Now that the internet has allowed just about anyone to become a journalist by publishing on social media, it has rather unsurprisingly become infested by a swarm of filthy lies. Prompting the now inescapable talking point that is Fake News. In this article I am going to explain why the 19th century German philosopher Fredric Nietzsche thought all news was fake news, and I will also go on to talk about why the questions he raised all those years ago about the nature of truth seem to be more relevant now than ever before.

The first thing you must understand is that Nietzsche was not just an atheist: he considered Christianity really repellent. Much like now, during Nietzsche’s life, society was becoming increasingly secular. He thought about the implications that this new Godless world view would have on philosophy and society more than anyone else.

The best way to start to get to grips with Nietzsche’s philosophy is to contemplate this short extract from The Bible. When on trial for his life Jesus was asked by Pontius Pilate if he was the king. To which Jesus replied

“You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

To which Pilate retorted

“What is truth?”.

According to Nietzsche this short question “What is truth” is the most important line in the Bible, because without God there is no supreme authority that can define the truth.

Nietzsche believed that what we have come to refer to as the truth is nothing more than a partial peace treaty between mankind for the sake of maintaining social ties. As man is a combative creature this peace treaty is only a partial one. What bothers us more than anything is not simply lies, but the harm that comes from being lied to. Which certainly seems to be the case when it comes to Trump. Democrats object to his lies a great deal as they feel it gives him an unfair advantage. Whereas Republicans are quite happy to look the other way as it furthers their course.

In his polemic Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche explains how philosophers have been searching for the truth. He points out how implausible it would be for you to get something out of its opposite. “For example, truth out of error? Or the Will to truth out of the will to deception? Or the generous deed out of selfishness?” Which is why it is impossible you would get something as noble as truth out of the coveted desire for truth.

So, if we follow Nietzsches’ argument; all news is fake news and Democrats don’t really have anything to complain about. After all, Nietzsche argues there is no such thing as the philosophical concept referred to as The Thing in Itself. As Nietzsche does not believe in god, for him there is no higher perspective then that of the observer. Other philosophers have argued that with our limited powers of observation we can observe something, for example an apple, from our own perspective, but this limited observation of the apple only gives us some understanding of it. However, there is also the way the apple really is.

Our powers of observation are limited and flawed. If we had the ability of an all-powerful all-knowing creator, we could truly understand the apple in every possible way from every possible perspective, and we would be able to understand the apple as it really is. This would give us the level of understanding that we refer to when we refer to The Thing in Itself.

Nietzsche would argue it is this supposed supreme perspective which people refer to when they speak of the Thing in Itself. And if, like him, you don’t believe in God then there is no reason to believe there is any supreme understanding of the apple or anything else for that matter. All that exists are a variety of perspectives with none of them any more valid then the other.

The argument over what is and isn’t true is getting incredibly intense, but the question of what truth is seems to be being neglected. The idea that there is no such thing as objective truth may seem quite surreal and absurd, but it does seem to be a logical one. However, his argument only holds if you agree with him that there is no god.

Nietzsche’s’ most infamous quote was “God is dead” but if you consider the quote in context, you will appreciate that he is not simply making a statement about the existence of God. He is in fact making a statement about society and how it is yet to realize the full implications of the modern secular mindset. Society has yet to grasp the extent to which it has been plunged into a nihilistic void now we no longer give credence to god. Nietzsche writes

“What were we doing when we unchained this Earth from its sun? Where are we moving to now? Where are we moving to? Away from all suns? Are we not continually falling? And backwards, sideways, forwards in all directions? Is there still an up and a down? Aren’t we straying as though through an infinite nothing? … God is dead”

In conclusion I believe we have two options. Either we accept Nietzsche’s’ Argument and we stop complaining about fake news, or we believe in God. As we can’t help but be indignant towards untruth it stands to reason we should all believe in a god of sorts if for no other reason to simply avoid spending our lives wallowing in a quagmire of nihilism.







