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146-602: Shestov wrote extensively on philosophers such as Nietzsche and Kierkegaard , as well as Russian writers such as Dostoyevsky , Tolstoy , and Chekhov . His published books include Apotheosis of Groundlessness (1905) and his magnum opus Athens and Jerusalem (1930–37). After emigrating to France in 1921, he befriended and influenced thinkers such as Edmund Husserl , Benjamin Fondane , Rachel Bespaloff , and Georges Bataille . He lived in Paris until his death in 1938. Shestov

292-631: A "Germanic" colony. Through correspondence, Nietzsche's relationship with Elisabeth continued through cycles of conflict and reconciliation, but they met again only after his collapse. He continued to have frequent and painful attacks of illness, which made prolonged work impossible. In 1887, Nietzsche wrote the polemic On the Genealogy of Morality . During the same year, he encountered the work of Fyodor Dostoyevsky , to whom he felt an immediate kinship. He also exchanged letters with Hippolyte Taine and Georg Brandes . Brandes, who had started to teach

438-674: A 2a in Greek and Latin; a 2b in French, History, and Physics; and a "lackluster" 3   in Hebrew and Mathematics. Nietzsche was an amateur composer. He composed several works for voice, piano, and violin beginning in 1858 at the Schulpforta in Naumburg when he started to work on musical compositions. Richard Wagner was dismissive of Nietzsche's music, allegedly mocking a birthday gift of

584-596: A book each year until 1888, his last year of writing; that year, he completed five. In 1882, Nietzsche published the first part of The Gay Science . That year he also met Lou Andreas-Salomé , through Malwida von Meysenbug and Paul Rée . Salomé's mother took her to Rome when Salomé was 21. At a literary salon in the city, Salomé became acquainted with Paul Rée . Rée proposed marriage to her, but she, instead, proposed that they should live and study together as "brother and sister", along with another man for company, where they would establish an academic commune. Rée accepted

730-533: A boys' school and then a private school, where he became friends with Gustav Krug and Wilhelm Pinder, all three of whom came from highly respected families. Academic records from one of the schools attended by Nietzsche noted that he excelled in Christian theology . In 1854, he began to attend the Domgymnasium in Naumburg. Because his father had worked for the state (as a pastor) the now-fatherless Nietzsche

876-450: A brain disease in 1849, after a year of excruciating agony, when the boy was only four years old; Ludwig Joseph died six months later at age two. The family then moved to Naumburg , where they lived with Nietzsche's maternal grandmother and his father's two unmarried sisters. After the death of Nietzsche's grandmother in 1856, the family moved into their own house, now Nietzsche-Haus , a museum and Nietzsche study centre. Nietzsche attended

1022-440: A certain way of thinking (but at the same time also a very real aspect of the world) that subordinates life to ideas, abstractions , generalisations and thereby kills it, through an ignoring of the uniqueness and livingness of reality. But despair is not the last word, it is only the 'penultimate word'. The last word cannot be said in human language, can't be captured in theory. His philosophy begins with despair, his whole thinking

1168-515: A chaperone. Salomé reports that he asked her to marry him on three separate occasions and that she refused, though the reliability of her reports of events is questionable. Arriving in Leipzig (Germany) in October, Salomé and Rée separated from Nietzsche after a falling-out between Nietzsche and Salomé, in which Salomé believed that Nietzsche was desperately in love with her. While the three spent

1314-446: A characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills , collectively understood as the will to power . He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return . In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched

1460-613: A clash with the Inspector of Students he was told to return to Kiev, where he completed his studies. Shestov's dissertation was rejected by the St. Vladimir's Imperial University of Kiev on account of the revolutionary tendencies it expressed, thus preventing him from becoming a doctor of law . In 1898 he entered a circle of prominent Russian intellectuals and artists which included Nikolai Berdyaev , Sergei Diaghilev , Dmitri Merezhkovsky and Vasily Rozanov . Shestov contributed articles to

1606-493: A collected edition under the title Untimely Meditations . The essays shared the orientation of a cultural critique, challenging the developing German culture suggested by Schopenhauer and Wagner. During this time in the circle of the Wagners, he met Malwida von Meysenbug and Hans von Bülow . He also began a friendship with Paul Rée who, in 1876, influenced him into dismissing the pessimism in his early writings. However, he

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1752-757: A commitment conflicts with academic freedom. In some contexts, theology has been held to belong in institutions of higher education primarily as a form of professional training for Christian ministry. This was the basis on which Friedrich Schleiermacher , a liberal theologian, argued for the inclusion of theology in the new University of Berlin in 1810. For instance, in Germany , theological faculties at state universities are typically tied to particular denominations, Protestant or Roman Catholic, and those faculties will offer denominationally-bound (konfessionsgebunden) degrees, and have denominationally bound public posts amongst their faculty; as well as contributing "to

1898-527: A devotee of truth, then inquire.... Nietzsche subsequently concentrated on studying philology under Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl , whom he followed to the University of Leipzig in 1865. There he became close friends with his fellow student Erwin Rohde . Nietzsche's first philological publications appeared soon after. In 1865, Nietzsche thoroughly studied the works of Arthur Schopenhauer . He owed

2044-449: A diagnosis of " manic-depressive illness with periodic psychosis followed by vascular dementia " was put forward by Cybulska prior to Schain's study. Leonard Sax suggested the slow growth of a right-sided retro-orbital meningioma as an explanation of Nietzsche's dementia; Orth and Trimble postulated frontotemporal dementia while other researchers have proposed a hereditary stroke disorder called CADASIL . Poisoning by mercury ,

2190-430: A fondness for aphorism and irony . Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism ; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality ; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the " death of God " and the profound crisis of nihilism ; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and

2336-463: A god-given freedom without boundaries, without walls or borders: Within the “limits of reason” one can create a science, a sublime ethic, and even a religion; but to find G-d one must tear oneself away from the seductions of reason with all its physical and moral constraints, and go to another source of truth. In Scripture this source bears the enigmatic name “faith,” which is that dimension of thought where truth abandons itself fearlessly and joyously to

2482-522: A higher estimation of his own status and "fate". He overestimated the increasing response to his writings, however, especially to the recent polemic, The Case of Wagner . On his 44th birthday, after completing Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist , he decided to write the autobiography Ecce Homo . In its preface—which suggests Nietzsche was well aware of the interpretive difficulties his work would generate—he declares, "Hear me! For I am such and such

2628-523: A journal the circle had established. During this time he completed his first major philosophical work, Good in the Teaching of Tolstoy and Nietzsche: Philosophy and Preaching ; two authors profoundly impacting Shestov's thought. He developed his thinking in a second book on Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Friedrich Nietzsche , which increased Shestov's reputation as an original and incisive thinker. In All Things Are Possible (published in 1905) Shestov adopted

