“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”
Nietzsche
is most accredited for his philosophy regarding existentialism, nihilism and
postmodernism. He began his career as a philologist, and was appointed the chair
of his field in 1869 in the University of Basel at the tender age of 24. However,
he faced serious health problems that forced him to resign and travel. It is
upon these travels that he became captivated by philosophy. This was the result
of his reading of Schopenhauer’s The
world as will and representation, in which he argues that reality is the
result of two aspects, the first of which is a representation and is how the
world is perceived by an individual, and the second, “the will”, which is how
it exists in reality. Nietzsche would eventually begin to write his own pieces,
every single one being hugely controversial. Ignorantly accused of inspiring Hitler’s
anti-Semitic “work”, Nietzsche’s philosophy was misconstrued as promoting such
prejudice. If anything, it can be argued that “he hated equally”, as he held
negativity for all of the major religions, including Christianity. One of his
most famous quotes remains, “God is dead”.
Facing
bouts of ill-health that plagued him for the entirety of his life, Nietzsche met
his death in August, 1900, paralysed with mental illness; the result of syphilis.
An upsetting video of Nietzsche, arguably, one of the greatest minds in the
history of modern philosophy, shows him disintegrating into a vegetative state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcCmilAsTQU&feature=fvst
Birth of Tragedy
Published
in 1872, and later renamed, “Hellenism and Pessimism” in 1886, Nietzsche’s “Birth
of tragedy”, discusses the necessary co-existent nature of two opposing forces.
He calls these forces, “Apollonian” and “Dionysian.” “The Apollonian” was
inspired by the Greek God of light and reason, Apollo, the major character
virtues of whom remain his restraint, rationality and detachment. Dionysus however,
is the Greek god of intoxication and music, and his major attributes, according
to Nietzsche are “self-forgetting” which lead to the unity of one with nature
and others. According to Nietzsche, both of these forces are absolutely necessary
for the creation of art, as one provides structure and coherence, while the
other; passion. They therefore are reliant on one another, and are the necessary
components of a Greek tragedy. He claims that Greek tragedies including those
of Aeschylus and Sophocles are the result of the Apollonian taming and
controlling Dionysian desires.
The “Dionysian”
and “Apollonian” were then replaced on the stage, with characters encapsulating
morality and rationality. The original tragic heroes were now given character
traits of mere human being. As a result of this, we exist in a world obsessed
with logic and words, instead of a world concerned with music and drama, effectively
losing our passion. He categorises us as living in an “Alexandrian
culture” that is heading toward self-destruction, and the only way to save
modern culture from this fate is to revitalise the essence of tragedy.
It ought
to be noted that although The Birth of Tragedy
was written by Nietzsche, it was in fact hugely influenced by the ideologies
and operas of Wagner who was pro-German nationalism, and anti-sematic. Nietzsche
would eventually become disillusioned, break away from Wagner and work on
pieces such as Human, all too Human, and
Beyond Good and Evil, in which he
would go as far to attack the very foundations
of nationalism.
