Excerpt:
Friedrich Nietzsche has been one of the most influential and misunderstood philosophers of the modern era. (His influence in the twentieth century has been greater than his influence in the late nineteenth century.) Nietzsche was critical of the traditions that had most influenced Western Civilization: the Judeo-Christian tradition and the rationalist tradition that dated back to the ancient Greeks but had found new authority in the era following the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. The following excerpts provide a glimpse at the basis for his criticism of these traditions and his efforts to chart a new direction.