Product Description
Reading Nietzsche's works as the "political biography of his soul," Leslie Thiele presents an original and accessible essay on the great thinker's attempt to lead a heroic life as a philosopher, artist, saint, educator, and solitary. He takes as his point of departure Nietzsche's conception of the soul as a multiplicity of conflicting drives and personae, and focuses on the task Nietzsche allotted himself "to make a cosmos out of his chaotic inheritance." This struggle to "become what you are" by way of a spiritual politics is demonstrated to be Nietzsche's foremost concern, which fused his philosophy with his life.

The book offers a conversation with Nietzsche rather than a consideration of the secondary literature, yet it takes to task many prevalent approaches to his work, and contests especially the way we often restrict our encounter with him to conceptual analysis. All deconstructionist attempts to portray him as solely concerned with the destruction of the subject and the dispersion of the self, rather than its unification, are called into question. Often portrayed as the champion of nihilism, Nietzsche here emerges as a thinker who saw his primary task as the overcoming of nihilism through the heroic struggle of individuation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

finally revealing itself to me
I was taking lithium when I bought this book 19 years ago. My interest in philosophy was tangential. There are only a few pages in this book that emphasize how much a true individual would be out of step with the government and morality of a country that taught me dirty jokes like: flick my Bic. I was taking lithium to keep myself from flipping out like Nietzsche lost control after his 44th birthday on October 15. 1888. Feeling so much closer to Nietzsche than to the scholars who try to make constructive use of those ideas that are not directed at women and Germans, I was not open to all this book has to say. Lately it seems that a herd of scholars derived so much from this book: I ought to join their collective consciousness just to see if it can flick my Bic.

A book about a hero's philosophy
Could Friedrich Nietzsche actually have a hero? For those familiar with his works, the answer to this question would not be an easy one, for the reason that Nietzsche's writings are so honest as to be almost obscure. It is not common in literature or philosophy to find an author so willinglyan exhibitionist. It is as though Nietzsche were himself trying to figure out who he was in his writings, and he never hesitates to reveal his thoughts. But maybe exhibitionist is not the right term to describe Nietzsche, as such a characterization would imply that he needed another's look to justify himself. But it seems as though Nietzsche was not writing for another, but for himself, feeling perhaps that his self-analysis was best done on paper.

The author addresses this book to the readers of Nietzsche's works who are "victims" and have swallowed the bait, and consequently "carried along by the flights of his thought". She makes sure immediately to caution the reader that the expression "heroic individualism" is not found in any of Nietzsche's writings. But the equation "individual = hero" holds throughout his works. The author does a fine job of extracting this mathematics of individuation from the the writings of Nietzsche. One finishing the book, one carries away a deeper appreciation of the playful seriousness of Nietzsche's philosophy and his admonition to do philosophy while always looking in the mirror, and seeing one's own reflection, not someone else's.

Nietzsche was always celebrating, according to the author, the death of gods, and his project was to inspire a passion for greatness in a world without gods. But idols are to be smashed, and the grandeur of man is not to be found in a divine origin. It is making use of the dynamism of the flux, and the achieving of fame, and not its achievement, that is true heroism. The hero is a "dragon-slayer" who must achieve in life the highest value, and it (life) is never to be squandered. Caution though must be ever present, lest one use heroism not as a stimulus to self-development but as a means of avoiding it. "Sentimental dirge" and Wagnerian romanticism must be rejected.

The great man does not seek the admiration of the many, as the author again characterizes Nietzschean heroism: "go silently through the world and out of the world". The temptation for recognition must be avoided; one must not succoumb to the illusion of fame. The golden calf is not to replace the true self as the object of worship. Glory is always self-administered.

So how rare or common today is the hero of the Nietzschean type? Well, quite common...thousands...maybe hundreds of thousands. They are to be found in dance, in science, in literature, on the battlefield, behind the counter, sitting in the classroom and also standing in front of it, in the laboratory....indeed everywhere....the 21st century has no paucity of heroism.

A well-written guide to what makes Nietzsche important.
This short book from Princeton University Press (only about 200 pages) is popular scholarship at its best. Thiele cuts through the many difficulties of Nietzsche's work to present, in prose accessible to any bright undergraduate, the essence of Nietzsche's project: the creation of a self that gives a noble and passionate answer to the question what it means to be fully conscious, fully human, fully engaged in creating one's values and one's life. I've been reading Nietzsche for some ten years now, and had lately begun writing about what makes him so fascinating--when Thiele's book made my own effort unnecessary. If you want to know (1) why Nietzsche looms large in the modern mind and (2) whether you want to read him yourself, this is the place to start ... Read more

Product Description
Nietzsche's friend, the philosopher Paul Ree, once said that Nietzsche was more important for his letters than for his books, and even more important for his conversations than for his letters. In Conversations with Nietzsche, Sander Gilman and David Parent present a fascinating selection of eighty-seven memoirs, anecdotes, and informal recollections by friends and acquaintances of Nietzsche. Translated from the definitive German collection, Begegnungen mit Nietzsche, these biographical pieces--some of which have never before appeared in English--cover the entire span of Nietzsche's life: his boyhood friendships, his arrival at the University of Bonn, his appointment to professor at Basel at age twenty-four, the impact of The Birth of Tragedy, his friendship with Wagner, his life in Italy, his confinement at the Jena Sanatorium, and his death. They present the philosopher in dialogue with friends and acquaintances, and provide new insights into him as a thinker and as a commentator on his times, recounting his views on some of the greats of history, including Burckhardt, Goethe, Kant, Dostoevsky, Napoleon, and numerous others. In his selections, Gilman has carefully balanced documents concerning Nietzsche's personal life with others on his intellectual development, resulting in an entertaining and informative book that will appeal to a wide audience of educated readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A True Biography
Refreshingly different from a standard biographical work, it reads more like a series of interviews with the individuals that actually spent time with Nietzsche the social being, in contrast to a scholarly work of academia. Not a "classic" by any means, but indeed a nice addition to any Nietzsche library. Compares favorably to Middleton's *Selected Letters*.

it is okey
Book is about Nietsche as told by his friends. Friends that are family friends and his childhood friends and not professionals so you get more of their impression as him as a person rather than as a philosopher. ... Read more

Product Description
A compelling argument for the necessity for art in life, Nietzsche's first book is fuelled by his enthusiasms for Greek tragedy, for the philosophy of Schopenhauer and for the music of Wagner, to whom this work was dedicated. Nietzsche outlined a distinction between its two central forces: the Apolline, representing beauty and order, and the Dionysiac, a primal or ecstatic reaction to the sublime. He believed the combination of these states produced the highest forms of music and tragic drama, which not only reveal the truth about suffering in life, but also provide a consolation for it. Impassioned and exhilarating in its conviction, "The Birth of Tragedy" has become a key text in European culture and in literary criticism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Existence and the world seem justified only as an aesthetic phenomenon
F. Nietzsche expresses in a raging and delirious style loudly his vision on life, through his interpretation of the Attic tragedy and its history. He exposes himself as an anti-rational, anti-scientific, amoral romanticist, for whom art is the only truly metaphysical activity of man.

Apollo v. Dionysus
The gods Apollo and Dionysus represent two completely antagonistic lifestyles.
The Apollinian one stands for measured restraint and freedom from wild emotions. It is based on the principium individuationis (the individual). Its main art form is sculpture; in literature the epic form (Homeros).
The Dionysian one stands for ecstasy, intoxication, orgiastic frenzy, sexual licentiousness, savage natural instincts. It is the life of the bearded satyr, a symbol of the sexual omnipotence of nature, of the abolition of the individual man. Its art form is music, song and dance; in literature, it is the poetry of an Archilochus with its cries of hatred and scorn, with his drunken outburst of desire.

Socrates
For Nietzsche, Socrates has the profound illusion that thought, using the thread of causality, can penetrate the deepest abyss of being. He is guided by the instinct of science, which for Nietzsche is a chain for humanity. Socrates stands for morality with its dictum: `knowledge is virtue; man sins only from ignorance; he who is virtuous is happy.' Socratism stands for morality, for `the anarchical dissolution of the instincts.'

