Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosipher in the 1800s. He is considered the father of nihilism. He wrote extensively in the 1870s and 1880s. He criticized the traditional European moral and religious views. He also criticized the traditional philosophical and rhetorical views of the time. He is considered to be among the late modern thinkers like Marx and Freud.

Nietzsche was born on October 5th, 1844 in Röcken bei Lützen. His early education was at a private school in Naumburg, and then he went to Schulpforta School. For college, he attended the University of Bonn for two semesters before transferring to the University of Leipzig.

In 1869, Nietzsche was offered a position as a professor of philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. While teaching he published his first two books, The Birth of Tragedy and Human, All Too Human. At this time, he started to look more into the values in current society rather than the values from classic Greek and Roman society. In 1879, he started suffering from a nervous disorder and had to resign from his position at Basel. After which He lived in seclusion, moving to France and then Italy. During this time he started to cement his philosophies. He wrote four books in this period of time: Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Genealogy of Morals, and Twilight of the Idols. This is the point in time where he developed the central idea for his philosophy that God is Dead. At this time he began talking about the Übermensch or Superman. A person that strives to exist beyond the ideas of good and evil or slave and master. Someone who has found self-realization.

Fredrich Nietzsche had a very negative view of rhetoric. While he was a professor, he gave a lecture on rhetoric. In it, He said rhetoric and truth are mutually exclusive. He talked about how rhetoric is used to persuade others. He spoke extensively about how he saw a split between rhetoric in the 1800s and rhetoric in ancient Greece and Rome. He criticized rhetors like Aristotle and Cicero, claiming that they had to write speeches with the intent of being persuasive and that they disregarded philosophy and science. He believed that one's philosophy would change how one perceived rhetoric. He spoke of the need for individuality and how self-realization would help people to see when others were trying to persuade them using classic forms of rhetoric. It is ironic though, as most of his views on rhetoric came from an oratory lecture, which is what he was criticizing.

It is still uncertain what his exact cause of death was, but he died in Weimar on August 25, 1900. He left a lasting legacy through his beliefs on individuality, morality, and the meaning of existence. His views on rhetoric and science were later expanded on through psychology and the introduction of science into rhetoric. His views on truth and rhetoric have led to bigger discussions on the uses of vocal rhetoric and if orators can be taken at face value.