Friedrich Nietzsche's Views On Nihilism

Nietzsche was a revolutionary author and philosopher who has had a tremendous impact on German culture up through the twentieth century and even today. Nietzsche's views were very unlike the popular and conventional beliefs and practices of his time and nearly all of his published works were, and still are, rather controversial, especially in On the Genealogy of Morals. His philosophies are more than just controversial and unconventional viewpoints, however; they are absolutely extreme and dangerous if taken out of context or misinterpreted. After Nietzsche's death it took very little for his sister to make some slight alterations to his works to go along with Nazi ideology.

Nietzsche is widely known as a critic of religion. In fact, he talks in depth about morality in regards to religion in his essays about the genealogy of morals. But the problem is not within religion itself or within morals. The problem is involved in the combination of the two to create society’s understanding of morality through a very religious lens. In fact, Nietzsche has criticism for almost any set of morals constructed by a group of individuals and meant to be applied to society as a whole. True morality, according to Nietzsche, requires a separation from these group dynamic views of morality- or at least a sincere look into where they originated and why they persist- and a movement towards a more introverted, and intrinsically personalized understanding of what morals mean in spite of the fact that “the normative force to which every member of society is exposed, in the form of obligations, codes of behavior, and other moral rules and guidelines, is disproportionally high” (Korfmacher 6).

Friedrich Nietzsche was part of large family. His father’s name was Carl Ludwig Nietzsche. Carl Nietzsche was a religious man and was the preacher of a Lutheran church. His mother’s name was Franziska Oehler. Friedrich Nietzsche also had a sister and a brother. His sister’s name was Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, and his brother’s name was Ludwig Joseph. At age five, Friedrich Nietzsche’s family life changed. His father passed away due to brain problem. The year after his father’s death, Ludwig Joseph the brother passed away. After the loss of his two family members, Friedrich Nietzsche, his mother, and sister moved in with their grandmother. The loss of his love ones was a very trying time for Friedrich Nietzsche, and their deaths caused Nietzsche to question his beliefs

Friedrich Nietzsche, a prominent German philosopher in the 19th century is one of the most well-read philosophers of the past two-centuries. His ideas regarding morality and nature continue to be discussed and debated to this day among scholars of all beliefs.

Nihilism originated somewhere around the mid-1800s, it was a shift from the social philosophy around that time which viewed life with purpose and meaning which was found usually though God, or some religious doctrine, however Nihilism is the philosophy that dictates the meaninglessness in life; it leaves an empty and void existence. Nihilism is usually associated with German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is often although not a Nihilist himself Nietzsche wrote a considerable amount concerning Nihilism and its implications as a philosophy. Nietzsche saw Nihilism as a growing problem, he believed that as the world grew conscious of Nihilism it would destroy all morality and meaning man has created, this is because he would realize the

Progress is complacency. Mankind lazes around in the incandescent knowledge of ostensible progress, illiterate in the true nature of man. Progress is movement towards a destination, not a destination in and of itself. Presently, our world has progressed only marginally since the 19th century, when the world of enlightened thinkers shifted away from Nihilism towards Modernism. Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the seminal thinkers of the era, rejected nihilism and the essence of life. For Nietzsche, “we are simply random gatherings of molecules that cohere and experience consciousness for a short time before dissolving again into nothingness” (Backman, 860). An assorted collection of Nietzsche’s texts, including The Gay Science and ‘Good and Evil,’ ‘Good and Bad,’ suggest that Nietzsche would be inordinately condemnatory of the present state of the West, incredulous to the false notion– myth¬– of progress. Undergirded by democracy, “a political system that gives fools an equal share of influence” (Backman, 861) Nietzsche would argue that Western society has eschewed

