The Influence of Nietzsche
LCFwentao
The Influence of Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was notoriously unread and uninfluential
during his own lifetime, and his works suffered considerable distortion
in the hands of his sister Elisabeth, who managed his literary estate
and twisted his philosophy into a set of ideas supporting Hitler and
Nazism (Hitler had /Thus Spoke Zarathustra/ issued to every soldier in
the German army). By far his most often quoted utterance--seldom
understood--is "God is dead," which placed his thought beyond the pale
for many readers.
But Nietzsche's influence has been much richer and varied than these
simple stereotypes suggest. It is not surprising that an author who
embraced such contradictions should have influenced thinkers of an
extraordinary variety.
*Philosophy*
The only philosopher to feel his influence while he could be aware of it
was the Danish critic and philosopher Georg Brandes (1842-1927), who in
the late 1880s developed a philosophy which he called "aristocratic
radicalism" inspired by Nietzsche's notion of the "overman." Nietzsche's
insistence that the decay of religion (the "death of God") requires that
humanity take responsibility for setting its own moral standards
inspired existentialists from Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) and Martin
Heidegger (1889-1976) to Albert Camus (1913-1960).
Nietzsche's relativism has had a powerful influence on two of the most
important modern French Deconstructionist philosophers, Jacques Derrida
(b. 1930) and Michel Foucault (1926-1984). (Summary of a 1971 Foucault
essay relating to Nietzsche
<http://www.csun.edu/%7Ehfspc002/fouc.B1.html#NGH>).
Oddly enough, he has also been a powerful influence on certain
theologians, notably Paul Tillich (1886-1965), who developed an
Existentialist, human-centered theology which tried to salvage elements
of traditional faith while drawing on rationalism. Thomas Altizer
(b.1927) created a sensation (and found himself on the cover of /Time/)
in the 1960s by helping to create the oxymoronically named "death of God
theology" together with a number of other theologians who argued for
religion without God. Their constant use of Nietzsche's catch phrase is
a reminder of their indebtedness to him. Although the direct influence
of this school hardly lasted out the decade, other theologians used
Nietzsche's thought as well, notably embracing his idea that human
values should be based not on denial ("thou shalt not") but on
affirmation ("thou shalt"). The Jewish theologian Martin Buber
(1878-1965)--also a great influence on Christian theology--translated
part of /Thus Spoke Zarathustra /into Polish. He read Nietzsche's works
very early, beginning in 1892. His emphasis on process in theology
resembles some of Nietzsche's ideas.
Although he did not draw directly on Nietzsche's work, the notions of
"creative evolution" espoused by Henri Bergson (1859-1941) had a
powerful influence on the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (1885-1957),
who combined his studies under Bergson with his reading of Nietzsche to
produce a version of what is known as "process theology" which is most
readily studied in the little book /The Saviors of God/ and is also
expressed in his most popular novel, /Zorba the Greek./ According to
Kazantzakis, God is the result of whatever the most energetic and heroic
people value and create. This is clearly very similar to Nietzsche's
ideas about the sources of religion. Nietzsche's notion of heroes as
creators is at the heart of Kazantzakis' philosophy.
*Psychology*
The two grandfathers of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and
Carl Jung (1875-1961), both had a deep admiration for Nietzsche and
credited him with many insights into the human character.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937) developed an "individual psychology" which
argues that each individual strives for what he called "superiority,"
but is more commonly referred to today as "self-realization" or
"self-actualization," and which was profoundly influenced by Nietzsche's
notions of striving and self-creation. The entire "human potential
movement" and humanistic psychology (Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Rollo
May, etc.) owes a great debt to this line of thought. Even pop
psychologists of "self-esteem" preach a gospel little different from
that of Zarathustra. The ruthless, self-assertive "objectivism" of Ayn
Rand (1905-1982) is difficult to imagine without the influence of Nietzsche.
