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Articles

Nietzsche on Love

Willow Verkerk considers what Nietzsche has to teach us about love.

What could Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) have to teach us about love? More than we might suppose. Speculations about his sexuality abound: did he really contract syphilis at a bordello, for instance? And what about Lou Salomé: did he love her, or were his feelings towards her something she exaggerated? The answers to these questions vary. What can be found in Nietzsche’s letters is that he had quite a few friendships with educated and musical women throughout his life, and that he thought about love and marriage. His solitude and corresponding loneliness, often assumed to be a matter of preference, were predicaments of his nomadic years, when he had to travel to seek out the best climate for his ailing health. Even during these times, between physical suffering and intense periods of writing, he pursued the company of learned women.

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