Friedrich Nietzsche: biography of the thinker beyond good and evil

When we think about philosophy, names of classical authors such as Aristotle, Plato or Epicurus normally come to mind. But, if we think about more recent characters, one of those who appears most frequently is Friedrich Nietzsche.

This philosopher He was very interested in three themes that he developed throughout his work: the idea of ​​the superman, the end of religion as a model of values ​​in modern society and his reflections on good and evil. In this article we will learn more about his life and his main ideas.

His early life

He was born in Röcken bei Lützen, Prussia, on October 15, 1844. He was the son of a Lutheran preacher who instilled in him an unconditional love for God. and for religious life. His father died in immense suffering and deep pain when Friedrich was only four years old.

This seems to have left a deep mark on the child that never fully healed. The immense love that he felt towards his father, whom he considered a good person, and his early death shook the foundations of his life.

He never understood how a kind God could send such torment to someone who had served him faithfully, as his father did. From a very young age, got caught in deep cognitive dissonance.

The death of his father led his family to move to Naumburg. There, she immersed herself in formal education, first attending a boys’ school and later a private academy, where he cultivated friendships with privileged peers.

In 1854, his academic path took him to the Domgymnasium in Naumburg and, after the death of his grandmother, he was able to enjoy a stable home. In 1856 he wrote his first essay entitled About the origin of evil. During his time at the prestigious Schulpforta from 1858 to 1864, he not only excelled in music and language, but also forged valuable friendships.

Friedrich Nietzsche began his higher education at the University of Bonn, focusing briefly on theology and then classical philology. Schopenhauer’s work and History of materialism de Lange reoriented their passions towards philosophy.

His student life also included an incident in a brothel, which some speculate was the source of a syphilis infection. He also completed a military service that was interrupted by an accident, after which he returned to his studies. It was around this time that he met Richard Wagner, a figure who would have a considerable impact on his intellectual and personal development.

The works of Friedrich Nietzsche

Before completing his university training, he was invited to join the University of Basel as a professor of classical philology, thus becoming its youngest academic. At that stage, he stood out for his contribution to the study of the poetic meter of antiquity.

The University of Leipzig awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of the excellence of his work, and soon after he was promoted to honorary professor at Basel. After moving to Switzerland, he renounced his German citizenship and lived without an official nationality for the rest of his life.

Nietzsche established important relationships during his time in Basel, including friendship with Franz Overbeck and the influence of historian Jacob Burckhardt. He also met and became attached to Richard Wagner and his wife, Cosima.

However, his first important work, The birth of tragedy in the spirit of musicwas received with criticism harsh treatment by his contemporaries, which intensified his isolation within the academic community and his subsequent failure to obtain a professorship in philosophy.

Between 1873 and 1876, he published his Untimely considerations and, although initially influenced by Wagner, his disappointment with the Bayreuth Festival marked a growing distance from the Wagnerian environment.

Finally, in 1879, his physical deterioration forced him to retire from teaching, ending his academic career marked by intense health problems that had followed him since his youth.

Helpful insulation

During the 1880s, He is going through a nervous disorder that forces him to completely isolate himself for a long time. But this isolation meant, in turn, a very fruitful period, which led to the development of the key points on which the bases of his philosophical thought would be laid.

During this stage, one of his most famous statements began to take shape: “God is dead, God is still dead, and we have killed him.” The nihilism with which he would be known began to become strong in his thinking, his rejection of Christianity and its values ​​as a significant force in society was increasingly reinforced.

Why nihilism? Why has God died? It is not that God is dead in the strictest sense of the word, but that, for him, there is nothing more to believe, The universality of moral values ​​no longer exists.

The decline of moral values

This great philosopher destroyed the old values, rejected the authority and submission of the flock. He built his idea of ​​the superman, of the will to power, of the creation and destruction of values.

He distanced himself from all traditional philosophy, spoke of the idea of ​​eternal return and placed the will to power beyond good and evil. In this way, he weaves together the thoughts of one of the figures who has contributed the most to contemporary philosophy.

