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{{Infobox Philosopher |<!-- Scroll down to edit the main text --> <!-- Philosopher Category --> region = Western Philosophy |era = [[19th century philosophy]] |color = #B0C4DE | <!-- Image:nietzsche2--> image_name = FWNietzscheSiebe.jpg|rightthumb|250px230px|thumb]]right'''| <!-- Information --> name = Friedrich Nietzsche''' (|birth = October 15, 1844-1900) was a <br /> ([[GermanyRöcken|GermanRöcken bei Lützen]] , [[atheismPrussia]]) |atheistdeath = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1900|08|25|1844|10|15}}<br /> ([[Weimar]] , [[philosopherGerman Empire]] whose work set a foundation for the ) |school_tradition = [[Weimar Classicism]]; precursor to [[Continental philosophy]], [[existentialism]], [[postmodernism]], [[poststructuralism]], [[psychoanalysis]]|existentialist|main_interests = [[aesthetics]] movement , [[ethics]], [[ontology]], [[philosophy of the 1900s.<ref>history]], [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ Stanford's Biography on Nietzsche[psychology]].</ref> Nietzsche later went insane, most probably due to a [[brainGoodness and value theory|value-theory]]|influences =[[Epicurus]], [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]] tumor. <ref!-- PLEASE DON'T REMOVE DOSTOEVSKY - SEE TALK PAGE -->, [http://wais[Ralph Waldo Emerson|Emerson]], [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], [[Heraclitus]], [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], [[Plato]], [[François de La Rochefoucauld|La Rochefoucauld]], [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer]], [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], [[Jacob Burckhardt|Burckhardt]], [[Stendhal]], [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]]|influenced = [[Theodor W.stanford.edu/General/general_individualsniezsche.htm Another Stanford Biography on NietzscheAdorno|Theodor Adorno]</ref>], [[Georges Bataille]], [[Jean Baudrillard]], [[Martin Buber]], [[Judith Butler]], [[Albert Camus]], [[Gilles Deleuze]], [[Jacques Derrida]], [[Michel Foucault]], [[Martin Heidegger]], [[Iqbal]], [[Karl Jaspers]], [[Ayn Rand]], [[George Santayana]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Leo Strauss]], [[Oswald Spengler]], [[Bernard Williams]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]|notable_ideas = [[Apollonian and Dionysian]], [[God is dead|death of God]], [[eternal recurrence]], [[herd instinct|herd-instinct]], [[Master-Slave Morality|master-slave morality]], [[Übermensch]], [[perspectivism]], [[The Will to Power|will to power]], [[ressentiment]]}}

'''Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ''' (October 15, 1844{{ndash}} August 25, 1900) ({{IPA-de|ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhəlm ˈniːtʃə}}) was critical of a [[19th century philosophy|nineteenth-century]] [[Germans|German]] [[philosophy|philosopher]] and classical [[philology|philologist]]. He wrote [[critic]]al texts on [[religion]] in general, though especially [[Christianitymorality]], which he described as the "religion of pity."<ref>contemporary [http://www[culture]], philosophy, and [[science]], using a distinctive [[German language]] style and displaying a fondness for [[metaphor]] and [[aphorism]].quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche/ Nietzsche Quotations's influence remains substantial within and beyond [[philosophy]</ref> Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for ], notably in [[existentialism]] and [[postmodernism]]. His style and radical questioning of the value and objectivity of truth raise considerable problems of interpretation, generating an extensive secondary literature in both [[continental philosophy|continental]] and [[analytic philosophy]]. Nevertheless, some of his declaration that “God is deadkey ideas include interpreting tragedy as an affirmation of life,” an [[eternal recurrence]] (whichnumerous commentators have re-interpreted), rather than a rejection of [[theologicalPlatonism]] argument, suggests that Western culture seemed no longer rooted in Christian dogmatism and a faith-based worldview. Without [[Godcritique|repudiation]], the idea of absolutes are difficult to come by, both [[Christianity]] (especially 19th-century) and Nietzsche thus suggested ways for people to cope with this loss [[Egalitarianism]] (especially in the form of "[[GoodDemocracy]]" and "[[EvilSocialism]]").

{{quotebox|When [[Adolf Hitler]] first met [[Benito Mussolini]], he presented him with Nietzsche began his career as a gift of classical philologist before turning to philosophy. At the collected works age of Nietzsche. It 24 he was an appropriate memento. Hitler's ideas about life and politics were largely derived fro Nietzsche. Hitler subscribed appointed to the Nietzschean idea that superior people have an inborn right to rule. - Chair of Classical Philology at the [[William KilpatrickUniversity of Basel]](the youngest individual ever to have held this position),<ref>{{cite book | last = Baird | first = Forrest E. | authorlink = | coauthors = Walter Kaufmann | title = From Plato to Derrida | publisher = Pearson Prentice Hall | year = 2008 | location = Upper Saddle River, New Jersey | pages =1011-1014 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-13-158591-6 }}</ref> but resigned in 1879 because of health problems, which would plague him for most of his life. In 1889 he exhibited symptoms of serious mental illness, living out his remaining years in the care of his mother and sister until his death in 1900.

==Biography ====== Youth (1844–1869)====Born on October 15, 1844, Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse grew up in 1889the small town of [[Röcken]], and spent near [[Leipzig]], in the last ten years [[Prussia]]n [[Province of his life unable to care for himselfSaxony]]. During this timeHe was named after King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]], his sister Elizabeth Förster-who turned 49 on the day of Nietzsche took over 's birth. (Nietzsche later dropped his affairsgiven middle name, and worked to falsify and re-edit his writings in order to support her virulent Antisemitism (a view which "Wilhelm".)<ref>Kaufmann, Walter, ''Nietzsche arguably abhorred: Philosopher, and often mockedPsychologist, during his lifetime)Antichrist'', p. It was her distorted version of culled and misquoted statements which later provided an intellectual fig leaf for the 22.</ref> Nietzsche's parents, Carl Ludwig Nietzsche (1813–1849), a [[NaziLutheranism|Lutheran]][[pastor]] and former teacher, and Franziska Oehler (1826–1897), married in 1843, the year before their son's birth, and had two other children: a daughter, [[ItalianElisabeth Förster-Nietzsche]] , born in 1846, and a second son, Ludwig Joseph, born in 1848. Nietzsche's father died from a brain ailment in 1849; his younger brother died in 1850. The family then moved to [[FascistNaumburg]], where they lived with Nietzsche'spaternal grandmother and his father's two unmarried sisters. After the death of Nietzsche's grandmother in 1856, the family moved into their own house.[[Image:Nietzsche1861.jpg|thumb|175px|left|Friedrich Nietzsche, 1861.]]

The Nietzsche attended a boys'school and later a private school, where he became friends with Gustav Krug and Wilhelm Pinder, both of whom came from respected families. In 1854 he began to attend the 'Übermensch'Domgymnasium' (overhuman' in Naumburg, superhuman) was a literary device used but after he showed particular talents in his magnum opus[[music]] and language, "the internationally-recognized [[Thus Spoke ZarathustraPforta|Schulpforta]]"admitted him as a pupil, and there he continued his studies from 1858 to 1864. The Overman was Here he became friends with [[Paul Deussen]] and Carl von Gersdorff. He also found time to be a new kind of being which would overcome resentment work on [[Poetry|poems]] and affirm the Eternal Recurrence musical compositions. At Schulpforta, Nietzsche received an important introduction to literature, particularly that of the sameancient [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], and for the first time experienced a distance from his family life in a small-town [[Christianity|Christian]] environment.