2774-405: A lecturing post at the University of Leipzig . According to a letter he wrote to Peter Gast, this was due to his "attitude towards Christianity and the concept of God". In 1886, Nietzsche broke with his publisher Ernst Schmeitzner, disgusted by his antisemitic opinions. Nietzsche saw his own writings as "completely buried and in this anti-Semitic dump" of Schmeitzner—associating the publisher with

2920-516: A more coherent perspective. Thereafter, he saw his work as completed for a time and hoped that soon a readership would develop. In fact, interest in Nietzsche's thought did increase at this time, if rather slowly and imperceptibly to him. During these years Nietzsche met Meta von Salis , Carl Spitteler , and Gottfried Keller . In 1886, his sister Elisabeth married the antisemite Bernhard Förster and travelled to Paraguay to found Nueva Germania ,

3066-401: A movement that should be "utterly rejected with cold contempt by every sensible mind". He then printed Beyond Good and Evil at his own expense. He also acquired the publication rights for his earlier works and over the next year issued second editions of The Birth of Tragedy , Human, All Too Human , Daybreak , and of The Gay Science with new prefaces placing the body of his work in

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3212-524: A music and literature club, during his summers in Naumburg. At Schulpforta, Nietzsche received an important grounding in languages— Greek , Latin , Hebrew , and French—so as to be able to read important primary sources ; he also experienced for the first time being away from his family life in a small-town conservative environment. His end-of-semester exams in March 1864 showed a 1 in Religion and German;

3358-519: A number of weeks together in Leipzig in October 1882, the following month Rée and Salomé left Nietzsche, leaving for Stibbe (today Zdbowo in Poland) without any plans to meet again. Nietzsche soon fell into a period of mental anguish, although he continued to write to Rée, stating "We shall see one another from time to time, won't we?" In later recriminations, Nietzsche would blame on separate occasions

3504-401: A person. Above all, do not mistake me for someone else." In December, Nietzsche began a correspondence with August Strindberg and thought that, short of an international breakthrough, he would attempt to buy back his older writings from the publisher and have them translated into other European languages. Moreover, he planned the publication of the compilation Nietzsche contra Wagner and of

3650-448: A philosopher must search for Sources - beyond Necessity, beyond Good and Evil. In Athens and Jerusalem , he states that, while men seek coherence in life, Why attribute to God, the God whom neither time nor space limits, the same respect and love for order? Why forever speak of "total unity"? … There is no need at all. Consequently, the idea of total unity is an absolutely false idea. ... It

3796-522: A piano composition sent by Nietzsche in 1871 to Wagner's wife Cosima . German conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow also described another of Nietzsche's pieces as "the most undelightful and the most anti-musical draft on musical paper that I have faced in a long time". While at Schulpforta, Nietzsche pursued subjects that were considered unbecoming. He became acquainted with the work of the then almost-unknown poet Friedrich Hölderlin , calling him "my favorite poet" and writing an essay in which he said that

3942-745: A position in philosophy at Basel. In 1873, Nietzsche began to accumulate notes that would be posthumously published as Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks . Between 1873 and 1876, he published four separate long essays: " David Strauss : the Confessor and the Writer", " On the Use and Abuse of History for Life ", "Schopenhauer as Educator", and "Richard Wagner in Bayreuth". These four later appeared in

4088-1026: A primary purpose at their foundation. Seminaries and bible colleges have continued this alliance between the academic study of theology and training for Christian ministry. There are, for instance, numerous prominent examples in the United States, including Phoenix Seminary , Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Criswell College in Dallas, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, Dallas Theological Seminary , North Texas Collegiate Institute in Farmers Branch, Texas, and

4234-502: A profound effect on the young man. In addition, Ludwig Feuerbach 's The Essence of Christianity influenced young Nietzsche with its argument that people created God, and not the other way around. In June 1865, at the age of 20, Nietzsche wrote to his sister Elisabeth, who was deeply religious, a letter regarding his loss of faith. This letter contains the following statement: Hence the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be

4380-746: A religious tradition; or it may be used to compare , challenge (e.g. biblical criticism ), or oppose (e.g. irreligion ) a religious tradition or worldview . Theology might also help a theologian address some present situation or need through a religious tradition, or to explore possible ways of interpreting the world. The term "theology" derives from the Greek theologia (θεολογία), a combination of theos (Θεός, ' god ') and logia (λογία, 'utterances, sayings, oracles ')—the latter word relating to Greek logos (λόγος, 'word, discourse , account, reasoning '). The term would pass on to Latin as theologia , then French as théologie , eventually becoming

4526-408: A renunciation of reason and metaphysics , and even an espousal of nihilism . Nevertheless, he would find admirers in such writers as D. H. Lawrence and his friend Georges Bataille . In 1908 Shestov moved to Freiburg , Germany, and he stayed there until 1910, when he moved to a small Swiss village named Coppet . During this time the author worked prolifically. One of the fruits of these labours

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4672-549: A servile position with respect to "necessities" that are eternally true, unchangeable, and ultimately tyrannical. It is important to note that Shestov does not entirely oppose reason, or science in general, but only rationalism and scientism : the tendency to consider reason as a sort of omniscient, omnipotent God that is eternally true and justified. He points to the work of Aristotle , Spinoza , Leibniz , Kant , and Hegel alike as reflecting belief in an eternal knowledge discoverable through reason—mechanistic, rational laws (i.e.

4818-417: A systematic philosophical framework. Such ideas would influence Gilles Deleuze decades later. Shestov's point of departure is not a theory, or an idea, but an experience, the experience of despair, which Shestov describes as the loss of certainties, the loss of freedom, the loss of the meaning of life . The root of this despair is what he frequently calls 'Necessity', but also 'Reason', 'Idealism' or 'Fate':

4964-623: A time when he was considering giving up philology for science, he accepted. To this day, Nietzsche is still among the youngest of the tenured Classics professors on record. Nietzsche's 1870 projected doctoral thesis , "Contribution toward the Study and the Critique of the Sources of Diogenes Laertius" (" Beiträge zur Quellenkunde und Kritik des Laertius Diogenes "), examined the origins of the ideas of Diogenes Laërtius . Though never submitted, it

5110-498: A treatment for syphilis at the time of Nietzsche's death, has also been suggested. In 1898 and 1899, Nietzsche suffered at least two strokes. They partially paralysed him, leaving him unable to speak or walk. He likely suffered from clinical hemiparesis /hemiplegia on the left side of his body by 1899. After contracting pneumonia in mid-August 1900, he had another stroke during the night of 24–25 August and died at about noon on 25 August. Elisabeth had him buried beside his father at

