r/Nietzsche

Aghori Sadhu in Varanasi is reading Zarathustra‘s „The way of the creating one“ in Hindi translation as his first text from western philosophy.

Many philosopher like Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Satre, Peter Wessel Zapffe, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Thomas Aquanias, Barauch Spinoza, etc. built the large modern philosophy. Many problems that they tried to solve, was what consumed them.

For example, we can see in Nietzsche that he advocated for self-overcoming, amor fati, and affirming, suffering, and becoming who one is, creating one's values, and his ideal figure that was the Übermensch. But history tells something else. Nietzsche himself experienced chronic illness, which we can attribute to his health state, but also he received migraines, isolation, academic failure, social alienation, and he had an requited attachment towards Lou Andreas-Salomé. And he also had several psychological collapses.

We can see similar thing with Albert Camus. He argued that life was absurd, and that the universe offers no inherent meaning, and that we should rebel against absurdity. And from his Myth of Sisyphus, he proved that one must imagine Sisyphus happy, but he himself suffered with tuberculosis. He had political disillusionment, and there were several conflicts with the French left, and estrangement from former allies. He had guilt and anxiety during the colonial crisis in Algeria.

And with Hegel, we can see that he envisioned history as rational, progressive, and dialectical, and moving towards freedom. He also said that the real is rational. But his life, he experienced a lot of instability in early life, struggled professionally for years, he witnessed wars and political upheaval, sometimes accommodated existing power structures.

And same thing can be done with Arthur Schopenhauer, Jean-Paul Sartre, and many other people. And I can truly say that the struggle is in everybody's life. Even in my life, I cannot become the sort of figure that my philosophy has.

But as far as we can see, there are several of these philosophers who had their struggles but in many situations could not apply their philosophy as properly as they should have been able to, even though their life contained suffering, but they could not apply their own philosophy up to much greater extent. My idea is not accusation, it is about analysis, about seeing how Solomon's paradox can affect philosophy and other philosophers in history, and how one can learn from it.

This video asks the same question. But, my question is: "What is Philosophy?"

Greetings everyone! First of all, this post is heavily connected to Jungian concepts, as I am breaking down a map of psychological balance. Nietzsche's Übermensch is only mentioned here as a popular parallel because it is built on a somewhat similar foundation.

Since the most important part is in the picture, I will break down exactly how this structure works.

Part 1: The Map Structure

1. The Child (The Axiom of the Beginning)

Everything starts with the Child. We all begin our lives and our exploration of the world from this point. When awareness of the world finally arrives, we start to look around—not as a fragmentation of the mind, but differently. We start walking on our own two feet, playing cards, playing the guitar, or skiing.

2. The Left Path: Interest

On the left is Interest. Everyone has it—the drive to explore, to manifest oneself in society, and to ask questions. That’s why Interest always starts with the fundamental question: "Why do I live?" A question most of us ask ourselves during our early formative years.

From here, the path splits in two:

Work/Creation.

Dark Interest: This is an impulse that captures us—like the dark psychology of manipulation—simply because it is interesting. This leads to personal goals disconnected from the pure exploration of the world (like the Child's). It's driven by hidden motives: gaining power, finding people's weak spots, or using information to manipulate.

The Failsafe (Mercy): Opposing this dark side is ordinary Mercy. It acts as a safety valve so the water doesn't flow into the wrong pipe, preventing us from falling into the trap of endless fascination with our dark side.

3. The Right Path: The Absurd

The right arrow leads to the Absurd. We arrive here when we realize the world is foolish and come to the conclusion that existence is inherently absurd. From here, there are also two branches:

Absolute Absurdity (or Cynicism): We reach this state when our mind completely "goes crazy," bringing us close to the archetype of the Jester. We see everything, we understand everything, but we can't do anything about it because we've reached the purest state of awareness. We go mad from the absolute absurdity of how the world is built.

