Friedrich Nietzsche Giorgina Paiella
Brief Biography German philosopher Born in Prussian province of Saxony in 1844 Family of many Lutheran ministers Father died of a brain ailment when he was 5 Two-year-old brother died six months later Attended university for theology and philology Gave up Prussian citizenship in remained stateless; mostly Germany, Switzerland, and Italy Died in 1900 after mental deterioration
Shaping Forces Death Religion War Franco-Prussian Sickness and physical ailment Inspirational figures (Schopenhauer and Wagner) University studies Curiosity about human condition Arthur Schopenhauer
Theories Criticized religion Atheist Escape for the weak Focused on human behavior Power and fear Self-control Enhancement of the individual “Life affirmation” World of phenomena Senses Lack of nationalities Europe Lack of allegiance and citizenship Time as repetition Wheel
Major Works and Style The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Antichrist, Will to Power Style Eloquent Passionate Many interpretations Allusions Biblical Aphorisms “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
Nihilism Negation of meaningful aspects of life Existential nihilism: lacks meaning, purpose, and value Diagnosis of modern society "I praise, I do not reproach, [nihilism's] arrival. I believe it is one of the greatest crises, a moment of the deepest self-reflection of humanity. Whether man recovers from it, whether he becomes master of this crisis, is a question of his strength!” Lack loyalties Examined its implications on society
Associations and Contributions Nihilism Existentialism Human experience (subjectivity) Individual giving life meaning Writers, artists, and thinkers Freud, Camus, Hesse, Sartre etc. Style Aphorisms Passion and elaboration Interpretations Nazism Fatalism Individual
Quotes “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.” “Faith: not wanting to know what the truth is.” “All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses. “ “God is dead.”
Relation to Russia and Crime and Punishment Turin horse incident 1889 Dream scene before committed murder Psychology Dreams Inner conflict Morality Influenced Russian thought Dostoevsky shaped by similar forces Physical ailments, suffering, human nature Precursor/founder to Existentialism Nietzsche interested in him Abstracts of several works Fyodor Dostoevsky
Modern References