The Attic tragedy
For Nietzsche, the Attic tragedy is born out of the Dionysian. It arose from the tragic chorus, the mirror image in which the Dionysian man contemplated himself. It was a chorus of natural beings who were (are) living ineradicably behind all civilization. It represents the rapture of the Dionysian state.
The choral parts gave birth to a dialogue. Drama began with the attempt to show the god in real. The earliest forms of the Greek tragedy had the sufferings of the tragic hero, Dionysus, (the agony of individuation) as sole theme.
The decline began with Sophocles who portrays complete characters and the Attic tragedy ended with Euripides, who draws prominent individual traits of character. Euripides is the exponent of the degenerate culture of Socratism and its morality. For him, `to be beautiful, everything must be conscious.'
Only after the spirit of science and its claim to universal validity is destroyed may we hope for a rebirth of tragedy.

Art, Hellenism and pessimism
The Hellene lost his Dionysian instincts. He became an individual confronted with the horror and absurdity of life. But art was (is) a saving sorceress. She alone knew (knows) how to turn the nauseous thoughts about life into the sublime which tamed the horrible and into the comic which discharged absurdity.

Of course, this book is not Nietzsche's best one. It constitutes a highly personal interpretation of the Greek tragedy. But, its overall vision of art as the savior and the solace of the ex-Dionysians will strongly appeal to many.
Not to be missed.

For Nietzsche, art is nothing less then a "life affirming force"
I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art.Nietzsche's "Birth of Tragedy" and "On The Genealogy of Morality" begin to shape or force the latter character of his thought, which is an affirmation of life.An affirmation of life, even with its tragic character rather than an affirmation of life without tragedy.Nietzsche agrees with Schopenhauer about the nature of reality being dark.He accepts Plato's characterization about tragedy, but affirms tragedy instead of wanting to ban it like Plato argued for in his "Republic."He rejects Aristotle' formalism, Nietzsche rejects Kant's notion of disinterest, and its life denying implications, the whole idea that you have to be disinterested in art is a complete contradiction of the vitality of art.It betrays a kind of life denying implication, if the point of art is to find a zone to turn off ones interests, then why would you think that, that is valuable.Why would someone think that that is a good thing?Nietzsche accepts the idea of genius and like Hegel, although not in the same way as Hegel, Nietzsche elevates art to a high level, by saying that art and reality mirror each other, in that art is a kind of forming formlessness and that is the way reality is.Nietzsche had a big influence on 20th century art.

Nietzsche unlike Aristotle insists on a religious component in tragedy, the two main Greek myth currents is Apollo and Dionysus.By associating these two religious sects with tragedy, it is more historically true for Nietzsche.He observes Greek tragedy and Dionysian religion and its character.The image of Greek culture was one of being measured and civilized, however Nietzsche sees the Dionysian religion was dark and violent and irrational as well.Tragedies were performed at Dionysian festivals it is a "nature" based religion, celebrating the cycle of life, both birth and death.The world is like a restaurant, all living things live off other living things.Dionysian rites probably included animal sacrifices, maybe human as well.Dionysus was an unusual deity in Greece; he was the only one to suffer death and to be brought back to life, unlike other Olympian deities.Dionysian religion was very popular in Greece; Apollonian religion was very popular as well.Nietzsche says tragedy has something to do with Dionysius religions dark side.

One of the best sources of the Dionysian religion is Euripides in the "Bacchae."There is some question about his intent in writing the "Bacchae."Euripides turns against his Greek tragic tradition by showing the Greeks the absurdities and ironies in their tragic tradition with his plays, which also essentially recommend that Greeks turn away from their form of tragedy.Euripidean heroes are usually rebelling against the state rather than accommodating it.However, the "Bacchae" is an unusual play because it seems to be just the kind of portrayal of the Dionysian religion.It is a tragic satire of Dionysian religion by presenting its absurdities.

Nietzsche's point is that there is something very different about tragedies, they have measured constructions of beauty and form, and Aristotle is very good at pointing that out.Greek tragedys are not chaotic not just wild abandonment, they are beautifully constructed artistic works with plots and characters and story lines.This is often misunderstood, for Nietzsche Greek tragedy is not a purely Dionysian phenomenon.Apollo, the Apollonian religion is equally important to understand tragedy, and in fact, it is the Apollonian part that makes tragedy for Nietzsche not a life of pessimism art form.You could say the Dionysian and Apollonian religions were two powerful forces that are very different from each other.Nietzsche said they had different manifestations and often looked on each other with antagonism.Dionysian religion and Christianity has similarities, the dying God, sacrament of eating and drinking of the body.Nietzsche's tragic hero is done in by faith, for both.Big difference for Christianity is the resurrection.Nietzsche believes that what makes Greek tragedy special is that it is a joining of these two forces, the Apollonian form in representing measured power and the darker undoing power of the Dionysian religion.

Apollo represents form and Dionysus formlessness.Apollonian form is an artistic phenomenon it is not a rational form.Sometimes people read the Apollonian as a rational principle, but they do this because Socrates comes on the scene who represents what Plato wanted.The overcoming of the tragic by way of the conscious reflection and rational principles and so on.The Apollonian is always an artistic sensuous produced form.The Dionysian is the impulse to self-transcendence and by self-transcendence Nietzsche means the Greek word ecstasy, which literally means to stand outside oneself.It would be proper therefore to say that the Dionysian experiences were ecstatic in the literal sense because there was a loss of individualization a loss of self-consciousness and an emersion in these powerful natural forces.Therefore, the whole point of the Dionysian religion was to overcome the self.You can see that eroticism and killing are two forms of dismemberment.Killing is obviously the termination of life,but as every human culturalknows, the power of the erotic has its own kind of dismembering force in that it is a natural force that can easily undue the culture.Sex is always an enemy in some respects, and yet, no sex, no culture.The erotic is a natural force and all cultures have recognized the power of the erotic as a powerfully disintegrating force.It can lead people to abandon all decorum and measure and responsibility.Therefore, sex, birth, and death are the Dionysian religion in a nutshell.Dionysian's would argue no sex no culture, so why not give cultural expression to power of sex.This releases pent up depression.Nietzsche wants to understand tragedy as interdependent, yet the form of the one religion is dependent of the other religion.Dionysian part and Apollonian part are together in tragedy, but with dark theme but no wholly chaotic art form.Tragedy represents reconciling of the two religions.Nietzsche's point is we truly don't understand what tragedy meant to the Greeks.It wasn't simply a dark story of destruction.It had religious connotations.

From this religious cultural analysis, Nietzsche wants to form an art theory.In Nietzsche's "Birth of Tragedy" he sees things in the Greek world having a stimulus of thought starting philosophy.Regeneration of art world, was he thought, found in Richard Wagner's music.Nietzsche is a life philosopher.Nietzsche believes there is some life force tapped into by the creative person.Artists are "touched" by a force.Dionysian religion is a bit of this you lose yourself and are given over to something more powerful like Nietzsche's life force.Creativity has to be a little abnormal or as Nietzsche says dissatisfaction with the normal.Nietzsche argued that philosophy should contain artistic elements.One of the messages of Nietzsche's philosophy is that the problem arose when philosophy came on the scene and tried to organize and govern everything by rational concepts and methods and reflection and categorization and demonstration and logical arguments.That is the reason why Socrates and Plato found tragedy so offensive, so unwieldy and such a stimulation.But then again Nietzsche asks the question, before I get on board with this plan to overcome these terrible forces, I want to know why its so terrible, this is his constant method, which is to ask, prove to me why tragedy has to give way to philosophy.Part of Nietzsche's approach to philosophy itself is that philosophy should contain artistic elements.This is the reason for his writing style, which are elusive and not straightforward argumentations.

Remember, Schopenhauer who influenced Nietzsche's thinking said the ultimate nature of will is this formless chaotic energy, that we strive for meaning that we have here and there but in the end it is all taken away from us and that is the end of it and that is why life is meaningless.However, Nietzsche says the fact that the Greeks had this very same insight but did not turn away from life should not have been a puzzle to Schopenhauer it should have made Schopenhauer question his own argument.Instead, Schopenhauer argued that the Greeks didn't realize the full impact of tragic insight, they were naive.Nietzsche thought Schopenhauer was wrong about tragedy.Schopenhauer thought tragedy was a necessary insight into meaninglessness, which would lead to resignation.That is why the Apollonian is so important for Nietzsche; the Apollonian is what saves the human spirit from disintegration.Therefore, art has this saving power.However, the fact that the Greeks had in one form in tragedy, the two forces of Apollo and Dionysus interests Nietzsche.On the one hand, they recognize the limits of things, in the other hand they delighted in the artistic orientation of this dark story.How can there be pleasure from dark themes in art, in a way Nietzsche is giving his own version of it, for him it is inherently life affirming to actually render the dark in artistic form.There is a difference between coming to the insight that life is meaningless, and then saying that now guides all my thinking and all my dispositions.The very fact of tragedy as an artistic form is life saving element for the Greeks.The curious thing is that the Greeks could enjoy these tragic performances and yet the message was dark.

