What does Nietzsche mean by life? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of History for Life

What does Nietzsche mean by life? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of History for Life

Introduction
The subject of life and happiness has been a topic of historical philosophical debate. For
millennia, the definition of life and the essence that makes up life has puzzled philosophers and
scientists alike. Moreover, the pursuit of happiness is a historical fervor that has captured human
imagination but attaining it has proven to be elusive to date. It is debatable whether happiness
may lie in the exercise of all our moral and intellectual values or in the practice of philosophical
contemplation. Many of us may endorse Hobbes’ view of life as nasty, brutish and short. Studies
show that many people regard life as short and hard rather than long and easy. To quench this
thirst, we have turned to history and books to find the truth of life. Nietzsche makes the point that
animals are enviable to humans because in a sense they live without history of life. The
existential pain of living and bad memories is only akin to the human condition stressing the
point that animals may be happier than us. They live in the moment and because they are
incapable of anxiety about their future. Human life on the other hand exists simultaneously in the
past, present and future in our minds. This produces the depth that we have and adds the quality
of our lives. This paper explores the philosophical insights into life and evaluates how Nietzsche
defines 'life' in 'On the Advantages and Disadvantages of History for Life'.

History as life
To be human is to have a history. When we converse, we share stories from our lives and
in a sense justify our existence in the fabric of society. Seeing family and friends is always an

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opportunity to retell and relive old stories about the good old times. These activities of personal
storytelling are very usual in many cultures and is shown to be very important in everyday life.
In retrospect, psychology uses the biographical approach of oral life stories to identify problems
in people’s lives is effective. According to Nietzsche, life Memories constitute our existence and
make it tangible and even meaningful. Every man and nation needs a certain knowledge of the
past, whether it be through monumental, antiquarian, or critical history, according to his
necessities. The need is not that of the mere thinkers who only look on at life, or the few who
desire knowledge and can only be satisfied with knowledge; but it has always a reference to the
end of life, and is under its absolute rule and direction. This is the natural relation of an age, a
culture and a people to history.
Antiquarian history provides people with their cultural roots and glorifies their past.
Renaissance Italians for example saw ancient Rome as their heritage and pride and went further
to achieve even greater things than their forefathers. The danger here becomes an obsessive
object of identity like the Arian fervor in Germany that led to the extermination of millions of
Jews. Identifying wholly to a past golden age of a society therefore becomes unconducive to life.
Therefore, studying a society’s genealogical roots can be used to achieve greater things but it can
also make a society freeze in time and die. Sometimes you have to take an axe against history.
Parts of our history that have tainted our identity calls for a creative use of history (Nietzsche,
1874) . Rewriting and rethinking history that is not life affirming can revolutionize how we view
our lives.
However, with a past, human life has to grapple with pain and regret about things we did
in the past. Dwelling on past mistakes or our history may hinder an individual from attaining
their goals and moving past their history. Consequently we should use history for life and not

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history that destroys life. Dealing with the past is problematic to individuals and coping with life
in a positive light becomes a burden. Life is not our physical existence but our experiences of life
in a positive way. Certain ways of remembering our past or our future may kill life. Moreover, if
our experiences make us feel limited somehow or incapable of something, our quality of life is
directly affected.
Humans are confined to the burdening chain of memory and how we create frameworks
of history in order to orient ourselves correctly in the world. It is useful therefore for the
individual to learn the role, function and usefulness of historical learning. An excess of history
on the other hand can uproot healthy instincts of youth (Ruin, 2019) . We should also question the
reliability of historical remembrance in ways that reconnect to