Nietzsche, Democracy and Transcendence

Abstract

Socialism, utilitarianism and democracy are, according to Nietzsche, secularised
versions of Christianity. They have continued the monomaniac onesidedness
of the Christian idea of what a human being is and should be, and
they have even strengthened this monomania through its ‘immanentisation'.
The article shows that this ‘immanentisation' is of crucial importance for
Nietzsche's critique of democracy. This critique may suggest that Nietzsche's
alternative for the disappeared Christian faith is not only a more radical rupture
from the religious past, but also a re-interpretation or recreation of the
notion of transcendence implied in that faith..

South African Journal of Philosophy Vol. 26 (1) 2007: pp. 5-16