Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm

(1844–1900)

   Philosopher.

   Nietzsche was born in Rocher, Prussia. He was the son of a Lutheran minister and he was educated at the Universities of Bonn and Leipzig. On the recommendation of ritschl he was appointed to a Chair at the University of Basle in 1869, but was compelled to resign on grounds of ill-health ten years later. He became insane in 1889. He is remembered for his prophetic books which included Also Sprach Zarathustra, Jenseits von Gut und Böse and Der Antichrist. Influenced by schopenhauer and profoundly disturbed by the evolutionary theories of darwin, he taught that the ‘Superman’ must go beyond good and evil and transcend the traditional teachings of Christianity. In a single-minded drive for power, through self-discipline and strength, he will achieve success, order and power in the world. Nietzsche’s vision and his scorn of the ‘weak’ and ‘pitiful’ values of the Christian Church were adopted as part of the fascist creed of Adolf Hitler.

   F. Copleston, Friedrich Nietzsche: Philosopher of Culture, revised edition (1975);

   W.A. Kaufmann, Nietzsche;

   Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist (1974);

   P.R. Sedgwick (ed.), Nietzsche: A Critical Reader (1995);

   M. Tanner, Nietzsche (1994).