Trends in the Development of Contemporary World Philosophy

Philosophy of Life

The "Philosophy of Life" is a movement that emerged in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, primarily in Germany and France. Its principal representatives include Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911), Henri Bergson (1859-1941), and Oswald Spengler (1880-1936). The sources of the "Philosophy of Life" lie in the traditions of German Romanticism, which opposed the rationalism of the Enlightenment, as well as in the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The theorists of this movement turned to life as the primary reality: for Nietzsche, it manifests as the "will to power"; for Bergson, it appears as a cosmic "vital impulse"; and for Dilthey, it is understood as a flow of experiences. In all interpretations, life is seen as a holistic process of creative becoming and development, resisting all mechanical and inorganic formations, as well as everything predetermined, frozen, and "static." In contrast to scientific rational knowledge, the "Philosophy of Life" advocates for non-intellectual, intuitive, and symbolically representational means of grasping the fundamentally irrational essence of life’s reality: intuition, experience, and understanding. The most adequate means of comprehending and expressing life is considered to be art—an intuitive and unconscious expression of life found in myth.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), in his works "The World as Will and Representation" and "On the Basis of Morality," posits the "will to life" as the absolute foundation of the world—an infinite aimless striving for activity and change that shapes both the world and humanity. This will manifests in countless embodiments, between which an incessant struggle unfolds, permeating all levels of both living and non-living nature, including humankind. Humans are enslaved by this will, which compels them to live, no matter how absurd or pitiful existence may be. Yet within humanity arises the desire for liberation from the nonsensical "will to life," striving to overcome selfish impulses. Two paths lead to this liberation. The first is through art: by contemplating the beautiful, an individual renounces the endless stream of desires and the servitude of the will; encountering the sublime, one no longer perceives oneself as the sole center of the universe, nor as an autonomous subject. The second path is through pity and compassion, which free the individual from the burden of concern for one’s own life and foster a care for the well-being of others, transforming another’s suffering into one’s own. Pity reveals the primordial depth of the human "self," unveiling the significance of individuals as unique personalities. Thus, according to Schopenhauer, the purpose and meaning of human life lie in the aesthetic and moral liberation from the "will to life" through overcoming the illusions of individual autonomy and realizing the trans-individual significance of existence.

Schopenhauer was the first to provide a philosophical foundation for pessimism in the 19th century. All life consists of unending disappointments and suffering rooted in the very "will to life," with its absurdity and perpetual dissatisfaction. Under the influence of this will, humans continuously desire: comfort, health, the prolongation of life—all of which must be conquered daily through relentless labor and a constant struggle against want. However, desires are never truly fulfilled, and even when they are, they lead to indifference and boredom. Furthermore, we strive to preserve life, constantly facing the prospect of death. Life becomes something that must be "suffered through," with happiness being an illusion; hence, Schopenhauer referred to the existing world as "the worst of all possible worlds."

Friedrich Nietzsche further developed Schopenhauer's ideas in his works "Beyond Good and Evil," "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," "The Antichrist," and "The Will to Power." Addressing the genesis of human society and culture, Nietzsche identifies intellect and imagination as the primary qualities of the physically weak "zoological species"—that is, humanity—through which practical survival tasks are solved. However, logical reasoning, language, and science lead to a fundamental distortion of reality, completely substituting life with regularity—a certain stable and repetitively recurring principle. Another vital component of human culture, which stands much closer to life than science, is art—"voluntary striving for illusion," which embodies the constructive principle of culture. In the early stages of human civilization, art played a dominant role in society compared to science. However, this relationship later shifted in favor of science. True culture, according to Nietzsche, existed in pre-Socratic Greece, where there was equality between two principles: the Dionysian, with its free play of vital forces, and the Apollonian, characterized by moderation and form. Yet from the time of Socrates and later Plato, a growing tendency to eliminate all irrationality and immediacy emerged; this tendency was expressed even more significantly in Christianity. Consequently, European culture has followed a path of suppressing the Dionysian element through "reason," "truth," and "God," with an overwhelming desire to transform the world into a realm of total order. Daily life is strictly regulated, leaving less and less room for heroism, while mediocrity increasingly triumphs. According to Nietzsche, philosophy, Christian religion, and ascetic morality detach humans from the very sources of existence—from life itself. Yet, the philosopher notes, the time for such teachings has passed—new ideas are needed. Instead of striving to comprehend essence and order, one must embrace life as eternal movement, becoming, and constant flux, devoid of goals or unity that cannot be assessed as true or false, good or evil. For Nietzsche, all processes of both physical and spiritual life are various modifications of the will to power—the most essential quality of life as such.

The concept of will, as the foundation of all that exists, was borrowed by Nietzsche from Schopenhauer, yet he imbued it with a different nuance. Life is nothing other than the "will to power," striving for the maximum sensation of authority. Nietzsche believes that rational activity paralyzes the will to power, replacing action with contemplation. Conventional morality also undermines the "will to power," advocating for love of one’s neighbor. The "will to power" is the foundation of the rights of the strong, who stand above all moral, religious, and other normative establishments. True human existence in all spheres of life should be guided by this principle. According to Nietzsche, throughout history, the weak, through spiritual revenge, have sought to impose their morality on the strong. This process reached its zenith in Christianity. Judeo-Christian morality obstructs full self-expression. A reevaluation of values is essential.

Through his ethical teachings, Friedrich Nietzsche executed a radical break with the classical tradition of European rationalism. He was the most unconventional of all moralists, asserting morality through its critique and even radical denial. He regarded himself as the first "amoralist," a "true unbeliever," and an "antichrist," a dynamo intended to undermine the mire of conventional ideas. Nietzsche relentlessly critiques the values of traditional humanism, proclaiming the slogan of "revaluation of all values." He distinguishes fundamentally between two types of morality: the morality of the masters and the morality of the slaves. By the morality of the slaves, Nietzsche refers to the moral system shaped under the influence of Christianity, which enslaves souls, paralyzes their creative energy, and renders them submissive and hypocritical. This slave morality, claiming universality, is the morality of the herd rather than of the individual. Nietzsche interprets it as "the will to deny life," which arises from the state of servitude.

According to Nietzsche, conventional morality undermines the "will to power," which serves as the foundation of the rights of the strong, standing above all moral, religious, and other normative frameworks. The "morality of masters" should be based on the following principles: the only unconditional value is "life"; people are unequal, possessing different vital energies and "will to power"; a strong individual is free from moral obligations and is unbound by any norms. Nietzsche asserts that the subject of the morality of masters is the overman ("blond beast"). In essence, in Nietzsche's reflections, the overman occupies the place of God. "God is dead. We have killed him," proclaims Nietzsche through the voice of Zarathustra. The overman must take his place.

Thus, Nietzsche's views completely overturned the principles of traditional classical ethics, which were oriented towards ideals of humanism and the progress of reason. The "morality of masters" is a morality of strength and egoism, which also entails certain obligations, but only towards those similar to oneself. Freed from "moral superstitions," the "blond beast" liberated by Nietzsche evoked genuine fascination among the estheticized European intelligentsia of the late 19th to early 20th century, as it revealed new dimensions of personal freedom. However, the ideas of unrestrained activism, irrational striving for the affirmation of one's existence, and cynical disdain for humanitarian values quickly transitioned from the realm of refined philosophical thought into practical mass manipulation, exploited by the ideologues of German fascism. When Hitler liberated his soldiers from moral doubts and the phantoms of conscience, he merely amplified the destructive inertia of Nietzsche's fateful thoughts.