5256-547: A tutor to help her to understand her brother's philosophy. Steiner abandoned the attempt after only a few months, declaring that it was impossible to teach her anything about philosophy. Nietzsche's insanity was originally diagnosed as tertiary syphilis , in accordance with a prevailing medical paradigm of the time. Although most commentators regard his breakdown as unrelated to his philosophy, Georges Bataille wrote poetically of his condition ("'Man incarnate' must also go mad") and René Girard 's postmortem psychoanalysis posits

5402-987: A wide range of topics, including art , philology , history , music , religion , tragedy , culture , and science , and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster , Arthur Schopenhauer , Ralph Waldo Emerson , Richard Wagner , Fyodor Dostoevsky , and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism . Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism . 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann , R. J. Hollingdale , and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in

5548-666: A worshipful rivalry with Richard Wagner . Girard suggests that Nietzsche signed his final letters as both Dionysus and the Crucified One because he was demonstrating that by being a god (Dionysus), one is also a victim (Crucified One) since a god still suffers by overcoming the law. Nietzsche had previously written, "All superior men who were irresistibly drawn to throw off the yoke of any kind of morality and to frame new laws had, if they were not actually mad, no alternative but to make themselves or pretend to be mad." (Daybreak, 14) The diagnosis of syphilis has since been challenged and

5694-412: Is desperate, but Shestov tries to point to something beyond despair - and beyond philosophy. This is what he calls 'faith': not a belief, not a certainty, but another way of thinking that arises in the midst of the deepest doubt and insecurity. It is the experience that "everything is possible" (Dostoevsky), that the opposite of Necessity is not chance or accident, but possibility, that there does exist

5840-784: Is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. For instance: The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church by papal bull as studia generalia and perhaps from cathedral schools . It is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception. Later they were also founded by kings ( University of Naples Federico II , Charles University in Prague , Jagiellonian University in Kraków ) or by municipal administrations ( University of Cologne , University of Erfurt ). In

5986-448: Is constituted by a triple aspect: what is taught by God, teaches of God, and leads to God ( Latin : Theologia a Deo docetur, Deum docet, et ad Deum ducit ). This indicates the three distinct areas of God as theophanic revelation , the systematic study of the nature of divine and, more generally, of religious belief , and the spiritual path . Christian theology as the study of Christian belief and practice concentrates primarily upon

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6132-455: Is denied that there is as clear a boundary between them. Whether or not reasoned discussion about the divine is possible has long been a point of contention. Protagoras , as early as the fifth century BC , who is reputed to have been exiled from Athens because of his agnosticism about the existence of the gods, said that "Concerning the gods I cannot know either that they exist or that they do not exist, or what form they might have, for there

6278-541: Is in fault not religion. Theology is a science that may justly be compared to the Box of Pandora . Many good things lie uppermost in it; but many evil lie under them, and scatter plagues and desolation throughout the world." Thomas Paine , a Deistic American political theorist and pamphleteer , wrote in his three-part work The Age of Reason (1794, 1795, 1807): The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches,

6424-435: Is known at Aberdeen) and in religious studies. In some contemporary contexts, a distinction is made between theology, which is seen as involving some level of commitment to the claims of the religious tradition being studied, and religious studies , which by contrast is normally seen as requiring that the question of the truth or falsehood of the religious traditions studied be kept outside its field. Religious studies involves

6570-649: Is little known in the English-speaking world. This is partly because his works have not been readily available. Partly the specific themes he discusses are unfashionable and "foreign". A sombre and yet ecstatic atmosphere permeates his writings. And his quasi-nihilistic position and religious outlook are an unsettling and incongruous combination, at first sight. He did however influence writers such as Albert Camus (who wrote about him in Le Mythe de Sisyphe, The Myth of Sisyphus ), Benjamin Fondane (his 'pupil'),

6716-575: Is much to prevent one's knowing: the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of man's life." Since at least the eighteenth century, various authors have criticized the suitability of theology as an academic discipline. In 1772, Baron d'Holbach labeled theology "a continual insult to human reason" in Le Bon sens . Lord Bolingbroke , an English politician and political philosopher, wrote in Section IV of his Essays on Human Knowledge , "Theology

6862-640: Is not forbidden for reason to speak of unity and even of unities, but it must renounce total unity - and other things besides. And what a sigh of relief men will breathe when they suddenly discover that the living God, the true God, in no way resembles Him whom reason has shown them until now! Through this attack on "self-evident truths", Shestov implies that we are all seemingly alone with our experience and suffering, and cannot be helped by philosophical systems. Echoing Martin Luther , Dostoyevsky , and Kierkegaard, he argues that true philosophy involves thinking against

7008-401: Is not part of theology proper , but is found in the philosophy of religion , and increasingly through the psychology of religion and neurotheology . Theology's aim, then, is to record, structure and understand these experiences and concepts; and to use them to derive normative prescriptions for how to live our lives . The history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education

7154-443: Is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God." Whatever the case, there are various Buddhist theories and discussions on the nature of Buddhahood and the ultimate reality / highest form of divinity , which has been termed "buddhology" by some scholars like Louis de La Vallée-Poussin . This is a different usage of the term than when it is taken to mean the academic study of Buddhism , and here would refer to

7300-475: Is probably the following: "...we need to think that only one assertion has or can have any objective reality: that nothing on earth is impossible. Every time someone wants to force us to admit that there are other, more limited and limiting truths, we must resist with every means we can lay hands on". Shestov's works were not met with approval even by some of his closest Russian friends. Many saw in Shestov's work

7446-575: Is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.... The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste. A. J. Ayer , a British former logical-positivist , sought to show in his essay "Critique of Ethics and Theology" that all statements about

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7592-476: Is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity . It is taught as an academic discipline , typically in universities and seminaries . It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the supernatural , but also deals with religious epistemology , asks and seeks to answer the question of revelation . Revelation pertains to the acceptance of God , gods , or deities , as not only transcendent or above

7738-497: Is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing. The German atheist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach sought to dissolve theology in his work Principles of

7884-716: Is used by Christine Kraemer in her book Seeking The Mystery: An Introduction to Pagan Theologies and by Michael York in Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion . Richard Hooker defines theology as "the science of things divine". The term can, however, be used for a variety of disciplines or fields of study. Theology considers whether the divine exists in some form, such as in physical , supernatural , mental , or social realities , and what evidence for and about it may be found via personal spiritual experiences or historical records of such experiences as documented by others. The study of these assumptions

8030-899: Is written, is attained through violence." (cf Matthew 11:12) "When I give Shestov's books to anybody, they are usually delighted. There are two authors whom I make propaganda for: one is Herzen , the other is Shestov. They are both totally decent, open-minded, open-hearted human beings." Isaiah Berlin Shestov was highly admired and honored by Nikolai Berdyaev and Sergei Bulgakov in Russia, Jules de Gaultier , Georges Bataille , Lucien Lévy-Bruhl , Paul Celan , Gilles Deleuze , and Albert Camus in France, and D. H. Lawrence , Isaiah Berlin and John Middleton Murry in England. Among Jewish thinkers, he influenced Hillel Zeitlin . Today, Shestov