The statement "God is dead" first appeared After graduation in 1864 Nietzsche's "commenced studies in [[The Gay Sciencetheology]] and classical philology at the [[University of Bonn]]", in Aphorism 108, titled "New Struggles". This aphorism introduces Nietzsche's famous Madman, who runs out into For a short time he and Deussen became members of the street shouting, "God is dead!" Yet, [[Burschenschaft]] ''Frankonia''. After one semester (and to his dismay, the Madman sees "anger of his mother) he has come too soon," for people have not realized this cultural revelation for themselves stopped his theological studies and are blind to itlost his faith. They consider the Madman<ref name=Schaberg>Schaberg, William, 's seemingly theological claim as absurd for they misunderstand him; it is no argument about the existence 'The Nietzsche Canon'', University of GodChicago Press, but a claim 1996, p. 32</ref> This may have happened in part because of his reading about this time of how [[secularDavid Strauss]] society has become. ' ''Life of Jesus'', which had a profound effect on the young Nietzsche was no friend to Christian beliefs, <ref name=Schaberg/> though in an essay entitled ''Fate and History'' written in 1862, Nietzsche had already argued that historical research had discredited the central teachings of Christianity.<ref>Jörg Salaquarda, "Nietzsche and no doubt considered the Judaeo-Christian God tradition," in ''The Cambridge Companion to be a mere mythNietzsche'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 99. This passage shows his hope for a </ref> Nietzsche then concentrated on studying philology under Professor [[philosophyFriedrich Wilhelm Ritschl]] of the future, one whom he imagined would be emptied followed to the [[University of coarse objective rationalizing, which Leipzig]] the next year. There he characterized as God and associated became close friends with Christianityfellow-student [[Erwin Rohde]]. Nietzsche, in other words, felt his message of subjective truth came too 's first philological publications appeared soon and hopedafter.<!--[[Image:1868a.jpg|thumb|Friedrich Nietzsche, as the Madman, that he would be understood someday1868.]]-->

In 1865 Nietzschethoroughly studied the works of [[Arthur Schopenhauer]]. In 1866 he read [[Friedrich Albert Lange|Friedrich Albert Lange's father Carl Ludwig ]] ''[[Geschichte des Materialismus|History of Materialism]]''. Both thinkers proved influential. Schopenhauer was especially significant in the development of Nietzsche's later thought. Lange's descriptions of Kant's anti-materialistic philosophy, the rise of European Materialism, Europe's increased concern with science, was a [[LutheranCharles Darwin|Darwin's]] pastortheory, and the general rebellion against tradition and authority greatly intrigued Nietzsche. The cultural environment encouraged him to expand his horizons beyond philology and to continue his study of philosophy.

In his first Papal Encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Charity/Love) 1867 Nietzsche signed up for one year of voluntary service with the Prussian [[Pope Benedict XVIartillery]] quotes from division in Naumburg. However, a bad riding accident in March 1868 left him unfit for service.<ref>For Nietzsche's ''Beyond Good account of the accident and Evil''injury see his letter to Karl Von Gersdorff: [[s:Selected_Letters_of_Friedrich_Nietzsche#To_Freiherr_Karl_Von_Gersdorff_-_June.2C_1868|Letter of Friedrich Nietzsche to Karl Von Gersdorff - June, taking very seriously 1868]]</ref> Consequently Nietzsche turned his attention to his studies again, completing them and first meeting with Richard Wagner later that year.<ref>[[s:Selected_Letters_of_Friedrich_Nietzsche#To_Rohde_-_November.2C_1868|A letter containing Nietzsche's claim that description of the Church has poisoned ''eros'' (love) first meeting with dogma, and responding to itWagner.]]</ref>

==On Morality== Professor at Basel (1869–1879)====Friedrich Nietzsche argued that [[rational egalitarianism]] denies [[creativity]]Image:Rohde Gersdorff Nietzsche.JPG|thumb|175px|left|Mid-October, 1871. Left to right: Erwin Rohde, Carl von Gersdorff and reason cannot create values and [[moralityFriedrich Nietzsche.]], attempt to do so would only lead to [[nihilism]]. Therefore morality has been imposed.

Friedrich In part because of Ritschl's support, Nietzsche wrote "Morality is received a remarkable offer to become professor of [[classical philology]] at the herd-instinct in [[University of Basel]]. He was only 24 years old and had not completed his doctorate or received his teaching certificate. Despite the individualfact that the offer came at a time when he was considering giving up philology for science, he accepted."<ref>Kaufmann, "With moralityp. 25.</ref> To this day, Nietzsche is still among the individual can only ascribe value to himself as a function youngest of the herd"tenured Classics professors on record.<ref>Paul Bishop, "I submit that egoism belongs ''Nietzsche and Antiquity'', 2004, p117</ref> Before moving to Basel, Nietzsche renounced his Prussian citizenship: for the essence rest of a noble soul his life he remained officially [[Stateless person|stateless]].<ref>Hecker, Hellmuth: "Nietzsches Staatsangehörigkeit als Rechtsfrage", ''Neue Juristische Wochenschrift'', Jg.40, 1987, nr. 23, p. 1388-1391; and has its basis in the primary law of things"His, Eduard: "all morality is partisan; just as any legal system will favor certain behavior against othersFriedrich Nietzsches Heimatlosigkeit", "who else should we wish to serve''Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde'', if not ourselves?" and "Whoever battles monsters should take care not to become a monster toovol. 40, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss1941, the Abyss stares back into youp."159-186. Note that some authors (among them Deussen and [[Mazzino Montinari|Montinari]]) mistakenly claim that Nietzsche became a Swiss citizen.</ref>

==On Science and Knowledge==Friedrich Nevertheless, Nietzsche wrote "I mistrust all systemizers and avoid them; served in the will to systematize is a lack of integrity", "there is no pre-established harmony between Prussian forces during the furtherance of truth and the well[[Franco-being Prussian War]] of mankind", "the free-spirit is brought into disrepute chiefly by scholars who miss their thoroughness and ant-like industry in his art of regarding things", "there are many things I do not wish 1870 to know, wisdom sets 1871 as a limit on knowledge too"medical [[orderly]]. In his short time in the military he experienced much, "and witnessed the fact traumatic effects of battle. He also contracted [[diphtheria]] and [[dysentery]]. [[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]] speculates that science as we practice it today is possible proves that the elementary instinct which protect life he might also have ceased to function", "we have arranged for ourselves a world in which we are able to live contracted [[syphilis]] along with postulation of bodies, lines, surfaces, causeshis other infections at this time, and effectssome biographers speculate that syphilis caused his eventual madness, motion and restthough there is some dispute on this matter.<ref>Richard Schain, form and content: without these articles The Legend of faithNietzsche's Syphilis (Westwood: Greenwood Press, nobody could manage 2001</ref> On returning to live", "Basel in 1870 Nietzsche observed the irrationality establishment of the [[German Empire]] and the following era of [[Otto von Bismarck]] as an outsider and with a thing is no argument against degree of skepticism regarding its existencegenuineness. At the University, rather a condition for it"he delivered his inaugural lecture, "[too much knowledge causes us to[s:Homer and Classical Philology|Homer and Classical Philology]] choke on our own reason". Nietzsche also met [[Franz Overbeck]], "creed a professor of nihilism which I see everywhere is the result [[theology]], who remained his friend throughout his life. [[Afrikan Spir]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radicalacademy.com/adiphilunclassified3.htm#Spir|title=A biography of too much learning" Spir.}}</ref>a little-known Russian philosopher and "Any truth which threatens life is no truth at allauthor of ''Thought and Reality'' (1873), it is an error"and his colleague the historian [[Jacob Burckhardt]], whose lectures Nietzsche frequently attended, began to exercise significant influence on Nietzsche during this time.

==On Politics==Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "As a political subjecthad already met Richard Wagner in Leipzig in 1868, it is an illusion and (some time later) Wagner's wife [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]]. Nietzsche admired both greatly, and during his time at Basel frequently visited Wagner's house in [[Tribschen]] in the [[Canton of Lucerne]]. The Wagners brought Nietzsche into their most intimate circle, and enjoyed the attention he gave to ask myself what I require from the statebeginning of the [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth Festival Theatre]]. In reality, it is 1870 he gave Cosima Wagner the manuscript of 'The Genesis of the Tragic Idea' as a question birthday gift. In 1872 Nietzsche published his first book, [[The Birth of Tragedy|''The Birth of Tragedy out of what the state requires from me"Spirit of Music'']]. However, "culture and his colleagues in the state are antagonistic"field of classical philology, "clearlyincluding Ritschl, expressed little enthusiasm for the individual will is forfeit work, in which Nietzsche forewent a precise philological method to the demands of government - employ a kind style of political Darwinismphilosophical speculation. The herd triumphs againIn a [[polemic]], this time under the banner ''Philology of the state"Future'', "socialism is [[Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff]] dampened the fantastic younger brother of an almost decrepit despotismbook's reception and increased its notoriety. In response, which it wants Rohde (by now a professor in [[Kiel]]) and Wagner came to succeeded", "Nietzsche's defense. Nietzsche remarked freely about the doctrine of free will is an invention of isolation he felt within the ruling classes" philological community and "madness is something rare attempted to attain a position in individuals; but philosophy at Basel, though unsuccessfully.[[Image:Nietzsche187a.jpg|thumb|Friedrich Nietzsche in groupsBasel, parties, ages, it is the rule"ca. 1875.]]

