Philosophically, Nietzsche is a mystic and an irrationalist. His metaphysics
consists of a somewhat “Byronic” and mystically “malevolent” universe; his
epistemology subordinates reason to “will,” or feeling or instinct or blood or
innate virtues of character. But, as a poet, he projects at times (not
consistently) a magnificent feeling for man’s greatness, expressed in
emotional, not intellectual, terms.
Nietzsche’s rebellion against altruism consisted of replacing the sacrifice of
oneself to others by the sacrifice of others to oneself. He proclaimed that the
ideal man is moved, not by reason, but by his “blood,” by his innate instincts,
feelings and will to power—that he is predestined by birth to rule others and
sacrifice them to himself, while they are predestined by birth to be his
victims and slaves—that reason, logic, principles are futile and debilitating,
that morality is useless, that the “superman” is “beyond good and evil,” that
he is a “beast of prey” whose ultimate standard is nothing but his own whim.
Thus Nietzsche’s rejection of the Witch Doctor consisted of elevating Attila
into a moral ideal—which meant: a double surrender of morality to the Witch
Doctor.