This blog series will offer some short commentary comparing and contrasting the philosophies of Nietzsche and Joseph Smith. For longer documents see my Google Site here where I offer longer documents discussing the topic (note that these documents are a work in progress and are constantly being edited by me).
I must begin by saying I do not agree with or support every part of Nietzsche's philosophy. So I will begin by pointing out those who are critical of his philosophy, of which I have read and watched, specifically:
Nietzsche and the Nazis: A Personal View Stephen Hicks (free audio book and video documentary on YouTube)
Nietzsche, Prophet of Nazism: The Cult of the Superman; Unveiling the Nazi Secret Doctrine by Abir Taha
Nietzsche scholars, Paul S. Loeb and David F. Tinsley, add to Abir's research above, as they make the case that Nietzsche was arguing for the breeding of a new species. See:
Translating and Interpreting Nietzsche's Philosophical Concept of the Übermensch by Paul S. Loeb and David F. Tinsley "Translators' Afterword" from Volume 14 of The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (SUP), 2019
Source: https://ups.academia.edu/DavidFTinsley
Nietzsche's Philosophical Concept of Superior Humans
by Paul S. Loeb and David F. Tinsley
"Translators' Afterword" from Volume 15 of The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (SUP), 2022
Pages 507-532: The central theme of the unpublished fragments collected in this volume (Spring). Source: https://ups.academia.edu/DavidFTinsley
These two Afterwards, which can be downloaded in PDF form in the links above, make the convincing case that the "Superman" is not a single individual (as Kaufman argued), but a new species.
Also see Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morals) by Duane Armitage on Youtube.
And the documentary Nietzsche and the Nazis by Stephen Hicks (also available as an audiobook on YouTube). Steven Hicks has also appeared on podcasts to be even more critical of Nietzsche, see here and here.
Also see My "Nietzschean Phase" by Gregory Sadler.
So, having listed several scholars and philosophers who criticize Nietzsche's philosophy above, which I've consumed, of course I am reluctant to compare Mormonism to Nietzscheanism without offering some caveats and disclaimers below. I also know that Nietzsche is impossible to ignore in philosophical and theological circles. He continues to be quoted and referenced and in some cases idolized. Thus, he simply can't be ignored. I also think that while parts of his philosophy is deeply problematic and even potentially "dangerous," as covered in the links above, I'm not willing to commit the fallacy of composition and say that his entire body of work is useless and problematic. The fact is there are many important and useful things he says in his writings in a very elegant and poetic way that I agree with and find beneficial for overcoming philosophical nihilism and secularism.
I should also note that there are Nietzschean scholars that completely disagree with many of the conclusions by the authors and programs linked above. For an alternative perspective on Nietzsche's philosophy, and defenses of him and his work (against the criticisms above), see the work of these scholars: Walter Kaufmann, Robert C. Solomon, Graham Parkes, and R.J. Hollingdale (to name a few).
Having read most of Nietzche's body of work myself, I find myself sifting through his writings and ideas and pulling out the intellectual wheat and leaving the chaff behind. So in this blog series, I will be comparing and contrasting Nietzscheanism and Mormonism. In no way do I mean to ever say that they are exactly the same, but only in some cases similar and in other cases completely at odds with each other.
Whenever I speak of Nietzsche's philosphy I'm almost always speaking descriptively not prescriptively, in other words I am describing a "perceptual lens," an interpretive way of seeing things but never am I prescribing and/or recommending the Nietzschean perspective as how we should perceive things or behave.
Like many people who disagree with Nietzsche's overall philosophy (and many things he argues for), I nevertheless find value in some of his ideas. I do think that there is much that he says that is useful and inspiring and positive. So what I have done is filter out these positive elements and point out that they are also found in Mormonism; but that Mormonism does not contain the problems that Nietzscheanism does. Thus, I conclude the blog series by arguing that Mormonism is the better worldview or life-philosophy.
