Weltgeist | The Dark Origins of Prayer | Nietzsche @WeltgeistYT | Uploaded June 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
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▶ The Antichrist: youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
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▶ Twilight of the Idols: youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
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▶ Daybreak: youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
One of Nietzsche’s more cynical takes is about the origin and purpose of prayer.
Essentially, Nietzsche presents prayer as a tool invented by the founders of religion to keep the common people, who are incapable of “elevation of the soul”, quiet.
This section is from the Joyful Science, and it prefigures an important idea that will be more fleshed out in a later work, the Genealogy of Morals.
But a critical idea to keep in mind when discussing Nietzsche’s views on religion, is the distinction he makes between the priests and the common folk in matters of religion. Even though Nietzsche heavily criticises the priestly class, he has some kind of respect for them as they are at least in some measure successful in their pursuit of power, even if he detests the means by which they do so. The same is true of the saint, another type of human that features prominently in Nietzsche’s works and in a very ambivalent, almost paradoxical way, as if Nietzsche can’t figure out whether to hate or respect the saint, or do both at the same time.
Going back to the question of prayer, Nietzsche commends the priestly class for being able to devise a mechanism by which they exert power over the common folk: they literally shut them up by means of prayer.
Still, there is more to unpack because the priest himself certainly feels the need for prayer, at least sometimes.
It’s not a black and white question of the cynical, secretly irreligious priest oppressing the naive believers with a ritual designed to keep them silent.
Nietzsche grants that even the priest, after a long day perhaps, might find some use for prayer, for “mechanical piety” as he calls it.
Prayer actually serves a double function: on the one hand, as we’ve discussed, it’s a means to keep the people quiet. But the people themselves get something out of it too: to them, it’s a means of simulating a religious experience.
This is where Nietzsche the elitist rears his head again: the common folk, to him, are incapable of experiencing genuine religion, or an “elevation of the soul” as he calls it. Therefore, prayer is devised as a sort of mental aid, training wheels to the religious experience. But it is a kind of religious experience, and in that capacity, it’s better than nothing. It’s just that others, presumably, those with more intelligence, don’t need prayer to experience awe and an elevation of the soul.
SUPPORT US ON PATREON:
▶ patreon.com/WeltgeistYT
WATCH:
▶ Why Nietzsche Hated Plato: youtu.be/nEhNRuPh4As
▶ Why Nietzsche Hated Socrates: youtu.be/DM78nStythg
▶ How the Real World Became a Myth: youtu.be/mVCwIg95ZrY
OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
One of Nietzsche’s more cynical takes is about the origin and purpose of prayer.
Essentially, Nietzsche presents prayer as a tool invented by the founders of religion to keep the common people, who are incapable of “elevation of the soul”, quiet.
This section is from the Joyful Science, and it prefigures an important idea that will be more fleshed out in a later work, the Genealogy of Morals.
But a critical idea to keep in mind when discussing Nietzsche’s views on religion, is the distinction he makes between the priests and the common folk in matters of religion. Even though Nietzsche heavily criticises the priestly class, he has some kind of respect for them as they are at least in some measure successful in their pursuit of power, even if he detests the means by which they do so. The same is true of the saint, another type of human that features prominently in Nietzsche’s works and in a very ambivalent, almost paradoxical way, as if Nietzsche can’t figure out whether to hate or respect the saint, or do both at the same time.
Going back to the question of prayer, Nietzsche commends the priestly class for being able to devise a mechanism by which they exert power over the common folk: they literally shut them up by means of prayer.
Still, there is more to unpack because the priest himself certainly feels the need for prayer, at least sometimes.
It’s not a black and white question of the cynical, secretly irreligious priest oppressing the naive believers with a ritual designed to keep them silent.
Nietzsche grants that even the priest, after a long day perhaps, might find some use for prayer, for “mechanical piety” as he calls it.
Prayer actually serves a double function: on the one hand, as we’ve discussed, it’s a means to keep the people quiet. But the people themselves get something out of it too: to them, it’s a means of simulating a religious experience.
This is where Nietzsche the elitist rears his head again: the common folk, to him, are incapable of experiencing genuine religion, or an “elevation of the soul” as he calls it. Therefore, prayer is devised as a sort of mental aid, training wheels to the religious experience. But it is a kind of religious experience, and in that capacity, it’s better than nothing. It’s just that others, presumably, those with more intelligence, don’t need prayer to experience awe and an elevation of the soul.