*Fiction*
Besides Kanzantzakis, many novelists have drawn on Nietzsche. Thomas
Mann (1875-1955) wrote repeatedly about him and his characters are often
engaged in struggles to define their ideas in a world in which old
philosophies are decaying, like Nietzsche, torn between romanticism and
rationalism (notably in /The Magic Mountain/). Hermann Hesse (1877-1962)
similarly explored the necessity for the individuals to overcome their
social training and traditional ideas to seek their own way
(/Steppenwolf /and /The Glass Bead Game/).
Many other famous writers influenced by Nietzsche include André Malraux
(1901-1976), André Gide (1869-1951), and Knut Hamsun (1859-1952).
*Poetry*
Given the poetic style in which he wrote, it is not surprising that
numerous poets have been drawn to Nietzsche, including Rainer Maria
Rilke (1875-1926). He, like many writers influenced by Nietzsche,
rejected the kind of traditional Christian dualism which sorts existence
into good and evil with the physical and earthly being regarded as a
source of evil and goodness identified with pure spirit and the life
after death. His celebration of mortal life as a sort of religion is
extremely Nietzschean. He was also became lover of Lou Andreas-Salomé, a
woman who ten years earlier Nietzsche loved unrequitedly.
Among many others, one can find strong Nietzschean themes in the works
of Beat Generation poets such as Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) and Gary
Snyder (b. 1930), who were drawn to the vitalistic, anti-dualistic
themes also earlier expressed in the English and American traditions by
William Blake and Walt Whitman. Blake, Whitman and Nietzsche form a sort
of triumvirate whose influence runs through large swaths of modern
literature in their rejection of dualism and embrace of the body as
good. Like many other poets, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) combined
an admiration for Blake with interest in Nietzsche.
*Drama*
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) expressed his version of Nietzsche's
struggle for power in his play /Man and Superman,/ and more than one
character in the plays of Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) is under
Nietzsche's spell.
*Influential ideas*
If there are few names from the second half of the 20th century cited
above it is not because Nietzsche's influence has dwindled. Rather it so
pervades modern culture that many who have never read him are influenced
by his thought indirectly. Consider the following ideas circulating in
American culture today, all of them traceable at least in part to
Nietzsche, although many of them are much simpler than similar ideas
held by him:
# The goal of life should be to find yourself. True maturity means
discovering or creating an identity for yourself.
# The highest virtue is to be true to yourself (consider these song titles
from a generation ago: "I Gotta Be Me," "I Did It My Way").
# When you fall ill, your body is trying to tell you something; listen to
the wisdom of your body.
# People who hate their bodies or are in tension with them need to learn
how to accept and integrate their physical selves with their minds
instead of seeing them as in tension with each other. The mind and body
make up a single whole.
# Athletes, musicians, etc. especially need to become so attuned to their
bodies that their skills proceed spontaneously from the knowledge stored
in their muscles and are not frustrated by an excess of conscious
rational thought. (The influence of Zen Buddhism on this sort of
thinking is also very strong.)
# Sexuality is not the opposite of virtue, but a natural gift that needs
to be developed and integrated into a healthy, rounded life.
# Many people suffer from impaired self-esteem; they need to work on being
proud of themselves.
# Knowledge and strength are greater virtues than humility and submission.
# Overcoming feelings of guilt is an important step to mental health.
# You can't love someone else if you don't love yourself.
# Life is short; experience it as intensely as you can or it is wasted.
# People's values are shaped by the cultures they live in; as society
changes we need changed values.
# Challenge yourself; don't live passively.
It is notable that none of these ideas flows from the traditional
Judeo-Christian culture which dominated Europe for a thousand years.
Many of them have their roots in Romanticism, with Nietzsche merely
articulating impulses that others shared; but he is a major transmitter
of them to the modern world.
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*Weblinks*
The USC Nietzsche Page
<http://www.usc.edu/dept/annenberg/thomas/nietzsche.html> Warning: this
page downloads the opening to Richard Strauss' /Also sprach Zarathustra/
to your computer, which can take a while; but at least it stops when
it's played through once.
Gallery of Nietzsche images
<http://www.usc.edu/dept/annenberg/thomas/gallery/gallery.html>