Nietzsche's Influence On Political Life

As time goes by, political thought revolutionizes due to the role criticism has played in political life. One of the main critiques about political life is the way in which evolution has been portrayed. Paul Ricoeur developed the phrase “hermeneutics of suspicion” to portray the unique writings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. This phrase highlights Marx's’, Nietzsche’s, and Freud’s depictions of the harsh and negative truths that are overlooked either in oneself or throughout history but yet influenced the modern period. The three thinkers may have had varying aspects that they each focused on when engaging with criticism but, through their work one is able to see their suspicions on truths that were too obvious, and instead

During the industrial revolution he stated that the Proletariat class was going to fight to destroy the system of class exploitation and destroy the Bourgeoise class. This highlights Marx’s notion that throughout history there has been a perception of one class exploiting another, that is possible only until technology leaves no more incentive for exploitation and causes a revolution. Marx argues that the capitalist notion of commodities and their exchange values have impacted the way society is structured today which can be compared to Nietzsche's notion that our theory of the genealogy of bad conscience has also impacted the way in which we act. Both thinkers use historical approaches to criticize the political life of today due to the lasting impact of societal structures, Freud on the other hand brings up the theory of how psychoanalysis can also impact political

Nietzsche believed that there was nothing that wasn't available for interpretation, which is why he decides to interpret the genealogy of morals. Nietzsche defines genealogy as the changes that have happened in history, and how we have a relationship with forgetting about those changes. He highlights that the concept of justice began with the pleasure people took in the suffering of others, and how this act has been suppressed. In his text, Genealogy of Morals, Marx looks closely at the harsh beginnings of morals by explaining the way promises were forced to be kept because of the consequences suffered after not keeping a promise. He does this by stating, “In this sphere of legal obligations, then, the moral conceptual world of ‘debt’, ‘conscience’, ‘duty’, ‘sacred duty’, has its breeding ground – all began with a thorough and prolonged bloodletting (Nietzsche 41).” This exemplifies Nietzsche’s method of historical approach by revealing that if people did not keep a promise they were in debt, and that debt was paid off with a punishment. This means that the creditor was paid back with the pleasure of seeing his debtor suffer. Nietzsche then arises the theory of genealogy regarding bad conscience, and states that since the beginning of time hunter gatherers have been suppressed of their natural animal instincts which led to