==On Women==Friedrich Between 1873 and 1876, Nietzsche wrote "Women are essentially unpeaceful" published separately four long essays: ''David Strauss: the Confessor and "Man is the Writer'', ''On the Use and Abuse of History for woman Life'', ''Schopenhauer as Educator'', and ''Richard Wagner in Bayreuth''. (These four later appeared in a means; collected edition under the purpose is always title, ''Untimely Meditations''.) The four essays shared the orientation of a childcultural critique, challenging the developing German culture along lines suggested by Schopenhauer and Wagner. Starting in 1873 Nietzsche also accumulated the notes later posthumously published as ''[[Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks]]''. During this time, in the circle of the Wagners, Nietzsche met [[Malwida von Meysenbug]] and [[Hans von Bülow]], and also began a friendship with [[Paul Rée]], who in 1876 influenced him in dismissing the pessimism in his early writings. However, his disappointment with the [[Bayreuth Festival]] of 1876, where the banality of the shows and the baseness of the public repelled him, caused him in the end to distance himself from Wagner. But what is woman for man?"

==On Philosophy==Friedrich With the publication of ''[[Human, All Too Human]]'' in 1878, a book of [[aphorisms]] on subjects ranging from metaphysics to morality and from religion to the sexes, Nietzsche wrote "Philosophy is 's reaction against the dressing-up pessimistic philosophy of Wagner and Schopenhauer became evident. Nietzsche's friendship with Deussen and Rohde cooled as well. In 1879, after a significant decline in rational argument health, Nietzsche had to resign his position at Basel. (Since his childhood, various disruptive illnesses had plagued him — moments of moral beliefsshortsightedness practically to the degree of blindness, migraine headaches and violent stomach attacks. The 1868 riding accident and diseases in 1870 may have aggravated these persistent conditions, which continued to affect him through his years at Basel, intuitions forcing him to take longer and desires"longer holidays until regular work became impractical.)

==On Religion==Independent philosopher (1879–1888) ====Friedrich Nietzsche was born Because his illness drove him to a long line of Protestant Lutheran ministers. His grandfatherfind more compatible climates, Friedrich August Ludwig Nietzschetraveled frequently, was in fact and lived until 1889 as an established Protestant scholar whose writings argued the “everlasting survival of Christianityindependent author in different cities.” From an early age Friedrich Nietzsche maintained a dedication to Lutheranism and continued his passion for theology He spent many summers in university[[Sils im Engadin/Segl|Sils Maria]], near [[St. In the year 1864Moritz]] in [[Switzerland]], Nietzsche entered and many winters in the University Italian cities of Bonn as a theology [[Genoa]], [[Rapallo]], and [[Turin]], and philology student with a particular interest in the translation and interpretation French city of Biblical texts[[Nice]]. In 1881, when [[French occupation of Tunisia|France occupied Tunisia]], he planned to travel to [[Tunis]] in order to gain a view of Europe from the outside, but later abandoned that idea (probably for health reasons).<ref>Stephan Güntzel, [http://www.hypernietzsche.org/navigate.php?sigle=sgunzel-4 "Nietzsche's views on religion are scattered amongst his earliest works Geophilosophy"], p.85 in the 1860s well up until the time : ''Journal of his death in 1889. As suchNietzsche Studies'' 25 (Spring 2003), his views concerning religionThe Pennsylvania State University Press, moralityUniversity Park (Penn State), and human nature are not outlined definitively and are thus the subject of scholarly debate.2003-10-15; re-published on HyperNietzsche's website {{en icon}}/{{de icon}}</ref>

However, Nietzsche spoke out against Islam citing that it was a force subsisting wholly on the denial occasionally returned to Naumburg to visit his family, and, especially during this time, he and his sister had repeated periods of the individualconflict and reconciliation. He posed in lived on his work "The Birth pension from Basel, but also received aid from friends. A past student of Tragedy" that Islam his, [[Peter Gast]] (among other religionsborn Heinrich Köselitz) utilizes , became a sort of private secretary to Nietzsche. To the restriction end of necessary human desires such as love as his life, Gast and Overbeck remained consistently faithful friends. Malwida von Meysenbug remained like a means motherly patron even outside the Wagner circle. Soon Nietzsche made contact with the music-critic [[Carl Fuchs]]. Nietzsche stood at the beginning of his most productive period. Beginning with ''[[Human, All Too Human]]'' in 1878, Nietzsche would publish one book (or major section of securing their permanence as a force book) each year until 1888, his last year of controlwriting, during which he completed five.[[Image:Nietzsche paul-ree lou-von-salome188.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lou Andreas-Salomé|Lou Salomé]], [[Paul Rée]] and Nietzsche, 1882.]]

Thus Friedrich In 1882 Nietzsche viewed published the first part of ''[[MohammedThe Gay Science]], ''. That year he also met [[BuddahLou Andreas Salomé]], through Malwida von Meysenbug and Paul Rée. Nietzsche and Salomé spent the summer together in [[HomerTautenburg]] in [[Thuringia]] etc, not often with Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth as religious figureschaperone. However, but Nietzsche regarded Salomé less as creators an equal partner than as a gifted student. Salomé reports that he asked her to marry him and that she refused, though the reliability of rigid moral frameworksher reports of events has come into question.<ref>Kaufmann, who lost their authority as p.49</ref> Nietzsche's relationship with Rée and Salomé broke up in the winter of 1882/1883, partially because of intrigues conducted by Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth. In the face of renewed fits of illness, in near isolation after a falling-out with his mother and sister regarding Salomé, and plagued by suicidal thoughts, Nietzsche fled to Rapallo, where he wrote the first part of ''[[EuropeThus Spoke Zarathustra]] severed ties with its diverse religious tradition'' in only ten days.

==See Also==*After severing his philosophical ties with Schopenhauer and his social ties with Wagner, Nietzsche had few remaining friends. Now, with the new style of ''Zarathustra'', his work became even more alienating and the market received it only to the degree required by politeness. Nietzsche recognized this and maintained his solitude, even though he often complained about it. His books remained largely unsold. In 1885 he printed only 40 copies of the fourth part of ''Zarathustra'', and distributed only a fraction of these among close friends, including [[NihilismHelene von Druskowitz]].

==References==<references/>*In 1883 he tried and failed to obtain a lecturing post at the [https://www.dartmouth.edu/~fnchron/index.html Nietzsche Chronicle]*[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/452786.html Nietzsche: The Problem University of AutumnLeipzig]]*[http://papers.ssrnIt was made clear to him that, in view of the attitude towards Christianity and the concept of God expressed in ''Zarathustra'', he had become in effect unemployable at any German University.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=816224 "The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychologysubsequent "]*[http://wwwfeelings of revenge and resentment", so contrary to his nature, embittered him.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html#_ftnref1 "And hence my rage since I have grasped in the broadest possible sense what wretched means (the depreciation of my good name, my character and my aims) ''Deus Caritas Estsuffice'', to take from me the trust of, and therewith the Vatican website]*possibility of obtaining, pupils."<ref>[http[s://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Selected Letters of Friedrich Nietzsche#NietzscheTo Peter Gast -ThirdAugust 1883 2|Letter to Peter Gast -Introducing-Laurence/dp/1840466278August 1883]]</ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5268663-4749443?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179639544&sr=1-1 Introducing Nietzsche, Third Edition by Laurence Gane] >

{{DEFAULTSORTIn 1886 Nietzsche broke with his editor, Ernst Schmeitzner, disgusted over his anti-Semitic opinions. Nietzsche saw his writings as "completely buried and unexhumeable in this anti-Semitic dump" of Schmeitzner — associating the editor with a movement that should be "utterly rejected with cold contempt by every sensible mind".<ref>[http://thenietzschechannel.fws1.com/corresp.htm The NietzscheChannel], Friedrich}}Correspondences</ref> He then printed ''[[Beyond Good and Evil]]'' at his own expense, and issued in 1886-87 second editions of his earlier works (''The Birth of Tragedy'', ''[[Human, All Too Human]]'', ''Daybreak'', and ''The Gay Science''), accompanied by new prefaces in which he re-read his earlier works. Hereafter, he saw his work as completed for the time and hoped that soon a readership would develop. In fact, interest in Nietzsche's thought did increase at this time, even if rather slowly and hardly perceived by him. During these years Nietzsche met [[Barbara Margaretha von Salis-Marschlins|Meta von Salis]], [[Carl Spitteler]], and also [[Gottfried Keller]]. In 1886 his sister Elisabeth married the [[Anti-Semitic|anti-Semite]] [[Bernhard Förster]] and traveled to [[Paraguay]] to found [[Nueva Germania]], a "Germanic" colony — a plan to which Nietzsche responded with laughter.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica Online. "Förster-Nietzsche, Elisabeth." http://www.search.eb.com.librarypx.lclark.edu/eb/article-9034925 (Accessed October 10, 2008). </ref> Through correspondence, Nietzsche's relationship with Elisabeth continued on the path of conflict and reconciliation, but they would meet again only after his collapse. He continued to have frequent and painful attacks of illness, which made prolonged work impossible. In 1887 Nietzsche wrote the [[polemic]] ''[[On the Genealogy of Morality]]''.

