An enquiry on the Friedrich Nietzsche's critique of the enlightenment tradition

Critique that Friedrich Nietzsche brought to the values of his age consists one of the most important aspects of his philosophy. Nietzsche relates the state of depression in the age he lived to the fact that the source of human values is not taken from life. Accordingly, humanity, which lives with wrong values (values opposite to life and will to power) is in a great nihilism. Nietzsche finds both the values of Christianity and the values of the theoretical culture that has been carrying on since Socrates in the source of said nihilism. Enlightenment as a school that marked the 18th century has emphasized the importance of the use of reason and the means of reasoning in the comprehension of the world and events. According to supporters of the Enlightenment, at the foundation of living a happy life, advancement of societies and the libertation of the individuals lies the human reason as an universal phenomenon. The Age of Enlightenment, which is an Age of Reason, symbolizes an important paradigm shift in this direction, which puts forward values like rationalism, scientism, progressivism, individualism and anti-religionism. The aim of this work is to examine Nietzsche's ideas on the Enlightenment tradition. The most important goal of this study is to evaluate his attitude towards the Enlightenment tradition in the light of the nihilism identification that he put forth about the time he lived. Accordingly, Nietzsche's ideas about the general characteristics of Enlightenment are examined. In addition, Nietzsche's variable attitude towards the Enlightenment has alson been studied closely. Keywords: Nietzsche, Enlightenment, Nihilsim, Critique, Rationalism, Scientism, Proggresivism, Individualism, Anti Religionism