 Nietzsche was born on October 15th, 1844, in the small Prussian municipality of Raulkin. Upon his birth, it was only natural for his father to choose the name Friedrich, as this particular day was the birthday of the reigning Prussian king, Frederick William IV. The family was devoutly Lutheran, the father of a working minister, while the mother tended to the house and children, instilling within them all the values consistent with a Christian upbringing. From a young age, it wasn't uncommon to find Friedrich secluded, situated between the covers of the Holy Bible. It was not without cause that he was referred to by the other children as the little minister. Following the death of his father of an apparent brain ailment when Friedrich was only five, the mother moved her family approximately 30 kilometers away to Nomburg. While here, Nietzsche attended a private preparatory school named the Domganasium. From here, he would pass on to Schulfurta, Germany's leading Protestant boarding school. 1864 would bring his graduation, wherein he would choose to continue his education at the University of Bonn, studying theology and classical philology. Shortly after beginning life at university, Nietzsche would abandon the faith which once constituted the very essence of his life. From his own account, he took the transition without notice, though something hints of deception here. He writes to his sister, if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe. If you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire. It would also be around this time that he would discover Schopenhauer's, the world as will and idea, finding within it a mirror in which I spied the world, life, and my own nature depicted with frightful grandeur. He said, it seemed as if Schopenhauer were addressing me personally. This was Nietzsche's attempt at filling the void which the loss of his faith had left behind. The years at Bonn did not amount to much, owing to frequent disagreements with the two leading professors charged with his education. In 1865, he decided it would be best if he transferred to the University of Leipzig, a bold move, but one that paid its dividends. Here his intellect would become apparent, even gaining the honor of being the only student to ever publish in Professor Richel's journal, the Renish Museum. The studies were interrupted for a time when in 1867 he spent a brief period in the military. I say brief, because it would not be long after he arrived that he would sustain a serious injury to his breast muscles while apparently trying to mount a horse in 1868. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, the time he spent in the military was indeed so short that he had no time to become disillusioned with it. So Nietzsche, being denied the life of a warrior, settled for its antipodes, a professor of classical philology at Basel. It was uncommon, even for a genius, to gain the title of professor without completing a dissertation. Though with the help of Richel and a strong portfolio of past writings, Nietzsche gained the position and by 1870 he would become a full-fledged professor. Perhaps the most fruitful of relationships throughout Nietzsche's life would come in 1868 when he met the composer, Richard Wagner, and his then-mistress, Cosima. He had been an admirer of Wagner's for some time at the point of their first encounter. He would often compare him to Eskilis, restoring myths and symbols, and uniting music and drama once again. A courteous friendship evolved, and throughout the years which they would stay at Tribchin, Nietzsche visited them often, even spending Christmas there in 1869. It was this strength of reverence for Wagner, which inspired Nietzsche to write his first book, The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music. Though not soon after he reached the Alps to begin its composition, he received word that Germany and France had gone to war. At this point in his life it was not within him to stand idly by while brave soldiers marched into battle. However, due to his failing eyesight, the position of soldier was denied him once again. He was still eager to contribute in whatever way his health would allow, so he took on the role of medical orderly. But almost as soon as he had arrived, he contracted dysentery and diphtheria, which, once again, removed him far from the life which he had so long idolized. He found himself back at Basel by October of 1871, though the duties which his position required of him proved to be a little more than his health could bear. So he applied for the vacant chair of philosophy and proposed that Erwin Rode should take the chair of classical philology. This transfer would be declined. Nietzsche was only now 27, but already he had finished and was preparing to publish his first book, The Birth of Tragedy. Initially, there were not many who acknowledged its presence, but it did gain some negative press when colleagues, likely mistaking it for a conventional work of classical scholarship, gave it reviews which utterly shocked and frustrated Nietzsche. An old acquaintance named Ulrich accused him harshly of ignorance, distortion of the facts, and grotesque parallels between Greek and the modern world. Being a professor of philology writing aesthetics, you may think he could have seen this hostility coming, but this was not the case. There