Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest professor to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel. Plagued by health problems for most of his life, he resigned from the university in 1879, and in the following decade he completed much of his core writing. In 1889, aged 44, he suffered a collapse and thereafter a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and vascular dementia, living his remaining 11 years under the care of his family until his death. His works and his philosophy have fostered not only extensive scholarship but also much popular interest.
Nietzsche’s work encompasses philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism and fiction, while displaying a fondness for aphorisms and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the “death of God” and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture and science, and drew inspiration from Hebrew and Indian literature, Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After Nietzsche’s death his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche’s stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche’s work became associated with fascism and Nazism. Twentieth-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R. J. Hollingdale and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche’s thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20thand 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.
Nietzsche was a harsh critic of Hegel, disagreeing with his ideas about the teleological nature of history, the power of reason, and his systematic philosophical approach. He viewed Hegel’s philosophy as a life-denying system that leads to nihilism and the decline of culture. Nietzsche’s alternative was a focus on individual will, instinctual life, and life as the highest goal, rather than the rational self-knowledge he saw in Hegel’s work.
Key points of Nietzsche’s critique of Hegel
- Critique of the Hegelian dialectic: Nietzsche saw Hegel’s dialectic (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) as an overly rigid and systematic structure that didn’t reflect the messy reality of human experience. He opposed systems in philosophy, believing that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”.
- Rejection of historicism and the “end of history”: Nietzsche fundamentally rejected Hegel’s idea of a final, rational end to history driven by dialectical progress. He believed this concept leads to a state of nihilism, where cultural ideals lose their power and individuals become complacent and detached.
- Emphasis on life over reason: While Hegel saw Pure Reason as the fundamental principle of philosophy, Nietzsche saw the Will to Power as fundamental. He argued that mistaking objective knowledge for the highest good was harmful to life and that life itself was the ultimate goal, not rational self-knowledge.
- Individual freedom versus institutions: Hegel’s philosophy emphasizes the role of social institutions in achieving ethical life and freedom, whereas Nietzsche prioritized individual freedom and instinctual life, which he saw as constrained by Hegel’s systemic views.
- Nihilism and the “last man”: Nietzsche predicted that the end of history, as conceived by Hegel, would result in a cultural crisis and a collapse of values. He characterized this as the age of the “last man,” a complacent and uninspired individual guided by base desires and a lack of commitment.
Nietzsche’s view on Hegel’s legacy
- Despite his criticisms, Nietzsche recognized Hegel’s profound influence on German culture, even joking that Germans were “always Hegelian even if there had never been a Hegel”.
- He also acknowledged that his own work, particularly his genealogical method, shared some superficial similarities with Hegel’s systematic approach to issues like master-slave morality, although their ultimate conclusions were different.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[2] https://wisdomshort.com/philosophers/nietzsche/on-hegel
[3] https://www.quora.com/Has-Friedrich-Nietzsche-adopted-or-opposed-Hegels-dialectics
[5] https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/302754
[6] https://journals.openedition.org/volume/3290
[8] https://dokumen.pub/the-idea-of-hegels-quotscience-of-logicquot-9780226065915.html
[9] https://metalearn.substack.com/p/my-recursive-existential-search-for
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/nnsxtv/nietzsche_as_a_neohegelian/
Nietzsche was critical of Hegel’s systematic, reason-based philosophy, believing it to be life-denying and to prioritize abstract thought over lived experience. He strongly disagreed with Hegel’s concept of the “end of history,” which Nietzsche saw as a descent into nihilism and a state where cultural ideals lose their power and people are governed by mere desire and reason. While critical, Nietzsche also recognized Hegel’s philosophical influence, and some scholars note surprising points of connection between their ideas, particularly in their systematic approaches to topics like morality, even as Nietzsche presented himself as the “anti-Hegel”.
Nietzsche’s main critiques of Hegel
- Reason vs. Life: Nietzsche saw Hegel’s emphasis on reason as a problem, contrasting it with his own belief that the “Will to Power” is a more fundamental driver of human civilization. He argued that Hegel’s system devalued instinctual life and the lived experience of individuals.
- End of History: Nietzsche viewed Hegel’s idea of a final, rational state of history as a vision of the end of humanity itself. He called this state “nihilism,” where meaning collapses because there are no longer any cultural ideals to which people feel committed.