Therefore, it is important to note that Nietzsche insists that the Apollonian and Dionysian dyad are a characteristic of reality.One by themselves is not real.Form is by itself just an allusion of formal structure; an allusion of formal structure is what so many philosophers wanted, eternal being eternal structures, timeless truths that would be form.Formlessness by itself is too chaotic, no culture, no art, no creativity.Nietzsche was always a philosopher of culture, always pointing to his German culture that he thought needed to be renewed and revived.Nietzsche recognizes the force and reality of wildness, but it is the two together that make human life, the wild, and the cultured, both are unavoidable dualities the Apollonian and Dionysian.Greek tragedy brought them into focus; his philosophy tries to work from that and he says, yes that is how we should see existence.

So poetry and tragedy are both pre-conceptual artforms that start culture, no culture starts with philosophy, conceptual formations and definitions and axioms and truths.Culture begin with religion and art forms and habit and things that are not clarifying with conceptual structure.They have life to them and a culture lives them out.Although he values philosophy as higher form of thinking, he always insists that philosophy can't alienate itself from pre-conceptual world of art, (poetry), which he certainly thought Plato was saying when he wanted to ban poetry.Nietzsche would say there is an infinite relationship between poetry and philosophy and that means that those who might want to distinguish philosophy with having a higher value than just poetry are wrong.He thinks it is wrong that you can have a pure conceptual procedure on the one hand and have anything of deep value or that you can simply have a poetic genre on one hand all by itself.Thinking is important, not just poeticizing.However, Nietzsche argues we must have thinking with poeticizing.

I recommend this work for anyone interested in Nietzschean philosophy, philosophy of art, Greek tragedy, culture, and history.

The celebration of Irrational Energy
Prior to Nietzsche the Greeks had been celebrated for their great calm and rationality. Nietzsche pointed to the irrational,passionate , energetic elements, the Dionysian force which contended with life and death as central element of the Greek Reality. The 'Birth of Tragedy (1872) is his first book but already present are his tremendous power to shock, his aphoristic brilliance, his effort to ' turn the tables' and break the mold of our ordinary thinking.
He himself says in describing the Birth of Tragedy" connects us with that which counters the Periclean desire for the beautiful and the good. He sees a desire preceding the desire for the good and the beautiful, " namely, the desire for the ugly or the good strong willing of the ancient Hellenes for pessimism, for tragic myth, for pictures of everything fearful, angry, enigmatic, destructive, and fateful as the basis of existence? Where must tragedy come from? Perhaps out of desire, out of power, out of overflowing health, out of overwhelming fullness of life?"

In his enthusiasm Nietzsche condemns the Socratic caution which will come afterwards,and which he claims will come to dominate the thought of the Christian West.

The Dialectic model of Art
Since the only other review is fairly obtuse about this book, it seems necessary to write another. If you consider yourself a creative entity, an artist, a musician, a filmmaker, a writer; then this book should berequired reading. It describes two opposing "forces", Apollo andDionysus, who are in perpetual conflict. From this conflict, all great artis born.

It is a dialectic, Thesis meets Antithesis to begetSynthesis.

The real point is though, after reading the book, youlook for these opposing forces in everyday life and find them everywhere.Man and woman, religion and science, good and evil (for rudimentaryexamples). After reading the book it was apparent how much of this world isconstructed out of, and centered on, opposition. It's like Matt Modine'shelmet in Full Metal Jacket, man is a creature with inherentduality.

The Birth of Tragedy touches on something so essential andinstinctually true to our existence that it can only vaguely be explainedin words. Nietszche knows this and presents the concept as eloquently andclearly as it allows. It is up to the reader to take this knowledge as astarting point and explore deeper into their own individual experience andperspective.

Knowledge through tragedy
Any westerner (occidental man),will tell you if asked that knowledge must contain reason in order to qualify as such.Science will testify to that.Shall it be added that dialectic consists of the method to achievethis conclusive perfection.Presocratic thinkers were on a differenttrack.The chaotic and fulgurent rythms of the Dyonisan asiatic music mergewith the stern powerful measured,proportionated art of the Appolonian godgave their true followers inspired knowledge.Try it and you will know.Letfear have no part in it. ... Read more

Product Description
Nietzsche regarded 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' as his most important work, and his story of the wandering Zarathustra has had enormous influence on subsequent culture. Nietzsche uses a mixture of homilies, parables, epigrams and dreams to introduce some of his most striking doctrines, including the Overman, nihilism, and the eternal return of the same. This edition offers a new translation by Adrian Del Caro which restores the original versification of Nietzsche's text and captures its poetic brilliance. Robert Pippin's introduction discusses many of the most important interpretative issues raised by the work, including who is Zarathustra and what kind of 'hero' is he and what is the philosophical significance of the work's literary form? The volume will appeal to all readers interested in one of the most original and inventive works of modern philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Zarathustra walks into a bar.... Another translation disaster
Zarathustra walks into a bar and says:

"Is Walter Kaufmann here?"

The bartender says 'No'.

Zarathustra says: "That's good, maybe I can be understood now!"

This translation, as Kaufmann's before it, is a disaster.

"Took your overflow from you"?

O Great Translator, thou has no idea how to translate Überfluß!

It's not 'overflow', it's 'bounty'!

The translator's travesty of:

"Aber wir warteten deiner an jedem Morgen, nahmen dir deinen Überfluß ab und segneten dich dafür."

is:

"But we waited for you every morning, took your overflow from you and blessed you for it."

I must confess I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that. There are several good possibilities for translating 'Überfluß' in this passage but 'overflow' isn't one of them. Maybe in a text about backed-up toilets it could work. Speaking of toilets, that's where this translation belongs...

This is how it should go in English:

"But we waited for you every morning, accepted your bounty from you, and blessed you for it."

Also, the choice of 'spirit' for 'Geist' is a most unfortunate one:

Nietzsche wrote:

"Hier genoß er seines Geistes und seiner Einsamkeit und wurde dessen zehn Jahre nicht müde."

This translation reads:

"Here he enjoyed his spirit and his solitude and for 10 years he did not tire of it."

A far better notion of what the passage is about is conveyed by translating 'Geist' as 'mind' or even perhaps "his thoughts".

"Here he enjoyed his thoughts and his solitude and for 10 years he did not tire of it."

Or perhaps "quiet contemplation".

"Here he enjoyed his quiet contemplation and his solitude and for 10 years he did not tire of it."

This translation is utter garbage. Don't buy it. If your teacher assigns you to read it, have him look at this review. Then throw it in the toilet.

Thus spoke me...
Like a child who was recently turned on to the profound paradoxes of Eastern religions (as in the Taoist "the master travels all day without leaving home.") or modern spiritualists (like U2's "If you wanna kiss the sky better learn how to kneel"), Frederich Nietzsche filled an entire volume with wannabe profundities in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." Unfortunately for the reader of his fiction, Nietzsche's wealth of quips throughout "Zarathustra" aren't paradoxes (which are seeming contradictions that are actually true), they are just regular old contradictions.

Love is hate. War is peace. And bad is good. Nietzsche's prose is chalk full of them and to an untrained reader, the read may be interesting. After all, as historian Durant wrote, it's easy to be interesting when you have no consideration for morality. And that's exactly what we are presented with in "Zarathustra." In fact it is the central preoccupation of the book's protagonist: before the supposed good (will to power) can take root on Earth, the superman (ubermensch) must destroy morality.

But what are we left with after accepting such a philosophy? We are left with the ultimate contradiction in society: moral relativism. Nietzsche says it is so many words, there is no single universal path. Except for the path of moral relativism, perhaps? It is the classic logical error that thinkers have fallen in to (probably since Nietzsche himself), that it is right that there is no right and wrong? What's the point in uttering a truth if there is no truth?

