Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Die Geburt der Tragödie (1872) is one of the most important philosophical texts of the modern period. Nietzsche describes how Greek tragedy was born out of the encounter between the Dionysian and the Apollonian and represents a culture in which a balance between the two was achieved. The Dionysian plunged Greek culture into chaos and despair but also paved the way for the regenerative power of Apollonian clarity and rationality. It is this model that Nietzsche employs to understand both the decline of modern culture and the possible rebirth of this culture. In genuine tragic art, the Dionysian and Apollonian elements are completely entwined. In the music of Richard Wagner, to whom the work is dedicated, Nietzsche sees a redemptive power that can overcome the intellectual dichtonomy between the Dionysian and the Apollonian that characterises modern society.

An attack on the lack of critical sense and the blind acceptance of Christian premises, as regards morality, "Beyond Good and Evil" asks us to revisit many concepts imposed by Christian dogma, particularly solitude, fasting, and sexual abstinence. The reader is encouraged to move beyond Christian insistence on universal morality and embrace the inherent driving forces within each of us: achievement, ambition, the desire to grow and expand. Nietzsche argues (quite prophetically) "The time for petty politics is past; the next century will bring with it the struggle for mastery over the whole earth."