8176-591: The ātman (soul). The Sanskrit word for the various schools of Hindu philosophy is darśana ('view, viewpoint'), the most influential one in terms of modern Hindu religion is Vedanta and its various sub-schools, each of which presents a different theory of Ishvara (the Supreme lord, God). Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study for many devotees, philosophers and scholars in India for centuries. A large part of its study lies in classifying and organizing

8322-729: The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. The only Judeo-Christian seminary for theology is the 'Idaho Messianic Bible Seminary' which is part of the Jewish University of Colorado in Denver . In some contexts, scholars pursue theology as an academic discipline without formal affiliation to any particular church (though members of staff may well have affiliations to churches), and without focussing on ministerial training. This applies, for instance, to

8468-553: The Church Fathers ). In the Renaissance , especially with Florentine Platonist apologists of Dante 's poetics, the distinction between 'poetic theology' ( theologia poetica ) and 'revealed' or Biblical theology serves as stepping stone for a revival of philosophy as independent of theological authority. It is in the last sense, theology as an academic discipline involving rational study of Christian teaching, that

8614-914: The Mass . During the High Middle Ages, theology was the ultimate subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences". It served as the capstone to the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including philosophy ) existed primarily to help with theological thought. In this context, medieval theology in the Christian West could subsume fields of study which would later become more self-sufficient, such as metaphysics (Aristotle's " first philosophy ", or ontology (the science of being). Christian theology's preeminent place in

8760-546: The University of Bonn in the hope of becoming a minister . For a short time, he and Deussen became members of the Burschenschaft Frankonia . After one semester (and to the anger of his mother), he stopped his theological studies and lost his faith. As early as his 1862 essay "Fate and History", Nietzsche had argued that historical research had discredited the central teachings of Christianity, but David Strauss 's Life of Jesus also seems to have had

8906-431: The aphoristic style of Friedrich Nietzsche to investigate the difference between Russian and European Literature. Although on the surface it is an exploration of numerous intellectual topics, at its base it is a sardonic work of Existentialist philosophy which both criticizes and satirizes our fundamental attitudes towards life situations. D. H. Lawrence , who wrote the foreword to S.S. Koteliansky's literary translation of

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9052-402: The early medieval period , most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries. Christian theological learning was, therefore, a component in these institutions, as

9198-489: The law of non-contradiction ) that would constrain even God by logical necessity. For Shestov, this tendency to deify reason itself results from fear of an arbitrary, unpredictable, and dangerous God; this causes philosophers to deify that which is unchanging or "dead"—that is, opposed to life and the absolute. Shestov targets this as a repressed flaw in Western philosophy and counters, following Kierkegaard , that God entails

9344-421: The 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism , postmodernism , and post-structuralism —as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture. Born on 15 October 1844, Nietzsche grew up in the town of Röcken (now part of Lützen ), near Leipzig , in

9490-520: The Christian church, to assist in the propagation of Christianity, to draw on the resources of the Christian tradition to address some present situation or need, or for a variety of other reasons. Islamic theological discussion that parallels Christian theological discussion is called Kalam ; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of Sharia or Fiqh . Kalam...does not hold

9636-557: The Dane left off. The results of this tendency are seen in his work Kierkegaard and Existential Philosophy: Vox Clamantis in Deserto , published in 1936, a fundamental work of Christian existentialism . Despite his weakening condition Shestov continued to write at a quick pace, and finally completed his magnum opus , Athens and Jerusalem . This work examines the dichotomy between freedom and reason , and argues that reason be rejected in

9782-528: The Deity". The Latin author Boethius , writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of academic study, dealing with the motionless, incorporeal reality; as opposed to physica , which deals with corporeal , moving realities. Boethius' definition influenced medieval Latin usage. In patristic Greek Christian sources, theologia could refer narrowly to devout and/or inspired knowledge of and teaching about

9928-754: The Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Canada , and to many university departments in the United Kingdom , including the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge , the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter , and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds . Traditional academic prizes, such as the University of Aberdeen 's Lumsden and Sachs Fellowship , tend to acknowledge performance in theology (or divinity as it

10074-526: The English theology . Through several variants (e.g., theologie , teologye ), the English theology had evolved into its current form by 1362. The sense that the word has in English depends in large part on the sense that the Latin and Greek equivalents had acquired in patristic and medieval Christian usage although the English term has now spread beyond Christian contexts. Greek theologia (θεολογία)

10220-399: The French political and literary circles. That this Russian was newly appreciated is attested by his having been asked to contribute to a prestigious French philosophy journal. In the interwar years, Shestov continued to develop into a thinker of great prominence. During this time he had become totally immersed in the study of such great theologians as Blaise Pascal and Plotinus , whilst at

10366-611: The Italian cities of Genoa , Rapallo , and Turin and the French city of Nice . In 1881, when France occupied Tunisia , he planned to travel to Tunis to view Europe from the outside but later abandoned that idea, probably for health reasons. Nietzsche occasionally returned to Naumburg to visit his family, and, especially during this time, he and his sister Elisabeth had repeated periods of conflict and reconciliation. While in Genoa , Nietzsche's failing eyesight prompted him to explore

10512-724: The Philosophy of the Future : "The task of the modern era was the realization and humanization of God – the transformation and dissolution of theology into anthropology." This mirrored his earlier work The Essence of Christianity (1841), for which he was banned from teaching in Germany, in which he had said that theology was a "web of contradictions and delusions". The American satirist Mark Twain remarked in his essay " The Lowest Animal ", originally written in around 1896, but not published until after Twain's death in 1910, that: [Man]

10658-487: The Prussian Province of Saxony . He was named after King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia , who turned 49 on the day of Nietzsche's birth (Nietzsche later dropped his middle name Wilhelm). Nietzsche's great-grandfather, Gotthelf Engelbert Nietzsche  [ ja ] (1714–1804), was an inspector and a philosopher. Nietzsche's grandfather, Friedrich August Ludwig Nietzsche  [ de ] (1756–1826),

10804-548: The art of running after women!" Nietzsche enjoyed the attention he gave to the beginning of the Bayreuth Festival . In 1870, he gave Cosima Wagner the manuscript of "The Genesis of the Tragic Idea" as a birthday gift. In 1872, Nietzsche published his first book, The Birth of Tragedy . However, his colleagues within his field, including Ritschl, expressed little enthusiasm for the work in which Nietzsche eschewed

