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One of the most ambiguous and influential figures of modern thought, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is invoked in different and often ambivalent ways. The early association of his writing was with Nazism, promoted by his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche who posthumously edited his unpublished works to fit her nationalistic ideas, and contradicted Nietzsche’s own stance against nationalism and antisemitism. His early work Die Geburt der Tragödie (The Birth of Tragedy) (1872) is a study of the origin and development of Greek tragedy that considers the prevailing idealistic perception of Greek culture as a reflection of order and optimism, by introducing an intellectual dichotomy between what he termed the Apollonian and Dionysian elements. The former element is associated with individualisation, restraint, harmony and order, while the latter, as its opposite, operates as a chaotic force and an ecstatic dissolution of individuality. Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Beyond Good and Evil) (1886) is a powerful critique of religion, ethics, philosophical thought, science and politics. Providing a genealogical account of the development of modern moral systems, Nietzsche bases his argument on the idea of a fundamental shift in the history of morality, from thinking in terms of "good and bad" toward "good and evil".

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