When philosophers discuss truth it is usually in terms of asking what it means to say of a proposition that it is true, or to ask how we can know that a given sentence is true. But Nietzsche was much more interested in asking the following two questions:
a) Why do we (most of us) value the truth? and
b) Should we value the truth over all other values?
This may strike some as an odd series of questions. What else would we value? Untruths, fantasies, falsities, lies and illusions? Both Judaeo-Christian morality and modern science value the truth supremely even if it is "inconvenient." Ultimately the truth is necessary to our moral and psychological health and the well being of culture, right? A culture predicated on untruths and illusions is surely a doomed project, isn't it? Well, not necessarily according to Nietzsche. But as animals don't we need to know the truth? If I don't know which berries are edible and which poison surely I'll die. Don't we need this kind of accurate cognition simply to live?
Maybe. But as much as that may be the case in some situations, it is also the case that as predators we survive by means of deceiving our prey on a regular basis. If you wish to justify the value of truth on grounds of utility we should concede at the outset that truth has disutility as well as utility.
But surely in the civilized world outside of the jungle, we've developed a complex society in which we depend on each other. We know that in the ideal situation we should be honest with ourselves and others. This is basic and decent. Right?
This is where Nietzsche digs in and tries to get us to take seriously the idea that truth is not always for the better; that it can be terribly destructive as well as greatly constructive. We have inherited what he calls the "will to truth" which originally came from Judaeo-Christian morality. This morality made Truth the supreme value to which all others were to be subordinate ("The Truth shall set you free."). The most valuable thing we have, in Christiandom, is the Bible, i.e. The True Word of God (Logos). We can't begin to live properly or fit ourselves into the world, the "Great Chain of Being"--much less get to heaven-- without the Truth. So, in Christian Europe before the Enlightenment, for example, people know a) why they value the truth, and b) they know that they should value the truth (to conform to God's will and receive blessings in this life and beyond.)
But that is not a universal condition. Nietzsche reminds us of the Ancient Greeks we also look up to as our cultural forefathers. Their religion, their mythology was filled with untruths and even celebrated clever trickery, as with the famous hero Odysseus who was loved by the gods (especially Athena) for being such an excellent liar, such a wonderful trickster (the Trojan horse was his idea, that guy.) The gods themselves were known to trick and deceive each other and the mortals when it suited them. The notion of unconditional truth was foreign to the Greeks until Socrates and Plato (which was thoroughly absorbed by Christian theology); indeed N calls Christianity "Plato for the masses"). It's not that Homeric virtues don't include honoring your word and telling the truth, those are virtues indeed. But they are not the overarching supreme virtues to which all else is subordinate. There is a time for truth and a time for trickery. Honesty is important, but not supreme.
In pop-culture the notion of the Red and Blue pill dilemma (made famous in The Matrix) has served to focus on a similar issue. However, the red pill which gives you full awareness of what is true, does not destroy all purpose and meaning, but as with Judaeo-Christian ethics gives you very definite purpose to triumph over evil, and save humanity from enslavement,despite the suffering it causes en route. But what if the truth were able to kill you to no end at all? What if the stripping away of illusion could destroy your dreams? Grind your self-concept to dust? Make you feel puny, meaningless and frozen in fear? Nietzsche thinks this does happen, and he thought it might happen a lot more frequently with the demise of the Untruth/mythology of Christiandom and its Orthodoxy which was the raison d'etre for honoring truth above all else. The Death of God was not cause for celebration, for N, but a sobering awareness that as society was shucking off its metaphysical and religious justifications (even though a good many Christians remain, they are not in a Christian civillization defined by Logos) ordinary men and women were being asked to somehow perceive their own lives and projects as deeply meaningful, invigorating,purposeful--in Nietzsche's phrase "Life Affirming." But most people stripped of the deeply internalized myths of religion "can't handle the truth" as Jack Nicholson once snarled in "A Few Good Men." Many people dislocated by the loss of a world thoroughly informed by Christianity, would lose their bearings in a world stripped of deep seated and reliable purpose and meaning. So, though Christiandom for Nietzsche, was a repressive and stultifying myth (unlike those of the Greeks), it did at least give people strength and a sense of purpose. Now with Bentham, Mill and the Utilitarians' promise of a secular pleasure principle, the masses would in time come to see that pleasure is not nearly enough to provide purpose and prevent the slide into nihilism (where one no longer knows *what* to value or *why*). So unlike the Matrix, the toss up is not between Pleasure and Truth. The situation is more nuanced. Each individual will differ in his or her ability to"handle the truth" in the midst of eroding civilizational myths by which we all once lived.