10950-492: The awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation and later admitted that Schopenhauer was one of the few thinkers whom he respected, dedicating the essay " Schopenhauer as Educator " in the Untimely Meditations to him. In 1866, he read Friedrich Albert Lange 's History of Materialism . Lange's descriptions of Kant 's anti-materialistic philosophy,

11096-477: The church in Röcken near Lützen . His friend and secretary Gast gave his funeral oration, proclaiming: "Holy be your name to all future generations!" Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche compiled The Will to Power from Nietzsche's unpublished notebooks and published it posthumously in 1901. Because his sister arranged the book based on her own conflation of several of Nietzsche's early outlines and took liberties with

11242-481: The classical philologic method in favour of a more speculative approach. In his polemic Philology of the Future , Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff damped the book's reception and increased its notoriety. In response, Rohde (then a professor in Kiel ) and Wagner came to Nietzsche's defence. Nietzsche remarked freely about the isolation he felt within the philological community and attempted unsuccessfully to transfer to

11388-703: The clinic and, in May 1890, brought him to her home in Naumburg. During this process Overbeck and Gast contemplated what to do with Nietzsche's unpublished works. In February, they ordered a fifty-copy private edition of Nietzsche contra Wagner , but the publisher C. G. Naumann secretly printed one hundred. Overbeck and Gast decided to withhold publishing The Antichrist and Ecce Homo because of their more radical content. Nietzsche's reception and recognition enjoyed their first surge. In 1893, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth returned from Nueva Germania in Paraguay following

11534-523: The context of the Jewish community and synagogue , including through rabbinical discussion of Jewish law and Midrash (rabbinic biblical commentaries). Jewish theology is also linked to ethics , as it is the case with theology in other religions, and therefore has implications for how one behaves. Some academic inquiries within Buddhism , dedicated to the investigation of a Buddhist understanding of

11680-548: The cross? Was it not in order to show man, through His example, that no decision is too hard, that it is worth while bearing anything in order not to remain in the womb of the One? That any torture whatever to the living being is better than the 'bliss' of the rest-satiate 'ideal' being?" Likewise, the final words of his last work, Athens and Jerusalem , are: "Philosophy is not Besinnen [think over] but struggle. And this struggle has no end and will have no end. The kingdom of God, as it

11826-427: The development and growth of Christian knowledge" they "provide the academic training for the future clergy and teachers of religious instruction at German schools." In the United States, several prominent colleges and universities were started in order to train Christian ministers. Harvard , Georgetown , Boston University , Yale , Duke University , and Princeton all had the theological training of clergy as

11972-516: The direction of Otto Binswanger . In January 1889, they proceeded with the planned release of Twilight of the Idols , by that time already printed and bound. From November 1889 to February 1890, the art historian Julius Langbehn attempted to cure Nietzsche, claiming that the methods of the medical doctors were ineffective in treating Nietzsche's condition. Langbehn assumed progressively greater control of Nietzsche until his secretiveness discredited him. In March 1890, Franziska removed Nietzsche from

12118-539: The discipline of philosophy . Furthermore, it adumbrates the means by which the scientific method has made philosophy and science irreconcilable, since science concerns itself with empirical observation, whereas (so Shestov argues) philosophy must be concerned with freedom , God and immortality , issues that cannot be solved by science. In 1938, Shestov contracted a serious illness whilst at his vacation home. During this final period, he continued his studies, concentrating in particular on Indian philosophy as well as

12264-496: The early 19th century, various different approaches have emerged in the West to theology as an academic discipline. Much of the debate concerning theology's place in the university or within a general higher education curriculum centres on whether theology's methods are appropriately theoretical and (broadly speaking) scientific or, on the other hand, whether theology requires a pre-commitment of faith by its practitioners, and whether such

12410-414: The end of On the Genealogy of Morality a new work with the title The Will to Power : Attempt at a Revaluation of All Values , he seems to have abandoned this idea and, instead, used some of the draft passages to compose Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist in 1888. His health improved and he spent the summer in high spirits. In the autumn of 1888, his writings and letters began to reveal

12556-562: The entire disposition of the Creator. Furthermore, although a Jewish philosopher , Shestov saw in the resurrection of Christ this victory over necessity. He described the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus as a transfiguring spectacle by which it is demonstrated that the purpose of life is not "mystical" surrender to the "absolute", but ascetical struggle: "Cur Deus homo? Why, to what purpose, did He become man, expose himself to injurious mistreatment, ignominious and painful death on

12702-528: The essential nature of God. In scholastic Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the doctrines of the Christian religion , or (more precisely) the academic discipline that investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in Peter Lombard 's Sentences , a book of extracts from

12848-424: The existence of previously resolved questions, and develop by making analogies from them to draw new inferences in new situations. The study of theology may help a theologian more deeply understand their own religious tradition , another religious tradition, or it may enable them to explore the nature of divinity without reference to any specific tradition. Theology may be used to propagate , reform, or justify

12994-446: The failure in his attempts to woo Salomé on Salomé, Rée, and on the intrigues of his sister (who had written letters to the families of Salomé and Rée to disrupt the plans for the commune). Nietzsche wrote of the affair in 1883, that he now felt "genuine hatred for my sister". Amidst renewed bouts of illness, living in near-isolation after a falling out with his mother and sister regarding Salomé, Nietzsche fled to Rapallo, where he wrote

13140-499: The first part of Also Sprach Zarathustra in only ten days. By 1882, Nietzsche was taking huge doses of opium and continued to have trouble sleeping. In 1883, while staying in Nice, he was writing out his own prescriptions for the sedative chloral hydrate , signing them "Dr. Nietzsche". He turned away from the influence of Schopenhauer , and after he severed his social ties with Wagner, Nietzsche had few remaining friends. Now, with

13286-513: The first time later that year. In 1869, with Ritschl's support, Nietzsche received an offer to become a professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He was only 24 years old and had neither completed his doctorate nor received a teaching certificate (" habilitation "). He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Leipzig University in March 1869, again with Ritschl's support. Despite his offer coming at

13432-497: The following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia . He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897, and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche . Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes . Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics , poetry, cultural criticism , and fiction while displaying

13578-478: The galleys for almost all of Nietzsche's work. On at least one occasion, on 23 February 1880, the usually poor Gast received 200 marks from their mutual friend, Paul Rée. Gast was one of the very few friends Nietzsche allowed to criticise him. In responding most enthusiastically to Also Sprach Zarathustra ("Thus Spoke Zarathustra"), Gast did feel it necessary to point out that what were described as "superfluous" people were in fact quite necessary. He went on to list

13724-588: The horse, threw his arms around its neck to protect it, then collapsed to the ground. In the following few days, Nietzsche sent short writings—known as the Wahnzettel or Wahnbriefe (literally "Delusion notes" or "letters")—to a number of friends including Cosima Wagner and Jacob Burckhardt . Most of them were signed " Dionysus ", though some were also signed "der Gekreuzigte" meaning "the crucified one". To his former colleague Burckhardt, Nietzsche wrote: I have had Caiaphas put in fetters . Also, last year I

