Origins of the similarities and differences between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche

Considering the rather miserable life of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), it is fair to ask why he grew apart from the ideas presented by Schopenhauer (1788-1860), instead of endorsing them and building them further. I must start by saying that the differences in personality and motivation between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche developed in a period of thirty years. You can observe those differences in the writing style of the young Nietzsche compared to the style in his last decades. Schopenhauer’s prose is systematic and accurate. His works embody the traditional style of European essayists. In contrast, Nietzsche adopted in his last decades a poetic, metaphorical, apocalyptic style. If Schopenhauer had aimed at presenting his philosophy, Nietzsche was trying to shock and irritate readers. Early in his career, Nietzsche was heavily influenced by the works of Schopenhauer. While Nietzsche was still a philology professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland), he admired Schopenhauer’s emphasis on the instinctual aspects in humans. Schopenhauer’s “theory of will” matched Nietzsche’s early exploration of human motivation in his “Birth of the tragedy,” published in 1872. Nietzsche loved Schopenhauer’s critique of Kant, Hegel, and mainstream philosophers. As Nietzsche evolved, he grew apart from Schopenhauer’s pessimism. Nietzsche was a prodigy of erudition about Ancient Greece. He loved the ambition, optimism, resourcefulness and boldness of Ancient Greek heroes such as Odysseus, Antigone, and Alexander the Great. Little by little, he let go of Schopenhauer’s pessimism since it didn’t match the Ancient Greek attitudes. While the works of Schopenhauer (e.g., “The world and will and representation”) revolve around how to reduce suffering, Nietzsche focused on how to get the best out of life. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/origins-of-the-similarities-and-differences-between-schopenhauer-and-nietzsche/