Freidrich+Nietzsche



Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche believed in strengthening a connection to the physical world, rather than with a spiritual world. “As a means towards cultural rebirth, he advocates the resurrection and fuller release of Dionysian artistic energies — those which he associates with primordial creativity, joy in existence and ultimate truth” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Nietzsche thought a cultural rebirth would be in order, teaching others to focus on the physical world. He was a proponent of nihilism as well. He believed that the realization that life has no inherent meaning would benefit man, and teach people to focus on the realities of the world. “He looked to the superman, the creator of a new heroic morality that would consciously affirm life and the life values. That superman would represent the highest passion and creativity and would live at a level of experience beyond the conventional standards of good and evil” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). He thus constructed the idea of the “Übermensch”, feeling that Christian morals had failed. He sought to show the world what he considered to be the ideal man – one who had no need for the standard views of morality.
 * Aim** (Kelsey Thomas)

Works Cited "Friedrich Nietzsche." //(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)//. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. "Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche." //Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia//. 6th ed. N.p.: Columbia UP, n.d. 1. //EBSCOhost//. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.


 * Cultural** (Austin Hammonds):

The main area in which culture was affected by Freidrich Nietzsche was philosophy. Nietzsche was a major proponent of Nihilism, although his has been under debate as to whether or not his views were about Nihilism (Internet Encyclopedia, Nihilism and the Revelation of Values). One of the most influential pieces Nietzsche authored was "The Gay Science", in which the famous statement "God is dead" was first authored. The purpose of this revelation is that humanity has evolved past the original purpose of religion. An analysis by Martin Heidegger in "The Word of Nietzsche" says that humanity has grown away from the original morals that religion enforces, and have instead moved to practice the faith for simply being a faith. This has effectively "killed" God as he originally was. The works of Nietzsche were originally inspirational to mostly just writers and artists, and other professions based around creativity as opposed to logic (Stanford Encyclopedia).

Works Cited:

Wilkerson, Dale. " Nietzsche, Friedrich [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . N.p., 21 Aug. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. .  "Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." //Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy // . N.p., 30 May 1997. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. .    
 * Historical** (Alex Frank):

Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the first existentialist philosophers. Among other ideas, he pioneered the belief that, "God is dead and that life without God is meaningless" (Friedrich Nietzsche). It was his view that humans should base the value of their existence on their life in this world, rather than on the possibility of life in another world. This became the central tenet of the Existentialism movement that became popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Part of the popularity of the movement came from its separation from religion, which was the foundation upon which Nietzsche built his philosophy. Nietzsche's writings about atheism, "aim to redirect people's attention to their inherent freedom, the presently-existing world, and away from escapist, pain-relieving, heavenly otherworlds" (Wicks). The idea that humans should focus on their current existence was adopted by cultures world-wide which sought an escape from religion. Among others, the Fascists of WWII used Nietzsche's existential ideas to further their goals. They used his ideas to argue that if God did not exist and if the present world was the only realm that mattered, then they should attempt to perfect themselves and their place within that world. This was a misinterpretation of his work, as they fashioned themselves as their own gods while spouting the existentialist ideas that humans created meaning in life. Despite this, many philosophers and scholars were able to discern the true intent of Nietzche's work, and resisted the excess of fascism.  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4d4d4d; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;">Works Cited: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4d4d4d; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"> Wicks, Robert. "Friedrich Nietzsche." //(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)//. Stanford University, 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.

"Friedrich Nietzsche." //Friedrich Nietzsche//. AllAboutPhilosophy.org, 2002. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.