Nietzsche said, one must “become what one is through a struggle with one’s psychological and intellectual inheritances”. What that implies is that a person, to become an exemplary human being, must craft their own identity through vigorous struggles with themselves. Cultivation of a curiosity within oneself, is the critical inquiry of everything that one perceives.
Self realization, revealed in an examination of oneself, the past and the present, dissolves the metaphysical and all there is left is the comedy of existence. A meaningfulness is thus gained by this step. The nihilistic view that one develops can be combated with the inherent “purpose for existence” which develops alongside it.
The one who understands the importance and logic of the retrograde step can be called a “free spirit”. You are finally free, but not in the way that you would want to do anything that comes to your mind; instead, a certain determination arises in the purposeful mind of the free spirit.
Nietzsche’s meditations contemplate the meaning and values bestowed on symbols of human existence. As there are no absolute values, everything relative to the cultural past of a place or community can be understood from a different point of view. Values can be understood as they aid for survival of human beings, they are for the well being of the human animal. The humans of old had developed said values which have been transferred and changed dynamically through generations. Nevertheless from time to time these values we have inherited seem not as important as they seemed to our forefathers, they are not considered suitable anymore and they are not considered up to par with the standards of the present.
To maintain allegiance to said values, even when they are not practical anymore, turns these values disadvantageous to the individuals. When this happens the individual must reach into their own conscience, and encounter the problems related to metaphysics, religion, knowledge, aesthetics and morality.
Freedom is not an ideal located outside the man; nor is it an idea which becomes a myth. It is realized by one’s conscience through the cultivation of cognitive facilities and vigorous consistency in any aspect of life which one picks. As Paulo Friere said, the oppressed having internalized the image of the oppressor, and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom. Freedom is not granted and it is not a gift. It is achieved through conquest. It is the quest for human completion. While dominated by the fear of oppressors, the oppressed prefer the security of their conformity instead of the creative communion produced by freedom and the very pursuit of it. We must confront reality critically, simultaneously acting on it. A mere perception of reality without the critical intervention of it will not lead to an objective change or betterment in accordance with the individual’s free spirit, their finely developed conscience.
The oppressor is a variable. However, even if individuals feel that they have freedom and live freely, they must first critically examine objective reality to identify which aspects of their lives are influencing their actions to such an extent that the autonomy and significance of their unique actions are lost.