All of this also applies at the more day-to-day level of existence. As individuals, almost all of us live by myths of a different kind, and psychologists have words for these, such as " fantasy, magical thinking, unrealistic optimism,denial, projection," and many others. Freud was deeply influenced by Nietzsche. The harsh realities of the world can destroy a person, or drive them to hysteria...even insanity. The memories that just can't be faced, the rejections we suffer that must be rationalized, the inflated importance we attribute to our selves and our little worlds-- should these be debunked, the average person might well crumble. This is seen not only in Freud, but in 20th century literature and drama, like Eugene O'Neil's The Iceman Cometh. There the charismatic character, Hickey, talks a barroom of desperadoes and dreamers out of their self-deceptions. But in the end he can't face some of his own darkest truths, for he has murdered his wife. He crumbles, and all the barflies he had liberated from illusions go back to their "pipe dreams" except one who commits suicide (truth has killed him). So whether culturally or individually, myths and falsifications have often been, says N, "necessary illusions." Only very strong individuals who can create their own meanings without social sanction can survive the loss of values based on untruths (e.g. valuing that talent you don't really have, that lover who didn't really love you, that job that deep down you hated etc.)
So now we can ask again: Why do we value the truth? and, Should we do so?
In light of the above, Nietzsche will say that though honesty and the will to truth are among the highest virtues, they must be measured against cultural and personal health. He now answers the questions. Why do we value the truth? Because we have inherited a strong notion of truth as the supreme value which comes from Judaeo-Christianity. That doesn't mean it can serve the same purpose now. After all, N thinks that the Truth that was taught (orthodoxy= lit. right opinion) was really Untruth/"Error" which denigrated this world in favor of an afterlife, and promoted fear of punishment for having natural and worldly desires (e.g. for wealth, sex, power, freedom from authority, improved social station etc.). So the will to truth which led (through rational inquiry, science and de-mythologizing in the modern period) to the crumbling of Christiandom was valuable for the health of most individuals inasmuch as it liberated them from fictional fears, superstitions and what Freud later called "neuroses." But on balance, many people are left without a cultural compass, as it were. Sothe will to truth cuts both ways. It liberates at times, but also it can overwhelm the psychic resources of many people. But again, we know now why we value truth above all; because it is the inheritance of our past religious culture which was then taken over by rationalistic humanism, as well as the social and physical sciences. It has always, in Europe, been associated with attainment of the Supreme Good, whether God's blessings or the fruits of progress as a kind of Heaven on Earth in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But what about question #2? Should we value truth above all (i.e."at any price" in N's words)? Nietzsche here believes it is a case by case judgment call. If one is strong enough to handle the unmasking of myth, the loss of our necessary illusions (those which give us "ego strength"
and animate our sense of purpose) then the will to truth or truthfulness over all else is a supreme virtue. But if the cost of the truth is one's vitality, one's health and perhaps literally one's life-- then better to live by the myths. Interestingly, psychologists now talk about "depressive realism." Studies reveal that people who have an optimistically unrealistic opinion of themselves and their lives feel better and function more smoothly in the world. Conversely, those who are aware of their real limits and weaknesses as well as strengths, and who size situations and people up more accurately tend to be more depressed, sometimes falling into major depression which prevents them from functioning.
The ideal for Nietzsche is for strong people who can "handle the truth" and therefore valorize it as something close to the supreme virtue. The other virtue or capacity that must be in place for us to absorb truths creatively and cope come what may, is inner strength and creative energy.Those who can create ( or find) their own meaning in de-mythologized contexts can overcome nihilism (here meaning the inability to deeply value anything). The problem is you can't buy such strength and creative vitality at the drug store. Thus Nietzsche leaves us with a sense of the fragility of civilization, and much to contemplate regarding the future of Western culture.
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Relevant Readings from Nietzsche:
-The Gay Science: (2), (335), (344), [GS 344 is probably the most common reference point for discussions of the Will to Truth among Nietzsche scholars]
-The Anti-Christ: (12), (50)
-Beyond Good & Evil: (1),(2), (3), (4), (6)
Secondary Sources:
-Bernard Williams: Truth & Truthfulness, Ch. 1 (2002) (Williams tries controversially to interpret N's will to truth as his highest virtue)
-Ken Gemes: (1992) “Nietzsche’s Critique of Truth” (in Nietzsche, Oxford U.Press, 2001)
-Scott Jenkins (2012): Nietzsche's Questions Concerning The Will To Truth (in Journal of the History of Philosophy, vol. 50, no. 2; link to pdf: https://kuscholarworks.ku.e...
-Walter Kaufmann: Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist (Princeton U Press, 1974)
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Questions:
In your view, do deceptions, lies, illusions and other untruths ever have social and/or personal value?
Taking for granted that honesty to self and others is a virtue, do you think it is the supreme virtue, i.e. the most important of all virtues?
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