Nietzsche’s Era: Unification, Industrialization, and Philosophy
Historical Background
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) lived during the second half of the 19th century, a period marked by German unification. Prussia, under Bismarck’s leadership, drove this unification through industrial development and military strength. After defeating France in the Battle of Sedan, the German Empire was established, altering Europe’s political landscape.
Sociocultural Context
Unification led to rapid economic growth and urbanization in Germany. The bourgeoisie controlled finance and industry, while industrial workers organized for better conditions. Technological advancements, such as electricity and the telephone, coexisted with philosophical movements like positivism and Darwin’s evolutionism. Thinkers like Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx emerged, alongside literary realism and artistic movements like Impressionism and Expressionism.
Philosophical Framework
German philosophy was influenced by Hegelian idealism and Schopenhauer’s irrationalism. Wilhelm Dilthey emphasized understanding the environment to save humanity from reason’s constraints. This intellectual landscape shaped Nietzsche’s thought.
Influences on Nietzsche
- Greek Philosophy: Pre-Socratics, especially Heraclitus, and the Sophists.
- Kant and Schopenhauer: The possibility of alternative thought and the will as reality.
- Romanticism: Figures like Wagner and Heine, the concept of genius.
Nietzsche’s Impact
Nietzsche’s ideas influenced thinkers like Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, and Heidegger, particularly in existentialism and the critique of nihilism.