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Assemble secondary sources: no original research, among other policies and guidelines:
Remove POV; i.e., what Nietzsche's position is, on many topics, is highly debatable, and thus his views must not be slanted or implied without secondary sources (this means quotations of his works will amount to original research, especially when consensus is indicative of this);
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Latest comment: 1 year ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The first lines of the lead have shifted several times over the years, as readers of the article have contended with what labels should describe Nietzsche in his overall career. "Poet" and "composer" were at one point removed, and "prose poet" had its time until it was rejected. These periodic shifts are hardly avoidable, and it may happen that we see the first lead sentence "scrubbed" yet again sometime. Cdg1072 (talk) 20:03, 8 March 2025 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 11 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion
@Remsense, primarily.
The statement I altered is not referenced at all, and many of the references in that section, though sound, are old and of particular viewpoints. As I assume you know from looking at your page, philosophy doesn't date in quite the way science does, but it does shift ground, and you do get odd fads (as with the brief dominance and complete rejection of scientific positivism proper). Moreover, there is no single universal school and in this sort of context it is necessary to recognise and state that to be clear (at least, such lucidity as general articles on philosophy allow!).
An article such as this should serve as a sufficient reference as to why caution over the interpretation of Nietzsche is necessary: Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) (source recommended by my university philosophy lecturers). Indeed, the previous statement to the one I altered, which is referenced, is literally pointing out the need for cautious interpretation and the disagreement of scholars, and is a major reason why I preferred "seems to have thought" to "thought".
Besides which, my caution over the interpretation of Nietzsche specifically is not actually the point of the edit, the point was that to state that science killed belief in God as if it was a neutral fact is obviously not correct given the Christian religion is not extinct. Nietzsche very probably thought that Christianity should be extinct, but the fact remains that it is not.
I have replaced the sentence with "Nietzsche thought that", as your objection appears to apply to the "seems" not to the alteration of the sentence to clarify it was what he thought to present better "neutral point of view". However, I still think "seems" would be better in the absence of a reference to some sort of scholarly consensus (not just to one opinion, however interesting in itself), and certainly in the absence of a specific reference it would be reasonable for me simply to contest it and remove the sentence entirely, though I do have enough knowledge to suspect that it's "correct with cautions", as it were - I do not think it needs removing. I would continue to suggest attention from an expert on Nietzsche and interpretations thereof would be useful.
Latest comment: 10 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion
We all know Friedrich Nietzsche thought he was partly Polish. I don't want to discuss whether this statement is true or false. But he claimed to descend from the "Counts/Earls of Nieczy/Nietzki" or similar. Does this noble family really existed? I cannot find anything reliable about it.-- Carnby (talk) 11:55, 18 September 2025 (UTC)Reply
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