This lesson is comprised of 8 videos. The videos should be watched in sequence. At the end of the lesson I hope you will have a general understanding of the historical and cultural context in which Friedrich Nietzsche wrote and how his philosophy influenced intellectual and historic development in the twentieth century. I hope also that you will have an appreciation for some of the bigger themes and arguments in Nietzsche’s moral philosophy and that the lesson is thought provoking enough to guide you into constructing a personal opinion of his ethics and their influence on the twentieth Century.

PART ONE: An Introduction

The first video is a short introduction to the lesson. It explains how Nietzsche was raised in a community with a strong Christian morality, but his moral philosophy is a rejection of that definition of good and evil.

PART TWO: A Biography of Nietzsche

Part two is a 25 minute documentary by Alain de Botton, on Friedrich Nietzsche. As you watch the video I ask you to consider two questions:

1. Should we take any notice of a man who was diagnosed as clinically mad? Is it important for a philosopher to be sane, or is that immaterial to the potential truth of his writing?
2. Secondly, according to Alain de Botton, Nietzsche seems to be saying that we can only achieve happiness by experiencing unhappiness, does this concept makes sense and is it true. Is unhappiness the opposite of happiness or instead a rights of passage to happiness?

PART THREE: Is Nietzsche advocating Purgatory?

The third part of this iLesson starts by reviewing the concept which was discussed in part two, that happiness can only be found through adversity and unhappiness. Nietzsche seems to be ethically opposed to people finding pleasure in hedonistic activities like taking drugs, or getting drunk. He also seems to see religion and finding comfort in going to church as a similar type of mind numbing experience, however is this argument comparable to the Christian concept of Purgatory found in Dante’s Inferno. This part of the lesson also looks further into Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch, which is his super man or iconic ethical role model.

PART FOUR: Is Rocky the Übermensch?

This is a video of Tony Robbins discussing the life story of Sylvester Stallone. I offer it as an example of the Übermensch, and ask you to consider how close this life story comes to Nietzsche’s meaning and thus whether the modern day motivator of businessmen, Tony Robbins, is advocating the same philosophy as Friedrich Nietzsche did a century before. In what sense are their views the same and in what sense different?

PART FIVE: The Midwife to Modernism?

This fifth part of the lesson tries to increase your understanding of how Nietzsche’s philosophy was a reaction to the ‘Modern Western Philosophy’ and strong Christian ethics which dominated his time. In this sense his philosophy is sometimes seen as a tipping point between the ‘Modernism’ of the 18th and 19th century and its evolution into the ‘Post-Modernism’ of 20th Century Western Philosophy.

PART SIX: A Ricky Gervais Sketch

This is a sketch from the comedian Ricky Gervais who introduces the common view that Friedrich Nietzsche is partly responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement a few decades after his death.

PART SEVEN: A BBC Documentary on Nietzsche's philosophy

This is an excellent 40 minute BBC documentary on Nietzsche that will flesh out much of your knowledge of the man as a historical figure and his philosophy.

PART EIGHT: The Conclusion & Further Questions

This is the conclusion of the Lesson which seeks to get you thinking about whether you agree with Nietzsche’s moral philosophy and if it is any use at all in distinguishing between desirable and undesirable acts.

Hopefully you have enjoyed the lesson and are starting to form your opinions on Nietzsche’s philosophy and are interested to learn more.

FURTHER READING & AUDIOS

• Thus Spake Zarathustra or an Alternative copy or the Audio copy
• Beyond Good and Evil or the Audio copy
• His complete works in Audio