God is Dead

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God is Dead

• The life and works of Friedrich Nietzsche

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• Born October 15, 1844 to a pastor
• Near Lützen, in the province of Saxony
• Sister born 1846, Elizabeth

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• Father dies on July 30, 1849
• Family Settles in Naumburg
• Family life dominated by women

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Schulpforta

• Diligence, discipline, and a Spartan
• Made no new friends
• Had trouble adjusting
• Finally made friends with Paul Deussen during
  confirmation

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Religious Doubts

• Gradual
• Unintended result of his education
• Painless liberation

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University of Bonn

• Enrolled in 1864 with Deussen and other
  classmates
• Two Semesters
• Appeared destined for career in philology
• Unable to enjoy the pleasure of ordinary people

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University of Leipzig

• Transfer was in part influenced by the transfer
  of his teacher Ritschl
• Concentrated more on studies
• Encourage to revise earlier manuscript for
  publication
• Manuscript was printed in consecutive issues of
  Rheinisches Museum
• Other manuscripts published as well

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While at Leipzig

• 1867 began year of military service
• Horseback-riding accident, slow healing chest
  injury
• First met Wagner in Leipzig in fall of 1868 while
  Nietzsche was visiting Wagner's sister
• Shared interest in Schopenhauer

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Basel

• 1869 offered a professorship at University of
  Basel
• At age of 24 he became an associate professor and
  a year latter a full professor
• As a teacher he was unsure of himself
• Believed he was destined for higher mission

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Wagner

• During time at Basel he became friends with
  Wagner
• Wagner lived in Tribschen
• Nietzsche given two rooms at the familys home
• In 1872 Wagner moved to Bayreuth
• Hero to Nietzsche

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Franco-Prussian War

• Because he was professor at Basel, he was
  considered a Swiss Nationalist
• Volunteered as hospital attendant
• Came down with dysentery and diphtheria
• Returned to Basel for recovery

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Birth of Tragedy

• 1872, re-released in 1886
• Marked beginning of his career as a philosopher
• New understanding of Greek culture
• Wagner said Ive never read anything finer than
  your book.
• Scholarly community didnt agree

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Dionysian

• Passion
• Organic
• Music
• Sexuality
• Intoxication
• untamed instincts

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Apollonian

• Reason
• Illusion, lie,
• attempt to pass off illusion as reality
• fear of sexuality
• fear of natural violence
• decadent, hollow, shell
• lack of energy
• Weak

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1872

• Last year he was generally healthy
• Wagner moved to Bayreuth
• Nietzsche becomes detached from Wagner
• Decreased dependence on Wagner

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• Gave series of lectures On the Future of Our
  Educational Institutions
• 1873-1874 write four Untimely Meditation
• David Strauss, the confessor and the Writer
• The Use and Abuse of History for Life
• Schopenhauer as an educator
• Richard Wagner in Bayreuth

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Wagner

• Richard Wagner, outwardly the conquering hero,
  in reality a rotting, despairing, decadent,
  suddenly dropped, helpless and broken before the
  Christian cross
• Last meeting was Autumn 1876

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Illness Worsens

• Need constant attendance
• Some attacks resulted in unconsciousness
• Abdominal disorders
• Because of illness he allowed his sister to take
  over some of his affairs
• After many leaves of absence, he resigns in 1878
  from University of Basel

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Human, All too Human

• For men who are free of superstition and idealism
• Reality is devoid of meaning
• No afterlife, no god
• Good and evil do not exist

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The Gay Science

• God is Dead
• Purpose of existence is rooted in preservation of
  human race
• Introduced idea of eternal recurrence

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Thus Spake Zarathustra

• Two leading ideas
• Übermensch
• Eternal recurrence

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Mental Breakdown

• January 3, 1889 mental breakdown in Turino
• Upon leaving his house, Nietzsche saw a brutal
  coachman mistreating his horse. Bursting into
  tears and wailing, he threw himself on the
  animals neck and collapsed.
• Nietzsches insanity lasted for more then a
  decade
• Died August 25, 1900

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Elizabeth Nietzsche

• Married anti-Semite
• Forged farewell letters from Nietzsche
• After mental breakdown Elizabeth began editing
  Nietzsche's unpublished
• The Will to Power
• Many blame her for Nietzsches anti-Semitic and
  fascist reputation