were two individuals who adored the book. These were none other than the Wagner's. This was probably owing to its final ten sections, wherein he exalted Wagner's music as the rebirth of tragedy. It seems odd, and perhaps a bit tragic, however the years which we have colorized thus far were undoubtedly the happiest of Nietzsche's life. Around the time The Birth of Tragedy was published, the Wagner's moved on from Tription, moving to Bayreuth. And though this close friendship was waning, Nietzsche remained a Wagnerian at least for a time. Following this move, we sense a growing anxiety within Nietzsche about the quality and purpose of his musical dramas, as well as the state of German culture and its totality. This would become evident in a series of writings called Untimely Meditations, or otherwise translated to Thoughts out of Season. He planned to complete thirteen sections, though only four arrived. The last of these, named Richard Wagner and Bayreuth. It exalted Wagner as a hero who has never learned the meaning of fear, and who became the first to fuse all the arts into a great aesthetic synthesis. It also held the purpose of bringing attention to the coming Wagner Festival. He tells his readers that Bayreuth signifies for us, the morning sacrament, on the day of battle. It is difficult to determine, at least in the order of significance, the factors which led to Nietzsche's break with Wagner, but it is evident that his attendance at the Bayreuth Festival strongly influenced this decision. It could be said that Wagner was heading in a direction which Nietzsche could not, or would not go. So he fled, tired with disgust of all that is feminism and undisciplined rhapsody in that romanticism, that idealistic line, that softening of the human conscience which had conquered here one of the bravest souls. He said not a word to Wagner about his departure, though he would run across him in Sorento shortly after. This would be the last of their personal encounters. By 1878, the separation was complete, though he never forgot the friendship which was once the very marrow of his life. In a lucid moment toward the end, when seeing a picture of the great composer, he spoke quietly and said, him, I loved much. Due to his failing health, he took a temporary leave of absence from his responsibilities as educator and began living with his sister Elizabeth. After a short time together, they would be separated following her marriage to a prominent anti-Semite. She was planning a move to Paraguay in order to establish a community closer to her head's desire, this being one of the communistic sort. She pleaded with her brother to accompany them, though Nietzsche would decline on the basis that Europe, being the culture museum that it is, was necessary for him. Around the same time, he was preparing to publish his work, Human, All Too Human. Its size was immense, by far the largest of his works, numbering 638 sections. Following its publication, his health continued to deteriorate, so much so that he yielded his chair at the University of Basel in 1879. In this year alone, he recorded 118 days of debilitating migraines, along with the lingering impact of the dysentery and diphtheria that he had acquired during his time as a medical orderly. At this point in his life, he had a difficult time with most tasks that required more than a minimal effort. It was also thought that sometime around the same period, he had acquired syphilis from a prostitute. This certainly did not aid in his situation. By the end of the year, he had been broken, defeated in mind and body. Preparing himself for death, he said to a friend, see that no priest or anyone else uttered falsehoods at my gravesite. Eventually he did recover, spending the next decade, massletting between small towns in northern Italy and the Swiss Alps. Following this brush with death, he came to a period of life wherein he became almost an optimist, finding in life a sweetness that he felt he had missed before. My formula for life is amour fatih, he said, not only to bear up under every necessity, but to love it. This sudden change in disposition gaffled his closest friends, but Nietzsche paid this no mind and continued to write profusely, publishing Daybreak in 1880 and The Gay Science Soon After in 1882. These books are a bit more in line with the essence of his later works, and we feel that he is moving toward the work, which would become, as the great sumo-theological was to Aquinas, his masterpiece. In fact, it is here in the Gay Science, which Nietzsche utters the most famous of his quotes, that God is dead, and we have killed him. And then came the event which provided Nietzsche, through the sheer devastation of its impact, the inspiration to compose the book which he considered his best. The event came shortly before the Christmas of 1882. He had met a woman, Lou Salon, to which he expressed limitless love and admiration. This was something we did not see often in Nietzsche, and it was not long before he decided that, through the aid of his friend, Paul Ray, he would propose to Lou, expecting that she shared his love in equal measure. She gave no definitive reply, but it became clear to him that the love that he had hoped was reserved for him, was instead given to the same friend which he had entrusted the delivery of his proposal. The humiliation