The sun., 1900-09-17
oEoRo BRANDEs ON NIETzscHE.
The Danish Critics Estimate OF the had
Phtlasopher-The Doctrine OF Self f'Asserton'

From me OpfnNuVtW fbH'Hf"'
Though Friedrich Nietzsche in the eleven
years and a half Of his silent insanity had OUT
lived himself. there Is no need oil ireshenlng up
his works or his fame IL was during thos'
very years which he spent In intellectual DARK
ress that his name attained a fame, exceeded
by the reputation OF none Of his contemporaries
while his works are translated into all the im-
portant languages and are known everywhere
To tho.e who watched Niet2sche at the time
when he was making his pail niul ana pitteI
struggle against the complete Indifference oil
the reading world this rapid attainment OF abso-
Lutte world fame was something extremely sur
prisiug No contemporary has had u meek
!, perience In the course OF five or SIX years
Nietz,che's turn OF thought. sometimes haroly
understood sometimes NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. sou'e-
times nvoluntarily exaggerated. became the
ruling turn Of thought ia great part OF the
literature OF France, England Italy, S"eueh
and Russia II adds to the uagIc element IN
Nietzsche's life that lie who thir.ted Tor noto-
rirty Ike sick man should have obtained II In
n perfectly fairy-like measure when. though
still alive he was cut of IRON life. Yet in the
ten years, from 1870 TO 1900. certainly no one
occupied more OF the attention OF his ieliow men
or impressed them more than TINS North u'T-
man preacher = son. who insisted on pelhg re-
garded as Polish nobleman. and VINO prlded
himself IN thinking his works in French though
he wrote them in Ge rman. The small weaknesses
of his person were forgotten in the greatness Of
the style In which lie expressed his lie ana MS
productions.
TO he able TO account for the sudden and
overmastering triumph Of Nietzsche We ought
TO possess the key to the spiritual life OF our
times, He fascna ted his age, although he con-
tradicted all its instincts. The age is extremely
democratic. he won is favor as an aristocrat
The age floats on the swelling WaNeoI feacuoh'
h conquered a. u declared iIrelgou- man
4 he age Is busted with social Questions ol the
most dine cult and comp eIen-lye sort he the
thinker OF this age, treated all these questions
a. subordinate lie Wa an enemy "i 'ne op,,Saa
he was filled with passion to show now Hlucn
that Is low and despCaDle can he convealtd
under he cloak ol charity. Ol love Tor our htlsh-
bors and OF uuselhshness ho fought pesSlnl-
isun and JenTed al optimism; ne attacked Tue
morality Of the philosophers with the same vlo-
lence that The thinkers of the eighteenth century
applied TO the dogmas OF religion. As ftiklOh
made him an atheist 50 morality turned MN
into an 'mmorallst Neverthe eoS, uie
Notairians of his age could not count him IN
their number, for he " as myslc ana the
Anarchists Of his age were obliged 10 cas- MN
Yet in some secret way he must have agreed
with much OF the tumult OF our times else he
could not have embraced II so. A writer VINO
has known or has had relations with Nletzsche
becomes at onte more CO ebrated on tina; dc-
count than because of all his own works. A. a
young man Nielz.che admired above all III
Schopenhauer aud Richard Wagner the lil1
SUI cradle energy with which they maintained
hostile attitude Of the whole educated world
He made that Sef-Conii denCe his own ana Dy
that means first mad an IMPRESSION. ..
Moreover, the artist in him won over those 10
whom the thinkers expressions were dark.
with all his keenness he was an olt-and-out
lyric poet In the fall Of isSS he wrote about
Heine How he did handle the German Ian
guage! Some day men will -ay that lieine and
! wer' beyond comparison the PeSt Is artists OF
noisseurs are agreed in caling Nietz-che the
greatest master OF style in German prose.
Further, he Impressed the age through MS
philosophic deptr aud oonceannent In ms
spiritual life there are abys.es and labyrlnth-.
His yearning lor recognition e passion.
greed he calls il: In this soul there j. no un-
selfishneSs on the contrary an all-deSiring sell.
which with the aid OF many human beings,
grasp as by their hands. this soul Of mine would
moreover. ra. her pull back everything that
passes by. ana miss nothing that ~ any way
could belong 10 1T, There il wild hre In thlS
greed of NINE
II was a maddeninG combination that the
lyrical and the critical powers were equally de-
veloprd in him. But brought about that com
pete change in his re- atiOns to persons that
prevented his career from being sraiThiqr.
called upon AL his lyrical resources and an
nounced with the cashing Of swords on shields
that that person was a demgod or god.
Schor cnhauer and HI hard Nagi ar, for instance.
But when lat ter he discovered the limitations OF
his divinity, his enthusiasm turned to hatred ana
est regard to his former alteration. This char
act ari,tiC trait T. shown in a repulsive manner
I'm NietZsChe's : behavior toward Richard Nag-
ner Yet who knows but what this lnconsst-
enCy has helped q obta n admirers for Ni"t2sche
In an age that j, itself very inconsistent on
thus point 49,.
In the last period OF his life Nietzsche an
pcared a irophel rather tha as a thinker
lie forates the Gsbermensch, the Super
human" And he does not try 10 prove in a log
ical way, but proc eds from confidence In the
cnrractn ness and sureness Of his ns tinot l. con-
hot I.a 81 Tla
productive OF life and his opponent one destruc-
tive oi life.
The production Of the Genius ia, according TO |
HIM the object OF existence. The higher being |
constitutes in our time the receptacle within |
which tue race of the future is forming in some |
uniathomabe way. More han one Of these re- |
Ceptaces cracks or bursts. but the human race |
is destroyed. Man, a. we know him. ls a transit |
ton from the beast to the superhuman. AZ the |
ape Compared with man is something ridiculous |
or an object OF painful shame. so Is man in com |
parison with the Superhuman Hitherto all |
species have produced something higher than |
will and must do the same. He has drawn from |
the DarWinian theory an inference which Oar
win himself did not see.
During the lat ten years of the nineteenth |
century NietzsChe has been the opposing pole |
TO Tolstoi HIS morality IL aristocratic while |
Tolstoi's morality Is spopulari 1t Is Individuals |
tic, while rostois Is ngelcal; il demands the |
self-exaltation Of the individual, while TOlstoi |
holds for the necessity ofindvdual Self-sacrhce. |
Wherever Nietzsche's teachings reach, wherever |
men become acquainted with hts great and |
peculiar personality. II vii attract strongly. as
well a. repe but everywhere 1t will contribute |
TO the development and formation Of each In |