During this year Nietzsche encountered the work of [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], with whom he felt an immediate kinship.<ref>[[s:Selected Letters of Friedrich Nietzsche#Nietzsche_To_Peter_Gast_-_March.2C_1887|Letter to Peter Gast, March 1887.]]</ref> He also exchanged letters with [[Hippolyte Taine]], and then also with [[Georg Brandes]]. Brandes, who had started to teach the philosophy of [[Søren Kierkegaard]] in the 1870s, wrote to Nietzsche asking him to [[Kierkegaard and Nietzsche comparisons|read Kierkegaard]], to which Nietzsche replied that he would come to Copenhagen and read Kierkegaard with him. However, before fulfilling this undertaking, he slipped too far into sickness and madness. In the beginning of 1888, in Copenhagen, Brandes delivered one of the first lectures on Nietzsche's philosophy. Although Nietzsche had in 1886 announced (at the end of ''On The Genealogy of Morality'') a new work with the title ''[[The Will to Power]]: Attempt at a [[transvaluation of all values|Revaluation of All Values]]'', he eventually seems to have abandoned this particular approach and instead used some of the draft passages to compose ''[[Twilight of the Idols]]'' and ''[[The Antichrist (book)|The Antichrist]]'' (both written in 1888).<ref>Mazzino Montinari, ''Friedrich Nietzsche'' (1974; translated into German in 1991, ''Friedrich Nietzsche. Eine Einführung.'', Berlin-New York, De Gruyter; and in French, ''Friedrich Nietzsche'', [[PUF]], 2001)</ref> His health seemed to improve, and he spent the summer in high spirits. In the fall of 1888 his writings and letters began to reveal a higher estimation of his own status and "fate." He overestimated the increasing response to his writings, especially to the recent polemic, ''[[The Case of Wagner]]''. On his 44th birthday, after completing ''Twilight of the Idols'' and ''The Antichrist'', he decided to write the autobiography ''[[Ecce Homo (Nietzsche)|Ecce Homo]]''. In the preface to this work — which suggests Nietzsche was well aware of the interpretive difficulties his work would generate — he declares, "Hear me! For I am such and such a person. Above all, do not mistake me for someone else."<ref>From the Preface, section 1 (English translation by [[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]])</ref> In December, Nietzsche began a correspondence with [[August Strindberg]], and thought that, short of an international breakthrough, he would attempt to buy back his older writings from the publisher and have them translated into other European languages. Moreover, he planned the publication of the compilation ''[[Nietzsche Contra Wagner]]'' and of the poems that composed his collection ''[[Dionysian Dithyrambs]]''. ==== Mental breakdown and death (1889–1900)====[[Image:Nietzsche Olde 02.JPG|thumb|right|A photo by Hans Olde from the photographic series "The Ill Nietzsche", summer of 1899]] On January 3, 1889, Nietzsche first exhibited apparent signs of mental illness. Two policemen approached him after he caused a public disturbance in the streets of [[Turin, Italy|Turin]]. What actually happened remains unknown, but the often-repeated tale states that Nietzsche witnessed the whipping of a horse at the other end of the Piazza Carlo Alberto, ran to the horse, threw his arms up around the horse’s neck to protect it, and collapsed to the ground.<ref>Kaufmann, p. 67.</ref><!--The first dream-sequence from [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoyevsky's]] ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'' has just such a scene in which [[Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov|Raskolnikov]] witnesses the whipping of a horse around the eyes.<ref>On whips, see also [[Paolo d'Iorio]]'s discussion of whipping in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' and in Schopenhauer's ''[[Parerga und Paralipomena]]'', II, chap XXX: ''Über Lärm und Geräusch'': [http://www.hypernietzsche.org/navigate.php?sigle=pdiorio-1 "Genèse, parodie et modernité dans ''Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra''"], published on the ''HyperNietzsche'' website {{fr icon}}</ref><ref>[[s:Crime and Punishment/Part I/Chapter V|Crime and Punishment, I, 5.]]</ref>){{Fact|date=August 2008}} Ed. note - for restoration criteria see comment here:[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Nietzsche&diff=231451308&oldid=231346346]--> In the following few days, Nietzsche sent short writings — known as the ''Wahnbriefe'' ("Madness Letters") — to a number of friends (including Cosima Wagner and Jacob Burckhardt). To his former colleague Burckhardt, Nietzsche wrote: "I have had [[Caiaphas]] put in fetters. Also, last year I was crucified by the German doctors in a very drawn-out manner. Wilhelm, [[Bismarck]], and all anti-Semites abolished."<ref>''The Portable Nietzsche'', trans. Walter Kaufmann.</ref> Additionally, he commanded the German emperor to go to Rome in order to be shot and summoned the European powers to take military action against Germany.<ref>[[Stefan Zweig|Zweig, Stefan]] (1939) ''Master Builders [trilogy], The Struggle with the Daimon'', Viking Press, p. 524.</ref> On January 6, 1889 Burckhardt showed the letter he had received from Nietzsche to Overbeck. The following day Overbeck received a similarly revealing letter, and decided that Nietzsche's friends had to bring him back to Basel. Overbeck traveled to Turin and brought Nietzsche to a psychiatric clinic in Basel. By that time Nietzsche appeared fully in the grip of insanity, and his mother Franziska decided to transfer him to a clinic in [[Jena]] under the direction of [[Otto Binswanger]]. From November 1889 to February 1890 the art historian [[Julius Langbehn]] attempted to cure Nietzsche, claiming that the methods of the medical doctors were ineffective in treating Nietzsche's condition. Langbehn assumed progressively greater control of Nietzsche until his secrecy discredited him. In March 1890 Franziska removed Nietzsche from the clinic, and in May 1890 brought him to her home in Naumburg. During this process Overbeck and Gast contemplated what to do with Nietzsche's unpublished works. In January 1889 they proceeded with the planned release of ''Twilight of the Idols'', by that time already printed and bound. In February they ordered a 50-copy private edition of ''Nietzsche contra Wagner'', but the publisher [[C. G. Naumann]] secretly printed 100. Overbeck and Gast decided to withhold publishing ''The Antichrist'' and ''Ecce Homo'' because of their more radical content. Nietzsche's reception and recognition enjoyed their first surge.[[Image:Eh-dm-27.JPG|thumb|left|[[Peter Gast]] would "correct" Nietzsche's writings even after the philosopher's breakdown and so without his approval — something heavily criticized by [[as of 2007| contemporary]] Nietzsche scholarship.]] In 1893 Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth returned from [[Nueva Germania]] (Paraguay) following the suicide of her husband. She read and studied Nietzsche's works, and piece by piece took control of them and of their publication. Overbeck eventually suffered dismissal, and Gast finally co-operated. After the death of Franziska in 1897 Nietzsche lived in [[Weimar]], where Elisabeth cared for him and allowed people, including [[Rudolf Steiner]], to visit her uncommunicative brother. Elisabeth at one point went so far as to employ Steiner as a tutor to help her to understand her brother's philosophy. Steiner abandoned the attempt after only a few months, declaring that it was impossible to teach her anything about philosophy.<ref>Andrew Bailey, ''First Philosophy: Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy'', Broadview Press, 2002, p704</ref> Commentators have frequently diagnosed a syphilitic infection as the cause of the illness. While most commentators regard Nietzsche's breakdown as unrelated to his philosophy, some, including [[Georges Bataille]] and [[René Girard]], argue that his breakdown may have been caused by a psychological maladjustment brought on by his philosophy.<ref>Georges Bataille & Annette Michelson, ''Nietzsche's Madness'', October, Vol. 36, Georges Bataille: Writings on Laughter, Sacrifice, Nietzsche, Un-Knowing. (Spring, 1986), pp. 42-45.</ref><ref>René Girard, ''Superman in the Underground: Strategies of Madness — Nietzsche, Wagner, and Dostoevsky'', ''MLN'', Vol. 91, No. 6, Comparative Literature. (December, 1976), pp. 1161-1185.</ref> At least one study has suggested that brain cancer (rather than syphilis) led to his breakdown and killed him;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/05/1051987657451.html|title="Nietzsche 'died of brain cancer'"}}</ref> others have classified Nietzsche's "madness" as [[frontotemporal dementia]].<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17087793 "Friedrich Nietzsche's mental illness--general paralysis of the insane vs. frontotemporal dementia"] in ''Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica'' 2006 Dec;114(6):439-44; summarised in PubMed</ref> In 1898 and 1899 Nietzsche suffered from at least two [[stroke]]s which partially paralyzed him and left him unable to speak or walk. After contracting [[pneumonia]] in mid-August 1900 he had another stroke during the night of August 24 / August 25, and died about noon on August 25.