But why would I write so much comparing and contrasting Nietzsche and Joseph Smith's philosophy, given the controversial nature of Nietzscheanism, one might still ask? Because I simply take Nietzsche in layers like an onion, and one layer can be very uplifting and empowering and another layer deeply problematic and even potentially harmful. This is probably the case with many or even most philosophers and philosophies. I don't think we can simply only choose philosophies that are "100% pure" and we completely agree with.
The main reason I continue to find Nietzscheanism of interest is because of the effect it had on me in my personal life. When I went through a phase of questioning the truth claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I made my way through reading all the major philosophers and the Sciences, and eventually fell into the philosophy of pessimism and nihilism. I did not know it at the time but I had basically constructed a life philosophy very similar to Schopenhauerianism (see the lecture here by Michael Sugrue). For a cinematic education on Schopenhauerianism, just watch the first season of HBO's True Detective: where the character Rust Cohle basically articulates Schopenhauer's philosophy of life. I would not say I was ever as "bad off" philosophically as Rust Cohle, but I went through a period of several years having nearly the same worldview. So when I finally came to commit to reading Nietzsche's major works (and books summarizing his philosophy), it acted upon me as an igniting of my inner pilot light within my soul; reinvigorating me toward embracing life more rather than avoiding it, going from a more sedentary ascetic lifestyle to becoming more actively engaged in the world.
The short video by the YouTube channel Weltgeist, titled How Nietzsche Psycho-Analyzes Schopenhauer, rightly argues that we need to understand the philosophy of Schopenhauer in order to understand the core motivations and ideas grounding Nietzsche's life-affirming philosophy.
When one reads Nietzsche with this in mind, that he often or nearly always has Schopenhauerianism in the back of his mind (as someone to respond to and philosophically fight against), a lot of Nietzsche's philosophy becomes very illuminating and empowering. You begin to see that Nietzsche is seeking to uplift the reader and encourage humanity to say "Yes" to life affirmatively.
So this interpretive angle of valuing Nietzsche's philosophy as life-affirming, is sufficient for me to find his work useful and beneficial in layers (but not necessarily agree with it whole cloth), especially given the current secular cultural climate that often offers the same or similar Schopenhauerian pessimistic nihilism in different forms.
My extensive reading of both Nietzsche and Joseph Smith, has led me to realize that the two men held a fundamental commonality, the Affirmation of Life. Just as Nietzsche was seeking to counteract the pessimistic nihilism of Schopenhauer with his Dionysian Pantheism (a term I learned from Graham Parkes (see PDF here), Joseph Smith was seeking to counteract acsetic and puritanical Augustinianism with his Abrahamic Expansionism (a term I came up with and explain in my blog series Sex, Gods and Zion).
What I have found is that similar to Nietzsche's life-affirming philosophy, Joseph Smith begins his theological philosophy by moving away from the Augustinianism ("despising of the body") by beginning with his Book of Mormon and a Fortunate Fall. The Book of Mormon also begins with an affirmation of mammalian life with an homage to good parenting. The first official LDS doctrine, bound in scripture which Smith edited and approved, the first Lecture on Faith, argues that faith is "the principle of action." His religion would not be a sedentary and monastic hide in a cave philosophy of life, but a call to action and dominion.
Learning line upon line, precept upon precept, Joseph Smith incrementally expanded beyond Augustinian puritanism; learning Hebrew and studying the science of his day, similar to Nietzsche, he moved toward a philosophy of monism (See the chapter Monism, in Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought by Terryl L. Givens). In other words, similar to Nietzsche's monism (yet different), in D&C 130 to 132 and the Book of Abraham, Smith presents the idea that all matter is "spirit matter," and man's soul is eternal and self-existent; and thus man cannot be inherently depraved and the body something offensive and disgusting to God, something to be discarded, as the martyr-centered monastic/acetic type Christians had long preached; but in fact, man is simply the same species as the Gods and the body itself is the means to Godhood. This radically affirmed life, the earth, and the body.
In this blog series, I will be exploring these ideas and other similarities (and differences) in the views of Nietzsche and Joseph Smith.
