Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had not claws.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Perhaps more than any other philosopher’s, the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) have been open to widely disparaged interpretations and debate. His writing on nihilism, morality, truth, the superman, eternal return, and the purpose of life had practical application. He did not believe philosophy to be a mere intellectual exercise but rather a guide for the individual to grow and overcome herd mentality, which he rejected as the path of fools. He believed that man’s purpose was to overcome the herd compulsion, to better himself and become a higher man, a superman, who could look down upon the masses of sheep who blindly followed societal norms without question. Nietzsche believed that such supermen (his opinion of women was anti-feminist and even misogynistic) must constantly be questioning within a kind of solitude: Why do I exist? Why do I suffer?
While some of Nietzsche’s work appears contradictory, his views are often interpreted as anti-democratic, anti-labor, and anti-socialist while espousing a proto-fascist ideal. He often made racist, classist, anti-Semitic remarks and was intrigued by a caste system where the upper class exhibited clear superiority over the lower classes. However, at times he denounced nationalism and widespread scapegoating. But he also strongly believed that mixed-race individuals were inferior, and he supported the ideals of racial purification.
There is some controversy as to how Nietzsche’s ideas may have been manipulated by his sister, Elizabeth, who became his caretaker and sole editor after he suffered from physical and mental health issues that left him a recluse. Elizabeth was an outspoken anti-Semite and German nationalist and shaped her brother’s works to suit those views. After Nietzsche’s death in 1900, she published fragments of his Will to Power and became an important figure in the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the Nazi Party. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, his Nazi government publicly supported the Nietzsche Archive. The Nazis sought German thinkers to espouse their philosophies. Nietzsche’s works, edited by his sister, were used by German universities during the Nazi era, referencing soldiers as the ideal supermen. The will to power was adopted as a fundamental Nazi Party tenet, which Hitler expressed through military might, political power, and the extermination of those he deemed inferior.
In the later twentieth century, historians have tried to reclaim Nietzsche’s philosophy from what some call his sister’s “censorship” and “hijacking” of his work. However, even those who attempt to rectify supposed wrongs to his name concede that Nietzsche held reactionary views on women, egalitarianism, democracy, and racial equality. And Nietzsche’s writing continues to serve as a foundation, a rallying call to fascists and white supremacists.