About Alfred Baeumler’s Nietzsche. 3. 'Bachofen and Nietzsche'

Abstract

In this third part, we present the English translation of the text ‘Bachofen and Nietzsche’, written by the philosopher Alfred Baeumler. Baeumler's text explores the relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and Johann Jakob Bachofen, two influential figures in the fields of philosophy, anthropology, and history. Baeumler argues that Nietzsche's philosophy was deeply influenced by Bachofen's ideas on matriarchy, Antiquity, and the feminine. Baeumler suggests that Nietzsche's concept of the Dionysian was inspired by Bachofen's theory of the chthonic and the matriarchal. Baeumler also argues that Bachofen's ideas on matriarchy and the feminine challenged the traditional patriarchal order of Western civilization, and that Nietzsche's philosophy continued this challenge by advocating for a new, life-affirming culture based on the principles of the Dionysian. Finally, Baeumler suggests that Nietzsche's philosophy can be seen as a critical response to Bachofen's romanticism, and that it offers a more nuanced and complex understanding of the relationship between the past and the present.