<ref>Concurring reports in Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche's biography (1904) and a letter by Mathilde Schenk-Nietzsche to [[Meta von Salis]], August 30, 1900, quoted in Janz (1981) p. 221. Cf. Volz (1990), p. 251.</ref> Elisabeth had him buried beside his father at the church in [[Röcken bei Lützen]]. His friend, Gast, gave his funeral oration, proclaiming: "Holy be your name to all future generations!"<ref>Schain, Richard. "Nietzsche's Visionary Values — Genius or Dementia? [http://www.philosophos.com/philosophy_article_31.html]</ref> Nietzsche had written in ''Ecce Homo'' (then unpublished) of his fear that one day his name would be regarded as "holy". Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche compiled ''[[The Will to Power]]'' from Nietzsche's unpublished notebooks, and published it posthumously. Because his sister arranged the book based on her own conflation of several of Nietzsche's early outlines, and took great liberties with the material, the consensus holds that it does not reflect Nietzsche's intent. Indeed, [[Mazzino Montinari]], the editor of Nietzsche's ''[[Nachlass]]'', called it a forgery in ''The 'Will to Power' does not exist''. For example, Elisabeth removed aphorism 35 of ''The Antichrist'', where Nietzsche rewrote a passage of the Bible (see ''[[The Will to Power]]'' and [[Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche#Nietzsche's criticisms of anti-Semitism and nationalism|Nietzsche's criticisms of anti-Semitism and nationalism]]). ====Notes on citizenship, nationality and ethnicity====Nietzsche is commonly classified as a “German” philosopher by professionals and non-specialists alike.<ref>General commentators and Nietzsche scholars, whether emphasizing his cultural background or his language, overwhelmingly label Nietzsche as a "German philosopher". For example: [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'']; [http://www.amazon.com/Nietzsche-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0192854143 Source: Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction (See Preview on Amazon)]; [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9108765/Friedrich-Nietzsche#387226.hook ''Britannica'']; [http://books.google.com/books?id=Xeb80itrlRIC&pg=PA1&dq=%22German+philosopher%22+Nietzsche&lr=&sig=TGo0nlA9H07fxr4GbfMlDcFRgrQ ''The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche'', page 1]. Others do not assign him a [[nationalism| nationalist]] category. For example:Edward Craid (editor): ''The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of philosophy''. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005, pages 726-741; Simon Blackburn: ''The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pages 252-253; {{cite book|editor= Jonathan Rée and J. O. Urmson|title= The Concise encyclopedia of western philosophy|origyear= 1960|edition= 3rd edition|year= 2005|publisher= Routledge|location= London|isbn= 0-415-32924-8|pages= 267-270}}</ref> The “German” classification is not entirely straightforward because the modern nation of Germany did not exist at the time of his birth. Instead, a number of German states existed, and Nietzsche was a citizen of one of these, Prussia – for a time. When he accepted his post at Basel, Nietzsche applied for the annulment of his Prussian citizenship.<ref>''Er beantragte also bei der preussischen Behörde seine Expatrierung'' [Translation:] "He accordingly applied to the Prussian authorities for expatrification". Curt Paul Janz: ''Friedrich Nietzsche: Biographie'' volume 1. Munich: Carl Hanser, 1978, page 263.</ref> The official response confirming the revocation of his citizenship came in a document dated April 17, 1869.<ref>German text available as ''Entlassungsurkunde für den Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche aus Naumburg'' in Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari: ''Nietzsche Briefwechsel: Kritische Gesamtausgabe''. Part I, Volume 4. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1993. ISBN 3 11 012277 4, page 566.</ref> Thus, officially he was [[statelessness|stateless]].Nietzsche's feelings about his national identity were clearly complex. In [[Ecce Homo]], he writes: <blockquote>Even by virtue of my descent, I am granted an eye beyond all merely local, merely nationally conditioned perspectives; it is not difficult for me to be a "good European." On the other hand, I am perhaps more German than present-day Germans, mere citizens of the German Reich, could possibly be—I, the last ''anti-political'' German. And yet my ancestors were Polish noblemen: I have many racial instincts in my body from that source—who knows? [...] When I consider how often I am addressed as a Pole when I travel, even by Poles themselves, and how rarely I am taken for a German, it might seem that I have been merely externally ''sprinkled'' with what is German.<ref>Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecco Homo, Why I Am So Wise, 3 (trans. by W. Kaufmann)</ref></blockquote> A later revision of the same passage was discovered in 1969 among the papers of [[Peter Gast]].<ref>Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. ''Ecce Homo: How One Becomes what One is.'' Translated by R. J. Hollingdale, Micheal Tanner. (New York: Penguin Classics, 1992), 106.</ref> In it Nietzsche is even more adamant about his Polish Identity. “I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood.”<ref>Some recently translations use this latter text. See: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. The Anti-Christ, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, and Other Writings: And Other Writings. Translated by Judith Norman, Aaron Ridley. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 77.</ref> ==Philosophy==[[Image:Nietzsche1882.jpg|thumb|175px|Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882]]{{main|Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche}}Nietzsche’s works did not reach a wide readership during his active writing career. However, in 1888 [[Georg Brandes]] (an influential Danish critic) aroused considerable excitement about Nietzsche through a series of lectures he gave at the university of Copenhagen. Then in 1894 [[Lou Andreas-Salomé]] published her book, ''Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werken'' [''Friedrich Nietzsche in His Works'']. Andreas-Salomé had known Nietzsche well in the early 1880s, and she returned to the subject of Nietzsche, years later, in her work ''Lebensrückblick – Grundriß einiger Lebenserinnerungen'' [''Looking Back: Memoirs''] (written in 1932), which covered her intellectual relationships with Nietzsche, [[Rainer Maria Rilke| Rilke]], and [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]]. Nietzsche himself had acquired the publication-rights for his earlier works in 1886 and began a process of editing and re-formulation that placed the body of his work in a more coherent perspective. In the years after his death in 1900, Nietzsche's works became widely read, partly thanks to translations into other languages, including English. In the United States, extensive translations of Nietzsche's works appeared, translated by [[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]], who also wrote influential interpretations of Nietzsche’s philosophy (such as ''Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist'' (1950), which he revised and enlarged in numerous later editions). Many other major 20th century philosophers wrote commentaries on Nietzsche’s philosophy, including [[Martin Heidegger]], who produced a four-volume study. An even greater number of major 20th century philosophers (particularly in the tradition of [[continental philosophy]]) cited him as a profound influence on their own philosophy — including [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Michel Foucault|Foucault]] and [[Jacques Derrida|Derrida]]. Nietzsche’s works remain controversial, and there is widespread disagreement about their interpretation and significance. Part of the difficulty in interpreting Nietzsche arises from the uniquely provocative style of his philosophical writing. Nietzsche called himself a philosopher of the hammer, and he frequently delivered trenchant critiques of [[Christianity]] and of great philosophers like [[Plato]] and [[Kant]] in the most offensive and blasphemous terms possible given the context of 19th century Europe. His arguments often employed ''[[ad-hominem]]'' attacks and [[appeal to emotion| emotional appeals]], and, particularly in his aphoristic works, he often jumps from one grand assertion to another (leaping from mountain-top to mountain-top, as he describes it), with little sustained logical support or elucidation of the connection between his ideas. All these aspects of Nietzsche's style run counter to traditional values in philosophical writing, and they alienated Nietzsche from the academic establishment both in his time and, to a lesser extent, today (when some [[Analytic philosophy| analytic philosophers]] tend to dismiss Nietzsche as inconsistent and speculative, producing something other than "real" philosophy). A few of the themes that Nietzsche scholars have devoted the most attention to include Nietzsche's views on [[master and slave morality|morality]], his view that "[[God is dead]]" (and along with it any sort of God's-eye view on the world thus leading to [[perspectivism]]), his notions of the [[will to power]] and [[Übermensch]], and his suggestion of [[eternal return]]. ===Morality===In ''Daybreak'' Nietzsche begins his "Campaign against Morality".