Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844–1900)

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German existential philosopher whose ideas have been applied across the political spectrum. His reflections on morality, power, truth, nationalism, self-transformation, Christianity, and Western philosophy have influenced social movements, revolutionaries, countercultures, and national dictators. Nietzsche's corpus spans three decades, [Page 1034]beginning with The Birth of Tragedy (1872) and ending with The Will to Power (1901), which was published posthumously. His overarching project investigated Western culture's production of “human beings.” For Nietzsche, our morals, values, myths, and practices are fabrications, creating particular, not universal, ways of living. Nothing exists before or after these fabrications. We are thus confronted with the abyss of our existence: nihilism. Lesser folks, afraid to acknowledge the abyss, flee from our nature. Higher-order individuals, however, recognize our nature and consciously create new, innovative fabrications. These individuals overcome the Western imprint of bad conscience and live freely, setting the course for future histories. Nietzsche's theories profoundly affected 20th-century philosophy, literature, anthropology, critical and cultural studies, aesthetics, and the eventual Postmodern turn.

Born in Prussia, Nietzsche lost his father at the age of 4, was raised by his mother, grandmother, sister, and two aunts, and despite proposing, never married. Nietzsche earned a formal education at the University of Bonn, where he studied theology and classical philology. After a year in the army, cut short because of poor health, he was appointed as chair of philology at Basel. He traveled often, visiting various European countries, and reading Greek, Roman, French, and English literature. Nietzsche, often depicted as lonely and quiet, was afflicted with chronic illness throughout his life. In 1889, he collapsed from a mental breakdown and from then on suffered from insanity.

Although Nietzsche never developed a systematic political philosophy, many political movements and actors utilized, and at times abused, his ideas. There are three main reasons that his work was so often exploited. First, Nietzsche's prosaic writing allows for creative, and often mistaken, interpretations—quotes can be taken out of context yet generate useful and interesting applications. Second, Nietzsche's theories are easily applicable as tools for social change. Perfectionism of the individual, transformation, revaluation of social mores, and personal power can be used for liberal and conservative agendas, political liberations and oppressions, social stasis and revolution. And last, Nietzsche's estate holder, his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, mishandled and misrepresented many of his works. She believed, for instance, that The Will to Power was Nietzsche's magnum opus, though the work is simply a compilation of material taken from personal notebooks that were never intended for publication.

Many people accuse Nietzsche of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and proto-Fascism—all assertions that hold some credence. Nietzsche's depictions of women are at times unflattering; he calls for the “highest men” to lead uninformed masses; he argues for a future human race to reset history; and Adolph Hitler used Nietzsche to justify Nazism. But these accusations are all somewhat debatable. Nietzsche often used the term woman in metaphorical ways; he believed that uninformed masses hold the potential to lead themselves; he despised nationalism; and his works inspired democratic movements. Nietzsche's philosophies—despite or perhaps because of these debates—remain relevant to today's activism.

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