was almost too much for him to bear. On Christmas Day, he writes to his friends, Franz Oberbeck, we can hear the desperation in his words. He writes, the last morsel of life was the hardest I have yet to chew, and it is still possible that I shall choke on it, unless I discover the alchemical trick to turning this muck into gold, I am lost. And so, filled with vitriol, he set off, finding refuge in the ungoddened region of the Swiss Alps in 1883. That same year, in that hallowed hour when Richard Wagner gave up the ghost in Venice, Nietzsche published his work titled, Thus Spake Zarathustra. He believed it to be his masterpiece. This work stands alone. If all the spirit of goodness of every great soul were collected together, the whole could not create a single one of Zarathustra's discourses, he wrote a bit later. Unfortunately, and to the great dismay of the author, it was a non-event among academics. In fact, he paid for the publication himself. A staggering 40 copies were sold, and additionally, seven were given away. One can imagine the strain of its failure on the mind of an already fragile Nietzsche. Following this failure, he continued writing, though due to his worsening eyesight, he wrote from this point on only aphorisms. He insisted that these publications were but commentary on Zarathustra. One good and evil was the first of these to appear, followed by its self-proclaimed sequel, The Genealogy of Morals, which was simply meant to supplement and clarify which was previously stated. In 1888, the final year of his sane life, Nietzsche remained exceedingly productive, writing copiously, though the contents did become increasingly strange. He began the transvaluation of all values, but this was unable to be completed. The reason was simple. The Nietzsche seemed to have found himself at a loss for words. While he did not complete this work, he did complete several others, including the Antichrist, Twilight of the Idols, the Case for Wagner, aka Homo, and The Will to Power. While all of these were completed around the same time, their publication would span almost 20 years thereafter. In January of 1889, Nietzsche, while walking through the streets of Turin, collapsed. Shambling back to his attic room, he began writing letters erratically. The recipients included Cosima, Brandys, Burkhardt, and Franz Oberbeck. What he wrote brought Oberbeck enough concern that he rushed to his side. Upon arriving, he found Nietzsche seated at the piano, plowing his keys with his elbows, singing incoherently. From this point onward, his mental state became increasingly unstable, his physical state increasingly fragile. Nietzsche was brought to Basel, where he stayed in an asylum until his mother came to take him in. What a picture, the pious woman who had born sensitively, but patiently, the shock of her son's apostasy from all that she held dear, and who, loving him none the less, received him now into her arms. She would pass in 1897, wherein his care was entrusted to his sister, Elizabeth. They lived in Weimar, and though his mind was slipping, he had gained the peace which during his same life was never his. Lucid moments became increasingly rare, but they were not absent. Sitting in his chair, as he often did in these final years, he overheard Elizabeth, speaking of books to some company she had over. Nietzsche smiled, uttering softly, Ah, I too have written some good books. He died on August 25th in the year of 1900. As to the cause of his deterioration, it is impossible to give a definitive answer, though it seems most attribute this to syphilis he contracted in 1870. However, more recently, it is thought that he may have suffered from degeneration of the cerebral blood vessels, secondary to a retroorbital meningioma. This is not outside the realm of possibility. After all, we know his father had suffered from a similar pathology. It's no secret to most that, at least in popular culture, Nietzsche's name is often brought up in the same general conversation as that of Hitler or the Nazi party in general. I believe we can be quite confident in saying that Nietzsche would have loathed the party and its leaders. So why is his image so entangled with her ideology? The phenomenon began toward the end of his life after coming under the care of his sister, Elizabeth. You see, she had married a prominent anti-Semite. And while his death was in 1889, his views lived on into the present through the mutilation and manipulation of her brother's work. At times, she is even found to have fabricated works to better fit these views. Her control over the library was enough that generations of commentators, because of her reverence for the anti-Semitic ideology, were misled into believing that it was instead his reverence they were hearing. Regardless of these misuses, there have been plenty of others who have been influenced by his works. Philosophers, novelists, psychologists, playwrights, and even theologians all have given Nietzsche words of admiration and praise. Even today, he remains among the most beloved philosophers in history. If you enjoyed learning of the man who was Friedrich Nietzsche and would like to learn of the beliefs that he held, keep an eye out for my upcoming video on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. And as always, thank you for talking philosophy with me. Until next time.