Key Philosophers: Marx and Nietzsche

• Influence

  • Widely influential outside philosophy.
  • Nietzsche's influence particularly strong on creative writers such as Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, and D.H. Lawrence.

• Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Born in Saxony, 1844.
  • Brilliance as a classic scholar, became a professor in mid-20s.
  • Left academia to focus on philosophy.
  • Notable works: "The Birth of Tragedy," "Human, All Too Human," "The Gay Science," "Beyond Good and Evil," and "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."

Nietzsche’s Philosophical Journey

• Influences

  • Initially influenced by Schopenhauer and Wagner.
  • Rebelled against both, producing anti-Wagner polemics.

• Themes and Ideas

  • Faced Western man’s loss of faith and transcendental beliefs.
  • Proposed that values and truth are created by man for his own needs.
  • Developed the idea of "revaluation of all values."

Nietzsche’s Critique of Traditions

• Christian Morality

  • Critiqued Christianity for promoting support for the weak and underdog.
  • Advocated for self-creation of values independent of external support.

• Secular Morality

  • Criticized generalization and commonality in secular moral systems.
  • Valued individualism over "herd morality."

• Ancient Greek Influence

  • Approved of pre-Socratic Greek tragedy.
  • Critiqued Socratic reason and rationalization.

Nietzsche’s Late Philosophy

• Four Major Themes
  • Will to Power: A concept of self-overcoming and inner strength.
  • Übermensch/Superman: A vision of human transcendence and authenticity, often misunderstood as related to Nazi ideology.
  • Eternal Recurrence: A moral thought experiment suggesting life should be lived as if it would be repeated infinitely.
  • Aesthetic Understanding of Life: Life justified as a work of art, an aesthetic phenomenon.

Influence and Misinterpretation

• Literary Influence

  • Influenced Yeats, Shaw, Lawrence, and Continental writers like Thomas Mann.
  • Style and metaphor had significant literary appeal.

• Association with Nazism

  • Misappropriated by Nazis; controversial association.
  • Some concepts aligned with fascist ideology, yet many of Nietzsche’s ideas are fundamentally opposed to totalitarian views.

Conclusion

• Legacy
  • Nietzsche’s work explores the extent of human potential and the creation of values.
  • Despite misappropriations, his philosophical inquiries remain significant in understanding human possibilities and ethics.