Of course, Nietzsche couldn't come to grips with his own contradictions and succumbed to the inevitable result of such a stressful mentality: he went nuts. There is always room for exploring different ideas like Nietzsche's, but an ardent follower of the nineteenth century German thinker must risk a similar fate. We've already seen what happens when a great orator and politically powerful man (Hitler) did filled with Nietzsche's ideas. My only hope is that Zarathustra's influence fades with the smoke from a smoldering European continent after the war that was the embodiment of such a self-destructive philosophy.

The principal translation
A masterpiece of philosophical poetry. A love letter to the Earth & it's recpetive inhabitants.

Excellent Piece of Philosophy--But have Kaufmann's at Your Side
This was the textbook to a college class on Zarathustra, and I have to say not only am I glad I took the class, I'm incredibly happy I have this book.First I'll tackle the negatives.The teacher used this instead of Kaufmann's translation because he noticed it packed in a few lines that Kaufmann's lacked:however it also discarded some.So essentially the translation is incomplete.Additionally, (my professor is fluent in German) there are many words that he himself thought would have been a better translation.Also, on one of the sections on women, the editor puts a notation where he says that Nietzsche says "Women are not yet ready [to be friends]."The text has to be read carefully:It most certainly does not say that.

All that said, if possible I would recommend reading this book with guidance;It is highly allusory (95% of allusions are to biblical scenes) and you have to both have a good knowledge of ancient Greece as well as a very good grasp of the New Testament to be able to more fully understand some of what he's saying.Be prepared for careful study--you cannot just pick it up and read it like a novel.Each section and subsection are poetically and carefully arranged, and all sections link to previous and upcoming sections.Nietzsche's straightforward argument only becomes apparent when the book is finished.

It did indeed personally affect me.It made me realize that I valued creativity and had lost touch with that in my pursuit of a degree in biotechnology.It made me switch to accounting so I can simply make a good living while having all the time in the world to write and engage in my artistic endeavors.

As far as what people say about his views on God, if you read this book carefully, you will realize that he critiques what people say about God, and attacks the image of God as western civilization has made it, not necessarily God itself.He is neither an atheist nor theist and could barely be considered agnostic, because agnosticism implies that there is some kind of absolute knowledge, an idea which he very early decries as nonexistant.Man's role in the world is to deal with infinite uncertainty, and the prescription is to be lighthearted in your dealings and to always work towards a goal, while respecting science albeit not to the point of declaring any of science as an absolute.

I could write much more about what this book has done for me but I'll rob you of your own interpretations.Good day!

Highly recommended especially for philosophy and college library reference shelves.
Part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy series, Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a specially commissioned English translation of what the renowned philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche considered to be his most important work. Framed in the context of the story of the wandering Zarathustra, Thus Spoke Zarathustra applies homilies, parables, epigrams, and dreams to present philosophical doctrines. Written in a bullet-by-bullet style of short paragraphs and brief lines of dialogue, Thus Spoke Zarathustra solidly conveys Nietzsche's views of nihilism, theology, the role of compassion, and other complex subjects. An index rounds out this superb primary source of classic philosophical discussion and frame of reference. Highly recommended especially for philosophy and college library reference shelves. ... Read more

Product Description

Beyond Good and Evil is one of Nietzsche's most important works and, although it is relatively easy to read, it is one of the more difficult to fully grasp on a first reading.The thesis is, as the title alludes, that morality is ultimately relativistic - that right and wrong are not absolutes but are considerably flexible - and variable in different societies at all times.

Although he qualifies his views as opinions rather than facts and asks his readers to examine his premises critically before agreeing with his views, Nietzsche leaves no doubt that he is confident that all previous philosophers were wrong about important precepts and he alone is right.His criticism of his immediate predecessors is somewhat more restrained than in some of his other works and directs his harshest criticism at Plato for his fabrications of "Pure Spirit and Transcendental Goodness."

Nietzsche was fervently opposed the prevailing religious concepts of morality.His reputation as being anti-Christian was, and still is, sufficient grounds to inspire considerable criticism of his philosophy.As much as his critics might disagree with Nietzsche's philosophy, they cannot simply dismiss it.Nietzsche intelligence and persuasiveness make him a formidable figure in field of moral philosophy.His influence on modern philosophical theory is considerable and it is likely that his contributions will continue to inspire controversy for some time to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Who Translated??
This book has been an immense help, having read it along side the Kaufman translation. But who translated THIS version? To have any kind of legitimacy as a reference, the translator must be known!

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil."When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer.However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature.Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power.Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live.He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power."One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world.Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create.Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind."A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13).The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others.Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258).In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms.He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself.Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations.To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind.However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260).Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming.Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality.The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo.The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199).The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil."Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219).The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive.Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality.Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil."When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer.However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature.Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power.Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live.He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power."One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world.Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create.Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind."A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13).The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others.Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258).In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms.He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself.Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations.To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind.However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260).Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming.Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality.The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo.The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199).The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil."Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219).The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive.Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality.Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil."When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer.However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature.Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power.Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live.He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power."One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world.Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create.Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind."A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13).The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others.Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258).In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms.He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself.Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations.To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind.However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260).Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming.Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality.The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo.The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199).The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil."Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219).The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive.Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality.Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil."When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer.However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature.Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power.Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live.He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power."One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world.Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create.Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind."A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13).The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others.Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258).In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms.He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself.Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations.To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind.However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260).Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming.Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality.The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo.The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199).The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil."Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219).The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive.Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality.Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.
... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1882 and revised in 1887, "The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)" was written at the peak of Nietzsche's intellectual abilities. It includes a large number of poems and an appendix of songs, all written with the intent of encouraging freedom of the mind. While he praises the benefits of science, intellectual discipline, and skepticism, the influence of the Provençal tradition from which he drew is also an enthusiastic affirmation of life. Nietzsche additionally explores the notion of power and the idea of eternal recurrence, though not in a systematic way. Described by the philosopher himself as "perhaps my most personal book," he produced a work that is worthy of attention from anyone with an interest in moral psychology or the most essential themes and views of Nietzsche. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

incredible, great translation, but a difficult read
"The best way to read Nietzsche is slowly," my professor said when we began studying this book.And I could not agree more.This book contains some of Nietzsche's central ideas, including the death of God, origin of morality, perspectivism, as well as the difference between the noble and common type.I love this translation because the translator seems to focus on what Nietzsche was trying to say in German, rather than some of the other translations where they only provide a basic and rough translation.

I would recommend this book if you're trying to understand the basics of Nietzsche's theories, since THE GAY SCIENCE was written during the height of his career (1882).However, do keep in mind that it will be difficult if this will be your first exposure to Nietzsche.You might also look at BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL, Hollingdale translation, since that one contains much of the same ideas, but the language is more understandable.

Announcement: God is dead
Nietzsche's announcement of God's death first appeared here, in The Gay Science.Also, this is the first book in which he mentions the Eternal Reccurence (see the second to the last aphorism of the fourth "book").Zarathustra's prologue is also here (that's the last aphorism of the fourth book).Book 5 of the Gay Science was added in 1885, and covers Nietzsche's mature philosophy (post-Zarathustra period).Overall a good read.

Meet the ultimate stone.
Section 312 of this book is called "my dog" (on a combination of being faithful, obtrusive and shameless, "just as entertaining, just as clever as every other dog" (p. 177), but it is about Nietzsche's relationship to his pain. There is another book by Nietzsche, THE WANDERER AND HIS SHADOW, in which section 38 mentions "The bite of conscience" as a stupidity, like the bite of a dog into a stone. (Portable Nietzsche, p. 68). There is also a section in THE GAY SCIENCE about beggars using a stone to knock where there is no bell. This translation has an entry in the index for "beggars, and courtesy." The Walter Kaufmann translation listed section titles on pages ix-xviii, but Kaufmann didn't have an entry in the index for beggars or for bell, and though I may have rung Walter Kaufmann's bell a number of times, before and since I started writing reviews, my mental efforts to knock the war against the United Stoners of America has reached such a modern point of indifference in its approach to everything that what Walter Kaufmann thought about anything is of hardly any concern to those who would like an understanding of what is going on. I expect this book, which allows a comparison of minor differences on major matters, to be quite useful to me. I find it extremely comical when this translation makes something funny that in Walter Kaufmann's translation was only puzzling, but even the index of this book skips from women to words with no entry for wooden iron. There is no entry for iron between interruption, intuition, Islam, and Italian opera. But in the text itself, just before section 357 "On the old problem: `What is German?' " the end of section 356 raises the primary question any modern philosopher can face:

Free society? Well, well! But surely you know, gentlemen, what one needs to build that? Wooden iron! The famous wooden iron! And it need not even be wooden. (p. 217) ... Read more

Product Description
Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary and subversive thinkers in Western philosophy, and "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" remains his most famous and influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. With blazing intensity and poetic brilliance, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic & free. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

The Anti-Christ's cry for God
"Thus spoke Zarathustra" is Friedrich Nietzsche's incomprehensible magnum opus. Everyone's heard of it, few have read it. I readily admit that I haven't read all of it myself either!

