In section 8 of the third essay of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Genealogy of Morals,’ he brings up an idea that everything strives to secure conditions that allow them to maximize their feelings of power. Philosophers, according to Nietzsche, in the line of work, try to avoid as much as possible things such as fame, women, and princes ( Nietzsche & Hollingdale, 1989) . Nietzsche finds the meaning of ascetic ideal in the character of philosophers such as Plato, Heraclitus, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, and Kant. Nietzsche recreates the idea that the process stands for owners of things. Also, for people to fully commit to something, they should focus entirely on the particular subject, and produce the best of outcomes in that area. They must also strive for conditions that allow them to maximize their feelings of power. Powerful people, such as princes, tend to have power over people and would not make it easy for an individual to maximize their potential or feelings of power. Sexual intercourse, according to Nietzsche, has damaging effects and may affect an individual spiritually, mentally, and physically. For this reason, philosophers try as much as possible to walk away from women. Fame erodes the mind of a person and distracts that them from their work.
In a general view, all that everyone seems to be constantly looking for is happiness. People try to focus on their work and put in maximum effort in order to gain something that would give them happiness. Ina competitive world, everyone looks for conditions that would make their participation or work much easier and comfortable for them to gain maximum happiness. Feelings of power also give a person a sense of happiness. It provides the individual with a sense of security and the feeling that they have their ability to deal with their problems and maximize their happiness. An athlete who wants to stay on top and keep winning races must stay away from bad diets and keep off drugs. That athlete must check his or her weight and keep away from things that may hinder his or her chances of participating in events. The athlete must also keep training, do exercises, and eat proper diet. It proves the point of Nietzsche that for one to maximize their feelings of power they must strive to secure conditions that allow them to do so.
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Great philosophers of all times, such as Plato, Heraclitus, and Kant, as implied by Nietzsche, never married all their lives ( Nietzsche & Hollingdale, 1989) . It is not all as these philosophers also avoided all the other distractions which stood in the way of their philosophical pursuit. For such personalities, marriage and fame, among other things, presented as huge distractors to their passion and work. Perhaps if they married and sought other forms of distractions, they would have not being regarded as great philosophers of all time. Nietzsche mentions the dreadful effects of sexual intercourse on an individual’s spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing. A person who loves women, for example, hardly develops or succeeds to prominence. People who focus solely on one subject or path often become quite. Great people often do not search for fame, but fame finds them once their efforts have born fruits. Such people put all their energy in one direction and avoid, by all means, anything that would distract them or change their focus.
As Nietzsche puts it, persons who own things are also owned ( Nietzsche & Hollingdale, 1989) . It never works one way. Having a wife means being a husband to that wife. Having a friend means being a friend to that person. Having close acquaintances such as friends or lovers means the individual has to be loyal to those people. Owning or having something or someone is not entirely wrong or necessarily distracting. A person only needs to understand where their focus lies, what they need and what stands in the way of achieving their objective. If having a wife or a husband stands in the way of an individual’s success then the individual must choose to walk away if they truly desire to succeed.
Nietzsche uses philosophers to bring out his point of ascetic ideals, given the calmness, knowledgeability, and morality of the great philosophers. Women, princes, and fame, which are pointed out as the major distractors for philosophers, are not necessarily distractors for every other person or in any other field. As a philosopher, one may want to avoid such distraction is they truly aspire to succeed. The point of Nietzsche is that distractors tend to prevent people from succeeding or gaining the most out of themselves or their efforts. Gaining the most out of one’s effort gives maximum feelings of power, which translates to happiness or anything else a person aspires to achieve at the end of their work.
It is clear that everything strives to secure conditions that allow them to maximize their feelings of power. Also, as Nietzsche puts it, to own is to be owned. A person who longs to focus and succeed in a given area must identify the distractors that present in their way and ultimately avoid such distractors. For philosophers, as Nietzsche implies, distractors include fame and women. By striving to secure conditions that allows one to maximize their feelings of power, one must also stay as far as possible from those conditions which work to minimize their feelings of power.
Discussion questions
1. Is Nietzsche right by saying that everything strives to secure conditions which allows them to maximize their feeling of power?
2. Are women a distraction to philosophers?
3. Can marriage or fame prevent anyone from achieving their objectives or dreams in life?
References
Nietzsche, F. W., & Hollingdale, R. J. (1989). On the genealogy of morals . Vintage.
