Presentation on Nietzsche's On Truth and Lies in a Non Moral Sense


Hello everyone, I'm James Gelinas, and today I'm here with a proposition, should you choose to accept it. Today, I would like to present a series of completely arbitrary images, all composed of text, graphics, and accompanied by the sound of my voice. Over the next few minutes or so, I will drone on, making these sounds and gesticulating while the precious seconds left on your life slowly tick away at your expense. Any meaning derived from said images is solely derived from the sum of your personal experiences, history, and knowledge that has been absorbed as a part of your own unique journey through sentience. After this, you will continue with your day, potentially eating, mating, and possibly dying, although I pray you will not. Overall, it is a trivial subtraction from an otherwise fleeting moment in the grand life-span of our cold, dark, and uncaring universe. Does any of this sound interesting? Appealing even?

Like most, you are probably shaking your head and thinking me quite the downer. Perhaps the idea persists that I am a pessimist, I see no joy or meaning in my experiences, and I have taken something potentially beautiful and turned it into something grey and drab. Alas, what I have just presented to you is, in fact none of those things. My proposition for today consists of nothing but truths and realistic statements. After examining these ideas though, it sounds appalling no matter how one slices it. Now we collectively must ask..."Why?"

"Why is it that humans, in the face of absolute truth...devoid of consequence, shun the truth, and sometimes even abhor it. Why is it that deception, in any form, is so wrong and evil, but the altering of truth to fit perception sought after and treasured?"

These are questions posed by Frederich Nietzsche in his dissertation "On Truth and Lies in a Non-Moral Sense." This text, often considered to be one of the watershed pieces of Post-Modernism, stands as a testament to the human spirit of arrogance in reason, and explores why humans place so much value on....well value.

Now, Many of you are likely thinking "What is this guy's problem? Did someone piss on his lawn or something?" It is definitely true that Nietzsche spends considerable time musing over some very challenging subjects in his philosophical explorations. Even during his own time, much of his work was controversial, especially his statements considering value and moral relativism. One of the primary aspects of post-modernism is the idea that basic western values and morals should be re-examined and challenged, perhaps even overlooked. This stems from the idea that meaning is derived from perception and circumstance, and shouldn't be applicable to every conceivable instance. Much of these ideas owe their genesis to grumpy old Nietzsche, who attributed western morality and values to the "slave resentment" of Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism and Christianity.

Considering he was European, this was not very popular at the time. This man wrote a book called Antichrist in the middle of one of the largest Catholic nations in the world, mind you. Nietzsche, if anything, had brass. He also really loved horses.

Moving on, we find ourselves returning to our original proposition. I have presented a series of truths to you, my audience, and together, we collectively rejected them with impunity. Nietzsche describes this in his own words:


 "It is in a similarly restricted sense that man now wants nothing but truth: he desires the pleasant, life-preserving consequences of truth. He is indifferent toward pure knowledge which has no consequences; toward those truths which are possibly harmful and destructive he is even hostilely inclined."

Indeed, this is what we see in action with my proposition. I presented facts that were absolute and consequence free, as well as some that are revealing and potentially harmful, such as the fleeting nature of time and mortality.

Yet something Nietzsche also posits is the idea that humans are naturally drawn towards and seek the truth.

"The pride connected with knowing and sensing lies like a blinding fog over the eyes and senses of men, thus deceiving them concerning the value of existence. For this pride contains within itself the most flattering estimation of the value of knowing."

It is knowing, Nietzsche says in the text, that we believe separates us from the lower animals, but as he points out, it can be our own undoing, as we choose to prefer that which presents meaning over absolute cold truth.

As I mentioned above, Nietzschean post-modern thought finds its center in deconstructing the ideas of values and meaning, and revealing them to be constructs that people have ascribed to things in order to understand, interact with, and use them to communicate. The example that Nietzsche gives in the text is the arbitrary designation of gender to objects. in latin based languages. There is no truth behind such designations, yet at the same time, it aids in communication, and allows the concepts to become digestible. The same can be said for morality. Killing, in and of itself, is an act. The taking of a life definitely reaps consequences, but there is no object evil or good to it. In fact, it is the situation in which both the killing is presented, and the meaning in which it is painted with, that give it life.

Later post modern schools of thought have taken great influence from these ideas, such as Queer Theory and Intersectional Gender Studies, which both examine the arbitrary constructs that make up gender roles. While a fundamental difference may at first exist on a biological level between males and females, it is man and woman that are the painted entities that arise from ascribed meaning.

In essence, it is the difference between the slides I have shown you so far

To this slide right here. The meaning is derived and perceived by you. Where I had been showing you the "truth" thusfar, I had been purposely avoiding the meaning, or rather, leaving no room for such things.

It can be safely said that objective truth is "the guts" of the world, the ugly mechanics on the inside of things that can be both glorious and gory to behold.

And Nietzsche, once again, loved him some gore.

I think it would be appropriate to close today with a restatement of my proposition:

Today, I would love to show you a series of slides illustrating the power of meaning, as well as its illusory and self-created nature. In showing you this, you have taken time out of your day to learn how precious the individual experience is. At the same time, you have also learned not to overvalue your own judgement in favor of someone else's, for their truth may be quite different than yours.

It is said that everyone sees colors differently. It may not be too great of a stretch to say that Nietzsche saw the grey that many others did not. Hopefully, you can appreciate the spectrum of colors you see, and paint the world however you wish.

Thank you.