Enlightenment Era and the Philosophical Roots of Nietzsche

Historical Background of the Eighteenth Century

The eighteenth century began with an international conflict over the Spanish Succession, which pitted European powers against each other, followed by the War of the Austrian Succession. England and France were the primary protagonists of these conflicts. This era led to two major events of the time: the independence of the American colonies in the north and the French Revolution. These facts constituted a radical change in Europe that transformed society, institutions, and the way of organizing government. It was the Age of Enlightenment, characterized by a blind faith in reason. In Prussia, this movement also promoted basic education.

Socio-cultural Framework and the Industrial Revolution

For society, the highlight of this period was the rise of the European population, a positive effect related to the Industrial Revolution that facilitated population growth and improved the nutrition of the people. There was a diminution of wars and improved hygiene. However, society remained stratified; the privileged classes were the nobility and the clergy, contrasted against the bourgeoisie and peasantry who formed the Third Estate. These social differences were the primary causes of the revolution.

Philosophical Framework: The Life and Thought of Kant

Kant's childhood and thinking were influenced by Pietism, a movement instilled by his mother that Kant later rejected; nonetheless, Pietism remained very present in Germanic society. In 1740, he entered the University of Königsberg as a theological student and became an alumnus of Martin Knutzen, who introduced him to the rationalist philosophy of Leibniz and Wolff and instilled in him an interest in natural science. Amidst the crumbling of traditional metaphysical approaches, especially regarding ethics and policy, Kantian thought emerged.

The Intellectual Influences on Friedrich Nietzsche

To find the influences on Nietzsche, one must go back to Ancient Greece, of which he was a dedicated scholar. Homer, Heraclitus, and Democritus are examples of the ancient sources of his thought. Later, he came to admire Michel de Montaigne and Voltaire. Closer influences can be found in the idealist line, initiated by Kant and the Enlightenment project, reaching its climax in Hegel, for whom "everything is right." He also admired Goethe, who tried to understand the world through an artistic rather than conceptual key, and Heinrich Heine, who had already spoken of the "death of God" and attributed it as a key concern.

The two figures who exerted a very direct influence on Nietzsche were Arthur Schopenhauer and Richard Wagner:

• From Schopenhauer, he adopted the vision of the world as the will to exist.
• Richard Wagner, in his youth, had contacts with L. Feuerbach and the Hegelian left, but at the end of his life, he took conservative positions. From Wagner, Nietzsche took the sense of freedom expressed in his music. When Wagner abandoned these ideals, Nietzsche felt betrayed.