As I said in my last blog post, I really wanted to explore Nietzsche's influence on other philosophers, especially Albert Camus. I started reading Camus's work early in high school but I didn't really know the extent to which Nietzsche influenced his work. The reading we were assigned for this week talks about overcoming the self and desire we feel in order to achieve true freedom. I find this idea interesting because it seems so impossible to live a life with no desires. Especially at this age, there is so much we want from our lives and so much we want to achieve, I wonder how else we are meant to find motivation to experience...I really like how both Camus and Nietzsche use unconventional methods and philosophies to explain the point of life. I'd really like to talk about Nietzsche's "revaluation of all values" philosophy because I really resonate with the idea of creating your own framework on how to live your life- both Camus and Nietzsche don't believe in external authority or conforming to societal norms and I think that is what really drew me into their philosophy. Both Schopenhauer and Kant have this idea of universality within morality which I don't think is possible(even though both are on opposite sides of spectrum).
Nietzsche and Camus both align when viewing existence as absurd and unexplainable which is why they have similar understanding of the world. One of my critiques for Nietzsche comes from this idea that feeling completely free is honestly far-fetched for humans. Camus also critiques through a similar framework where he views pure freedom as purely an ideal that is impossible to reach for humans. He believes we're so malleable when it comes to existence and we are always looking for meaning within our existence and this is derived from society and our relationships. I honestly agree with him because conforming is so natural to us even if most of us don't like to admit it. It reminds me of the Eastern Asian religious philosophy that talks about how transcending one's desires and letting go of material possessions(including personal relationships) is the only way humans can reach a level of enlightenment. I think this is pretty similar to Nietzsche's view to freedom where enlightenment is similar to freedom. Anyway I still am pretty confused on the main topic of my paper but these are some ideas!