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Lanky_Fella t1_j1rma4n wrote

I wouldn’t say he’s the most famous or influential. Plus it depends what you Count as modern. People like Sartre, Camus, Marx, Foucault are probably used more, even if not read more.

I think part of Nietzche’s appeal is his kind of exotic topics, he’s talking about atheism and power and depression in a highly spiritual and fantasy sense as a social outsider. I think a lot of people, particularly young men, might find that appealing.

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divinationobject t1_j1rqak1 wrote

Sartre, Camus and Foucault 's ideas were profoundly influenced by Nietzsche... Marx almost certainly not, though you can't discount the possibility of a reaction against Nietzsche's ideas. Just in terms of pure destructive influence, Nietzsche and Marx have almost certainly had the most impact on the events of the last century, though they can't carry the blame for the abuses and misinterpretations of their followers.

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Lanky_Fella t1_j1rzr2u wrote

Marx wrote before Nietzsche so if anything the reaction was the other way around

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divinationobject t1_j1tkrwq wrote

You're quite right, I had it in my mind they were published contemporaneously, for some reason.

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