NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH

born Oct. 15, 1844, Rcken, Saxony, Prussia [now in Germany] died Aug. 25, 1900, Weimar, Thuringian States German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. His attempts to unmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy deeply affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and playwrights. He thought through the consequences of the triumph of the Enlightenment's secularism, expressed in his observation that God is dead, in a way that determined the agenda for many of Europe's most celebrated intellectuals after his death. Although he was an ardent foe of nationalism, anti-Semitism, and power politics, his name was later invoked by Fascists to advance the very things he loathed. born Oct. 15, 1844, Rcken, Saxony, Prussia [now in East Germany] died Aug. 25, 1900, Weimar, Thuringian States German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, an impassioned critic of the ethos of his time, especially of Christianity, conformism, and nationalism. A brief account of Friedrich Nietzsche follows. For full treatment, see Nietzsche. Nietzsche studied classical philology at Bonn and Leipzig (186468) and became a Swiss subject and a professor of classics at Basel, Switz. (1869). He served as a medical orderly for a brief time during the Franco-German War, but his health was so bad that he soon returned to Basel. There he wrote The Birth of Tragedy (1872), which contains his well-known Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy. He resigned from the university permanently in 1879. During the 10 years following his retirement, Nietzsche turned out such important works as Thus Spake Zarathustra (first three parts published 188384), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), and On the Genealogy of Morals (1887). When living in Switzerland, Nietzsche had been a friend and admirer of the composer Richard Wagner. With the passing of time, however, their philosophies diverged, and a formal break was made in 1878. Nietzsche published The Case of Wagner in 1888, the same year that Georg Brandes began lecturing on Nietzsche at the University of Copenhagen. Brandes' lectures were the first significant public notice of Nietzsche's works and thought. In 1889 Nietzsche suffered a breakdown and spent about a year in an asylum; he was thereafter attended by his mother and later his sister. After his death, his sister Elisabeth secured the rights to his literary remains and edited them for publication without scruple or understanding. While she gained a wide audience for her misinterpretations, she withheld his own self-interpretation, Ecce Homo, until 1908. Additional reading The International Nietzsche Bibliography, ed. by Herbert W. Reichert and Karl Schlechta, rev. and expanded ed. (1968), lists more than 4,500 studies in 27 languages. Especially noteworthy English-language studies are Walter Kaufmann, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, 4th ed. (1974), a work that exposed many myths about Nietzsche; R.J. Hollingdale, Nietzsche: The Man and His Philosophy (1965), an intellectual biography; and Arthur C. Danto, Nietzsche as Philosopher (1965, reissued 1980), a treatment through the eyes of Analytic philosophy. See also Ronald Hayman, Nietzsche: A Critical Life (1980), an excellent biography for the general reader; Bernd Magnus, Nietzsche's Existential Imperative (1978), a comprehensive discussion of eternal recurrence; Richard Schacht, Nietzsche (1983), a comprehensive interpretation that makes extensive use of The Will to Power; and Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature (1985), a treatment of Nietzsche's philosophy on the analogy of the interpretation of a literary text. Bernd Magnus Major Works: Definitive editions of Nietzsche's collected works have been edited by Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe (1967 ), projected for 30 vol., of which 21 had been published by 1984, and Smtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe, 15 vol. (1980). These strictly chronological editions render all earlier collections obsolete. All books authorized for publication by Nietzsche exist in English translations, the most reliable of which are by Walter Kaufmann. The original works in the following list have been translated and edited by Walter Kaufmann unless noted otherwise: Die Geburt der Tragdie (1872; The Birth of Tragedy); Unzeitgemsse Betrachtungen, 4 vol. (187376; Untimely Meditations, trans. by R.J. Hollingdale); Menschliches, Allzumenschliches (1878; Human, All-Too-Human, trans. by Marion Faber and Stephen Lehmann); Morgenrte (1881; Daybreak, trans. by R.J. Hollingdale); Die frhliche Wissenschaft (1882), new ed. augmented by book 5 and Lieder des Prinzen Vogelfrei (1887; The Gay Science); Also sprach Zarathustra, parts 13 (188384) and part 4 (1885; Thus Spoke Zarathustra); Jenseits von Gut und Bse (1886; Beyond Good and Evil); Zur Genealogie der Moral (1887; On the Genealogy of Morals); Der Fall Wagner (1888; The Case of Wagner); Gtzen-Dmmerung (1889; Twilight of the Idols); Der Antichrist (1895; The Antichrist); Nietzsche contra Wagner (1895); Ecce Homo (1908). A selection from Nietzsche's notes never intended for publication appeared as Der Wille zur Macht (1901; The Will to Power, trans. by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale). An important translation and selection of Nietzsche's early unpublished writings is Philosophy and Truth (1979), ed. and trans. by Daniel Breazeale. The fundamental chronological edition of Nietzsche's letters by Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, Briefwechsel: Kritische Gesamtausgabe (1975 ), is planned for 20 vol., of which 17 had appeared by 1984, containing the correspondence of 185089. A fine selection in English is Selected Letters of Friedrich Nietzsche (1969), ed. and trans. by Christopher Middleton.