Birthdate: 15th October 1844
Nationality: German
Bio:
Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German philosopher known for his influential works challenging traditional morality and religion. Born in 1844 in Prussia, Nietzsche showed early intellectual promise and studied classical philology at the University of Bonn. He would go on to teach classical philology at the University of Basel, where he established himself as a pioneering thinker, although his unconventional ideas were not widely accepted during his time.
Nietzsche’s major philosophical works challenged prevailing 19th century views, criticizing organized religion and morality rooted in traditional metaphysical beliefs. In works like “Beyond Good and Evil” and “On the Genealogy of Morality,” Nietzsche proclaimed the “death of God” and asserted that traditional Western morality needed to be re-evaluated and reconstructed without religious or metaphysical foundations. His ideas of the “Übermensch,” “the will to power,” and concepts like “master-slave morality” were highly influential on subsequent Western philosophy and intellectual history.
Although increasingly ill with worsening mental illness, Nietzsche continued writing up until his final collapse into insanity in 1889 at age 55. Though controversial in his own era, Nietzsche’s challenging ideas have had a profound and lasting impact on fields as diverse as existentialism, postmodernism, literature, theater, psychology, and popular culture. His writings remain widely discussed and debated today for their far-reaching implications.
