Philosophy - Human, All Too Human: Nietzsche

Human, All Too Human is a three-part 1999 documentary television series. It follows the lives of three prominent European philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre. The theme of this documentary revolves heavily around the school of philosophical thought known as existentialism, although the term had not been coined at the time of Nietzsches writing, and Heidegger declaimed the label. The documentary is named after the 1878 book written by Nietzsche, titled Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits. The first episode is titled Beyond Good and Evil, which is about Friedrich Nietzsche and his gradual shift from religion, to nihilism, and finally to insanity. His sister presented the National Socialists (Nazis) with heavily modified versions of Nietzsches writings that were interpreted as a pro-Nazi agenda to advance the superior race of the Ubermensch, the superman, the perfect Aryan. Thinking the Unthinkable is the next episode that centers around Martin Heidegger, who developed ideas from the writings and ideas of Nietzsche in an attempt to better understand individual human freedom. Before and after the reign of the Nazis in Germany, Heidegger spent much of his time living in solitude in the hill of Todtnauberg to allow himself to clear his mind and better focus on his own philosophy. Due to the fact that he joined the Nazis during World War II, his works were dismissed by his critics as Nazi propaganda. The final episode in this series, The Road to Freedom, describes the life of the French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. This is when the term existentialism begins to enter the realm of philosophy. The documentary shows that Sartre believes it is up to each individual human being to give his or her own life a meaning and a purpose.