Friedrich Nietzsche

Life

• 1844: Born in Röcken, Prussia, into a family of Lutheran pastors.
• 1864: Begins studying theology and classical philology at the University of Bonn.
• 1869: Appointed Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Basel at the remarkably young age of 24.
• 1879: Resigns from his professorship due to severe health problems that plagued him throughout his life.
• 1879-1889: His most productive and philosophically mature period as a wandering author, writing his major works.
• 1889: Suffers a mental breakdown in Turin, Italy, from which he never recovered.
• 1900: Dies in Weimar, Germany.

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Arthur Schopenhauer: Deeply influenced by his work The World as Will and Representation, initially adopting his pessimism before radically breaking from it.
• Richard Wagner: Formed a close friendship and intellectual partnership with the composer, which later turned into one of his most famous philosophical breaks.
• Pre-Socratic Philosophers: Particularly Heraclitus, whose philosophy of flux and becoming resonated with his own.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: Influenced his style of aphoristic writing and ideas of self-reliance.

Main Ideas and Publications

• Die Geburt der Tragödie (The Birth of Tragedy, 1872): Introduces the Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy and critiques Socratic rationalism.
• Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883-1885): His philosophical masterpiece written in a biblical style, introducing the Übermensch (Overman) and the death of God.
• Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Beyond Good and Evil, 1886): Critiques traditional morality and philosophy, advocating for a "philosophy of the future."
• Zur Genealogie der Moral (On the Genealogy of Morality, 1887): Analyzes the historical development of moral concepts like "good/evil" and "guilt."
• The Will to Power: The fundamental driving force in humans—not merely a will to survive, but to overcome, expand, and create.
• The Death of God: The declaration that belief in the Christian God has become untenable, creating a crisis of values in Western civilization.
• The Übermensch (Overman): The ideal human who creates new values and affirms life in response to the death of God.
• Eternal Recurrence: The thought experiment that life repeats itself identically for eternity, serving as the ultimate test of life affirmation.
• Master-Slave Morality: The theory that two fundamental types of morality have struggled throughout history.

Controversies around his main work or thought

• Misappropriation by the Nazis: His sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, heavily edited his unpublished works to align with her own antisemitic and nationalist views, leading to his association with Nazism, which grossly distorted his actual philosophy.
• The "Death of God": Widely misunderstood as a celebratory atheistic slogan, rather than a diagnosis of a profound cultural and spiritual crisis.
• Nihilism and Relativism: Often accused of promoting nihilism, though his work is primarily concerned with overcoming nihilism through value creation.
• Misogyny: His writings contain numerous passages that are dismissive and hostile toward women, which remain a point of significant criticism.

Key People Influenced by Their Thought

• Martin Heidegger: Saw Nietzsche as the last metaphysician of the West and engaged deeply with his concepts of will to power and nihilism.
• Michel Foucault: Drew upon Nietzsche's genealogical method for his own historical analyses of power, knowledge, and sexuality.
• Sigmund Freud: Was influenced by Nietzsche's explorations of the unconscious, repression, and sublimation.
• Albert Camus: The absurd hero and the concept of rebellion in Camus's work are deeply indebted to Nietzsche.
• Jacques Derrida: Engaged with Nietzsche's style and his questioning of truth and metaphysics in developing deconstruction.

Legacy

He is one of the most profound and controversial thinkers of the modern era, whose radical critique of Western philosophy, religion, and morality forever altered the intellectual landscape and continues to provoke intense debate.