<ref>Kaufmann, p.187. (Ecce Homo-M I)</ref> He calls himself an "immoralist" and harshly criticizes the prominent moral schemes of his day: [[Christianity]], [[Kantianism]], and [[Utilitarianism]]. However, Nietzsche did not want to destroy morality, but rather to initiate a re-evaluation of the [[values]] of the Judeo-Christian world. He indicates his desire to bring about a new, more naturalistic source of [[value]] in the vital impulses of [[personal life| life]] itself. In both these projects, Nietzsche's genealogical account of the development of [[master-slave morality]] occupies a central place. Nietzsche presents master-morality as the original system of morality — perhaps best associated with Homeric Greece. Here, value arises as a contrast between good and ''bad'', or between 'life-affirming' and 'life-denying': wealth, strength, health, and power (the sort of traits found in an Homeric hero) count as good; while bad is associated with the poor, weak, sick, and pathetic (the sort of traits conventionally associated with slaves in ancient times). Slave-morality, in contrast, comes about as a reaction to master-morality. Nietzsche associates slave-morality with the Jewish and Christian traditions. Here, value emerges from the contrast between good and ''evil'': good being associated with charity, piety, restraint, meekness, and subservience; evil seen in the cruel, selfish, wealthy, indulgent, and aggressive. Nietzsche sees slave-morality as an ingenious ploy among the slaves and the weak (such as the Jews and Christians dominated by Rome) to overturn the values of their masters and to gain power for themselves: justifying their situation, and at the same time fixing the broader society into a slave-like life. Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a social illness that has overtaken Europe — a derivative and resentful value which can only work by condemning others as evil. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity exists in a hypocritical state wherein people preach love and kindness but find their joy in condemning and punishing others for pursuing those ends which the slave-morality does not allow them to act upon publicly. Nietzsche calls for the strong in the world to break their self-imposed chains and assert their own power, health, and vitality upon the world.<ref>Kaufmann, pp. 111-13, 296-7, 371-2</ref> ===The death of God, nihilism, and perspectivism==={{Main|God is dead|nihilism|perspectivism}} The statement "[[God is dead]]," occurring in several of Nietzsche's works (notably in ''[[The Gay Science]]''), has become one of his best-known remarks. On the basis of this remark, most commentators<ref>{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=George Allen|title=What Nietzsche Means|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Mass.|year=1941|pages=36}}</ref> regard Nietzsche as an [[atheism|atheist]]. In Nietzsche's view, recent developments in modern science and the increasing secularization of European society had effectively 'killed' the Christian God, who had served as the basis for meaning and value in the West for more than a thousand years. Nietzsche claimed the 'death' of God would eventually lead to the loss of any universal perspective on things, and along with it any coherent sense of objective truth.<ref>Lampert, ''Nietzsche's Teaching, 17–8; Heidegger, "The Word of Nietzsche."</ref> Instead we would retain only our own multiple, diverse, and fluid perspectives. This view has acquired the name "[[perspectivism]]". Alternatively, the death of God may lead beyond bare perspectivism to outright [[nihilism]], the belief that nothing has any importance and that [[personal life| life]] lacks purpose. As Heidegger put the problem, "If God as the suprasensory ground and goal of all reality is dead, if the suprasensory world of the Ideas has suffered the loss of its obligatory and above it its vitalizing and upbuilding power, then nothing more remains to which man can cling and by which he can orient himself."<ref>Heidegger, "The Word of Nietzsche," 61.</ref> Developing this idea, Nietzsche wrote ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'', therein introducing the concept of a value-creating [[Übermensch]]. According to Lampert, "the death of God must be followed by a long twilight of piety and nihilism (II. 19; III. 8). […] Zarathustra's gift of the superman is given to a mankind not aware of the problem to which the superman is the solution."<ref>Lampert, ''Nietzsche's Teaching'', 18.</ref> ===The Will to Power==={{Main|Will to power}} An important element of Nietzsche's philosophical outlook is the "will to power" (die Wille zur Macht), which provides a basis for understanding motivation in human behavior. But this concept may have wider application, as Nietzsche, in a number of places, also suggests that the will to power is a more important element than pressure for adaptation or survival.<ref>Beyond Good & Evil 13, Gay Science 349 & Genealogy of Morality II:12</ref> In its later forms Nietzsche's concept of the will to power applies to all living things, suggesting that adaptation and the struggle to survive is a secondary drive in the evolution of animals, less important than the desire to expand one’s power. Nietzsche eventually took this concept further still, and transformed the idea of matter as centers of force into matter as centers of will to power. Nietzsche wanted to dispense with the theory of matter, which he viewed as a relic of the metaphysics of substance.<ref>Nietzsche comments in many notes about matter being a hypothesis drawn from the metaphysics of substance, see G. Whitlock, "Roger Boscovich, Benedict de Spinoza and Friedrich Nietzsche: The Untold Story," ''Nietzsche-Studien'' 25, 1996 p207</ref> One study of Nietzsche defines his fully-developed concept of the will to power as "the element from which derive both the quantitative difference of related forces and the quality that devolves into each force in this relation" revealing the will to power as "the principle of the synthesis of forces."<ref>Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche ad Philosophy, translated by Hugh Tomlinson, 2006, p46</ref> Nietzsche's notion of the will to power can also be viewed as a response to [[Schopenhauer]]'s "will to live." Writing a generation before Nietzsche, Schopenhauer had regarded the entire universe and everything in it as driven by a primordial will to live, thus resulting in all creatures' desire to avoid death and to procreate. Nietzsche, however, challenges Schopenhauer's account and suggests that people and animals really want power; living in itself appears only as a subsidiary aim — something necessary to promote one's power. In defense of his view, Nietzsche appeals to many instances in which people and animals willingly risk their lives in order to promote their power, most notably in instances like competitive fighting and warfare. Once again, Nietzsche seems to take part of his inspiration from the ancient Homeric Greek texts he knew well: Greek heroes and aristocrats or "masters" did not desire mere living (they often died quite young and risked their lives in battle) but wanted power, glory, and greatness. In this regard he often mentions the common Greek theme of ''agon'' or contest.  In addition to Schopenhauer's psychological views, Nietzsche contrasts his notion of the will to power with many of the other most popular psychological views of his day, such as [[utilitarianism]], which claims that all people fundamentally want to be happy (Nietzsche responds that only the Englishman wants that), and Platonism, which claims that people ultimately want to achieve unity with the good or in Christian neo-Platonism, with God. In each case, Nietzsche argues that the "will to power" provides a more useful and general explanation of human behavior. ===Übermensch==={{main|Übermensch}} Another concept important to an understanding of Nietzsche's thought is the ''[[Übermensch]]'' (variously translated – often without regard to the gender-neutrality of the German word ''Mensch'', which means "[[person]]" – as ''superman'', ''superhuman'', or ''overman''). Nietzsche contrasts the ''Übermensch'' with the Last Man, who appears as an exaggerated version of the degraded "goal" that unified the [[liberal democracy|liberal democratic]], [[bourgeois]], [[socialism|socialist]], and [[communism|communist]] social and political programs.<ref>Lampert, ''Nietzsche's Teaching'', 18–27.</ref> The plural ''Übermenschen'' never appears in Nietzsche's writings, which sharply contrasts with Nazi interpretations of his corpus. Michael Tanner suggests ''Übermensch'' means the man who lives above and beyond pleasure and suffering, treating both circumstances equally "because joy and suffering are&nbsp;... inseparable."<ref>Tanner, ''Nietzsche'', 50.