The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche

By: Chris West

Who was Friedrich Nietzsche?

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher from the late 19th century who liked to challenge religion and moralities. Nietzsche was interested in the enhancement of individuals and cultural health. He believed in life, power, creativity, and the realities of our world. The center of his philosophy is lifeaffirmation, which includes the questioning of all honest beliefs that stop people from living up to what they could be, no matter how sensitive the topic was. He is often referred to as one of the first existential philosophers and his work has inspired all sorts of people.

What is Philosophy?
Philosophy comes from a Greek word, which means Love of wisdom. Philosophy is a hobby that people like to learn about when they are looking to understand the underlying truths about themselves, the world where they live in, and their connections to the world and others. The kind of people who study philosophy are constantly engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their answers to lifes most basic questions. Philosophy is broken up into many categories and subcategories; its not just one thing.

Nietzsches philosophy
Nietzsche wrote 14 books and has 1 unpublished manuscript. They are all about his philosophy. Nietzsches philosophy is about truth, morality, religion, nihilism, power, and the meaning of existence. Nietzsche spoke of the death of God, and envisioned the dissolution of the current, traditional, religion and metaphysic. (Philosophy on the nature of being.) Nietzsche claimed, The exemplary human being must craft his/her own identity through self-realization and do so without relying on anything transcending that life; such as God or a soul.

Culture before Nietzsche

The culture in Germany before Nietzsche was born was mostly based off religious and moral values. Most of the civilization was Christian and was baptised when they were young. Most of the people never thought of there not being a God. They just went with the rules of the Bible. They let God rule their life, telling them what they do wrong and what they do right.

Culture during Nietzsche

Nietzsche was born on October 15th, 1844. His father was the preacher of his village, loved by everyone, with the perfect values of a Christian who lived a simple and happy life. When Nietzsche was baptised, his father asked, What do you think will come of this little child, good or evil? which the priest responded, He will be neither good or evil. Nietzsches father died in 1849 due to a terminal brain disease. Nietzsche always looked up to his father as a worldly and spiritual authority. For a year, Nietzsche watched his father struggle with great pain due to this disease. For God, which his father worked for, whose servant he was, Nietzsche wondered why God would punish him with all of this suffering. This was one of Nietzsches earliest doubts about Christianity. Nietzsche, his mom, and his sister moved to a new town in Germany which was very religious. When he started publishing his books, he wanted society to change.

Culture after Nietzsche

After Nietzsche died in 1900, the whole world started to change. World War One started 14 years later along with the sudden rise of Nazism. The nation of Germany began to grow and gain more power. When the Nazis had power, the thought of Nihilism and Idealism started to spread. People started to realize that faith doesnt always help. They decided that they dont need God to run their life when they can do it themselves. This was an idea spread throughout Nietzsches work. He helped give people a better sense of reality, and he also helped shape the way people act today.

Controversies
Nietzsches philosophy has started many controversies because he loved to challenge the roots of the Western culture. One of his most recognizable quotes was God is dead. With this quote, Nietzsche expressed a fear that with the decline of religion, the rise of Atheism, and the absence of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. This is because the Western culture had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years! Religion gave order to society and the meaning to life. Without it, Nietzsche writes that society will move into an age of nihilism, the rejection of all religions and moral principles, along with the belief that life has no purpose. Nietzsche wasnt about that. Nietzsche had very different views about religion, life, womens rights and was in the end, just an optimist. He believed that he was his own God, he even stated, I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.

Nazism support
The base ideas of Nazism have been claimed that it was inspired and supported by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche (German). However, Nietzsche s ideas cannot be more opposed to the Nazi party. All the racism, oppression, and mass mentality which was the Nazi party does not fit with any of Nietzsche s writings or ideas. With this, it is difficult to realize how Adolf Hitler managed to change Nietzsches anti-racist, and anti-German views to fit his own ideas. Though Nietzsches writings did influence Hitler, it was only because of a misinterpretation in which Hitler believed that Nietzsche held pro-Nazi beliefs. In fact, it was actually because of Nietzsches sarcastic and complicated writing style, along with extensive editing of Nietzsches sister, which happened after Nietzsches death in 1900 ,that reinforced, and legitimized Hitlers ideas.

His Philosophical impact on the world?

Nietzsche changed the world with his philosophical views. People nowadays who havent even read his work or even heard of the name Nietzsche, are still influenced by his thoughts indirectly. He created the quote That what doesnt kill me can only make me stronger. Which some people even live by, without even knowing the quotes's origins. Some ideas in our modern, American culture come from Nietzsches work, some examples are: The goal of life should be for an individual to find themselves. Life is short, experience it as intensely as you can or it is wasted. You cant love someone else if you dont love yourself. Challenge yourself; dont live passively. Many people suffer from impaired self-esteem; they need to work on being proud of themselves.

Sources
http://www.iep.utm.edu/wp-content/media/Nietzsche-274x300.jpg http://www.siena.edu/uploadedimages/home/Academics/Schools_and_Departments/School_of_Liberal_Arts/Philosophy/philosophy%20banner1.jpg http://philosophy.fsu.edu/content/view/full/36588 http://historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/images/naziflag.gif

Primary
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ http://www.iep.utm.edu/nietzsch/ http://www.egs.edu/library/friedrich-nietzsche/biography/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuxDMEDF6Vs

Secondary
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/nietzsche/themes.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche http://www.pitt.edu/~wbcurry/nietzsche.html