Friedrich Nietzsche is a German philosopher, thinker, poet and even composer. His non-academic teachings have become widespread not only in the scientific and philosophical community, but also far beyond its borders. Nietzsche questioned the key principles of the generally accepted norms of culture and morality, social and political relations in the 19th-20th centuries. The philosopher’s concept still causes much controversy and disagreement.
Childhood and Youth
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born on October 15, 1844, in the village of Röcken, located near Leipzig. His father, Karl Ludwig Nietzsche, as well as both of his grandfathers, were Lutheran priests. A few years later, the boy had a sister, Elizabeth, and a couple of years later, a brother, Ludwig Joseph. Friedrich’s younger brother died in 1849, and his sister lived a long life and passed away in 1935.
Soon after the birth of his youngest son, Karl Ludwig Nietzsche died. Friedrich’s mother took on the entire responsibility of raising him. This continued until 1858, when the now-mature young man went to study at the prestigious Pforta Gymnasium. His time at the gymnasium was fateful for Nietzsche: there he first began to write, became fascinated with reading ancient texts, and even experienced an irresistible desire to devote himself to music. There, Friedrich became acquainted with the works of Byron, Schiller, Hölderlin, and Wagner. In 1862, Nietzsche began his studies at the University of Bonn, choosing philology and theology. Student life soon bored the young student; in addition to this, he did not have good relationships with his classmates, to whom he tried to instill a progressive worldview. Therefore, Friedrich soon transferred to the University of Leipzig. One day, while walking around the city, he accidentally wandered into a second-hand bookstore and bought Arthur Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation. The book impressed Nietzsche greatly and influenced his development as a philosopher.
Friedrich’s studies at the Faculty of Philology at the University of Leipzig were brilliant: already at the age of 24, the boy was invited to teach classical philology as a professor at the University of Basel. This was the first case in the European system of higher education when such a young scholar was allowed to receive the status of professor. Nevertheless, Nietzsche himself did not get much pleasure from studying, although he did not refuse to build a professorial career.
However, the philosopher did not work as a teacher for long. Taking up this post, he decided to renounce his Prussian citizenship (the University of Basel is located in Switzerland). Therefore, Nietzsche was unable to participate in the Franco-Prussian War, which took place in 1870. Switzerland took a neutral position in this confrontation and therefore allowed the professor to work only as an orderly.
Friedrich Nietzsche was not very healthy since childhood. Thus, at the age of eighteen he suffered from insomnia and migraines, at thirty, in addition to this, he almost went blind and began to experience stomach problems. He finished his work in Basel in 1879, after which he began to receive a pension and began writing books, without ceasing to fight the disease.
Philosophy
Friedrich Nietzsche’s first book was published in 1872 and was called “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music”. Before this, the philosopher sent a number of scientific articles for publication, but had not yet published full-fledged books. His first serious work consists of 25 chapters.
In the first 15, Nietzsche tries to establish what Greek tragedy is, and in the last 10, he talks and discusses Wagner, with whom he met and was friends for some time (until the composer converted to Christianity).
“Thus Spoke Zarathustra”
No other work by the philosopher can claim the level of popularity of the book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. Friedrich Nietzsche received the main ideas for his famous work thanks to a trip to Rome at the end of the 19th century. There he met the writer, physician and philosopher Lou Salome. Nietzsche found her a pleasant listener and was fascinated by the flexibility of her mind. He even tried to propose to her, but Lou Salome preferred friendship to marriage.
Soon Nietzsche and Salome quarreled and never communicated again. After this, Friedrich wrote the first part of the work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, in which modern researchers unmistakably guess the influence of the philosopher’s soul mate and ideas about their “ideal friendship”. The second and third parts of the work were published in 1884, and the fourth appeared in printed form in 1885. Nietzsche published 40 copies at his own expense. The style of this work changes as the narrative progresses: it is sometimes poetic, sometimes comic, sometimes close to poetry again. In the book, Friedrich first introduced the term superman, and also began to develop the theory of the will to power. At that time, these ideas were poorly developed, and he later developed his concept in the works “Beyond Good and Evil” and “On the Genealogy of Morals”. The fourth book of the work is dedicated to the story of how Zarathustra ridiculed the admirers of his own teachings, whom he hated.
The Will to Power
Almost all of the philosopher’s works contain a moral about the will to power as the basic concept of his theory. According to Nietzsche, domination represents the causal nature, the basis of existence, and also a way of existence. In this regard, Friedrich contrasted the will to power with the setting of goals. He said that choosing a goal and moving towards it can already be called a full-fledged act of domination.
Personal life
Friedrich Nietzsche repeatedly changed his views on the female sex, so the popularity of his quote “Women are the source of all stupidity and unreason in the world” does not fully reflect his views. Thus, the philosopher managed to be a misogynist, a feminist, and an anti-feminist. His only love was probably Lou Salome. There is no information about the philosopher’s relationships with other women.
For many years, the philosopher’s biography was closely connected with the life of his sister Elizabeth, who took care of her brother and helped him. However, discord gradually began in this relationship. Bernard Forster, one of the ideologists of the anti-Semitic movement, became Elizabeth Nietzsche’s husband. She even went with her husband to Paraguay, where supporters of this movement intended to create a German colony. Due to financial difficulties, Forster soon committed suicide, and the widow returned to her native country.
Nietzsche did not share his sister’s anti-Semitic views and criticized her for such a position. Relations between brother and sister improved only towards the end of the latter’s life, when he, weakened by illness, needed help and care. As a result, Elizabeth was given the opportunity to dispose of her brother’s literary works. She sent Nietzsche’s works for publication only after making her own edits, which distorted some of the philosopher’s teachings.
In 1930, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche supported the Nazi government and invited Hitler to be an honorary guest of the Nietzsche Museum and Archives, which she created. The leader of the fascist movement was pleased with the visits and awarded the philosopher’s sister a lifelong pension. This was partly the reason why Nietzsche is often associated in the minds of ordinary people with fascist ideology.
Death
The philosopher was often misunderstood by both his close friends and the general public. His ideology began to gain popularity only in the late 1880s, and at the beginning of the 20th century, his works were translated into many languages ​​of the world. In 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche’s creative work ceased due to a clouding of his mind.
There is an opinion that the philosopher was shocked by the scene of the beating of a horse. This attack became the cause of a progressive mental illness. The writer spent the last months of his life in the Basel psychiatric hospital. After some time, his elderly mother took him to his parents’ home, but she soon died, causing the philosopher to suffer an apoplectic stroke.