The work is a celebration of individualism, atheism, the zest for life, but also transformation through suffering. Zarathustra, acting as Nietzsche's mouthpiece, believes that man must be overcome in favour of the Superman. Soon, the Great Noontide will break upon the world, bringing the Superman with it.

What struck me when I tried to read "Also sprach Zarathustra", was the strongly religious tenor of this supposedly atheist work. Is it really a co-incidence that Nietzsche chose an ancient prophet as his mouthpiece? The Superman is a superhuman creator of new values, morals and law-tablets. A god, perhaps? Christians would see him as the Anti-Christ. And yet, it seems as if Nietzsche, somewhere deep inside, was longing for something divine. What is the "eternal return" if not re-incarnation, new heavens and a new Earth? Interestingly, the new religious movement of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky is to some extent inspired by both Nietzsche and Buddhism, although they seem to have lost the former's desperate enthusiasm for life.

And what are we to make of this dramatic poem, the high point of the entire work: "O Man! Attend! What does deep midnight's voice contend? I slept my sleep and now I awake at dreaming's end: the world is deep, deeper than day can comprehend. Deep is its woe, Joy - deeper than heart's agony: Woe says: Fade! Go! But all joy wants eternity, wants deep, deep, deep eternity!"

Nietzsche may have been the Anti-Christ, but he was an anti-christ crying for God.

One of my favorite books of all time
I love this book.I didn't understand it the first time I tried to read it, so I put it down.I luckily came across the Teaching Company tapes on Nietzsche's philosophy and Panza's Existentialism for Dummies so I could finally get at what Nietzsche was talking about.It's absolutely amazing and lovely.I hope you get the chance to read it too with some understanding.You'll be the better for it.

An incredibly misunderstood genius!!
Nietzsche was controversial (and reveled in it), but he was also grossly misunderstood. To pigeonhole his philosophy as simply about glorifying barbaric agresssion does a grave disservice to his quest for uplifting the human soul. Nietzsche was a man who absolutely ABHORRED mediocrity, and dedicated his work into helping man reclaim the "star" that he always potentially possesses, provided he is willing to free himself from the shackles of dogma and conventionality. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is Nietzsche's manifesto on how to get there.

The concept of the "last-man" is brilliant, and unbelievably prescient!! This smug. self-satisfied, herd-like man exists today in overwhelming abundance!! The "last-man," to quote Nietzsche "has no shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse." When you look around and see the mindless banal dreck on televison, in newspapers, and throughout society in general, you see the deleterious effects of the contented "last-man" who can no longer have contempt for himself, therefore, he cannot and will not strive to advance himself!!

One may not agree with everything in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," but it is unquestionably a brilliant work that will open up new vistas of the mind and have you examining man's spiritual condition in an utterly profound way. And Nietzsche's writing style is, at its best, almost lyrical!!

One of the most challenging works I have ever read
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (originally Also Sprach Zarathustra) is considered by some (myself included) to have been the crowning work of the nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). Unlike most modern philosophical works, Zarathustra's format harkens back to the Bible and to the ancient Greek works such as Plato's dialogues. In it, Zarathustra wanders the landscape, talking to people, drawing out the fallacies of what they believe and propounding Nietzsche's philosophy.

Overall, I found this to be one of the most challenging works I have ever read. Nietzsche's use of paradox and ambiguity tends to obscure his teachings, while at the same time challenging the reader to read closely and understand what he is saying in spite of the ambiguity. But, it is well worth the effort.

In his seminal work, The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama argues that the last philosophy standing that can possibly challenge the reigning philosophy of the West is that of Friedrich Nietzsche. And so, I do believe that it is worth understanding Nietzsche. Is this the best book to read to understand the great philosopher? I can't say. But, it is the book I started with. It is a challenging read, but definitely well worth the effort. I have had a copy of this book since college, and to this day I still periodically take it off the shelf and read it again.

German Literature at it's Best
I don't like Nietzsche. His theories are inhumane, and his insights psychotic. But anyone who reads the man's work knows that even after translation (by the prestigious RJ Hollingdale), Nietzsche's ability to write beautiful prose is an indisputable fact. One must often wonder where his ideas would be today if he had been a mediocre story teller?

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is, in my humble opinion, the place where anyone who wants to read Nietzsche should start. The ideas are deliniated clearly and the fashion in which they are strew is fully comprehendable. Or, if you prefer, try Beyond Good and Evil.

RSM ... Read more

Product Description

This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Customer Reviews (2)

a great assembly of Nietzsche's writings
Works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: Including The Birth of Tragedy, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, The Untimely Meditations, Human, All Too Human ... more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

This is a very comprehensive collection of works of Nietzsche, contained in one reasonably-priced ebook. The translation is wonderful. Obviously, these texts are a challenge to understand, and even after several readings one will still be finding new insights hidden within Nietzsche's words.

Great ebook: Works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Works of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: Including The Birth of Tragedy, On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, The Untimely Meditations, Human, All Too Human and more

This is an excellent anthology of Nietzsche's writings. Great ebook!
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

Well written and stimulating.
Beyond doubt it is a interesting and provoking book. But if you really want to read something radical about the Christian relegion and its origin you should read a greek book called "M to the N" by the notable author Mimis Androulakis. It contains shoking information on the Christ`sprivate life.

it's in SPANISH!
just when i thought i'd found a separate publication of the antichrist, it's in spanish. i figured "antichristo/the antichrist" meant untranslated and translated versions in one... ugh.i was wrong.

IS it in english?
IS it in english

Is this book in english?
I don't know if this book is in english so I didn't buy it. I'm sort of what you might call uneducated and can only really read in english. I mean, I sort of speak a little french. Por example, "J'ai la moutarde qui memonte au nez. Revenons a nos moutons." But other than that I can'treally do much. I watch a lot of television. But I'm trying Ringo, I'mtrying real hard. I want to get an education and a job and a pretty wifeand a house in the country with a white picket fence and a dog and 2.5children. Feed your head. ... Read more

Product Description
"Twilight of the Idols", an attack on all the prevalent ideas of his time, offers a lightning tour of his whole philosophy. It also prepares the way for "The Anti-Christ", a final assault on institutional Christianity. Both works show Nietzsche lashing out at self-deception, astounded at how often morality is based on vengefulness and resentment. Both reveal a profound understanding of human mean-spiritedness which still cannot destroy the underlying optimism of Nietzsche, the supreme affirmer among the great philosophers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Nietzsche
Twilight of the Idols-This starts off with some almost funny (something even vaguely resembling humor is not something you expect to see in a Nietzsche book) observations from Nietzsche and goes from there into his critiques of Socrates. He later goes into critiques and observations about other philosophers, as well as critiquing Germans and Germany. This book has plenty of what I normally like and dislike about Nietzsche. Dislike, sometimes reading his work is about as exciting as watching paint dry and he comes off personality wise as way too anal retentive, dogmatic to his own worldview and humorless. He reminds me of the current wave of militant atheists. Dogmatic atheism is the trendy new system created religion in case you haven't noticed.

What I like about Nietzsche, the creed of self improvement and the anti-Christianity stuff, is here in abundance. Like in most of his work between pages of boredom you get instances of brilliance such as the following from Twilight of the Idols when talking about what Christianity did to the great "Teutonic Blonde Beast"
he say Christianity made him "sick, miserable, filled with ill-will towards himself, full of hatred for the impulses towards life, full of suspicion of all that was still strong and happy". In other words he lost his healthy Pagan Odinic worldview and became a psychological and spiritual Jew.

