THE HAMMER AND THE IDOLS: ALLEGORY, DIAGNOSIS, AND TRANSVALUATION IN FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE’S TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS

Abstract

The study analyzes the allegory of the hammer in Friedrich Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, with particular attention to its relationship with the diagnosis of decadence, nihilism, and the project of the transvaluation of values. It is a theoretical study of a bibliographic and interpretative nature, whose objective is to understand how the allegory “The Hammer Speaks” synthesizes fundamental aspects of Nietzsche’s late philosophy and broadens the meaning of the hammer beyond its exclusively destructive dimension. The methodology was based on a philosophical and interpretative analysis of the work, combined with the reading of specialized studies on Nietzsche’s thought, with emphasis on the notions of transvaluation, decadence, nihilism, and the creation of values. The results indicate that the hammer assumes three complementary functions: diagnostic, by revealing the fragility of established values; destructive, by promoting a rupture with the idols associated with decadence; and creative, by indicating the need to construct new values that affirm life. It is concluded that the allegory of the Diamond and the Kitchen Coal constitutes a synthesis of Nietzsche’s philosophical method, in which hardness represents the strength required to question established values and undertake the task of creating new perspectives.