13870-794: The idea and suggested that they be joined by his friend Nietzsche. The two met Nietzsche in Rome in April 1882, and Nietzsche is believed to have instantly fallen in love with Salomé, as Rée had done. Nietzsche asked Rée to propose marriage to Salomé, which she rejected. She had been interested in Nietzsche as a friend, but not as a husband. Nietzsche nonetheless was content to join with Rée and Salomé touring through Switzerland and Italy together, planning their commune. The three travelled with Salomé's mother through Italy and considered where they would set up their "Winterplan" commune. They intended to set up their commune in an abandoned monastery, but no suitable location

14016-561: The leading place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for 'theology' in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Some Universities in Germany established departments of islamic theology. (i.e. ) In Jewish theology, the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within

14162-520: The letter he had received from Nietzsche to Overbeck. The following day, Overbeck received a similar letter and decided that Nietzsche's friends had to bring him back to Basel. Overbeck travelled to Turin and brought Nietzsche to a psychiatric clinic in Basel. By that time Nietzsche appeared fully in the grip of a serious mental illness, and his mother Franziska decided to transfer him to a clinic in Jena under

14308-434: The limits of prescribed reason and necessity, and can only begin once, "according to the testimony of reason, all possibilities have been exhausted" and "we run up against the wall of impossibility." Shestov's student Fondane explained that genuine reality "begins beyond the limit of the logically impossible" and only once "every humanly thinkable certainty and probability has proven its impossibility." This explains his lack of

14454-526: The manifestations of thousands of gods and their aspects. In recent decades the study of Hinduism has also been taken up by a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Bhaktivedanta College . There are also other traditions of Hindu theology, including the various theologies of Shaivism (which include dualistic and non-dualistic strands) as well as

14600-417: The material, the scholarly consensus has been that it does not reflect Nietzsche's intent. (For example, Elisabeth removed aphorism 35 of The Antichrist , where Nietzsche rewrote a passage of the Bible.) Indeed, Mazzino Montinari , the editor of Nietzsche's Nachlass , called it a forgery. Yet, the endeavour to rescue Nietzsche's reputation by discrediting The Will to Power often leads to scepticism about

14746-422: The natural world, but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and to reveal themselves to humankind. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument ( experiential , philosophical , ethnographic , historical , and others) to help understand , explain , test, critique , defend or promote any myriad of religious topics . As in philosophy of ethics and case law , arguments often assume

14892-460: The new style of Zarathustra , his work became even more alienating, and the market received it only to the degree required by politeness. Nietzsche recognised this and maintained his solitude, though he often complained. His books remained largely unsold. In 1885, he printed only 40 copies of the fourth part of Zarathustra and distributed a fraction of them among close friends, including Helene von Druskowitz . In 1883, he tried and failed to obtain

15038-530: The notion that "there is nothing that is impossible"—the absolute need not be limited by reason. For this reason, no conclusive knowledge about the way that things necessarily must be can be arrived at through reason. As he explained in conversation with his student Benjamin Fondane : I know full well that Necessity reigns now… But who can prove to me that it has always been? That it was not something else before? Or that there will not be something else afterwards? It's up to men to side with Necessity, perhaps... But

15184-552: The number of people Epicurus , for example, had to rely on to supply his simple diet of goat cheese. To the end of his life, Gast and Overbeck remained consistently faithful friends. Malwida von Meysenbug remained like a motherly patron even outside the Wagner circle. Soon Nietzsche made contact with the music-critic Carl Fuchs. Nietzsche stood at the beginning of his most productive period. Beginning with Human, All Too Human in 1878, Nietzsche published one book or major section of

15330-619: The permission of the authorities he lectured at the University of Kiev on Greek philosophy . Shestov's dislike of the Soviet regime led him to undertake a long journey out of Russia, and he eventually ended up in France. The author was a popular figure in France, where his originality was quickly recognized. In Paris, he soon befriended, and much influenced, the young Georges Bataille . He was also close to Eugene and Olga Petit , who helped him and his family relocate to Paris and integrate into

15476-497: The philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard in the 1870s, wrote to Nietzsche asking him to read Kierkegaard , to which Nietzsche replied that he would come to Copenhagen and read Kierkegaard with him. However, before fulfilling this promise, Nietzsche slipped too far into illness. At the beginning of 1888, Brandes delivered in Copenhagen one of the first lectures on Nietzsche's philosophy. Although Nietzsche had previously announced at

15622-490: The poems that made up his collection Dionysian-Dithyrambs . On 3 January 1889, Nietzsche suffered a mental breakdown . Two policemen approached him after he caused a public disturbance in the streets of Turin . What happened remains unknown, but an often-repeated tale from shortly after his death states that Nietzsche witnessed the flogging of a horse at the other end of the Piazza Carlo Alberto, ran to

15768-565: The poet Paul Celan , and notably Emil Cioran , who writes about Shestov: Shestov also appears in the work of Gilles Deleuze ; he is referred to sporadically in Nietzsche and Philosophy and also appears in Difference and Repetition . Leo Strauss wrote "Jerusalem and Athens" in part as a response to Shestov's "Athens and Jerusalem". More recently, alongside Dostoyevsky's philosophy, many have found solace in Shestov's battle against

15914-400: The poet raised consciousness to "the most sublime ideality". The teacher who corrected the essay gave it a good mark but commented that Nietzsche should concern himself in the future with healthier, more lucid, and more "German" writers. Additionally, he became acquainted with Ernst Ortlepp , an eccentric, blasphemous , and often drunken poet who was found dead in a ditch weeks after meeting

16060-468: The publication in 1878 of Human, All Too Human (a book of aphorisms ranging from metaphysics to morality to religion), a new style of Nietzsche's work became clear, highly influenced by Afrikan Spir 's Thought and Reality and reacting against the pessimistic philosophy of Wagner and Schopenhauer. Nietzsche's friendship with Deussen and Rohde cooled as well. In 1879, after a significant decline in health, Nietzsche had to resign his position at Basel and

16206-478: The rational self-consistent and self-evident; for example Bernard Martin of Case Western Reserve University, who translated his works now found online [external link below]; and the scholar Liza Knapp, who wrote The Annihilation of Inertia: Dostoevsky and Metaphysics . This book was an evaluation of Dostoyevsky's struggle against the self-evident "wall", and refers to Shestov on several occasions. According to Michael Richardson's research on Georges Bataille , Shestov

