Nietzsche’s philosophy of myth

Abstract

The status of myth and the possibilities that it contributes to the revival of culture is one that occupied Nietzsche’s attention throughout his intellectual career. Although there has been a renewal of interest in myth in the last century, a renewal generated by the work of anthropologists, mythical thinking had been dismissed as ‘fantasy’ or equated with an earlier from of social evolution. Against the current of his time, with its emphasis on Enlightenment values, Nietzsche understands the power of myth as a unifying force within society. As a counterweight to the fragmentation of society, Nietzsche suggested that new myths were needed. In this respect, this paper makes the claim that the so-called doctrines of the eternal recurrence of the Ubermensch should be read as examples of mythical thinking. Within the framework of Nietzsche’s thought, myth functioned as the standard for measuring the ‘health’ of society, so that while myths could be described as illusions, these myths, as opposed to religious and positivistic views, served the purpose of generating life-affirming attitudes.