Was Friedrich Nietzsche Anti Semitic?

Despite of his staunch criticism of Judaism and in particular Christianity, does Friedrich Nietzsche qualify as anti-Semitic by today’s standards? 

By: Ringo Bones

In terms of the rules of late 20^th Century political correctness where supposedly only gay comedians are allowed to do stand up routines criticizing themselves, one can safely say that Friedrich Nietzsche is indeed anti Semitic by today’s standards. And yet there are a number of Jewish scholars – like Robert Holub author of Nietzsche’s Jewish Problem and Benjamin Silver - who had reached a consensus that goes “Friedrich Nietzsche has many faults, but anti-Semitism isn’t one of them”. But why does the name Friedrich Nietzsche seems to have become synonymous to anti Semitism, especially to those college students of whom their rather “right-leaning conservative” philosophy professor skirt through Nietzsche at an alarming pace only to give the impression to their students that humanity’s greatest philosopher is for all intents and purposes anti-Semitic/

In terms of historical accuracy, Friedrich Nietzsche is very critical of what we now know as “Abrahamic Theology” – particularly Christianity on which Nietzsche blames its rise on the Jews. A surprisingly very little known weird fact is that much of the Nazis’ alleged affinity for Nietzsche’s works was not when he was still in full creative control but only after his sister Elisabeth tried to cash in on his work after he became an invalid, especially after Elisabeth met Adolf Hitler and tried to promote her dead brother’s writings. 

Most importantly, Friedrich Nietzsche despised anti-Semitism, especially the institutionalized one that musician Richard Wagner embraced that often got tied in with German nationalism during the 1880s. His sister and her husband both hated Jews and shared visions of a pure race. Nietzsche’s sister and her husband even developed a colony in Paraguay to realize their dream, which later failed - which is quite in contrast to the mindset of Nietzsche during the height of his creative period. In one book - Beyond Good and Evil – Nietzsche proposed that we “expel that anti Semitic squallers out of the country.” In a letter to his sister, he wrote, “Your association with an anti Semitic chief expresses a foreignness to my whole way of life which fills me ever again with ire or melancholy.” Might it be that Friedrich Nietzsche’s anti Semitism might be a case of his sister’s “criminal manipulation” in order to cash in on his works?

Why Are The Extreme Right Fascinated With Friedrich Nietzsche?

Even though he may be appalled to learn of this but why are the extreme right and the Trump era alt-right fascinated with Friedrich Nietzsche?

By: Ringo Bones 

It is well-known that Friedrich Nietzsche is very critical of the bronze-age precepts that form the foundation of most existing organized religions. This sentiment is also shared by every self-respecting rational people, but why is it that the extreme right – which is not shy in expressing that their concept of right and wrong dates back to the what learned people of the Bronze Age knew of the world around them – seems to be fascinated by, and very specifically, the anti-Semitic leaning religious critiques of Nietzsche? 

Given the horrible uses made of his treatise by others – particularly during Nazi era Germany – it is important to realize that, although he blamed the invention of the concept of slave morality on the ancient Jews, Nietzsche was never a religious persecutor. By today’s standards, Nietzsche could have been a religious satirist frequently pointing out hypocrisies committed by contemporary organized religion. 

As a case-in-point of Nietzsche’s strive to avoid misunderstandings of his treatise, Thus Spake Zarathustra could have been his lone magnum opus that stands on its own merits, but he realized that that his ideas required further explanation to guard against misunderstanding. To that end, he published in 1886 probably his greatest work, Beyond Good and Evil, and in 1887, Toward a Genealogy of Morals. But given the penchant for demagoguery – as opposed to reason – by the current trump era alt-right, Friedrich Nietzsche’s work would thus continue to be politically perverted by the politics of the extreme right.

Friedrich Nietzsche: The First Man To Psychoanalyze Jesus Christ?

Even though Nietzsche was already famous by the time he died, is there any truth to Sigmund Freud’s claim that Friedrich Nietzsche was the first man to “psychoanalyze Jesus Christ”?