16352-495: The rise of European Materialism , Europe's increased concern with science, Charles Darwin 's theory of evolution , and the general rebellion against tradition and authority intrigued Nietzsche greatly. Nietzsche would ultimately argue the impossibility of an evolutionary explanation of the human aesthetic sense. In 1867, Nietzsche signed up for one year of voluntary service with the Prussian artillery division in Naumburg. He

16498-800: The same time lecturing at the Sorbonne in 1925. In 1926 he was introduced to Edmund Husserl , with whom he maintained a cordial relationship despite radical differences in their philosophical outlook. In 1929, during a return to Freiburg he met with Edmund Husserl, and was urged to study Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard . The discovery of Kierkegaard prompted Shestov to realise that his philosophy shared great similarities, such as his rejection of idealism , and his belief that man can gain ultimate knowledge through ungrounded subjective thought rather than objective reason and verifiability . However, Shestov maintained that Kierkegaard did not pursue this line of thought far enough, and continued where he thought

16644-562: The study of religions that worship a supposed deity (a theos ), i.e. more widely than monotheism ; and presuppose a belief in the ability to speak and reason about this deity (in logia ). They suggest the term is less appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently (i.e., religions without a single deity, or that deny that such subjects can be studied logically). Hierology has been proposed, by such people as Eugène Goblet d'Alviella (1908), as an alternative, more generic term. As defined by Thomas Aquinas , theology

16790-526: The study of historical or contemporary practices or of those traditions' ideas using intellectual tools and frameworks that are not themselves specifically tied to any religious tradition and that are normally understood to be neutral or secular. In contexts where 'religious studies' in this sense is the focus, the primary forms of study are likely to include: Sometimes, theology and religious studies are seen as being in tension, and at other times, they are held to coexist without serious tension. Occasionally it

16936-513: The study of the nature of what a Buddha is. In Mahayana Buddhism , a central concept in its buddhology is the doctrine of the three Buddha bodies (Sanskrit: Trikāya ). This doctrine is shared by all Mahayana Buddhist traditions. Within Hindu philosophy , there are numerous traditions of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God (termed Brahman , Paramatma , Ishvara , and/or Bhagavan in some schools of Hindu thought) and of

17082-522: The style may be deemed more web-like than linear, and more explosive than argumentative. The author argues that life itself is, in the last analysis, not comprehensible through logical or rational inquiry. Shestov maintains that no metaphysical speculation can conclusively solve the mysteries of life. Fundamentally, his philosophy is not 'problem-solving', but problem-generating, with a pronounced emphasis on life's enigmatic qualities. For Shestov, philosophy has employed reason to place humans and God alike in

17228-552: The suicide of her husband. She studied Nietzsche's works and, piece by piece, took control of their publication. Overbeck was dismissed and Gast finally co-operated. After the death of Franziska in 1897, Nietzsche lived in Weimar , where Elisabeth cared for him and allowed visitors, including Rudolf Steiner (who in 1895 had written Friedrich Nietzsche: A Fighter Against His Time , one of the first books praising Nietzsche), to meet her uncommunicative brother. Elisabeth employed Steiner as

17374-402: The term natural theology , which denoted theology based on reasoning from natural facts independent of specifically Christian revelation) or that are specific to another religion (such as below). Theology can also be used in a derived sense to mean "a system of theoretical principles; an (impractical or rigid) ideology". The term theology has been deemed by some as only appropriate to

17520-521: The term passed into English in the 14th century, although it could also be used in the narrower sense found in Boethius and the Greek patristic authors, to mean rational study of the essential nature of God, a discourse now sometimes called theology proper . From the 17th century onwards, the term theology began to be used to refer to the study of religious ideas and teachings that are not specifically Christian or correlated with Christianity (e.g., in

17666-525: The texts of the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theology might be undertaken to help the theologian better understand Christian tenets, to make comparisons between Christianity and other traditions, to defend Christianity against objections and criticism, to facilitate reforms in

17812-1075: The theologies of the Goddess centered Shakta traditions which posit a feminine deity as the ultimate. In Japan, the term theology ( 神学 , shingaku ) has been ascribed to Shinto since the Edo period with the publication of Mano Tokitsuna's Kokon shingaku ruihen ( 古今神学類編 , 'categorized compilation of ancient theology'). In modern times, other terms are used to denote studies in Shinto—as well as Buddhist—belief, such as kyōgaku ( 教学 , 'doctrinal studies') and shūgaku ( 宗学 , 'denominational studies'). English academic Graham Harvey has commented that Pagans "rarely indulge in theology". Nevertheless, theology has been applied in some sectors across contemporary Pagan communities, including Wicca , Heathenry , Druidry and Kemetism . As these religions have given precedence to orthopraxy , theological views often vary among adherents. The term

17958-507: The traumatic effects of battle. He also contracted diphtheria and dysentery . Walter Kaufmann speculates that he also contracted syphilis at a brothel along with his other infections at this time. On returning to Basel in 1870, Nietzsche observed the establishment of the German Empire and Otto von Bismarck 's subsequent policies as an outsider and with a degree of scepticism regarding their genuineness. His inaugural lecture at

18104-476: The university started to come under challenge during the European Enlightenment , especially in Germany. Other subjects gained in independence and prestige, and questions were raised about the place of a discipline that seemed to involve a commitment to the authority of particular religious traditions in institutions that were increasingly understood to be devoted to independent reason. Since

18250-885: The university was " Homer and Classical Philology ". Nietzsche also met Franz Overbeck , a professor of theology who remained his friend throughout his life. Afrikan Spir , a little-known Russian philosopher responsible for the 1873 Thought and Reality and Nietzsche's colleague, the historian Jacob Burckhardt , whose lectures Nietzsche frequently attended, began to exercise significant influence on him. Nietzsche had already met Richard Wagner in Leipzig in 1868 and later Wagner's wife, Cosima. Nietzsche admired both greatly and during his time at Basel frequently visited Wagner's house in Tribschen in Lucerne . The Wagners brought Nietzsche into their most intimate circle—which included Franz Liszt , of whom Nietzsche colloquially described: "Liszt or

18396-482: The use of typewriters as a means of continuing to write. He is known to have tried using the Hansen Writing Ball , a contemporary typewriter device. In the end, a past student of his, Peter Gast , became a private secretary to Nietzsche. In 1876, Gast transcribed the crabbed, nearly illegible handwriting of Nietzsche's first time with Richard Wagner in Bayreuth. He subsequently transcribed and proofread

18542-420: The value of his late notes, even of his whole Nachlass . However, his Nachlass and The Will to Power are distinct. General commentators and Nietzsche scholars, whether emphasising his cultural background or his language, overwhelmingly label Nietzsche as a "German philosopher." Others do not assign him a national category. While Germany had not yet been unified into a single sovereign state, Nietzsche

