Friedrich Nietzsche Essay -- Philosophy

Despite being one of the greatest philosophers of the last millennium, Friedrich Wilhem Nietzsche may also be the most misunderstood. He has become a walking paradox. Today he is regarded as one of the most important thinkers, yet in his lifetime, he could precisely give away his books. Sigmund Freud revered him as one of the great minds in the history of psychoanalysis, yet Nietzsche went insane at the age of 44. He publicly detest German culture, yet German soldiers received copies of his book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra during World War I. Nietzsche also abhorred Nationalism, yet Adolf Hitler misinterpreted his work, using it as an influence for Mein Kampf and a construct block for the Nazi eugenics movement, which created a tremendous amount of notoriety for Nietzsche. Regardless, Friedrich Nietzsches works remain some of the most influential additions to modern day philosophy, several(prenominal) of which are still very prevalent today. Friedrich Nietzsche was born on October 15t h, 1844 in Rcken, a small farming village in Prussia. Nietzsches father, Carl Ludwig Nietzsche was a Lutheran pastor while his mother, Franziska Oehler was a former schoolteacher. Nietzsches paternal side had a strong history in Lutheran studies dating back two generations. However, his personal experiences with religion were limited after his father died from a brain aneurysm when Nietzsche was five years old. After his father passed, Nietzsches family moved to Naumburg an der Saale. Beginning in 1858, Nietzsche attended Schulpforta, a renowned boarding school only a few miles from his home in Naumburg. Schulpforta had a strong emphasis on religion, ironically this is where Nietzsche began to question the state of religion after reading works including David S... ...e, Friedrich W. The Birth of Tragedy. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich W., and Walter A. Kaufmann. Beyond Good and Evil. New York Vintage, 1989. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich W., and Walter A. Kaufmann. The Gay Science. New York Vintage, 1974. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich W. Human, All Too Human. capital of Nebraska University of Nebraska, 1984. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich W. Nietzches Letters 1887. Nietzche s Letters 1887. Web. 01 May 2012. . Nietzsche, Friedrich W., Walter A. Kaufmann, and R. J. Hollingdale. The Will to Power. New York Random House, 1967. Print. Schaberg, William H. The Nietzsche Canon A Publication History and Bibliography. Chicago University of Chicago, 1995. Print. Wicks, Robert, Friedrich Nietzsche, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),.