</ref> ===The principle of Eternal Return==={{main|Eternal return}} Another of Nietzsche's ideas has become frequently cited, his notion of "eternal recurrence" or [[eternal return]]. Scholars disagree about the proper interpretation of this idea. In one view, Nietzsche proposes a thought-experiment to determine who actually leads their [[personal life|life]] in a strong and vital way: we need to imagine that this life which we lead does not simply end at our deaths, but will repeat over and over again for all eternity, each moment recurring in exactly the same way, without end. Those who recoil from this idea with horror have not yet learned to love and value life in the way that Nietzsche would admire; those who would embrace the idea cheerfully, ''ipso facto'', lead the right sort of life. The idea occurs in a parable in Sec. 341 of ''[[The Gay Science]]'', and also in the chapter "Of the Vision and the Riddle" in ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'', among other places. ==Works=={{main|List of works by Friedrich Nietzsche}} *[[The Birth of Tragedy]] 1872*[[On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense]] 1873*[[The Untimely Meditations|Untimely Meditations]] 1876*[[Human, All Too Human]] 1878 (additions: 1879 & 1880)*[[The Dawn (book)|Daybreak]] 1881*[[The Gay Science]] 1882*[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]] 1883 - 1885*[[Beyond Good and Evil (book)|Beyond Good and Evil]] 1886*[[On the Genealogy of Morality]] 1887*[[The Case of Wagner]] 1888*[[Twilight of the Idols]] 1888*[[The Antichrist (book)|The Anti-christ]] 1888*[[Ecce Homo (book)|Ecce Homo]] 1888*[[Nietzsche contra Wagner]] 1888*[[The Will to Power (manuscript)|The Will to Power]] (unpublished manuscripts edited together by his sister) ==Nietzsche's reading==[[Image:IMG 4118.JPG|thumb|240px|right|The Nietzsche Archiv in [[Weimar]], Germany, which holds many of Nietzsche's papers.]]{{main|Library of Friedrich Nietzsche}}<!--- Nietzsche Archiv is not a typo: Do not change to Nietzsche Archive --->As a [[philologist]], Nietzsche had a thorough knowledge of [[Greek philosophy]]. He read [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], [[John Stuart Mill|Mill]] and [[Schopenhauer]],<ref>Brobjer, Thomas. ''Nietzsche's Reading and Private Library, 1885-1889.'' Published in ''Journal of History of Ideas.'' Accessed via JSTOR on May 18, 2007.</ref> who became his main opponents in his philosophy, and later [[Spinoza]], whom he saw as his "precursor" in some respects<ref>Letter to Franz Overbeck, July 30, 1881</ref> but as a personification of the "ascetic ideal" in others. Nietzsche expressed admiration for [[French literature of the 17th century|17th century French moralists]] such as [[François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)|La Rochefoucauld]], [[Jean de La Bruyère|La Bruyère]] and [[Vauvenargues (writer)|Vauvenargues]],<ref>Brendan Donnellan, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0016-8831%28197905%2952%3A3%3C303%3ANALR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6&size=LARGE "Nietzsche and La Rochefoucauld"] in ''[[The German Quarterly]]'', Vol. 52, No. 3 (May, 1979), pp. 303-318 {{en icon}}</ref> as well as for [[Stendhal]].<ref name=EHC3> See for example ''[[Ecce Homo (book)|Ecce Homo]]'', "Why I am So Clever", §3 </ref>  The [[organicism]] of [[Paul Bourget]] influenced Nietzsche,<ref>Johan Grzelczyk, [http://www.hypernietzsche.org/navigate.php?sigle=jgrzelczyk-4 "Féré et Nietzsche : au sujet de la décadence"], ''HyperNietzsche'', 2005-11-01 {{fr icon}}. Grzelczyk quotes Jacques Le Rider, ''Nietzsche en France. De la fin du XIXe siècle au temps présent'', Paris, PUF, 1999, pp.8-9</ref>as did that of [[Rudolf Virchow]] and [[Alfred Espinas]].<ref>Johan Grzelczyk, [http://www.hypernietzsche.org/navigate.php?sigle=jgrzelczyk-4 "Féré et Nietzsche : au sujet de la décadence"], ''HyperNietzsche'', 2005-11-01 {{fr icon}}. Grzelczyk quotes B. Wahrig-Schmidt, "Irgendwie, jedenfalls physiologisch. Friedrich Nietzsche, Alexandre Herzen (fils) und Charles Féré 1888" in ''Nietzsche Studien'', Band 17, Berlin: [[Walter de Gruyter]], 1988, p.439</ref> Nietzsche early learned of [[Darwinism]] through [[Friedrich Lange]].<ref name=Fouillee>[http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Note_sur_Nietzsche_et_Lange_:_%C2%AB_le_retour_%C3%A9ternel_%C2%BB Note sur Nietzsche et Lange : « le retour éternel »], [[Albert Fouillée]], ''Revue philosophique de la France et de l'étranger''. An. 34. Paris 1909. T. 67, S. 519-525 (on French Wikisource)</ref> Notably, he also read some of the posthumous works of [[Charles Baudelaire]],<ref>Mazzino Montinari, ''"La Volonté de puissance" n'existe pas'', Éditions de l'Éclat, 1996, §13</ref> [[Tolstoy]]'s ''My Religion'', [[Ernest Renan]]'s ''Life of Jesus'' and [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky's]] ''The Possessed''.<ref>Mazzino Montinari, ''"La Volonté de puissance" n'existe pas'', Éditions de l'Éclat, 1996, §13</ref><ref>Walter Kaufmann, ''Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist'', pp. 306-340.</ref> Nietzsche called Dostoevsky "the only psychologist from whom I have anything to learn."<ref>''Twilight of the Idols'', Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889, §45).</ref> Comments in several passages suggest that he responded strongly and favorably to the work of [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]. While Nietzsche never mentions [[Max Stirner]], [[Nietzsche and Max Stirner|similarities in their ideas]] have prompted a minority of interpreters to suggest he both read and was influenced by him.<ref>K. Löwith, ''From Hegel To Nietzsche'', New York, 1964, p187; S. Taylor, ''Left Wing Nietzscheans, The Politics of German Expressionism 1910-1920'', p144, 1990, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York; G. Deleuze, ''Nietzsche and Philosophy'', (translated by Hugh Tomlinson), 2006, pp153-154; R. C. Solomon & K. M. Higgins, ''The Age of German Idealism'', p300, Routledge, 1993; R. A. Samek, ''The Meta Phenomenon'', p70, New York, 1981; T. Goyens, ''Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement In New York City'', p197, Illinois, 2007.</ref> ==Nietzsche's influence and reception=={{main|Influence and reception of Friedrich Nietzsche}}Philosophersand popular culture have responded to Nietzsche's work in complex and sometimes controversial ways. Many Germans eventually discovered his appeals for greater [[individualism]]and personality development in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'', but responded to those appeals divergently. He had some following among left-wing Germans in the 1890s; in 1894–95 German conservatives wanted to ban his work as [[subversive]]. During the late 19th century Nietzsche's ideas were commonly associated with anarchist movements and appear to have had influence within them, particularly in France and the United States.<ref>O. Ewald, "German Philosophy in 1907", in The Philosophical Review, Vol. 17, No. 4, Jul., 1908, pp. 400-426; T. A. Riley, "Anti-Statism in German Literature, as Exemplified by the Work of John Henry Mackay", in PMLA, Vol. 62, No. 3, Sep., 1947, pp. 828-843; C. E. Forth, "Nietzsche, Decadence, and Regeneration in France, 1891-95", in Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 54, No. 1, Jan., 1993, pp. 97-117</ref> By the [[First World War]], however, he had acquired a reputation as an inspiration for right-wing German [[militarism]]. German soldiers even received copies of ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' as gifts during World War I.<ref>Kaufmann, p.8</ref> The [[Dreyfus Affair]] provides another example of his reception: the French anti-semitic Right labelled the Jewish and Leftist intellectuals who defended [[Alfred Dreyfus]] as "Nietzscheans".<ref>Schrift, A.D. (1995). ''Nietzsche's French Legacy: A Genealogy of Poststructuralism''. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91147-8.</ref> Political dictators of the twentieth century, including [[Stalin]],<ref>D. Volkogonov: ''Stalin'', part I, near the end of its introduction (2006).</ref> [[Hitler]],<ref>See e.g. A. Kubizek: ''The Young Hitler I Knew'', c. 17, p. 181, Greenhill Books, 2006.</ref> and [[Mussolini]]<ref>See e.g. D. Irving: ''Hitler's War'', part I, c. 3, near the beginning (2005).</ref> read Nietzsche. The [[Nazi]]s made use of Nietzsche's philosophy, but did so selectively; this association with National Socialism caused Nietzsche's reputation to suffer following the [[Second World War]]. Nevertheless, Nietzschean ideas exercised a major influence on several prominent European philosophers, including [[Michel Foucault]], [[Gilles Deleuze]], [[Jacques Derrida]], [[Martin Heidegger]], [[Albert Camus]], and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]. In the Anglo-American tradition, the scholarship of [[Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)|Walter Kaufmann]] and [[R. J. Hollingdale]] rehabilitated Nietzsche as a philosopher, and [[analytic philosophy|analytic philosophers]] such as [[Alexander Nehamas]] and [[Brian Leiter]] continue to study him today. A vocal minority of recent Nietzschean interpreters (Bruce Detwiler, Fredrick Appel, Domenico Losurdo, Abir Taha) have contested what they consider the popular but erroneous [[egalitarian]] misrepresentation of Nietzsche's "aristocratic radicalism". ==See also==*[[List of works about Friedrich Nietzsche]] ==Notes==<!