do you think that due to nietzsche’s contraction of syphilis and dysintary, nietzsche said and wrote things he wouldnt otherwise. especially his last pieces of work which are very good comparing to his earlier work?
What has this to do with philosophy?
well dont think think that his latest work were inlfuenced by an altered state of mind, therefore completely changing the identity of the person from one era to the next
i really don’t think that you could ever say that his overall philosophical perspective would have changed because of his illness. the things he wrote were all over the place at times …compare his earliest works with “thus spake zarathustra” and then “ecce homo”. he’s doing a lot of “changing”. it would be tough to attribute any of those various changes to his illness at any particular time. his first instance of illness was in 1870… then another serious instance of illness in 1879. he also had a “mental breakdown” in 1889… a year after he wrote “ecce homo”, “nietzsche contra wagner” and “the antichrist” among some others. are you convinced yet? 
yes i just had some doubts, since he caught syphilis when he was in college and dysintary in the Franco-Prussian war (1871) the gruesome duo gave him hell as he could not live in the climate extremities, this made me question his state of mind although i shoulndt since its WORK either way. however i was wondering if the illnesses could have restrained or pushed him over the edge.
Nietzsche never caught syphilis. It’s a legend, told on and on, but it’s wrong.
how do you know? where can i read about that?
Nietzsche never caught syphilis. It’s a legend, told on and on, but it’s wrong.
how do you know? where can i read about that?
Yes, I’m wondering the same thing. In fact, one of the first things that came to my mind was an introduction by Walter Kaufman, that mentions N.'s syphillis, although I may not be remembering accurately. I also realize Kaufman could be wrong, and so I would like to know where you heard that piece of myth destruction, if it is in fact a myth.
From what I understand, it’s never been proven that he contracted Syphilis. He just exhibited many of the symptoms, so scholars have assumed that he had it. I know Jung never bought the Syphilis thing. He thought Nietzsche went crazy due to the unlivability of his own philosophy.
Take a look at this:
dailytimes.com.pk/default.as … 2003_pg9_4
Yes.
No, that was it not. The story: Nietzsche went insane and came into a hospital. There he was asked by a physician, if he ever had been infected by “lues”, which was a common word for syphilis. Nietzsche (the insane Nietzsche!) said Yes, he had been infected three times. But you can only once get infected by syphilis … The latin word “lues” means “epidemic”, Nietzsche obviously misunderstood it. We know that Nietzsche three times in his life was afraid to be infected with cholera.
DarkMagus writes:
Reminds me of Michel Foucault’s, “Do not ask me who i am, and do not ask me to remain the same.” The very cells in our body change every 8 years or so. And Nietzsche had many souls in his breast.
hmm… maybe not the most parsimonious conclusion there, jung! for me… the jury is still out on this one. more reading has to be done!