not presuppose objective morality in her arguments, but rather tries to argue for morality with and without God or religion being in the equation.
In comparing both of these intellectuals’ arguments it seems evident that both take into account the presence of other philosophies that offer counter arguments. However, Murdoch unlike Nietzsche, engages these philosophies in great depth and incorporates them into her discussion. Nietzsche while using other intellectuals (majority being deists), instead gives little to no credibility to their beliefs or experiences. Oddly enough, both of these methods of dealing with opposition can be equally persuasive. While deists, scholars, and researchers can find heed in the engagement of other philosophies while reading Murdoch, she in turn gives readers the choice to accept or decline her argument at any point during her discussion. But this could also in the readers’ mind, open the possibility that the authors mind might still be unsettled, perhaps leading the reader to believe the author hasn’t made up their mind either. Nietzsche however in his rhetoric, affirms his beliefs in light of his opposition. By doing this the reader gets the feeling that while being an authority of philosophy, it provides a persuasive atmosphere for which you get a feeling that since he discounts these philosophers and novelists, they must by in error. Though this might be an exaggeration of what the reader ultimately believes, it does bear some relevance. Any reader who is interested in morality and human nature will (at most times) read or hear of Nietzsche or another scholar for that matter before he/she reads them. Since his writings have been read over the centuries it is only natural to assume they bear some truth. This while persuasive towards some, can backfire his arguments and deplete his credibility to those who seek scholarly engagement.
Another comparable belief is that both Nietzsche and Murdoch derive their beliefs about morality from human nature. Nietzsche examines the inner passions of human beings to reveal the source of their own morality. Since Nietzsche denies objective moral values, each individual has a certain duty to carry out their passions, which determine if they are being immoral or moral. Nietzsche believes that as a part of our humanity we are given passions from nature. The strong-willed and reasonable person can dip into their natural passions and while controlling these passions reap the benefits without any of the drawbacks of the weaker-willed persons. There are also those who are not strong enough to control their passions, they in turn suffer greatly because their passions overpower them and to control it they must abstain from their passions altogether. Finally, the weakest of these are the ones that cannot resist the temptations of their passion; they (being clergymen, principalities, or rulers) are overpowered with oppression from their passions. They then begin to craft and label their passions as evil and tell others to abstain from it to hide their own weakness. These moralities as Nietzsche believes are covered in a religious cloak. The morality religion (dominantly the Christian Church in Nietzsche’s mind) teaches is actually unnatural-morality, which is why he claims that “the church is hostile to life.” An attack on naturally given passions is an attack in Nietzsche’s mind, on the roots of life, for what can be more immoral to go against one’s own passion? The greatest of moralities are those that accommodate nature, the weakest are those that deny it. Nietzsche provides for us a system that can benefit us in life, this system of discernment is not limited to morality, but also can be applied to love and hostility. Murdoch however, takes a psychological approach and examines the virtue of duty. Murdoch argues that fulfilling one’s duty towards: others, institutions, and nations is a virtuous act outside of the realm of religion. She goes on to say that dutifulness is linked with reason, and if reason and morality can be linked then it is fundamentally in our human nature.
In contrasting these two authors the major theme of their work consists of examining morality in light of religion. The focus of Nietzsche with regard to religion and morality is as previously stated, that the church is hostile to life; in other words it goes against the desires that nature gives us. Nietzsche provides for the reader an example as to how his morality is better than the typical religious mans’:
We others, we immoralists, have, conversely, made room in our hearts for every kind of understanding, comprehending, and approving. We do not easily negate; we make it a point of honor to be affirmers. More and More, our eyes have opened to that economy which needs and knows how to utilize all the holy witnesses of the priest, of the diseased reason in the priest, rejects—that economy in the law of life which finds an advantage even in the disgusting species of the prigs, the priests, the virtuous. What advantage? But we ourselves, we immoralists, are the answer.
Nietzsche’s use of this is to persuade the reader that his morals of accepting people’s passions and desires is a higher, more virtuous moral than of the priests that silence any passions that go contrary to what their predecessors (former priests, church fathers, or scripture) have taught them. The naturalist is more accepting than the Christian in the nature that God has provided them with to live and survive. Another compelling example Nietzsche gives is found in paragraph twenty:
Most of our general feelings—every kind of inhibition, pressure, tension, and explosion in the play and counter-play of our organs, and particularly the state of the nervus sympathicus—excite our casual instinct: we want to have a reason for feeling this way or that—for feeling bad for feeling good. We are never satisfied merely to state the fact that we feel this way or that: we admit this fact only—become conscious of it only—when we have furnished some kind of motivation.
Though the first half of this statement is good, the second part makes the reader realize that the naturalist accepts his passions and desires and embraces them and is not afraid of his natural instinct; as are the Christians when they feel guilt for pursuing a passion that is only but a natural instinct that life provides us with. Nietzsche makes it seem as if the Christian is being a hypocrite, because the very nature that man possesses, the Christian is denying by believing they need to change their nature. But, the immoralist embraces these passions and controls them and reaps the benefit, while the Christian hides behind the teachings of the Church and limits their involvement with the world.
Murdoch branches away from depths of the human psyche to examine an often overlooked reason for morality. Murdoch provides the reader with the concept that art pushes us into a metaphysical realm which we then examine from a third-person view (much like God) to contemplate reality as if there was something essentially wrong with it. Art steps us outside of reality to examine the world and our own life from a standpoint with no flaws, much like a perfect specimen looking at an imperfect world, attempting to gain insight on what went wrong. Murdoch describes this metaphysical state as proof of a morality, artists (while being in a self-controlled state, fulfilling their passion while reaping their benefits with pieces of art) would not aspire to create such works if there was not something wrong with humanity that needs to be understood. The very realization of art entails redemption, desiring to fix or to hold society up to a standard not currently being met—reveals the redemption that humanity continually desires. This goes against Nietzsche, because he denies that any sort of redemption is necessary because we are all following our nature desires, we are flawed for holding ourselves to a standard that we must conform to. Lastly, Murdoch believes that religion increases morality because it can instill a belief and conviction in a person when they are in an uncontrolled state; unlike Nietzsche’s philosophy of one’s own subjective passions determining morality. Murdoch reveals a potential flaw in Nietzsche’s argument. Instead of giving up one’s passion because of a weakness in self-control or the possibility of losing control altogether; being held to a higher standard such as a church, organization, or group could ultimately give the person a sense of “duty” to a specific cause that might aid them in the self-control of their passions.
While studying both of these essays strongpoints, I believe out of necessity Irish Murdoch has the upper edge in her views on morality. One of these upper edges is the belief in objective moral values, for Murdoch there is a right and a wrong, it is not based on any one person’s perspective. However, for Nietzsche where is the limit to morality? Could one man’s passion while being controlled harm people? The reality is that there has to be a line that is drawn. What if one person’s passion is to kill multitudes of people, does being in control of their passion only lead them to kill a few people? One man’s self-controlled passion could be equivalent to another’s passion getting the best of him and suffering as a result of it. Any passion whether it be charity, murder, or lust can be justified in a subjective moral stance. Since anything is permissible, Nietzsche has no right (morally) to discredit any of the clergymen’s actions. The clergymen could simply be following his passion to see others not be consumed by their passion, so instead of a war in the individuals psyche, the clergymen labels it as an evil to warrant no further suffering. Nietzsche has no authority according to his own belief to credit the clergymen’s actions as immoral. Though some aspects of Nietzsche’s arguments seem valid and would be for that matter—if morality was subjective
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