Friedrich Nietzsche essays

Friedrich Nietzsche essays Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher who challenged the basis of Christianity and traditional morality. In contrast to his works, Nietzsche was raised by a pious Lutheran family, and often labeled the little pastor. After Nietzsche attended a boarding school, he went to study philosophy at the University of Bonn. Four years later, he transferred to the University of Leipzig, where he met Professor Friedrich Ritschl and found his niche for philosophy, philology, and literature. At the young age of 24, under the direction of Friedrich Ritschl, he earned a professorship at Basel. His beliefs were founded on the works and lives of great philosophers and men such as Arthur Schopenhaur and Charles Darwin. At the age of 21, Nietzsche lost his faith in traditional religion and found philosophy when he was introduced to Arthur Schopenhaur. Schopenhaurs philosophy was based on the premise that people did not have individual wills, rather we are the pawns of a life force. This was in direct contrast with Nietzsches traditional religion which teaches that we, in contrast, do have individual wills. Charles Darwins influence can also be seen in Nietzsches work. Nietzsche is notorious for his will to power, in which he asserts assumptions similar to Darwins survival of the fittest. Simply put will to power is a process of expansion that he believed was the basic driving force in nature. Nietzsches beliefs centered around his will to power and led to other theories of our existence like the slave morality theory. The slave morality theory maintains that the weaker groups virtues (slave) are viewed as positive attributes, like passivity. While on the other hand, the dominating groups virtues (master) are viewed as negative attributes such as evil. Both the will to power and ...