In this period, he wrote some of his most recognized works: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Genealogy of Morals and twilight of the idols. From them, Nietzsche’s best phrases have been obtained.

The ideas of the superman, of the individual who strives to exist beyond what is considered good and evil, are presented in Thus spake Zarathustra and finish drawing them in He Antichrist. In the latter, his absolute rejection of the herd, of submission, will become even more evident.

The idea of ​​eternal return

During this period of illness, he developed this idea in Gay science and in Thus spake Zarathustra. The concept of eternal return does not literally assume the infinite repetition of life, but rather is presented as a mental exercise. It is a challenge to the individual conception of existence and will.

While critics of this idea saw life as a flow of events dictated by fate or chance, Friedrich Nietzsche invited an appreciation of life in its immediacy. He proposed that life must be lived with fullness and presencein such a way that you want to relive each moment exactly as it happened, accepting both the satisfactions and the adversities.

The theory of eternal return is, therefore, a call for the affirmation of life, to make every decision and live every moment. With this, he challenges traditional morality and encourages the creation of a new ethic where the individual, acting as his own legislator and judge, is freed from the regulations imposed by Christianity and its structures of obedience and authority.

The Nietzschean Superman

In his convalescence, specifically, in 1882, when he published the Gay science, also outlines one of his most famous and recognized ideas: the superman, which he would later develop in depth in Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Superman is an ideal aimed not at the masses or mediocrity, but at those with the potential to transcend the ordinary. Recognizing the need for an extensive and robust cultural base, he sees in ordinary individuals a necessary substrate for the flourishing of a higher culture.

The superman is understood as the purpose of earthly existence, the one capable of embracing life in all its dimensions, both in the light of reason and in the darkness of passion, longing for the perpetuation of his present through the concept of eternal return.

Thus it represents an affirmative spirit, which Instead of denying life as a man attached to Christian doctrines would do, he accepts it fully. He is not only a hero, but also a thinker, a philosopher of the future who synthesizes passion and intellectual power, strength and skill, projecting the image of a complete and multifaceted being.

This superman would be the creator of new values, would reject moral homogenization and would fight against institutions that seek to suppress uniqueness and excellence. In this context, this new man would emerge as the driving force towards a renewal of virtue and morality.

The will to power

After his university retirement for health reasons, he also shaped his conception of the will to power. This is a universal phenomenon that permeates both organic beings and the cosmos as a whole. It is not limited to domination over others, but represents self-improvementa driving force towards growth and self-affirmation.

So, We can define it as the intrinsic drive towards development and self-improvement, an active principle of expansion and strengthening in all areas of existence. It manifests itself as the vital impulse that seeks the fulfillment of desires and the expansion of what one has, not only materially but also in terms of capabilities and achievements.

It is a self-sustaining force that, before aiming towards external objectives, must recognize and value itself. This concept seeks to reconfigure the understanding of the world, assigning the human being a central place in the revaluation of reality and established values.

Just as the aspiration to acquire something requires a conscious effort to increase economic means, the will to power requires a constant commitment to self-transformation and perseverance in self-development.

Last years and illness

In 1889, the madness of Friedrich Nietzsche It led to a mental disability from which he would not recover.. Her illness was not diagnosed at the time, although many authors have attributed it to hereditary causes, a brain tumor, syphilis and even the excessive use of sedative substances.

At the time he was confined due to his mental illness, he was isolated in the family home he shared with his sister in Weimar, Germany. It is believed that he organized visits to his house to show the sorry state his brother was in, as if it were some kind of macabre spectacle. Without ever recovering, he finally died on August 25, 1900.

Legacy and influence

This philosopher has been considered one of the most influential figures in 20th century philosophy. His concept of the meaning of existence, morality, and the individuality of people influenced the work of other great thinkers of the 20th century, such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Michel Foucault, among others.

During the years after his death, some of his work was also used by the Nazi party that made misleading, selective and out of context use of some of…