Did Nietzsche read Kierkegaard?

Nor did Nietzsche read Kierkegaard. By the end of Nietzsche's life, it is true, Kierkegaard was becoming known in Germany. In 1879 Georg Brandes published in German his Literary Character-Sketch on Kierkegaard.

Does Nietzsche agree with Kierkegaard?

There's no evidence that Nietzsche read Kierkegaard; the latter had not been translated into German. However, there is strong evidence that Nietzsche knew of Kierkegaard through the secondary literature; furthermore, Georges Brandes was a clear link between the two of them.

How are Nietzsche and Kierkegaard similar?

Abstract. Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche both felt that life is irrational. They were problem thinkers who chose not to follow the systematic approach to philosophy as their predecessors did. In this regard, they stood on common ground.

How do Kierkegaard and Nietzsche differ?

Kierkegaard's religiousness emphasizes faith that is in its tension with doubt. The truth in subjectivity is not something that simply exists for all time, but must be wrestled and eventually submitted to. Nietzsche prefers to make truth submit to the will of greatness.

Did Dostoevsky read Kierkegaard?

Although Dostoevsky wrote after Kierkegaard, it is him that defined existentialist philosophy the best. Kaufmann declares "It is as if Kierkegaard had stepped right out of Dostoevsky's pen”, adding that “part one of Notes from Underground is the best overture for existentialism ever written”.

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche | Giants of Existentialism

Did Camus like Kierkegaard?

The atheistic spirit of Ivan Karamazov proved for Camus the most attractive of all of his characters. His statement that “If God is dead, then all is permitted” resonated with him. However, he criticises both Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky for their leap into irrational faith.

Did Kafka read Nietzsche?

Kafka first discovered Nietzsche in Gymnasium and “remained faithful to Nietzsche's thinking until his death” (Kurz 138). Max Brod, Kafka's closest friend, and the publisher of Kafka's works after his death, is known for arguing against Nietzsche's influence on Kafka.

Was Kierkegaard a nihilist?

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855): The nineteenth century Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard—who many academics regard among the first existentialist philosophers—wrote about nihilism, calling it “leveling.” Kierkegaard felt that leveling was not a positive thing, because the problem of nihilism was that it meant ...

What did Kierkegaard and Nietzsche contribute to existentialism?

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche provided the basic foundations of 19^th century Existentialism. It is a philosophy that emphasises the existence of the individual as a free and responsible agent determining their own development.

Why is Nietzsche the father of existentialism?

Nietzsche's contribution to existentialism was the idea that men must accept that they are part of a material world, regardless of what else might exist. As part of this world, men must live as if there is nothing else beyond life. A failure to live, to take risks, is a failure to realize human potential.

What did Kierkegaard say about God?

Kierkegaard believed that Christianity was not a doctrine to be taught, but rather a life to be lived. He considered that many Christians who were relying totally on external proofs of God were missing out a true Christian experience, which is precisely the relationship one individual can have with God.

Who did Kierkegaard influence?

Jerry Fodor has written that Kierkegaard was "a master and way out of the league that the rest of us [philosophers] play in". Kierkegaard has also had a considerable influence on 20th-century literature. Figures deeply influenced by his work include Walker Percy, W. H. Auden, Franz Kafka, David Lodge, and John Updike.

What did Nietzsche believe?

In his works, Nietzsche questioned the basis of good and evil. He believed that heaven was an unreal place or “the world of ideas”. His ideas of atheism were demonstrated in works such as “God is dead”. He argued that the development of science and emergence of a secular world were leading to the death of Christianity.

Is Kierkegaard an existentialist?

For his emphasis on individual existence—particularly religious existence—as a constant process of becoming and for his invocation of the associated concepts of authenticity, commitment, responsibility, anxiety, and dread, Søren Kierkegaard is generally considered the father of existentialism.

What is Nietzsche nihilism?

According to Nietzsche, this state of nihilism – the idea that life has no meaning or value – cannot be avoided; we must go through it, as frightening and lonely as that will be.

Was Nietzsche a nihilist or existentialist?

Among philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is most often associated with nihilism. For Nietzsche, there is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it. Penetrating the façades buttressing convictions, the nihilist discovers that all values are baseless and that reason is impotent.

Is Nietzsche an existentialist philosopher?

Among the earliest figures associated with existentialism are philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche and novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, all of whom critiqued rationalism and concerned themselves with the problem of meaning.

What is the individual according to Kierkegaard and Nietzsche?

Kierkegaard also stressed that individuals must choose their own way without the aid of universal, objective standards. Friedrich Nietzsche further contended that the individual must decide which situations are to count as moral situations.

What would Kierkegaard think of Nietzsche?

Kierkegaard agrees that life can be absurd and that meaning could be hard to come by. As opposed to Nietzsche, who said the death of God caused this, Søren argued that, in the present age, meaning is sucked out of concepts by abstraction and a tendency to view things with too much rationality.

Who were famous nihilists?

Nihilism has existed in one form or another for hundreds of years, but is usually associated with Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher (and pessimist of choice for high school kids with undercuts) who proposed that existence is meaningless, moral codes worthless, and God is dead.

Who is the father of existentialism?

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) as an Existentialist Philosopher. Kierkegaard was many things: philosopher, religious writer, satirist, psychologist, journalist, literary critic and generally considered the 'father' of existentialism.

Did Kafka read Kierkegaard?

Franz Kafka was an avid reader of Kierkegaard. We can see from his letters, diaries, and his Octavio Notebooks that Kierkegaard was on his mind.

Is Kafka a nihilist?

Kafka is neither an atheist denying God's presence, nor a nihilist denying any worldly values and goals. Instead, Kafka, or rather K., is “a person continually tormented between the castle up above and the powers below, a person torn between doubt and hope” (Kung, 1991).