Descartes vs Nietzsche: Visions on Knowledge and Human Condition

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[...] This is what he affirms in The Gay Science : « We no longer find pleasure in this thing of bad taste, the will to truth, the will at all costs.' For him, truth is an illusion, reality can be interpreted in an infinite number of different ways. He even goes further in asserting that what many people consider to be true are only beliefs and practices that have become ingrained in their souls over time. In this sense, Nietzsche is a deeply materialistic thinker, in contrast to Descartes who is an idealist. Therefore, a fundamental difference is observed between the two thinkers' visions. [...]

[...] To what extent can we say that the respective visions of Descartes and Nietzsche on knowledge reveal a different conception of the human being? It is common to associate the notions of knowledge and philosophy. In the collective imagination, these two concepts are very closely linked, and this is not a new phenomenon. From ancient times, thinkers were seen as sages whose entire lives were dedicated to knowledge. However, this is not the exclusive domain of an educated elite. Taken in a broad sense, knowledge concerns all human beings. [...]

[...] In his Discourse on Method, He also exposes an interesting fact: according to him, this search for truth can only be accomplished when one is rid of the fancies and passions of youth, and material constraints. The path of knowledge is therefore reserved for the elderly. This is a deeply elitist and bourgeois vision of knowledge. For Nietzsche, the mission of human being is different. Since he rejects the notion of truth, and therefore of knowledge in the Cartesian sense of the term, it cannot be the goal towards which human being tends. [...]

[...] René Descartes is today considered the founder of modern philosophy. There is a reason for this: he is one of the first rationalists, meaning that he places good sense and reason above all. The central element of his thought is the cogito. In full reflection on knowledge, he seeks a point of anchorage to which it is rationally possible to cling. He exposes it in his Discourse on the Method : the only thing that a human being is certain of is his existence; it is the famous think, therefore I am". [...]

[...] The differences in visions on knowledge and truth have therefore also had a profound impact on how the two philosophers envision the human condition. Descartes and Nietzsche are two pioneers of modern philosophical thought. If the first brought rationality to a previously very abstract field, the second deliberately sent all preconceived philosophical ideas flying, and brought God and idols down from their pedestals. Ultimate goal for one, illusory diversion for the other, the notion of knowledge remains at the heart of the reflection of the two authors, undeniable sign that the question has been preoccupying for centuries. [...]