- Dialectical Method: Nietzsche opposed Hegel’s dialectical logic, which he saw as a tool for building a system of reason that ultimately supported a life-denying worldview. Instead, Nietzsche aimed to bring “Style” to philosophy and viewed reason as a hindrance, rather than a solution.
- Objective Knowledge: Nietzsche criticized the belief in objective knowledge as the ultimate goal, arguing that it could be harmful to life. He felt that the tension created by fictions and false ideas was necessary for vitality, and that a society focused on pure knowledge would lead to complacency and a loss of meaning.
Points of potential overlap
- Systematic approach: Despite Nietzsche’s attacks on Hegel, some scholars point out that Nietzsche’s own work often presents a coherent, albeit non-Hegelian, system, particularly in his genealogy of morals.
- Shared concepts: Both philosophers engage with similar concepts, such as the master-slave dynamic, the relationship between language and morality, and the idea of justice becoming estranged.
- Influence: Nietzsche’s philosophy was undoubtedly shaped by his deep engagement with Hegel, and he saw himself as responding to and attempting to overcome the Hegelian tradition.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://wisdomshort.com/philosophers/nietzsche/on-hegel
[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/nnsxtv/nietzsche_as_a_neohegelian/
[6] https://www.quora.com/Has-Friedrich-Nietzsche-adopted-or-opposed-Hegels-dialectics
[7] https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/302754
Nietzsche was primarily against Plato and Socrates, viewing their emphasis on reason, truth, and an eternal, otherworldly reality as a life-denying decadence that marked the decline of philosophy. He also opposed Kant for his metaphysics and certain aspects of Schopenhauer’s pessimism, and he famously clashed with the composer Richard Wagner.
Primary targets of criticism
- Plato: Nietzsche saw Platonic philosophy, with its theory of Forms, as the foundation of Western metaphysics that devalued the real, physical world in favor of an ideal, “true” world.
- Socrates: He criticized Socrates for prioritizing reason and dialectics, believing this was a symptom of life-weariness and a reaction against instinctual, emotional experience.
- Kant: Nietzsche was critical of Kant’s metaphysics and his theory of knowledge, seeing it as a fiction that supported a necessary but flawed view of reality.
Other figures he opposed or broke with
- Schopenhauer: While influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche ultimately broke with him over his pessimistic outlook on life, which Nietzsche saw as a form of life-denial.
- Richard Wagner: Though he once revered Wagner, Nietzsche had a significant falling out with the composer, viewing his later work as a form of decadence and a betrayal of the Dionysian spirit he once championed.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.quora.com/Which-philosophers-best-opposed-Nietzsche
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/Nietzsche/comments/8odz6w/what_philosopher_would_be_the_opposite_of/
[4] https://www.thecollector.com/nietzsche-crusade-against-philosophers/
[5] https://sirjan.medium.com/on-nietzsches-prejudices-of-philosophers-a-short-critique-f2538e6a311f
[6] https://www.psychofuturia.com/nietzsche-critiqued-plato-and-socrates/
[7] https://www.reddit.com/r/Nietzsche/comments/vaingh/biggest_disagreements_with_nietzsche/
[8] https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Nietzsche-criticize-Plato-and-other-philosophers
[9] https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Cult/CultScot.htm
[10] https://www.essentiafoundation.org/why-did-nietzsche-break-with-schopenhauers-idealism/reading/
[11] https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_59-1
Nietzsche was against philosophies that promoted nihilism, egalitarianism, and Christian morality, which he saw as life-denying and promoting a “herd mentality” that stifled exceptional individuals. He also rejected traditional metaphysics and the idea of absolute truth, favoring his own concept of perspectivism, where meaning is created subjectively by the individual. He also opposed modern politics like democracy, liberalism, and socialism, believing they led to a leveling of human potential, particularly in the context of the first welfare state.
Specific philosophies Nietzsche opposed
- Christianity and “Slave Morality”: Nietzsche viewed Christian values like humility, compassion, and meekness as a “slave morality” that was life-denying and promoted weakness, contrasting it with the “master morality” of ancient Greece and Rome, which he saw as more life-affirming and hierarchical.
- Nihilism: He saw the threat of nihilism—the belief that life is without meaning—as a consequence of the decline of traditional values like those found in religion. His own philosophy was a project to overcome this by creating new values.