By: Ringo Bones 

If the famed father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud really did say that Friedrich Nietzsche was “the first man to psychoanalyze Jesus Christ”, he probably never said it to the faces of fundamentalist Christians. By the time he died in 1900, Friedrich Nietzsche was already world famous. Amateur psychologists have tried to “explain” him, but Sigmund Freud – the founder of psychoanalysis – said: “several times said of Nietzsche that he had a more penetrating knowledge of himself than any other man who ever lived or was likely to live.” according to Ernest Jones, Sigmund Freud’s biographer. And in his published work, Freud remarked that that Nietzsche’s “premonitions and insights often agree in the most amazing manner with the laborious results of psychoanalysis.” With Sigmund Freud’s high opinion of Friedrich Nietzsche, is it even possible that Nietzsche could have been the first man to “psychoanalyzed Jesus Christ”? 

Nietzsche’s main conceptions – even to the novice – centers around deconstructing organized Christianity. As Jesus Christ is a supposed adherent of “teaching by example”, Nietzsche wonders – maybe still – on why Jesus Christ never spoke about the two broad distinctions of morality – namely master morality and slave morality - during his lifetime when what is now the state of Israel was under the rule of the Roman Empire. With organized Christianity’s still “wonky” moral code 2,000 years later, it seems that this oversight by Jesus Christ is the main reason why Friedrich Nietzsche branded Jesus Christ as an “existentialist pauper”. 

Was Friedrich Nietzsche Influenced by Charles Darwin?

Even though they are near contemporaries with each other, has Friedrich Nietzsche’s insightful critiques ever been influenced by the works of Charles Darwin? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Even though Charles Darwin has been dead 18 years when Friedrich Nietzsche published his The Will To Power back in 1901, many familiar with Nietzsche’s iconic work swore that it is largely influenced by Charles Darwin’s The Origin Of The Species By Means of Natural Selection, especially about the concept of “survival of the fittest” in an adverse environment. But is this a conjecture that holds water in philosophical terms? 

The term “survival of the fittest” was actually first coined by biologist Herbert Spencer after reading Charles Darwin’s The Origin Of The Species and was used in Spencer’s Principles of Biology back in 1864. During Friedrich Nietzsche’s time as an impressionable student, he noticed that the Aristotelian leaning outlook of the universe adapted by Western Christianity seems to be creating some sort of “Kultur Kampf” during the political turmoil sweeping across Europe during latter half of the 19^th Century. It seems that the most cherished of Western Christian values that Nietzsche holds dear since childhood has been subjected to a violent tumultuous disillusionment right before his very eyes, hence his declaration that (the Christian) God is Dead. It seems that towards the end of the 19^th Century, the truism of Christianity’s Aristotelian view of the universe had been superseded by Charles Darwin’s more pragmatic “survival of the fittest” which could explain the salient theme behind Nietzsche’s The Will To Power. 

To contemporary readers the term “power” in Nietzsche’s The Will To Power seems to be a catch-all phrase describing his renewed hope of mankind via scientific innovation and exploration as a way of escape from the political turmoil sweeping across Europe at that time. It may have been safe to assume that Friedrich Nietzsche probably agreed with Alfred Nobel that if he invented a weapon powerful enough that it would cause terrible mass casualties, the powers-that-be will refrain from waging war forever. Although Nobel was kind of half-right with the advent of the thermonuclear weapons arms race during the height of the Cold War that limited global conflicts to “conventional police actions” like the Korean War, Vietnam, the then Soviet Union invading Afghanistan, etc. Even though Nietzsche’s philosophical stance may seem anathema to Abrahamic Theology from the point of view of us level-headed high-level thinkers, many a post Cold War religious extremists – like Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda and the current Islamic State - has since adapted Nietzsche’s philosophies to further their own theological political ends.     

Did Friedrich Nietzsche Live A Rather Dull And Boring Life?

If – as a fan of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda – you have harbored a preconceived notion that Friedrich Nietzsche was a thrill-seeker ahead of his time, but did Nietzsche lived a rather dull and boring life?

By: Ringo Bones

Maybe blame should be placed at that allegedly historically accurate biopic of Friedrich Nietzsche titled: “When Nietzsche Wept” that stars Armand Assante as Friedrich Nietzsche as a “melancholic” – as in someone who suffers from clinical depression - guy always checking himself into the nearest mental asylums whenever he feels blue. Sadly, this supposedly historically accurate version of Nietzsche seems to be largely ignored by a very large majority of today’s science fiction fans, especially fans of Gene Roddenberry But are ignoring this model of a “bland and boring Friedrich Nietzsche” at our own intellectual peril?