The Failsafes (Faith and Work): The only safety valves here are Faith and Working toward happiness. Faith that things can be good, that good people exist, and if they don't, becoming one yourself to set an example. And Work—building emotional resilience and working toward your own happiness and the happiness of others.

4. The Center: The Heart (Ideology/Stoicism)

Next is the heart. Ignore that it says "Stoicism"—I wrote that because I was leaning on that philosophy when making this map. But the heart encompasses absolutely any ideology or religion. We can place any belief system there that includes a goal or a monolith: reaching spiritual well-being, standing like a rock in a stormy sea, or elevating oneself to a god (through power, like Nietzsche). This meets us in the real point of every moment we live.

5. The Real-World Metaphors (The Images)

Two Legs: Two legs are two legs :D... But seriously, if one of our two legs (Interest or Absurdity) is weak, we will limp. We all want to move and stand firmly on the ground. That’s why we must work on both.

The Guitar: The strings represent Interest, which we tune ourselves to achieve the purest clarity. The hollow body of the guitar represents the Absurd—the void that allows us to actually hear the sound.

Cards: It’s a game of cards :D... If we just go with the flow and throw cards randomly, we will understand nothing and lose out of ignorance. If we count the cards, we know what to expect and can actually win.

Skis: Just like two legs :D... Only it hurts more if you fall.

Every image shows slightly different aspects of life, but they all lead to a general understanding that helps us live.

Part 2: The Asymmetric Pendulum

"A human being is a constantly vibrating line," I say.

Looking at the lower part of the diagram, the graph illustrates this moving line as the human experience.

1. The Absolute Zero

The center line represents the absolute emotional zero—the baseline coordinate from which we begin our existence. It is crucial to note that remaining at this emotional zero is impossible, as it would mean the system's power supply has been completely shut down. Even when a person dies, they do not stay at zero; they remain fixed at the exact level they occupied at the moment of death.

The plus (+x) and minus (-x) lines represent individual boundaries. Every person has their own limits, though it is currently impossible to measure them precisely due to a lack of proper equipment.

The Plus (+x): This encompasses all "positive" emotions a person can experience. It is impossible to definitively describe the point of maximum satisfaction, because what even constitutes ultimate satisfaction? The positive side can often act like rose-colored glasses, carrying its own blind spots.

The Minus (-x): This captures all "negative" sensations. However, these are fundamentally directed toward a sharper, brutal clarity—raw reality and the confrontation with the world's absurdity. In a way, the minus represents a realistic, or even overly realistic, perception of life.

2. The Negative Extremum and Recovery

Any person can reach the negative extremum—the state of deep depression. Within this dark space, an individual discovers unique, expanded capacities and insights—often uncovered through the painful process of "hitting a wall" during their crisis.

However, it is entirely possible to emerge from this state. It requires accepting actual realities and relying on external support systems—be it loved ones or professional specialists. This process is painful, but it is entirely worth it to return the system to its natural state of oscillation.

3. The Pendulum and Enantiodromia

The psychological pendulum primarily swings from plus to minus, because the core function of this mechanism is to pull you back to harsh reality. When everything is going exceptionally well, you become flooded with energy. Due to this accumulated energy and the momentum of the pendulum, you fly right past the absolute zero mark straight into the negative zone, dropping back into reality.

For example: Imagine you are playing a game and winning. The moment you tell yourself, "I’ve definitely won, I am the king of this game," you are instantly and brutally dropped back to reality, where you suddenly begin to lose.

4. The Pressure Relief Valve

To explain how this energy accumulates, I am introducing the concept of the Pressure Relief Valve. When this valve overflows, it forces a reversal in order to balance you back toward the absolute zero baseline.

This valve fills up from almost imperceptible things in daily routine or casual conversations. It can fill up incredibly fast if you interact with someone who has already "burst"—someone who is actively venting their accumulated pressure and discharging their energy into the real world around them.