Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937) was a writer, literary critic, feminist, and psychoanalyst whose contributions span the philosophy of religion, philosophy of life, philosophy of art and literature, and psychology. Salomé’s varied interests led to famous friendships with Friedrich Nietzsche, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Sigmund Freud. This, in part, has given her autobiography, Looking Back: Memoirs (1951), and letters a great deal of attention. Salomé’s works in literature, criticism, and philosophy include Ibsen’s Heroines (1892), Friedrich Nietzsche (1894), Rainer Maria Rilke (1928), The Freud Journal (1958), and many essays on Russian art and culture.

Salomé’s contributions to the psychoanalytic literature include essays on bisexuality and narcissism (which she views as potentially productive rather than simply regressive or destructive), as well as path-breaking observations on women’s sexuality. Salomé’s 1910 work The Erotic argues that the erotic marks a central point of connection between mind and body, self and other, the individual human being and the totality of nature. In this sense, the erotic is key to our understanding of the human being. With her interdisciplinary orientation, Salomé represents a distinct philosophical trend of the long Nineteenth Century.