Freidrich Nietzche, German philosopher and poet. Renouned as one of the best thinkers ever. Coined such phrases as

--God is dead, God remains dead, and we have killed Him
--That which does not kill me only makes me stronger
--That which is done out of love takes place beyond good and evil

A German philosopher of the late nineteenth century. Fredrick Nietszche began his academic career in philology, the study of languages and linguistic systems. He became an admirer of Wagner, with whom he later fell out. Following the publication of 'The Geneology of Morals', his main concern was to reaffirm life in 'the twilight of the idols'.
His phrase 'god is dead, we are all his murderers' was not an attack against religion as such, but against nihilism which believed in nothing on the one hand, and on the churches and christians who had sapped the true value and meaning out of life and religion on the other. Thus he claimed the churches were 'sepulchres', and the nihilists he urged to 'keep holy your highest hope'. That hope he grounded in the act of creation, and affirmed in the idea of 'eternal recurrence' - the ultimate affirmation of life.

These ideas are best outlined in 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', in particular the sections 'The Tree on the Mountainside' and 'On the Three Metamorphoses'. In this last section he outlines how the human soul begins as 'a camel' wieghted down by loyalty to the old gods, then he must become a 'lion' and denounce them before becoming 'a child' who creates a new value and new meaning for his life.

Nietzsche owed much to Eastern, particularly Buddhist metaphysics, as well, I suspect, as being influenced by William Blake and Wagner. His is the same kind of reaffirming existential mission. His influence on the 20th C. existential...

Contrary to the poster above, his works were fiercely ANTI-Nazi. He was firmly against anti-semitism; essentailly the opposite of National Socialism.

Late 19th century philosopher.

His works dealt mainly with ethics, and also to a lesser degree with metaphysics.

His work on ethics is of an historical time, his academic knowledge of ancient languages enabled him to trace and explain the meaning of ethical words, like good and evil. From these investigations he deduced that morality was a self-servng societal construct; what is good preserves the society, what is evil endagers it, and there is nothing more profound than this.

His philosophical explosiveness can make his writing appear bleak and nihilistic. Which, partly, is true, but ignores some of Nietzsche's most pivotal and interesting ideas.

Nietzsche was existential in the respect that he thinks the great individual lives in solitude, cast away from society. And, therefore, since such great men live beyond a society, they consequently live beyond the moral realm of good and evil. Hence, "all great deeds occur beyond good and evil."

Nietsche's ethical works are keyly, "The Genealogy of Morals" and "Beyond Good and Evil".

Nietzsche's metaphysical idea was that there are no definitie ontological structures (beings), but, instead of a multitude of collections of matter, metaphysically are there is is forces. This complex notion when drawn out completely holds a significant influence on all his ideas. This belief in force is what caused his idea that the essential great and true characteristic of man is a wild, free and chaotic creative force. This cre...

A german philosopher and satirist who stood against the institutions of the church and state at a time when it was dangerous to do so.

His famous concept,"God is dead" is usually misreferenced as meaning he believed god truly was physically dead. In reality, he believed in a god, merely that man's relation to god, and the tools man used to relate to god were dead. In other words, he said the institution of the church has killed the god within man; man's faith in god.

Nietzsche is a litmus test for intellectual pimps. The definition of a free-thinker. Great souls love him, not just for his insights and aphorisms, but the way in which he said them. He doesn't ask you to blindly follow, but he charges you to grow. Cunts and cowards despise and dismiss him. Zealots misquote, misread, and shame him.

He was German. He loved Dostoyevsky. The field of psychology owes itself to him. He had a badass moustache. He led a conflicted life and had conflicting ideas like any complex person should. He gave a shit about your morals. His sister, and most every other woman in his life, was a bitch. He screwed a prostitute when he was a teenager and subsequently screwed his health for life.

He died crazy and alone, but if I could have met him, I'd have been his friend. And like every good friend, I'd sock you in the fucking mouth for talking shit to and about him whether he was in the right or not.

Friedrich Wilheim Nietzche
1844-1900

I don't know wtf 'Bob Marley' is talking about (see second definition) because Nietzche wasn't even alive for WWII, or Hitler!