Posted by
PeterE on Monday, September 10, 2007 12:54:45 PM
So, if you’re with me so far, and you accept the idea that there is some kind of “switch” at work in the mind, you might wonder why this idea is not generally accepted and why people adhere to their perspectives, their “forms”, with such passion.
Resentment and Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche had a lot of wacky ideas, but he had some good ones too – that’s the reason he was and continues to be influential. One idea that has merit is his concept of “ressentiment” or resentment.
One of the chief goals of his Zarathustra character, his personified Uebermensch, was to get beyond the thinking of his day and think and live in accordance with the "will to power". Perhaps Nietzsche had three main ideological enemies: the common sense materialist thinking of the day-to-day, the group-think of socialism, and the spiritualism of Christianity.
They were all guilty of “herd” thinking, but they were also powered by the emotion of resentment. For Nietzsche, this was the arch sin, as resentment is the desire to level, to reduce all to the same level, it is the anti-life and anti-power emotion.
According to Nietzsche, Christian morality is motivated by resentment. After all if there is no God, and the true desire of every being is the desire for more – more life, more joy, more control, more power – then the other-centered ethics of Christianity must be motivated by something, and something contrary to life.
Similarly the morality of socialism implies that the individual is to be sacrificed for the collective. According to Nietzsche the origin of the egalitarian movement is resentment against those powerful individuals who strive to follow their will to power.
Resentment and Christianity
Now, strangely enough, in Christianity there is also an important place for the concept of resentment. The Old Testament indicates in many instances that jealousy, envy and resentment are fundamental sins against God.
In Genesis, Cain is angry because God has not accepted his offering although He has accepted the offering of his younger brother Abel. God tells Cain that "sin is couching at his door" and asks him to make another effort. But Cain cannot control his resentful anger and kills his brother.
Also in Genesis we have the story of two other brothers, Jacob and Esau. Here again Esau is filled with anger because his younger brother has received the "blessing", or right of inheritance from his father, that would normally be his as the eldest son (Gen 27:36). Esau is so angry that years after his brother's treacherous act, Esau assembles an army to destroy his younger brother and steal his wealth.
Jacob becomes one of the great victors of the Old Testament by enduring his uncle, defeating the angel, and finally overcoming the resentment of his brother. Jacob offers his brother wealth, and then tells him that to behold him is to behold the face of God (Gen 33:10).
In the New Testament we find Jesus' story of the worker in the field who complained because he was paid less than another worker. Jesus says that the worker has no right to complain because the owner of the field is free to offer what he wants to his worker, and the worker is free to accept the offer. Jesus’ point is not that there should be no collective bargaining. Jesus’ story is an allegory of our relationship with God, and he is saying that we have no right to compare our situation with another's, because that is to compare our relationship with God with the other worker’s relationship with God.
Instead, Jesus suggests that we should focus on fulfilling our obligations to God and on our spiritual welfare, and not waste time comparing our life situation with another man’s. We should purify our heart by focussing on making right our relationship with God. To focus on who got the better deal rather than on our work in God’s field, is to prioritize the “horizontal” relationship with the other worker over the “vertical” relationship with God. This misplaced horizontal orientation is motivated by resentment.
So both Christianity and Nietzsche criticize those who build their life around resentment, or envying others. The difference is that Nietzsche does not accept that God and the spirit world are real. His God is the self-realization of the individual at all costs.
They agree that resentment blinds us to our true situation. It is the power behind the Gestalt switch.