Fans of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda had always harbored this preconceived notion that Friedrich Nietzsche was an avid thrill-seeker way ahead of his time and very much into the extreme sports of his day as based on how the Nietzscheans in the sci-fi TV series so often much behaved. But for better or for worse, are our intellectual selves be better off with a bland and boring version of Friedrich Nietzsche whose existentialist insights is probably the most “thrilling” aspect of the famed philosopher’s life?

What Would Nietzsche Think of Current American Politics?

Given his strong critique of Judaeo-Christian-Slave-Morality, would Friedrich Nietzsche find the current political climate in Washington D.C. distasteful?

By: Ringo Bones

There's not just a hint of certainty that if Friedrich Nietzsche managed to observe first hand the current state of "partisan" politics in Washington D.C. that he will be appalled. The question is: how and what kind of "appalled" will he be? But is the antiquated view of Abrahamic Religious Doctrine the root of America's intransigent predicament?

Prof. Richard Dawkins once opined that he draws no distinction between religion in politics and - like me - Professor Dawkins seems also to harbor a thinking that both religion and politics - especially the present state of American Evangelical perception of politics - seems can't help manipulating the truth and the perception of truth to suit their own ends. So much for reaching a consensus on that one.

Was Gene Roddenberry Influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche?

Given that the famed Star Trek creator was an unabashed secular humanist, was Gene Roddenberry’s various creative works heavily influenced by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche?


By: Ringo Bones


If you’re a fan of Gene Roddenberry’s other works besides Star Trek, the answer to this one could be oh so obvious. And yet that “simple answer” can never be so cut-and-dried as to pass of as obvious to those who know Roddenberry - and his secular humanist stance - and Nietzsche beyond the mere “passing acquaintance” level. Or is the truth about as “complicated” as the current hot-button celebrity-fallen-from-grace style commentary?

Anybody familiar with Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda will probably decide that the famed science fiction writer is indeed influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche. By populating the Andromeda science fiction TV series with “Nietzscheans” – a race of genetically-enhanced humans obsessed with superiority – or the concept of it anyway. The case can never be so obviously cut-and-dried, but is it?

To those familiar with Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical musings – and gene Roddenberry’s portrayal of Nietzscheans in Andromeda - while ignorant of his personal life, could find the real-life Friedrich Nietzsche a bit hard to swallow. The biographical – and supposedly historically accurate – movie titled When Nietzsche Wept (ironically often showed during Valentine’s Day in HBO and Cinemax affiliates located in more libertine nation-states) shows the historically-accurate Friedrich Nietzsche as a melancholic basket case. Quite far from the impression of the general public of the great German philosopher whom they assumed as a thrill-seeking extreme sports addict – or what passes as extreme sports during the Victorian era.

So is Gene Roddenberry – or his science fiction works - truly influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche? Well, assumptions about this subject truly leaves the planet – euphemistically speaking – when one knows more about one person (Gene Roddenberry given his presence on the first few inaugural Star Trek conventions) than another (Friedrich Nietzsche because not all of us are “Ivy League College material”). Not to offend Star Trek fans, but there are those out there still clueless when it comes to the really “esoteric” questions about Gene Roddenberry’s life, let alone Friedrich Nietzsche’s. and will probably be an easier research paper to work on than one aimed at finding out the political views of Gene Roddenberry on the Sino-Indian War of 1962 or whether if the famed Star Trek creator were best buds with the Dalai Lama.

Was Friedrich Nietzsche Anti-Semitic?

Given that most of his fans are Jewish Ivy-League philosophy professors in America, was Friedrich Nietzsche really anti-Semitic even by today’s standards?


By: Vanessa Uy


Many Jewish Ivy-League philosophy professors – especially in America – very much admired the late, great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Especially when it comes to his insights on the true essence of morality. Anti-Semite or not, this haven’t prevented Nietzsche from having a Jewish fanbase. But is it really the fault of his contemporaries – as opposed to himself – that made Nietzsche harbor anti-Semitic thoughts?