-- Some browsers scramble long URLs in multi-columnar formats -->{{reflist|2}} == References==*{{cite book|last=Deleuze|first=Gilles|title=Nietzsche and Philosophy|publisher=Athlone Press|year=1983|others=trans. Hugh Tomlinson|isbn=0485112337}}*{{cite book|last=Kaufmann|first=Walter|title=Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1974|isbn=0691019835}}*{{cite book|last=Lampert|first=Laurence|title=Nietzsche's Teaching: An Interpretation of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"|publisher=New Haven: Yale University Press|year=1986|isbn=0300044305}}*Magnus and Higgins, "Nietzsche's works and their themes", in ''The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche'', Magnus and Higgins (ed.), University of Cambridge Press, 1996, pp.21-58. ISBN 0521367670*O'Flaherty, James C., Sellner, Timothy F., Helm, Robert M., "Studies in Nietzsche and the Classical Tradition" (University of North Carolina Press)1979 ISBN 0-08078-8085-X*O'Flaherty, James C., Sellner, Timothy F., Helm, Robert M., ""Studies in Nietzsche and the Judaeo-Christian Tradition" (University of North Carolina Press)1985 ISBN 0-8078-8104-X*Seung, T.K. ''Nietzsche's Epic of the Soul: Thus Spoke Zarathustra''. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005. ISBN 0739111302*{{citebook|author=Tanner, Michael|title=Nietzsche|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994|isbn=0192876805}}*{{cite encyclopedia|author=Wicks, Robert|title=Friedrich Nietzsche|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|edition=Fall 2004 Edition|editor=Edward N. Zalta|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2004/entries/nietzsche/}}*{{cite book | last = Baird | first = Forrest E. | authorlink = | coauthors = Walter Kaufmann | title = From Plato to Derrida | publisher = Pearson Prentice Hall | year = 2008 | location = Upper Saddle River, New Jersey | pages =1011-1038 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-13-158591-6 }} ==External links=={{sisterlinks|commons=Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche}} ====Full texts====*[http://www.nietzsche.at/gedichte.htm Poems] {{De icon}}*{{gutenberg author |id=Friedrich_Nietzsche | name=Friedrich Nietzsche}}*[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=Friedrich+Nietzsche&action=Search Works by Friedrich Nietzsche] in audio format from [[LibriVox]] ====Media====*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4164520914185017719 ''Nietzsche on Hardship'']: a documentary about Nietzsche and his philosophy*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-184240591461103528 ''Human, All Too Human : Nietzsche'']: a documentary by the BBC (1999)*[http://www.nietzschelieder.de Nietzschelieder]: the written songs by Nietzsche, set to music by [http://www.independentartmusic.com/nietzschelieder_deutsch.html independent artists]{{De icon}}*[http://www.intratext.com/Catalogo/Autori/AUT275.HTM Friedrich Nietzsche]: text with concordances and frequency-list ====Other sources====*[[Open Directory Project]]: [http://dmoz.org/Society/Philosophy/Philosophers/N/Nietzsche,_Friedrich/ Friedrich Nietzsche]*{{sep entry|nietzsche|Friedrich Nietzsche|Robert Wicks|2007-11-14}}*[http://www.fns.org.uk/ Friedrich Nietzsche Society]*[http://www.dartmouth.edu/~fnchron/index.html Nietzsche Chronicle] (Detailed Chronology and Biography)*[http://www.nietzscheforum.com/ Nietzsche Forum]*{{sep entry|nietzsche-moral-political|Nietzsche's Moral and Political Philosophy|[[Brian Leiter]]|2007-07-27}}*[http://www.ru.nl/pracphil/nietzsche/Home.html Nietzsche Research Group: Radboud University Nijmegen] {{Nl icon}}{{De icon}}{{En icon}}*[http://nypl.org/research/chss/grd/resguides/nietzsche/ Nietzsche Research Guide]*[http://www.f-nietzsche.de/start_e.htm Nietzsche: Works of Youth - Music - Lou Salomé]*[http://www.readingnietzsche.com/ Seattle Nietzsche Reading Group: Nietzsche memorabilia and bibliography]*[http://www.nietzschecircle.com/ The Nietzsche Circle]*[http://friedrichnietzschesociety.wordpress.com/ The Friedrich Nietzsche Society official Blog] *[http://www.konvergencias.net/vasquezrocca188.pdf '''Nietzsche y Sloterdijk'''; '''Nihilism''']*[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9C02EEDD1530E233A25754C0A9639C946196D6CF&oref=slogin Dr. Joseph Jacobs, ''A Critical Consideration of the German Philosopher, if Philosopher He Can be Called, Based Upon the New English Translation of His Works'' - May 7, 1910, The New York Times, Page BR8.]*[http://www.nietzsche-news.org Nietzsche News Center: conferences, seminars, publications and events]{{Philosophy topics}}{{Nietzsche}} {{Persondata|NAME=Nietzsche, Friedrich|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm|SHORT DESCRIPTION=19th century philosopher|DATE OF BIRTH={{birth date|1844|10|15|mf=y}}|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Röcken]], near [[Leipzig]], [[Saxony]]|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|1900|8|25|mf=y}}|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Weimar]]}}{{Lifetime|1844|1900|Nietzsche, Friedrich}}[[Category:Children 19th century philosophers]][[Category:Aphorists]][[Category:Atheist philosophers]][[Category:Cause of Clergydeath disputed]][[Category:Continental philosophers]][[Category:Deaths from pneumonia]][[Category:Determinists]][[Category:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[Category:German philosophers]][[Category:German anti-communists]][[Category:German-language philosophers]][[Category:German philologists]][[Category:Hellenists]][[Category:People from the Province of Saxony]][[Category:Stateless persons]][[Category:University of Bonn alumni]][[Category:University of Leipzig alumni]][[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Germany]] {{Link FA|de}}{{Link FA|fr}}{{Link FA|sv}}<!-- Interwiki -->[[af:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[als:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ar:فريدريك نيتشه]][[az:Fridrix Niçşe]][[bn:ফ্রিড্‌রিশ নিচে]][[zh-min-nan:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[be-x-old:Фрыдрых Ніцшэ]][[bar:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[bs:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[br:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[bg:Фридрих Ницше]][[ca:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]][[cs:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[cy:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[da:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[de:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[et:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[el:Φρειδερίκος Νίτσε]][[es:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[eo:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]][[eu:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[fa:فریدریش نیچه]][[fr:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[fy:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ga:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[gl:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ko:프리드리히 니체]][[hy:Ֆրիդրիխ Նիցշե]][[hi:फ़्रीडरिच नीट्शे]][[hr:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[io:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ilo:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[id:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[is:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[it:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[he:פרידריך ניטשה]][[jv:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ka:ფრიდრიხ ნიცშე]][[kk:Ницше, Фридрих]][[ku:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]][[la:Fridericus Nietzsche]][[lv:Frīdrihs Nīče]][[lb:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[lt:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[hu:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[mk:Фридрих Ниче]][[ml:ഫ്രീഡ്രിക്ക് നീച്ച]][[mt:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[mn:Фридрих Ницше]][[nl:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ja:フリードリヒ・ニーチェ]][[no:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[nn:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[oc:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[uz:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[pag:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[pms:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[pl:Fryderyk Nietzsche]][[pt:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ro:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ru:Ницше, Фридрих Вильгельм]][[sco:Friedrich Nietszche]][[sq:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[scn:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[simple:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[sk:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[sl:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]][[sr:Фридрих Ниче]][[sh:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[su:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[fi:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[sv:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[ta:பிரீட்ரிக் நீட்சே]][[tl:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[th:ฟรีดริช นีทเชอ]][[vi:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[tr:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]][[uk:Ніцше Фрідріх]][[ur:نطشے]][[vo:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[wa:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[diq:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[bat-smg:Friedrich Nietzsche]][[zh:弗里德里希·尼采]]