Friedrich Nietzsche: Biography Of The Thinker From Beyond Good And Evil

The names of classical authors such as Aristotle, Plato or Epicurus normally come to mind when we think of philosophy. One of the names that nevertheless appears most frequently if we think of more recent authors is Friedrich Nietzsche.

Friedrich Nietzsche  was interested deeply in three themes that develo has throughout his work:  the idea of the superman, the end of religion as a model of values in modern society and his thoughts on good and evil.

Its influence extends it to many other thinkers, writers and influential figures of the twentieth century. The free reinterpretation of parts of his writings was used to justify many actions of the Nazi Party in the 1930s. Nietzsche’s ideas were revolutionary. They then constituted an important source for Nazism, which adapted it to its ideology.

Nietzsche published numerous books and s are contributions to philosophy had rent considerable weight. His texts, although dealing with philosophical questions, constitute an exceptional reading and in a way blur the fine line that sometimes exists between the literary and the purely philosophical.

It s ouff laughs at the last stage of his life, a mental illness that the away completely from work.  So let’s review the life and work of this brilliant thinker.

The youth of Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Röcken bei Lützen, Prussia, on October 15, 1844. His father was a Lutheran preacher. He therefore instilled in his son an unconditional love for God  and for religious life. He died in immense suffering and deep pain when Friedrich was only four years old.

This seems to have left a deep mark on the child, which he never managed to heal completely. The immense love he felt for his father, whom he considered a good person,  and the suffering inflicted by God at his untimely death, shook the foundations of Nietzsche’s life. He thus remained mired in a deep cognitive dissonance  from an early age.

Nietzsche never came to understand how a benevolent God could inflict such torment on someone who had served him, as his father did.

He studied a mixture of literature, linguistics and history at the University of Leipzig. He met Richard Wagner, for whom he developed a deep admiration, during his university studies. It was around the same time that Arthur Schopenhauer’s writings attracted him strongly.

Wagner and Nietzsche shared a passion for Schopenhauer. This is, however, what, paradoxically, led to the decline of their friendship.

The work of Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche taught as a professor of philology in Basel when he finished his studies. He  began then to distance themselves from the thought of Schopenhauer and write his early work focused on the new values of modern society.

His friendship with Wagner deteriorated as the composer’s ideas centered on the moral process that redeems the human being from life.

Wagner was openly anti-Semitic and extremely egotistical. It seems that  Nietzsche has come to consider the ideas of his friend as a betrayal in principle of the aesthetic that praises life  above all.

Nietzsche suffered a nervous disorder during the 1880s. He then had to isolate himself completely for a long season. But this isolation was nonetheless a very fruitful period. He led him to develop key points on which will rest the foundations of his philosophical thought.

One of his most famous statements began to take shape at this stage: “God is dead, God remains dead and we have killed him”. The nihilism by which he would be known began to strengthen in his thought. His rejection of Christianity and its values ​​as a significant force in society grew stronger and stronger.

Why nihilism? Why is God dead? It’s not that God is dead in the strict sense, but for Nietzsche, there is nothing in what to believe,  there is no longer universal moral values.

Nietzsche destroys the old values, rejects the authority and the submission of the flock. He builds his idea of ​​the superman, of the will to power, of the creation and destruction of values.

Nietzsche moved away from any traditional philosophy. He speaks to us of the idea of ​​the eternal return and places the will to power beyond good and evil. This is how the thought of one of the people who contributed the most to contemporary philosophy was shaped.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote some of his most recognized works this time:  Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Par-to here the good and the bad, The Genealogy of the moral  and The  Twilight of the Idols .

The ideas of the superman, of the individual who strives to exist beyond what is considered good and bad, are set forth in  Thus Spoke Zarathustra. He will finish drawing them in  The Antichrist where his absolute rejection of the flock, of submission, will become even more evident.

Friedrich Nietzsche: last years and illness

Nietzsche suff laughs from depression e n 1889. This genera him a mental disability which he would recover ever. His mental illness was not diagnosed in time. However, many authors attributed it to hereditary causes, a brain tumor, syphilis and even the excessive use of sedative substances.

He then remained isolated in the family home he shared with his sister in Weimar, Germany. This was the time when the Nazi Party was starting to have sympathizers in Germany. L was Nietzsche’s sister was one e of supporter are the most avid e s new ideas of Nazism.

It seems that it was she who, taking advantage of her brother’s deteriorating mental faculties,  gave much of her work to her friends in the Nazi Party. We even believe that she organized visits to his house to show her brother’s condition. As if it were some kind of macabre spectacle. Friedrich Nietzsche finally died on August 25, 1900.

Legacy and influence

Nietzsche was considered one of the most influential figures in 20th century philosophy. His concept of the meaning of existence, morality and individuality of people greatly influenced the work of other great thinkers of the twentieth century, such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung or Michel Foucault, in particular.

The Nazi Party used part of his work after his death. However, this was a  deceptive, selective and out of context use of some of his most important ideas.

The controversial idea of ​​the Superman can indeed be used in a negative way. Malicious people could interpret it as the superiority of some men over others. Yes, Nietzsche was critical of the herd, but his ideas were far removed from Nazi thought.

Nietzsche, moreover, contributed immensely to his interpretation of the Apollonian and Dionysian, applying it to the various arts.

Crazy or sane? Reason or unreason? Nietzsche was beyond that. He is one of those authors who combine reason and unreason, who blur the notions of right and wrong.

We could write endless pages on Nietzsche and his contributions to philosophy. There is, however, no better way to get to know Nietzsche than through Nietzsche himself. In other words, immerse yourself in his texts, in his work, in his fundamental heritage.

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