Comparing The Bible, Dante's Inferno, And Plato´s Republic

Nietzsche, a German philosopher, had ideas that were often regarded as radical due to his false association with the Nazi party. Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity, “The Anti-Christ” expresses ideas that are often ridiculed, yet these seemingly radical ideas are supported by western writings dating back to the sixth century B.C. through the early fourteenth century. The controlling point in the excerpt from Nietzsche’s work is that pity is useless because it is felt for Christian sins which cannot be fully known and by expressing pity, one is giving up power. The Bible, Dante’s Inferno, and Plato’s Republic all offer evidence as to how believing in Christian virtues without questioning their validity or consistency takes away our power, either …show more content…
The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome. Not contentedness but more power; not peace but war; not virtue but fitness... The weak and the failures shall perish.” David from the Bible is an example of where contentedness and virtue lead to the end of his power. Christianity suggests that if you lead a virtuous life according to God, you will be rewarded with eternal life in Heaven, and if you don’t, you will be punished. The Bible presents the idea of reward and punishment as a cycle that can never be truly aligned to the virtues that Christianity demands but inconsistently rewards. David is someone who follows the virtues of Christianity closely, but decides to go against God in pursuit of his happiness and have a son with a married woman, Bathsheba. Upon realizing that he has strayed from Christian virtue in both killing a man and yielding a bastard son, David asks for pity. Asking for pity shows David’s weakness to have power over his life and what makes him happy. After this, David goes through a cycle of losing his son, gaining the city of Rabbath, then losing his other children. This series of punishments and rewards aligns with Nietzsche’s idea that it is better to not follow virtue, but fitness to achieve power. David lost his power when he asked for pity, which ultimately led to his sorrow in losing his family. Had David been content with gaining power on the basis of fitness to the situation …show more content…
Nietzsche contends we should reject pity because it is a form of self-abnegation of power, in addition, blindly following Christianity leads to the termination of the search for the truth. Plato’s Republic offers an explanation for rejecting Christian virtues on the basis that following blindly eliminates the search for the truth. While Nietzsche believes there is no absolute truth, and Plato believes there is an absolute truth, called the forms, both will agree that it is important to search for the truth rather than living life, “in the cave.” The Christian sins that Nietzsche addresses align with the appetitive part of Plato’s tripartite soul, feeling pity is an emotion we shouldn’t feel in excess. This suggests that those who live in excess without control over their appetites are the least powerful. Those who are more powerful are those who govern with reason, who govern themselves and the city on the principle of fitness, like Nietzsche says, and not based on arbitrary virtues. The tripartite soul reflects how the Kallipolis should be governed, which supports Nietzsche’s idea that it is good to govern on the basis of fitness and reason, and those who are not in control of their appetites by feeling pity for others are