page_title: Friedrich Nietzsche
section_title: Philosophy
hierarchical_section_title: Friedrich Nietzsche / Philosophy
caption_attribution_description: English: Friedrich Nietzsche around 1869. Photo taken at studio Gebrüder Siebe, Leipzig. Then, he must have sent it to Deussen with his letter from July 1869 ([1], KGB II.1 No 10). A copy of this photography is at Goethe und Schillerarchiv, No. GSA 101/11. Public domain due to age of photography. Scan processed by Anton (2005).
context_page_description: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, and philologist whose work has exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24. Nietzsche resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900.
  Nietzsche's writing spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony.
context_section_description: Because of Nietzsche's evocative style and provocative ideas, his philosophy generates passionate reactions. His works remain controversial, due to varying interpretations and misinterpretations. In Western philosophy, Nietzsche's writings have been described as a case of free revolutionary thought, that is, revolutionary in its structure and problems, although not tied to any revolutionary project. His writings have also been described as a revolutionary project in which his philosophy serves as the foundation of a European cultural rebirth.
caption: Nietzsche, 1869
exif: {}