Nietzsche’s Influences and Philosophical Evolution
Historical, Cultural, and Philosophical Context
In the nineteenth century, Europe experienced the widespread impact of the Industrial Revolution (originating in England in the eighteenth century) and the liberal-bourgeois revolutions (such as the American Revolution and the French Revolution). Consequently, the estate society was replaced by a class society, represented by the capitalist bourgeoisie, who advocated for political and economic liberalism, and the proletariat. The proletariat became increasingly aware of their dire situation and initiated the labor movement, significantly influenced by Karl Marx.
Furthermore, nationalist ideologies and the practical needs of the Industrial Revolution fueled German and Italian unification.
The major cultural movements of the nineteenth century were Romanticism (first half) and Positivism (second half). Romanticism, a counter-Enlightenment movement with Goethe as a precursor, emphasized passion and feeling over Enlightenment rationalism and re-evaluated tradition against the idea of future progress. Prominent Romantic writers included Victor Hugo (French), Lord Byron (English), Goethe (German), and Espronceda Larra (Spanish). Wagner and Chopin were among the notable Romantic musicians.
Positivism generally refers to the attitude that science and philosophy should limit themselves to analyzing empirical facts, establishing relationships and laws between them. This implies a renunciation of knowing the ultimate reality or the essence of things. Positivism represents an anti-metaphysical stance when metaphysics addresses the essence of things.
In the philosophical realm, German Idealism, primarily represented by Hegel, dominated the first half of the nineteenth century. The second half saw a reaction to Hegel. After Hegel (who considered all reality as subject), anti-Hegelians emerged, including Schopenhauer, whose work The World as Will and Representation strongly influenced Nietzsche. Some critics of Hegel, like Marx, still followed some of his fundamental ideas.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Vitalism arose. This current included diverse authors who prioritized the reality of life, to which everything else must be subordinated. Because ‘life’ can be understood in various ways—biologically, historically, biographically, metaphysically—authors as disparate as Bergson, Nietzsche, and Ortega y Gasset are grouped under the generic name of Vitalism.
Nietzsche’s Life and Work
Friedrich W. Nietzsche (1844-1900) was German, the son and grandson of Protestant pastors. He studied philology and theology. From a young age, he was enthusiastic about Schopenhauer’s philosophy and Wagner’s music. At 25, he became a professor of classical philology in Basel.
His work can be divided into three stages:
- Aesthetic or Romantic: Clearly influenced by Schopenhauer, Wagner, and Heraclitus. In 1872, he published The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music.
- Enlightened or Positivist: After breaking with Wagner and abandoning Schopenhauer’s philosophy, he drew inspiration from Voltaire and the Enlightenment, adopting a positivist attitude to criticize metaphysics. Works from this period include Human, All Too Human (1875-1878), Aurora (1881), and The Gay Science (1882).
- Prophetic or Maturity: His thought initiated a fierce critique of modernity and traditional morality. Key works include Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), On the Genealogy of Morality (1887), Twilight of the Idols (the work to which the provided text belongs), The Antichrist, and Ecce Homo (1889).
In 1889, Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse, leading him to depend on the care of his mother and later his sister. He died ten years later from a stroke. In 1901, a collection of his notes and writings was published under the title The Will to Power.