Nietzsche’s Philosophy: Context, Periods, and Critique
Nietzsche’s Philosophical Context
The nineteenth century in Europe was marked by the Industrial Revolution, originating in England in the eighteenth century, and the liberal-bourgeois revolutions. This led to the replacement of estate society with class society, represented by the capitalist bourgeoisie, advocating political and economic liberalism, and the proletariat, becoming aware of their situation and initiating the labor movement, with Karl Marx playing a leading role. There was a confrontation between the aristocratic values of the Old Regime and the rising democratic values. This period also saw the development of pure and applied sciences, both theoretically and practically.
The most important cultural movements of the nineteenth century were Romanticism, in the first half, and Positivism, in the second half. Romanticism was an anti-Enlightenment movement, with Goethe as a precursor. Wagner, the romantic musician, emphasized a conception of musical drama as a union of all the arts. Positivism generally refers to the attitude that science and philosophy should be limited to the analysis of empirical facts, establishing relationships and laws. Comte stressed this in his conception of the three stages of history: the theological, metaphysical, and positive.
Influences on Nietzsche’s Philosophy
Nietzsche was influenced by various philosophical positions, including German idealism of the first half of the nineteenth century, whose main representative was Hegel. Within this, the Hegelian left, including Max Stirner and Feuerbach, is important. On the other hand, the anti-Hegelian Schopenhauer greatly influenced Nietzsche, emphasizing that intelligence is merely a tool for instincts, the role of art (especially music) as appeasement of the will, and a radical distrust in history.
Darwin’s evolutionary thought, with its notions of struggle for existence and natural selection, rediscovered the biological component of human beings and their relationship with other living species. Finally, Greek philosophy, strongly criticized by Nietzsche, accused Socrates and Plato of causing the decline of philosophy. Heraclitus was the only one free from this criticism.
Twilight of the Idols: A Critique of Metaphysics
The text for comment is part of Twilight of the Idols (1888), a work from Nietzsche’s last period. This chapter is fundamentally important as a critique of metaphysics, whose basic thesis is an argument against Platonism.
Nietzsche’s Philosophical Periods
1. Romantic Period
Marked by the influence of Schopenhauer and his friendship with Wagner. A key work is The Birth of Tragedy in the Spirit of Music. During this period, Nietzsche viewed art as the best way to penetrate reality, emphasizing Dionysus against Apollo. Dionysus and artists represent the genuine attitude towards life. Socrates is seen as the great enemy. Other works include On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense and Untimely Meditations.
2. Positivist Period
This period followed the first break with Wagner and Schopenhauer’s philosophy. Nietzsche drew on Voltaire and the Enlightenment, adopting a positive attitude to criticize metaphysics. Themes of this period include the death of God, the eternal return, nihilism, and the Superman. Works from this period include Human, All Too Human, The Wanderer and His Shadow, Mixed Opinions and Maxims, Dawn, and The Gay Science.
3. Zarathustra Period
This period marks the height of Nietzsche’s thought. He wrote his seminal book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None. This is a set of symbolic discourses linked by a fable.
4. Critical Period
During this period, Nietzsche attacked philosophy, religion, and morality, viewing destruction as necessary to open new paths for the project of creator existence. This includes the work that is the subject of comment, as well as works such as Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morality, The Antichrist, and Ecce Homo.