- Egalitarianism: He believed that the idea of the equal worth of all individuals was a myth and opposed it as a form of “leveling down” that created mediocrity. He argued for a hierarchy of individuals, where “higher types” are superior.
- Traditional Metaphysics and Absolute Truth: Nietzsche was against the philosophical tradition, which he saw as being dominated by Platonism and the belief in a higher, “true” world behind the one we experience. Instead, he advocated for perspectivism, the idea that there is no single objective truth, but rather multiple subjective perspectives, and that each individual creates their own meaning.
- Modern Politics: He specifically criticized the politics of his time, such as democracy, liberalism, and socialism, which he believed were the political expressions of egalitarianism and would lead to the “rule of the herd” over the exceptional individual.
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://www.masterclass.com/articles/friedrich-nietzsche-life-and-philosophy
[2] wikipedia/en/Philosophy_of_Friedrich_Nietzsche
[3] https://iep.utm.edu/nietzsches-ethics/
[4] https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/FNmod.htm
[5] https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/72335/which-philosophers-have-contradicted-nietzsche
[6] https://www.quora.com/Who-is-a-philosopher-diametrically-opposite-of-Nietzsche
[7] wikipedia/en/Friedrich_Nietzsche
[8] https://www.quora.com/Which-philosophers-best-opposed-Nietzsche
[9] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-moral-political/
[11] https://philosophynow.org/issues/114/Nietzsche_and_the_Problem_of_Suffering
Nietzsche is not a fascist, but his philosophy was misused and misinterpreted by fascists, particularly through the later editing of his sister and the appropriation of concepts like the “will to power”. While some early ideas could be seen as proto-fascist, such as an aristocratic elitism that rejects mass culture, Nietzsche himself was anti-nationalist, anti-anti-Semitic, and distrustful of the state.
Misappropriation and influence
Edited works: Nietzsche’s sister, an anti-Semite, heavily edited his posthumous work, The Will to Power, to align it with Nazi ideology.
Selective reading: Fascist thinkers selectively used certain Nietzschean ideas, like the will to power and a critique of decadence, to justify their political aims, an approach rejected by anti-fascist philosophers like Georges Bataille.
Fascist interpretation: Fascists saw in Nietzsche an opponent of Enlightenment rationality and a glorifier of vitalism and violence that could inspire political activism, as seen in the influence on Italian fascists like Gabriele D’Annunzio and Benito Mussolini.
Nietzsche’s actual views
Nationalism and anti-Semitism: Nietzsche was a staunch critic of German nationalism and anti-Semitism, even having a falling out with his friend Richard Wagner over the latter’s anti-Semitism. He even fabricated a genealogy to suggest he was Polish, not German.
Distrust of the state: He distrusted the state and mass politics, believing it fostered mediocrity and moral decline. His “aristocratic” views were about cultural and individual excellence, not racial superiority.
Anti-socialist and anti-democratic: He was anti-socialist and anti-democratic, but his aristocratic elitism was intellectual and spiritual, not biological or racial, and therefore fundamentally different from the racial ideology of Nazism.
Complexity of the relationship
Early versus late Nietzsche: Some scholars argue that his early work, like The Birth of Tragedy, contains explicitly political, “right-wing” ideas that could be seen as proto-fascist, even as others emphasize his later rejection of this extremism.
Ambiguity: Ultimately, while Nietzsche’s thought is complex and some of his ideas were open to misinterpretation, it is an oversimplification to label him a fascist. His core principles were incompatible with the ideology, particularly his anti-nationalism and anti-anti-Semitism.