Anti-Semitism was very much in the air during 19th Century Western Europe. The great German Classical Music composer Richard Wagner was very much influenced by the preexisting culture of anti-Semitism at that time. Wagner has probably little choice in avoiding it to influence much of his operatic works, which then became as an artistic recreation for much of Friedrich Nietzsche’s life. Even though Richard Wagner passed away before the height of the Dreyfus Affair engulfed much of Western Europe, Wagner’s anti-Semitic views nonetheless influenced Nietzsche’s.

But Western European anti-Semitism that lasted for almost half of the 20th Century can trace its origins on the Dreyfus Affair. The Dreyfus Affair was a scandal that stirred French political, social, and intellectual life during the 1890’s with repercussions felt long into the 20th Century. September 24, 1894 marked the beginning of the affair. On that date a list of military documents known as the bordereau was obtained from the office of the German service. The nature behind the transfer of the list indicated that a French officer – Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer – was named after a brief and hurried investigation. Captain Dreyfus was a member of The General Staff, was arrested and charged with treason. Captain Dreyfus was accused of supplying the Germans with important military information. The affair probably renewed and reinforced the preexisting endemic anti-Semitic culture of Western Europe. The anti-Semitic aspects of the Dreyfus Affair also very much shaped the personal, creative, and artistic outlook of the great French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro toward the rest of his life.

Friedrich Nietzsche, as seen from the politically correct and egalitarian 21st Century perspective really passes muster as anti-Semitic. But when compared to the genocidal level of anti-Semitism being practiced by Adolph Hitler, Nietzsche like his contemporary Wagner, would seem “cartooned” in comparison. To me, the anti-Semitic conversation between the late, former US President Richard M. Nixon and Tele-Evangelist Billy Graham about the “Jewish stranglehold of the American economy” easily trumps the anti-Semitism expressed by both Nietzsche and Wagner. Friedrich Nietzsche’s anti-Semitism probably originates from his frequent critiques over “organized religion”. Especially on the Jewish Orthodoxy placing undue emphasis on the “letter of the law” rather than the spirit of the law. As an ironic twist, Friedrich Nietzsche’s anti-Semitism hasn’t deterred him from having a Jewish fanbase.

Did Friedrich Nietzsche Loved Valentine’s Day?

Even though he’s no longer with us and given his views on human liberation and salvation, did Friedrich Nietzsche ever looked forward to the annual arrival of Valentine’s Day?


By: Vanessa Uy


“Everything done out of love is beyond good and evil.“ Thus spake Friedrich Nietzsche, but have you ever wondered if he ever looked forward to the arrival of Valentine’s Day during his lifetime given his liberating view on the nature of love? Given that during Victorian Times, the wanton commercialization and the overblown vulgar - make that ithiphallic - display of “Romantic Love” have yet to reach our contemporary idiocy in exploiting something that’s both sacred and beautiful. Then ipso facto Nietzsche must have seen Valentine’s Day during his lifetime as just another holiday, but did he really?

When Friedrich Nietzsche got preoccupied about the nature of “societal deception” during the “Gay Nineties” – i.e. the 1890’s. He often quotes about one does not want to be deceived, under the supposition that it is injurious, dangerous, or fatal to be deceived. Plus that other one that goes: “Do not allow yourselves to be deceived: Great minds are skeptical.” If all of this sounds like the inspirational sales pitch of your typical business savvy divorce insurance sales agent, then Friedrich Nietzsche must have been very concerned on how one of mankind’s most beautiful and transcendental life-experiences – namely love – is prone to corruption and manipulation. Given his concern for humanity going down the path that’s riddled with heartache and emotional blackmail, should Friedrich Nietzsche be honored during Valentine’s Day? Well…

Given that the people who supported the massacre at Wounded Knee in the name of Manifest Destiny – or the disastrous Operation Iraqi Freedom of recent times – are still in control when it comes to these things. Friedrich Nietzsche being a “heroic fixture” during Valentine’s Day is something that won’t happen within the foreseeable future. Which is kind of sad really, given that Hallmark, a greeting card company who has their own TV channel can’t capitalize on this. Imagine Nietzschean Valentine’s Day greeting cards, or a mini-series about the life of young Friedrich Nietzsche starring Orlando Bloom being aired on Hallmark’s prime-time scheduling block during Valentine’s Day.