- This topic has 3 voices and 4 replies.
-
Posts
-
Who is Frederick Nietzsche? how did his ideas challenge the rationalism inherent in thought Enlightenment? What ideas and events of the twentieth century might have had their roots in the challenges to traditional religion and morality that were posed by Nietzsche?A upcoming discussion for class just looking for some different views from the experts.
He was a very disturbed individual who probably had syphilis. The crux of his philosophy was to reach a state of total independence and self sufficiency akin to being a god…what he termed the Dionysian State. What this means is he thought it possible to live in a society where no one had authority over another and that anyone could do as they please without hindering another. He's not talking about anarchy either. He hated the “herd” mentality favoring the “one” instead. He termed this new being the Superman or Uberman. The Superman, according to Nietzsche, would rise above the herd and rule himself and teach the herd to imitate him. Oddly enough, the Nazis perverted Nietzsche's ideas by supplanting the Superman with the Super Race. But I don't want to give it all away for you. Get a copy of Ecce Homo or Thus Spake Zarathustra and see for yourself. 🙂
I checked out those sources you suggested and they were GREAT!!! Thank you for the insight and expertise!! 🙂 KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS!
You will also see a paralell in the misadventures of Leopold and Loeb. Two young, rich and highly intelligent, yet grievously misguided young men.The September issue of Smithsonian Magazine Online has an excellent article on the subject.
