Friedrich Nietzsche: Life, Philosophy and Major Works
Historical and Philosophical Context
The thought of the author the context in which his thought developed is essential. In nineteenth century Europe, the Industrial Revolution (which arose in England in the eighteenth century) and the liberal revolutions (whose antecedents include the independence of North America with respect to England, and the French Revolution) profoundly transformed society. As a consequence of these events, the stamped and stable class society was replaced by the bourgeois society, represented by the capitalist and industrial class, defender of liberties politically and economically. The proletariat, for its part, became aware of its miserable situation and began a movement of workers, in which Marx played a prominent role.
Furthermore, the nationalist ideology, driven by the needs of the Industrial Revolution, gave a definitive impulse to German and Italian unification. The important cultural movements of the nineteenth century were romanticism, which dominated the first half of the century, and positivism, which prevailed in the second half. As the century progressed, a broad anti-Enlightenment movement took shape, which had as a precursor the German Sturm und Drang and Goethe.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) was German, and grandson of a Protestant pastor. He studied philology and theology. His youthful enthusiasm was for the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the music of Wagner. At only 25 years of age he became a full professor of classical philology at Basel.
His work can be divided into three stages:
a. Aesthetic or Romantic Stage
This stage shows a clear influence of Wagner and Schopenhauer, and Heraclitean inspiration. In 1872 he published The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music.
b. Illustrated or Positivist Stage
After breaking with Wagner and leaving Schopenhauer's philosophy, this stage is based on the turn toward the Enlightenment. Nietzsche adopted a positivist attitude and criticized metaphysics. Works from this period include Human, All Too Human (1878), Dawn (1881) and The Gay Science (1882).
c. Mature or Prophetic Stage
His thought began a fundamental critique of modernity and traditional morality. Works from this period include Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), On the Genealogy of Morality (1887), Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist and Ecce Homo (1888-1889).
Final Years
Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse in his last year of lucidity, after which he depended on the care of his mother and, later, his sister. He died ten years later, after a stroke caused by cerebral paralysis. In 1901 a set of notes was published posthumously under the title The Will to Power.