18688-532: The work, summarized Shestov's philosophy with the words: " 'Everything is possible' - this is his really central cry. It is not nihilism. It is only a shaking free of the human psyche from old bonds. The positive central idea is that the human psyche, or soul, really believes in itself, and in nothing else". Shestov deals with key issues such as religion, rationalism, and science in this highly approachable work, topics he would also examine in later writings such as In Job's Balances . Shestov's own key quote from this work

18834-404: The works of his contemporary and friend Edmund Husserl , who had died recently. Shestov himself died at a clinic in Paris. Shestov's philosophy is, at first sight, not a philosophy at all, or it is a kind of anti-philosophy : it offers no systematic unity, no theoretical explanation of philosophical problems. Most of Shestov's work is fragmentary. With regard to the form (he often used aphorisms)

18980-440: The world, prefer the designation Buddhist philosophy to the term Buddhist theology , since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a theos or a Creator God . Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is in fact appropriate, can only do so, he says, because "I take theology not to be restricted to discourse on God.... I take 'theology' not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism

19126-480: The young Nietzsche but who may have introduced Nietzsche to the music and writing of Richard Wagner . Perhaps under Ortlepp's influence, he and a student named Richter returned to school drunk and encountered a teacher, resulting in Nietzsche's demotion from first in his class and the end of his status as a prefect . After graduation in September 1864, Nietzsche began studying theology and classical philology at

19272-530: Was a German classical scholar , philosopher , and critic of culture , who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland in 1869, at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in

19418-408: Was a theologian. Nietzsche's parents, Carl Ludwig Nietzsche (1813–1849), a Lutheran pastor and former teacher; and Franziska Nietzsche  [ de ] ( née Oehler) (1826–1897), married in 1843, the year before their son's birth. They had two other children: a daughter, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche , born in 1846; and a second son, Ludwig Joseph, born in 1848. Nietzsche's father died from

19564-421: Was an early influence on Bataille and was responsible for exposing him to Nietzsche. He argues that Shestov's radical views on theology and an interest in extreme human behavior probably coloured Bataille's own thoughts. These are Shestov's most important works, in their English translations, and with their date of writing : Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900)

19710-584: Was born Yeguda Lev Shvartsman in Kiev into a Jewish family. He was a cousin of Nicholas Pritzker, a lawyer who emigrated to Chicago and became the patriarch of the Pritzker family that is prominent in business and politics. He obtained an education at various places, due to fractious clashes with authority. He went on to study law and mathematics at the Moscow State University but after

19856-513: Was born a citizen of Prussia , which was mostly part of the German Confederation . His birthplace, Röcken , is in the modern German state of Saxony-Anhalt . When he accepted his post at Basel, Nietzsche applied for annulment of his Prussian citizenship. The official revocation of his citizenship came in a document dated 17 April 1869, and for the rest of his life he remained officially stateless . Theology Theology

20002-566: Was crucified by the German doctors in a very drawn-out manner. Wilhelm , Bismarck , and all anti-Semites abolished. Additionally, he commanded the German emperor to go to Rome to be shot and summoned the European powers to take military action against Germany, writing also that the pope should be put in jail and that he, Nietzsche, created the world and was in the process of having all anti-Semites shot dead. On 6 January 1889, Burckhardt showed

20148-406: Was deeply disappointed by the Bayreuth Festival of 1876, where the banality of the shows and baseness of the public repelled him. He was also alienated by Wagner's championing of "German culture", which Nietzsche felt a contradiction in terms, as well as by Wagner's celebration of his fame among the German public. All this contributed to his subsequent decision to distance himself from Wagner. With

20294-636: Was found. On 13 May, in Lucerne, when Nietzsche was alone with Salomé, he earnestly proposed marriage to her again, which she rejected. He nonetheless was happy to continue with the plans for an academic commune. After discovering the relationship, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became determined to get Nietzsche away from the "immoral woman". Nietzsche and Salomé spent the summer together in Tautenburg in Thuringia, often with Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth as

20440-600: Was later published as a Gratulationsschrift ('congratulatory publication') in Basel . Before moving to Basel, Nietzsche renounced his Prussian citizenship: for the rest of his life he remained officially stateless . Nevertheless, Nietzsche served in the Prussian forces during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) as a medical orderly . In his short time in the military, he experienced much and witnessed

20586-455: Was offered a scholarship to study at the internationally recognised Schulpforta . The claim that Nietzsche was admitted on the strength of his academic competence has been debunked: his grades were not near the top of the class. He studied there from 1858 to 1864, becoming friends with Paul Deussen and Carl von Gersdorff (1844–1904), who later became a jurist. He also found time to work on poems and musical compositions. Nietzsche led "Germania",

20732-802: Was pensioned. Since his childhood, various disruptive illnesses had plagued him, including moments of shortsightedness that left him nearly blind, migraine headaches, and violent indigestion. The 1868 riding accident and diseases in 1870 may have aggravated these persistent conditions, which continued to affect him through his years at Basel, forcing him to take longer and longer holidays until regular work became impractical. Living on his pension from Basel along with aid from friends, Nietzsche travelled frequently to find climates more conducive to his health. He lived until 1889 as an independent author in different cities. He spent many summers in Sils Maria near St. Moritz in Switzerland, and many of his winters in

20878-483: Was regarded as one of the finest riders among his fellow recruits, and his officers predicted that he would soon reach the rank of captain . However, in March 1868, while jumping into the saddle of his horse, Nietzsche struck his chest against the pommel and tore two muscles in his left side, leaving him exhausted and unable to walk for months. Consequently, he turned his attention to his studies again, completing them in 1868. Nietzsche also met Richard Wagner for

21024-766: Was the publication of Great Vigils and Penultimate Words . He returned to Moscow in 1915, and in this year his son Sergei died in combat against the Germans. During the Moscow period, his work became more influenced by matters of religion and theology . The seizure of government by the Bolsheviks in 1917 made life difficult for Shestov, and the Marxists pressured him to write a defence of Marxist doctrine as an introduction to his new work, Potestas Clavium ; otherwise it would not be published. Shestov refused this, yet with

21170-464: Was the study of church or canon law : universities played an important role in training people for ecclesiastical offices, in helping the church pursue the clarification and defence of its teaching, and in supporting the legal rights of the church over against secular rulers. At such universities, theological study was initially closely tied to the life of faith and of the church: it fed, and was fed by, practices of preaching , prayer and celebration of

21316-718: Was used with the meaning 'discourse on God' around 380 BC by Plato in The Republic . Aristotle divided theoretical philosophy into mathematike , physike , and theologike , with the latter corresponding roughly to metaphysics , which, for Aristotle, included discourse on the nature of the divine. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of such discourse: Some Latin Christian authors, such as Tertullian and Augustine , followed Varro's threefold usage. However, Augustine also defined theologia as "reasoning or discussion concerning

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