The question of what may result from the fostering of critical, individual thought may have never even risen let alone remain unanswered if not for the consideration of some of the world’s greatest minds. Rigorously questioning the objectivity and truth of values whilst preserving a focus on the impacts of religion and morality on contemporary culture, Friedrich Nietzsche was, and remains to be, one of the most notably influential figures within the domain of 19th century philosophy. Upon viewing a number of citizens who were adopting a pessimistic and distrustful standpoint against the societal values of the time, Nietzsche came to the belief that the system of morals which had been lived by were no longer resonating with the maturing populace and that God was effectively useless; it is for this reason that Nietzsche announces the “Death of God”. Though a particular brand of nihilist may have viewed this passing as a detriment to the social cohesion of the populace due to an absence of any universal, absolute values - once attributed to God - Nietzsche proposed that this was not necessarily the case. Instead,

Nietzsche was an existentialist philosopher. Extentialism is all about an individual. Social institutions such as religion traditionally impose values on people who accept these values as inherently good and worthy of pursuing. However, in Nietzsche’s world, God is dead and can no longer provide

As of 2013, fifty-four percent of Americans still had a belief in God, although in some other minorities, that number was larger (Gallup). Despite this, there was a time when some of the greatest minds of the time felt as if God had no modern purpose in human’s lives. One such example of this was that of Friedrich Nietzsche, who went down in history as the man who declared God “dead”. Though this might seem like a hypothetical call to atheism, he was instead showing how the people of the world had come to outgrow a need for God with the coming of the renaissance (Lawhead 454). However, the contradictions found within Nietzsche’s argument

During the latter parts of the Nineteenth Century, the German existentialist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a great deal on his ideas of morality, values, and life. His writings were controversial, but they greatly affected European thought. It can be argued that Nietzschean philosophy was a contributing factor in the rise of what is considered our world's most awful empire, the Third Reich.

Nihilism which comes from the Latin word, Nihil means nothing, to destroy completely, as seen in it being the base of the annihilation. Nihilism is the idea that all beliefs and ideals are without foundation and that nothing can truly be identified or known. "Every belief, every considering something-true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world" (Nietzsche). Nihilism tends to be related to skepticism and pessimism by many people. A person who was truly a Nihilist would have no desire or belief and anything, they would probably be led by a compulsion to destroy. Nihilism is often associate with the Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche contended that nihilism

German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, is one of the most read, least understood- yet influential thinker who brought forth new questions for many philosophers to follow. There are many accusations and rumors around Nietzsche. In “What Nietzsche Really Said” these accusations and rumors that surrounded Nietzsche are allayed and supported by his impact and influential views. “What Nietzsche really said depends on what one reads and how one interpret what ones reads” thus, the interpretation of these accusations and rumors are either helpful or harmful about Nietzsche. Three helpful rumors about Nietzsche is that he adored power, he was a (pre) postmodernist and argued fallaciously. Although he was apolitical, people believed that his “will

Even though they were separated by thousands of years, hundreds of miles, and different cultures, the philosophical views of Friedrich Nietzsche and Plato can be examined and weighed against each other in many different ways. Friedrich Nietzsche, born in 1844, was a German philosopher whose main goal was to erect a new image for the people and to create a free spirit in them. Plato, born in 427 B.C., was a Greek philosopher whose main goal was to create a new way of thinking about the world itself, knowledge itself, philosophy itself, and the individual. Both philosophers have obvious similarities; their literary style of writing is perhaps the most apparent, but also their desire

Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher and held in regard amongst the greatest philosophers of the early part century. He sharpened his philosophical skills through reading the works of the earlier philosophers of the 18th century such as Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Arthur Schopenhauer and African Spir; however, their works and beliefs were opposite to his own. His primary mentor was Author Schopenhauer, whose belief was that reality was built on the foundation of experience. Such as it is, one of his essays, Schopenhauer als Erzieher, published in 1874, was dedicated to Schopenhauer (Mencken, 2008). In the past two centuries, his work has had authority and influence in both

Nietzsche introduced an idea of philosophy that was more than simply a rational groundwork of existence or as the pursuit of an absolute truth. Instead, he suggested that philosophy is something to be respected as a personal interpretation of life and all its faculties (morality, existentialism etc.) and that was – for him - focused on life affirmation. Furthermore, this thinking implies that philosophy is not a be all and end all answer to life’s questions; rather, it is merely a