The Anti-Christ-Nietzsche really rips into Christianity in this one. There are other critiques of Christianity that I like better (Natures Eternal Religion by Ben Klassen and The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine are a couple off the top of my head) but for someone with the worldview that Nietzsche had this is pretty good. The main righteous point he makes is that Christianity is completely anti-nature, human and otherwise.

Scathing Polemic Against Religious Self-Illusionism
I had a hard time trying to come up with a concise rating and review of this 2-in-1 book.On the one hand, Nietzsche sums up and elucidates some fantastic points about the general state of Christian morality and Church teaching (and thus about the human tendency to "hate thyself and one's own nature").On the other hand, he does appear to suffer from some misunderstandings concerning some particulars of Christianity and Buddhism, worsened to say the least by rampant generalizations and a notable lack of syllogistic explication.
Nietzsche definitely broke ground with many of his other contemporaries of the Modern Era in Western Philosophy by not working in syllogisms and theoretical tabulations.Nietzsche is a man who passionately makes stabs at his opponents without worry of backlash or micrological scrutiny.And this is what makes these two works so fun to read!
Twilight of the Idols is basically a summation of many of his ideas - anyone wishing to gain an overall sense of Nietzsche's position on humanity's relation to the world and itself would do well to read this work.
The Anti-Christ is his most ferocious attack on institutional Christianity and it's many hypocrises.I believe the material still holds relevant today, not as an affront to Jesus' teachings, but on the establishment and growth of Paulism over the last two millenia.
Anyone who is looking to get a good sense of Nietzsche's philosophy and/or a dynamic view of religious law-practice would do well to read this pair of essays, bearing in mind that generalizations run rampant in his writing.I myself found this to be an enjoyable read, although I noted some inaccuracies in content.

A good place to start
This was the first Nietzsche I read about 6 years ago at University.I only understood about 40% of it and have reread it about 3 times, each time understanding more.Anything of Nietzsche's is good.It's just a matter of rereading it if you really don't get it.The bits which at first seem like padding become the most interesting bits eventually.

This is a good place to start partly because of Michael Tanner's excellent introduction and also because it is not too long but covers the most important bits of his writing, his attack on Christianity (and the post-Christian mealymouthed morality we've inherited), the moral system which really made him puke.As Tanner says though, in many of his arguments against Christianity you can see he is arguing against it when practised by the overwhelming majority of people, not the person of Jesus or the philosophy itself which he often seems to appreciate and value.

Nietzsche is THE must read for all adults because I could have lived 1000 years and not figured so much of it out myself - that Christianity is a religion of hate, dressed up in 'love'.Sounds batty, but it's not.Because you can read Edmund Burke and others and have already thought these things yourself.Not Friedrich Nietzsche.

You won't read anything else like him anywhere.

Mental Roller Coaster
Ours is a time not that very different from that of Nietzsche's. We too live in a kind of Victorian hell, a genteel time of right thinking professors who would make Nietzsche feel as unwelcome as did his "betters," who recognized he was a genius but didn't want him around. "Twilight of the Idols" is a lot of fun to read. It is exhilarating to read such frankness, without the American way of combining honestly with profanity. It is straight talk on the decline of German culture. I will leave it to the reader to decide if this may be applied to our once great country. Nietzsche's great insight in his time was to return to the Greeks, but to cast Plato aside, in favor of the great historian Thucydides, who immortalized the rhetoricians, such as Pericles, and sang the praises of the speaker and doer of deeds in contrast to the "armchair" thinkers such as Socrates. Nietzsche seems to be the ultimate heavy, but he is a hoot to read and seems to have had as much fun writing this work as I have had reading it.

amazing...
This book was sooo interesting, I couldn't put it down. Despite being Christian or not, (I being in the latter category), it really shines new light on how you see the Christian faith, or any faith in general. ... Read more

Product Description

Friedrich Nietzsche’s influence on the development of modern social sciences has not been well documented. This volume reconsiders some of Nietzsche’s writings on economics and the science of state, pioneering a line of research up to now unavailable in English. The authors intend to provoke conversation and inspire research on the role that this much misunderstood philosopher and cultural critic has played – or should play – in the history of economics.

Customer Reviews (7)

God Is Dead
This is a work of great significance.One cannot understand modern and postmodern Western culture without understanding Nietzsche, and this book provides a solid foundation for such an understanding.

The biography is fluently written, and although Cate carries a heavy load of exposition his clarity of style makes it easily accessible to the "ordinary" reader.It is 576 pages long. Actually this is a blessing, as Cate is a pleasure, even a delight, to read.You will want to spend some time with this outstanding book;to return to each sitting with a keen sense of interest and anticipation.

Before my reading I was casually familiar with Nietzsche's philosophy, which is at core the proclamation that "God is Dead" and nihilism is becoming (has now become) the real substance of Western culture.The great cathedrals of the West are "museums" and the flock of the faithful are just `going through the motions." If you read this biography you will confront the life and mind of the greatest narrator and critic of Western culture from the French Revolution to the present times.

The daily details, thoughts and actions; the immediate concerns and ultimate concerns of Friedrich Nietzsche's entire life are recorded by Curtis Cate with utmost accuracy.If Cate cannot find verifiable text it is not written here.From other less meticulous sources one may find wild rumors about Nietzsche, many malicious and many salacious. None of this rubbish is even mentioned by Cate.

Early on, Nietzsche emerges as a very human and likeable person.He loves nature, walks, and is very studious.He has a goodly number of friends who share his interests in Philology, Philosophy, and classical music.As he progresses through school it becomes clear that his mind is more than just brilliant, but exceptionally brilliant.His memory and intellect are way above average.

Throughout the work Cate does a comparative exposition between the ideas ofNietzsche andthose of Kant, Spinoza, Hegel, Judaism, Christianity, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Leibniz, Marx, Schopenhauer, Darwin, Democritus, Epicurus, Plato, Socrates and others too numerous to mention. Cate shows how Nietzsche's concepts became formulated and differentiated as his great mind encountered the intellectual heritage of the West.

In 1868 at the age of 24, "Fritz" was appointed to the Chair of Classical Philology at Basel (the youngest individual to have held this position). But he was forced to resign in 1879 due to health problems (poor eyesight, headaches, seizures) that plagued him the rest of his life.For the next ten years he was an independent philosopher, living on a small pension and traveling throughout Europe and especially the European Alps, which he loved.In addition to his critique of religion, Nietzsche probed and exposed the individual and social illusions of our age.His aphoristic style and his insights were brilliant and stunning, and are still relevant for 21st Century readers.

Cate gives comprehensive coverage of the Nietzsche-Wagner friendship and falling out.This portion of the book is finely drawn, and of special interest to those interested in Wagner.Unfortunately it is too complex to cover in this review.The same is true of Nietzsche's encounter with the intellectual femme fatale of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Lou Salome.

In 1889 Fredrich Nietzsche went insane, living out his remaining years in the care of his mother and sister until his death from a heart attack in 1900.The vivid description of his last days is shocking and saddening.His devious sister collaborated with Hitler in misinterpreting some of his ideas so that they could be incorporated into Fascist ideology.

Upon finishing the book one is overcome with a sense of tragic awe and bewilderment.

