Nietzsche’s grand declaration of war, Twilight of the Idols was written while the philosopher was at the peak of his powers. Blazing with provocative, inflammatory rhetoric, this 1888 polemic examines what we worship and why. Intended by the author as a general introduction to his philosophy, it assails the idols of Western philosophy and culture, including Socratic rationality and Christian morality. AUTHOR: German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 1900) ranks among the most influential of modern thinkers. His explorations of the motives underlying Western philosophy, religion, and morality have exercised a profound effect on generations of writers, theologians, philosophers, and psychologists. Although Nietzsche was strongly opposed to nationalism and anti-Semitism, his works were appropriated by Fascists to support the very concepts he deplored.