Nietzsche’s philosophy was heavily influenced by his "idol-turned-rival," Arthur Schopenhauer.
It could even be said a major part of his philosophy is a response to Schopenhauer.
Schopenhauer recognized suffering as an essential and unavoidable feature of our life in this world. Nietzsche agreed.
However, Schopenhauer’s worldview has its foundation in a wholesale condemnation of suffering, meaning no suffering can be good or valuable.
For Schopenhauer, the highest good (happiness) is the absence of pain and suffering, which he believed can only be achieved through resignation.
If suffering is an essential and unavoidable feature of our life in this world, Schopenhauer’s highest good cannot be achieved in this life and in this world. Therefore, his ideas are life-negating.
This is why Nietzsche parted ways with Schopenhauer’s pessimism. He wanted a life-affirming philosophy, not a life-negating one.
From this, it comes that the central focus of Nietzsche’s revaluation of values is the idea that all suffering is "evil" and that we should strive to "abolish suffering."
If he could show that suffering is "good," humans could affirm this life and this world.
This is where the will to power comes into play.
If Nietzsche can show that what he calls "power" is good, and something that every living being strives towards, then this life can be affirmed. How is that?
The highest expression of power is achieved through overcoming.
All overcoming includes a certain amount of suffering.
Therefore, suffering is an essential ingredient of power.
If power is good, suffering, as its essential ingredient, cannot be an object of wholesale condemnation and considered evil, like in Schopenhauer’s philosophy.
If suffering, in this context, is valuable and even good, there is no need for resignation.
Life can be affirmed, even with all the suffering it entails.
Thank you for reading.
(Of course, all of Nietzsche’s ideas cannot possibly be explained in less than 3 minutes. However, I am confident enough to publish this as the shortest possible explanation of his central idea, or the main goal of his philosophy.)
If you like my work and get some value from it, there is zero-cost support in the form of subscribing, liking this post, commenting if you have any thoughts on it, and of course sharing this with anyone who would find it interesting.
Or you can consider becoming a paid supporter of Existential Espresso for 5$ per month. By doing this you would be helping me to keep investing time into researching and writing all the content on the daily basis.
What you get by becoming a paid supporter is access to the locked essays (such as “Why Having a Price on My Head Didn’t Upset Me” or “Why Living With a Bulletproof Vest is The Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me”), as well as an opportunity to recommend topics for future essays.
However, even taking the time out of your day to read what I have to share with you means more to me than you can imagine. Thank you.
I agree with Nietzsche.
Best Newsletter ever!