Analysis Of Friedrich Nietzsche And Sigmund Freud

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Bailey Ott
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April 17,2014
Who is to Decide What is Wrong or Right?
Read quickly, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud’s interesting takes on moral imperatives can seem to have indistinguishable views, but there are differences between the two. Where you can find similarities, their explanations and techniques are different. Nietzsche is far more negative in his view of mankind. His personal pessimism might be making his view of the world pessimistic. Nietzsche was mostly concerned with the outer person, where Freud was most concerned with the inner person. Freud is more interested in examining one’s past, analyzing the disturbed psyche, to find the reasons that drive one to act a certain way, and talk through the memories to make life easier so that the person no longer feels overwhelmed by their terrible experience. Moral imperatives are stricken by pain, pleasure, success and failure. The greatest impact on morality does not even come from the mind of the person making decisions, but from society.
Nietzsche was interested in the individual. His book On The Genealogy of Morals was a vision for individuals. He glorifies the individual without the harm principle; the harm principle being the moral standard that constrains the actions of individuals to only being able to prevent harm to other individuals. For individuals and all humankind Nietzsche believes that we should not hold grudges, because it feeds into slave morality. Instead of blaming others, he believes people should change their mental frame, because we can create out own realities instead of letting the world get us down. He says that morality of pity has made Europeans ill (Nietzsche 19). Nietzsche rejects the idea of pity, along with morality based on virtue ...

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...e things are always going to be desired by man, which has created a black market in society. Ironically, throughout history those in power who develop many moral laws for society are ones who partake in the underground world of society’s forbidden fruits, which is what troubles Freud and many others.
Both Freud and Nietzsche find flaws with human morality, but Freud is the one who attempts finding a solution. On The Genealogy of Morals is one long story about the triumph of values that should not triumph. Nietzsche believes we value common man for no good reason (Nietzsche 28). Freud in Civilization and its Discontents, attempts to break down how our moral standards have developed from society and our instincts, while attempting to create a solution to salvage civilization, because although Freud is not an enemy of society, he does believe it can be improved.

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