List of Nietzsche's works which are elucidated by Cate:

The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873)
The Untimely Meditations (1876)
Human, All Too Human (1878; additions in 1879, 1880)
The Dawn (1881)
The Gay Science (1882)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1885)
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morality (1887)
The Case of Wagner (1888)
Twilight of the Idols (1888)
The Antichrist (1888)
Ecce Homo (1888)
Nietzsche contra Wagner (1888)
The Will to Power (unpublished manuscripts edited together by his sister)

For those seeking nitty gritty details...
The world requires no more rhapsodies concerning Nietzsche's importance to the philosophic canon. Even his detractors admit the unindelible influence his thought had on the violent and frightening 20th century. That said, most read about Nietzsche rather than dip into his own often bombastic and sometimes impenetrable works. This is too bad, because direct reading of his own words remains one of the most highly satisfying experiences in alternative and critical thinking, challenging though it is. But where does one start in exploring this now ubiquitous and often romanticized enigma? Curtis Cate's "Friedrich Nietzsche" would not represent a good starting place. Many introductions that don't carry 600-page commitments exist. In fact, this book even looks intimidating. It would probably sink the Titanic if it struck its spine. As such, this book exists for those who want details; for those who want to dig beneath the numerous surface biographies that litter today's shelves. Dedicated readers of this tome will get to know Nietzsche like never before. His friends, his family, his hopes, his travels, his diseases all come alive via a virtual jungle of 39 chapters, each very readable in a single sitting. Not only that, alongside the details of his life sit summaries of his books and of his philosophy. We discover that he gave Lou Salomé his "Schopenhauer as Educator" Untimely Meditation as an exposition of his thought. We also learn about his complicated emotional and intellectual relationship with that younger "free spirit." That episode helped to inspire his "Zarathurstra." Such delineations of his personal situations surround delineations of his books throughout. This puts his thought in context not only personally but also geographically. The book often reads like Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" in its vivid descriptions, both the author's and Nietzsche's, of the numerous cities that spawned thoughts that did eventually split the history of philosophy in two. In fact, one gets a sense that Nietzsche never had a real home, but lived largely as a vagabound (due largely to his health). Mountainous Sils-Maria figures prominently as does Turin, Genoa, Naumberg, Leipzig and Pforta. Cities and landscapes penetrate Nietzsche's work and knowledge of them adds a further dimension to his thought. All of his loved and hated cities are here as is his delicate constitution. Headaches, vomiting, dizziness and other unimaginable symptoms reoccurred sometimes daily. No one has explained these, but the theory that many were psychosomatic, particularly when he was waiting for proofs from his publisher, receives analysis here. Syphillis, the other theory behind his ailments, only appears a few times in this volume. And of course his relationship with the ultra-romantic composer Richard Wagner appears here with rich detail. Tribschen comes alive. Their eventual and inevitable fallout doesn't seem as dramatic here as in other sources. Perhaps it's often overstated? His also unexplained descent into madness gets a more cursory than detailed exposition. The final ten years of his life are compacted into the final chapter and the epilogue. But what's there remains a sad testimony to how far and completely he fell. His sister Elisabeth is the target of much editorial comment by the author (as are a few others throughout). Not to say she doesn't deserve it, but some passages don't allow the reader to draw their own conclusions. Cate simply lets us know exactly how he feels. Also, Cate at times appropriates Nietzsche's own bombastic style. Though none of this detracts from this very readable biography, they do provide for a few disorienting moments. All in all, those looking for some nitty gritty details about the life of an extremely influential philospher will have their wills sated in this boat anchor of a book. Make sure to set aside plenty of time.

Review of Friedrich Nietzsche by Curtis Cate
This book is extremely well researched and well written.The reader will come away with a rich understanding of Nietzsche's life and philosophy.Curtis Cate really did his homework on this one.

About three-quarters to four-fifths of the content of the book is biographical.The remaining one-fifth to one-fourth, interspersed throughout the biography, is an examination of the primary themes of Nietzsche's philosophy.

Again, I want to reiterate that the book is quite readable.The target audience appears to be people who are college educated, but not specialists in Nietzsche's philosophy.

What Is It You Want From a Biography


This book is criticized because it has too much biography, and not enough of Nietzsche's philosophy. And then...vice versa,too much philosophy. I have always been interested in Nietzsche the man, and this book provides the reader with a good rounded view of him. Fortunately there is an extensive amount of correspondence available to provide the biographer with the essential information necessary to construct an informative picture of both Nietzsche and those who figured prominently in his life.

No, Nietzsche did not live an "exciting" life, but that's never a criterion I use in choosing to read a biography. If it's thrills you want may I suggest reading the memoirs of, perhaps, a Navy Seal. When I finished this biography I felt I knew "Fritz". I became appreciative of the extreme difficulties he faced with perpetual ill health. I found the details of his friendship with the anti-Semitic composer Richard Wagner to be quite fascinating. And yes he did travel about a lot, and maybe, at times, his mobile meanderings aren't much more interesting than reading a railroad timetable. Yet these are facts of his life.

Whenever Nietzsche publishes a book Mr. Cate spends five or more pages discussing the philosophy contained in the book. For a book that is not touted as an "intellectual" biography I found this to be a good balance in acquainting the reader with Nietzsche's thoughts. This smattering of philosophical interpretation helps in understanding how the Nazis distorted his views, and made him a national hero (Hitler visited Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth several times). It also provides some understanding of his falling out with Richard Wagner. I am not an academic, although I have read a trifling amount of philosophy. In my opinion the philosophical sections were presented in a lucid manner, and should pose no challenge to the reader. I am assuming, of course, that anyone picking up a biography of Nietzsche has at least some interest in philosophy. The author does drop some heavy weight words on us occasionally, and these were in the biographical material. I don't think I've ever encountered the word "propadeutic" before, and this word occurs twice in the text.

I enjoyed this book very much, and am grateful for the insight into Nietzsche's life. One reviewer suggests that you read books of his thoughts instead of this biography. Well, I already have those, but they don't tell me much about the man who produced them. While Friedrich Nietzsche didn't live an exciting life he still was an extraordinary man. This biography got that message across to me.

Three stars is generous
This is a truly boring treatment of Nietzsche but I can't really blame the author; Cate has an obvious mastery of the material and writes well. The bottom line is: Nietzsche's life was not very interesting and thus makes for a dull biography. Nietzsche's accomplishments were in his ideas. As a result, the biography resorts to dwelling on minute details of N's travels and correspondence.

There is some value in the book as it helps to make connections between his personal life and the evolution of his ideas but these rewards are just not worth the effort of plowing through the book. Plus, it is not as accessible to the non-academic as the author claims it to be. The Nietzsche-neophyte will quickly become lost in the digressions into various philosophical issues.

Ultimately, the fault with this book lies with its subject matter and not the author. If you're looking for context to understand N's ideas, there are better books out there. If you're interested in his philosophy, then read his actual works (and yes, I have read them all so don't go there). Biographies of boring people seem somewhat pointless...

Not recommended. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (33)

An explicit look into the life and mind of one of history's greatest thinkers
This book offers an elucidating look into the life and philosophy of a man so clearly misunderstood. I found it to be helpful in better explaining Nietzsche's thought, method, life and tragic drawn out death

Good introduction
I am not an expert, but bought this book on recommendation. Once over the first couple of chapters the book is very interesting. Small sections are difficult to understand if you don't know what Hegel and other said, but overall it is a fairly easy read - as far as the subject goes.

It seems to me to be a good introduction the Nietzsche and it is always good to start with a classic and then complement with more modern interpretation.

Kaufmann's Nietzsche
For a man who translated ten of Nietzsche's books, Walter Kaufmann exhibits a poor understanding of what the great philosopher said. He almost seems bent on turning Nietzsche into a Christian as well as an acolyte of Socrates's. It's best to stick to Nietzsche's own books!

Clears misunderstandings
Nietzsche is probably one of the most misunderstood philosophers, owing, at least in part, to his idiosyncratic, or even, arbitrary use of language, and his need to provoke the Pharisees. Kaufmann clears most or even all misconceptions concerning this profoundest of all philosophers. This is a book highly recommended to anyone willing to truly understand Nietzsche; illuminating, objective, and a pleasure to read.

Kaufmann: Scholar, Ox, Contrarian.
Other reviews:
1.
"Kaufmann's primary objective is to simplify and twist Nietzsche's cosmically explosive thinking into highly accessible, pleasurable fluff. A disastrous example of awkward, politically-oriented dementia. Do not trust Kaufmann and his Christianized misinterpretations!!"

2.
"See, how repeatedly Kaufman fell under the spell of 'Thus spoke Zarathustra'-a book for everyone and no one, a book offers ultimate profundity, and ultimate safety that comes with it, a book proclaimed highest by Nietzche himself? My goodness! Do you really understand this bundle of puzzles? Be warned, Nietzche isn't a safe place like Hegel is, it does separate, it does rank. Herd doesn't separate, doesn't rank, it is ranked, as a group in its entire wholeness."

I have here taken excerpts from the lowest rated and lowest rating reviews of Kaufmann's "Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, AntiChrist" for the sake of balance, for what appears to be the echo of the choir back to the speaker.

