Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Had Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche not been born to the family of a Lutheran pastor, he would probably not have criticised religion (and Christianity in particular) so bitterly, restricting his lofty indignation to culture and morality.
However, there is no conjunctive mood in history, and Nietzsche’s ideas proved very influential for the development of existentialism and postmodernism – the most significant streams of the modern culture, unlikely, as they are, to have seemed less hateful to the fastidious philosopher.
From the very early age, Nietzsche felt strong inclination to music and composing and was, in his youth, a recognized pianist-improviser; however, he gave it up at 29, after a wave of scathing criticism on his compositions.
“Life would have been a mistake without music!” – he used to say; his piano concertos were most sincere, full of wistful reverie and grief. “There has never been a philosopher so essentially close to music as me” – he said once of himself.