In Defense of Marxism Friedrich Nietzsche Nihilist or not, Nietzsche did have an effect on modern thinking. Often this led to a belief that life was senseless. For others, it just made them think. His basis of work involved questioning one's thoughts and beliefs, leading a transformation of an understanding of the self. His effect on modern pagan thought Nietzsche's ideas are what has made questioning popular.
Pagans are questioners.
We question all faiths, we question ourselves. Nietsche Plato Plato, that fabled student of a student of Socrates', perfected our thoughts on rhetoric and presented to us the golden mean. He is the philosopher who created an entire philosophy around keeping everything in perspective rather than assuming a perspective. In this case, it helps that Plato was decidedly pagan himself, although certainly not in the way that modern pagans would express their faith. His paganism was more of a secular humanism, and his idea of the golden mean his method of finding the best moral pathway to take.