Quotes
- “One must learn to love.— This is what happens to us in music: first one has to learn to hear a figure and melody at all, to detect and distinguish it, to isolate it and delimit it as a separate life; then it requires some exertion and good will to tolerate it in spite of its strangeness, to be patient with its appearance and expression, and kindhearted about its oddity:—finally there comes a moment when we are used to it, when we wait for it, when we sense that we should miss it if it were missing: and now it continues to compel and enchant us relentlessly until we have become its humble and enraptured lovers who desire nothing better from the world than it and only it.— But that is what happens to us not only in music: that is how we have learned to love all things that we now love. In the end we are always rewarded for our good will, our patience, fairmindedness, and gentleness with what is strange; gradually, it sheds its veil and turns out to be a new and indescribable beauty:—that is its thanks for our hospitality. Even those who love themselves will have learned it in this way: for there is no other way. Love, too, has to be learned.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
- “Solitary men : Some men are so accustomed to being alone with themselves that they do not compare themselves with others at all but spin out their life of monologue in a calm and cheerful mood, conversing and indeed laughing with themselves alone.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
- “Of what is great one must either be silent or speak with greatness.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche The Will to Power
- “Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir, also that the moral (or immoral) intentions in every philosophy constituted the real germ of life from which the whole plant had grown.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good & Evil
- “Do not be deceived! The busiest people harbor the greatest weariness, their restlessness is weakness—they no longer have the capacity for waiting and idleness.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
- My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company. ― Friedrich Nietzsche
- One must pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive. — Nietzsche, Ecce Homo
- “Gradually it has become clear to me what every great Philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir, also that the moral (or immoral) intentions in every philosophy constituted the real germ of life from which the whole plant had grown.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good & Evil
- It is through recognizing that we come to have the feeling that we already know something, thus it means combating a feeling of newness and transforming the apparently new into something old. — Friedrich Nietzsche
- “I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
- “Re-create yourselves: and let this be your best creation.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
- One thing is needful―To “give style” to one’s character―a great and rare art! ― Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
NIETZCHE
If you are after melodies, then do not go to him;
For thunder’s rumble is all the music that his pen’s flute makes.
He plunged a surgeon’s knife into the live heart of the West:
His hands are covered with the blood he has wiped off Christ’s cross.
On the foundation of the Ka’aba he built his own idol-house.
His heart is a believer’s but his brain an infidel’s.
Go and burn yourself in the blazing fire of this Nimrod:
For Abraham’s flower-garden blossomed out of Azar’s fire. — Muhammad Iqbal
- Let it be said: a great victory is a great danger. It is more difficult for human nature to endure victory than to endure defeat; it even appears to be easier to achieve such a victory than endure it in such a way that it does not result in a more serious defeat. — Nietzsche
- “Doubt as sin. — Christianity has done its utmost to close the circle and declared even doubt to be sin. One is supposed to be cast into belief without reason, by a miracle, and from then on to swim in it as in the brightest and least ambiguous of elements: even a glance towards land, even the thought that one perhaps exists for something else as well as swimming, even the slightest impulse of our amphibious nature — is sin! And notice that all this means that the foundation of belief and all reflection on its origin is likewise excluded as sinful. What is wanted are blindness and intoxication and an eternal song over the waves in which reason has drowned.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality
Nietzsche’s concept of the “eternal recurrence” where one must imagine reliving their life, every single moment, exactly as it was, infinitely. It’s not necessarily meant as a literal cosmological claim about the universe, but rather a test of how we react to the possibility of such a repetition. Nietzsche suggests that a strong affirmation of life, an embrace of even the most painful aspects, is required to be able to accept and even desire such an eternal return.
- **The Thought Experiment: Nietzsche presents the eternal recurrence as a hypothetical scenario: imagine being told that you must live your life, in every detail, over and over again, forever.
- **Not a Metaphysical Claim: While Nietzsche pondered this idea, it’s important to note that he didn’t necessarily intend it as a literal truth about how the universe works. Many interpretations suggest it’s more of a philosophical tool to explore the nature of human existence and our relationship with life.
- **Litmus Test for Affirming Life: For Nietzsche, the reaction to the eternal recurrence reveals much about an individual’s attitude towards life. A strong affirmation of life, including its joys and sorrows, would be necessary to embrace such an eternal repetition.
- Amor Fati: This concept, meaning “love of fate,” is closely linked to the eternal recurrence. It suggests embracing all aspects of life, both positive and negative, and finding joy in one’s destiny.
- **The “Heaviest Weight”: The idea of the eternal recurrence is presented as a “heaviest weight” – a daunting prospect. However, Nietzsche also suggests that it can also be a source of profound affirmation of life, filling the emptiness of Nihilism.
- Embracing the “Yes”: Nietzsche’s philosophy emphasizes the importance of being a “yea-sayer,” someone who affirms life and embraces its complexities. The eternal recurrence is a challenge to become such a life-affirming individual.