Merits and Demerits of the Text:
Kaufmann writes well, more literary than philosophic or even academic. In the latter sense this is a relief from the stilted mental constipation of unsubtlebut rigorous reflection (in sex and thinking, harder is not necessarily better), in the former it is a deficiency that is far too typical of the "existential" breeds, and the greatest objections to K. are often in superfluous multidisciplinary literary-psychological digressions, tangents and ill chosen metaphors (Nietzsche had something specifically to say on this). Kaufmann was very happy with the financial and academic success his translations brought him, and the self-promotion (i.e. ...see pg X of MY Portable Nietzsche, Viking ... ect.] present in his notation is self-evident. Too much of the time Kaufmann spends exploring parallels to Nietzche end up cannibalizing their purpose: explication of NIETZSCHE's ideas and when he succeeds, the volta turns out to be a superficial flourish.

Kaufmann:
Walter does have a sufficiently subtle understanding and reasonably nuanced understanding of Nietzsche to recognize pitfalls and other intellectual clap-traps most of which he succeeds in avoiding and demolishing in the course of the book. The amount of 'dross' as he would have it, that had to be negated limits the amount of actual exegesis possible on Nietzsche. There are MANY extended references to Hegel, some less helpful than others, and each walk the razor-blade thin distinction between useful and "fluff". For those with little prior knowledge of German history/philosophy, the gradual building up and winding down in the text's pacing is useful, otherwise it has its tedious moments for those with prior knowledge that would prefer it if WK would just get to the point. Kaufmann's interpretation sneaks in very stealthily at times, but on the whole he maintains his personal distance on the level of ideas and interpretation which in the introduction he specifically says that he is firstly concerned with Nietzsche's ideas and not his interpretation of them. The sections on Jesus and Socrates, along with the appendix on the history of the various versions of N's texts could have stood by themselves, and would still have made a substantial book. It happens to be however, that these are the very sections that he walks the razor blade mention above.

In relation to other texts:
Kaufmann and Heidegger as "traditional" interpreters outline the basic problems and starting points for interpretation quite well. Many of the "new" analytic and continental interpretations, seeking an out from K and H only succeed in doing so by myopic superficiality and unbalanced/selective quotation, without regard for refuting relevant passages supporting opposite theories, or by a certain intellectual autism by certain postmodern "idiots" which fiercely cling to an irrationalist, monumental version of Nietzsche.

Conclusion:
In relation to the quoted reviews 1 and 2 above, Kaufmann's faults are more than forgivable and his work admirable even if only as an "scholarly oxen", which is surely more noble than the pontificating snobbery and superficial apologetics of some "studious beavers" masturbating in ink to keep their cushy position in the international academic guild. As an Ox, Kaufmann at least stays relevant and does a good job of reading Nietzsche's Anti-Statism and opposition to conformity--to the herd, which if he is a part of, he was well in front, as there was no Nietzsche "scholarship" to speak of until he came along. Thank you Walter Kaufmann, you have done good. ... Read more

Product Description
Twilight of the Idols. Nietzsche's own unabashed appraisal of the last work intended to serve as a short introduction to the whole of his philosophy, and the most synoptic of all his books, bristles with a register of vocabulary derived from physiology, pathology, symptomatalogy and medicine. This new translation is supplemented by an introduction and extensive notes, which provide close analysis of a highly condensed work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The unintended negative historicalconsequence outweighs the brilliance of the work
Reading this book was difficult for me. I know Nietzsche's work quite well but that doesn't mean I am immune to being bored by it. One waits for occasional flashes of brilliance and insight and often has too endure a lot of dogmatic baloney to get there. Nietzsche in this book makes his usual strong attack on Christianity the 'slave- religion'. He attacks the Germans for no longer producing great culture. He attacks those who would put 'Reason' at the center of life and in so doing devoid life of its instinctive power. He shows his usual anti- democratic side and again preaches the superiority of the few who are truly great spirits. He is often for me anyway, obtuse and difficult to understand.
What he does not do of course is foresee the misuse of his teaching which will be made by Wagnerian Nazis. He doesn't see his own kind of individual ranting and raving and condemning will not be for those who distort his views be confined to words but will mean murdering millions.

Twilight of the Idols
This starts off with some almost funny (something even vaguely resembling humor is not something you expect to see in a Nietzsche book) observations from Nietzsche and goes from there into his critiques of Socrates. He later goes into critiques and observations about other philosophers, as well as critiquing Germans and Germany. This book has plenty of what I normally like and dislike about Nietzsche. Dislike, sometimes reading his work is about as exciting as watching paint dry and he comes off personality wise as way too anal retentive, dogmatic to his own worldview and humorless. He reminds me of the current wave of militant atheists. Dogmatic atheism is the trendy new system created religion in case you haven't noticed.

What I like about Nietzsche, the creed of self improvement and the anti-Christianity stuff, is here in abundance. Like in most of his work between pages of boredom you get instances of brilliance such as the following from Twilight of the Idols when talking about what Christianity did to the great "Teutonic Blonde Beast"
he say Christianity made him "sick, miserable, filled with ill-will towards himself, full of hatred for the impulses towards life, full of suspicion of all that was still strong and happy". In other words he lost his healthy Pagan Odinic worldview and became a psychological and spiritual Jew.

We immoralists
This book is one of the greatest, most controversial and in some aspects unacceptable polemic texts of all times. It is a declaration of war against those who `have attempted to make mankind moral by through and trough immoral means' (the theologians and the philosophers of reason).
It had a mighty influence on certain political movements, philosophers (Carl Schmitt) and writers (`l'art pour l'art') all over the world.

Against Christianity (`the greatest misfortune of humanity so far')
The Christian morality is anti-natural, because it is against the body, the senses, the instincts. It is a revolt against life, a negation of the will to live, the very poison of life.
Christianity is the metaphysics of the hangman, the theologian, who infects innocence with guilt, who created the `free will', an artifice to give the priests the right to punish. It exploits the weakness of the dying for a rape of the conscience.
It stands or falls with faith in God. But, `is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man's?'

Against reason
The morality of reason (rationality at any price) suppresses the dark appetite, the instincts, the unconscious.
The world doesn't form a unity, a `spirit' (Hegel), so that nobody is held responsible any longer.

His credo, his heroes
What we need is freedom at all costs, the will to assume responsibility for oneself, the will to live with the manly instincts which delight in war and victory. To be one who spits `on the contemptible type of well-being dreamed of by Christians, cows, females, Englishmen and other democrats. To be one who is prepared to sacrifice human beings for one's own cause(!)
The free man is a warrior.' His heroes are Julius Caesar and Napoleon.

Influence
The Nazis adopted his racist and eugenic views: if one wants slaves, then one is a fool to educate them to be masters. One should push down degenerating life for the right to be born (forced abortion), to live (forced euthanasia) and to procreate (forced castration).
Carl Schmitt founded his theory of nation building on Nietzsche precept that `the new Reich needs enemies, in opposition alone does it become necessary.'
`L'art pour l'art' `means "The devil take morality! Rather no purpose at all than a moral purpose!'

Unacceptable
Nietzsche was a fundamental anti-democrat. For him, the world is naturally made an ensemble of a few masters and a herd of slaves. For him, `Equal rights' policies are an essential feature of decline. His eugenic propositions are a slap in the face of mankind.
His admiration of war is, today more than ever, an insult of humanity. His heroes, Napoleon and Julius Caesar, were two war criminals.
His misogyny is abject: `the agony of women giving birth must be there eternally'.

With his exceptional polemic talent (`Seneca, the toreador of virtue'; `Lobeck, a worm dried up between books'), Nietzsche wrote a formidable blasphemous text which influenced world's history. It has to be read `critically'.

A Philosophy of the Hammer
In this book, Nietzsche is concerned with bringing about the end of those idols that have the "feet of clay." Much has grown hollow in the light of modern discoveries, and the old idols must fall. We are not to worry too much about what shall replace them, because Nietzsche's hammer is impatient to speak. And new values need room before they can flourish, so it is out with traditional (mis)conceptions for Nietzsche.

This book is an interesting insight into Nietzsche's, if not the human, psyche. He reveals the insecurity that must stalk those who fancy to be significant people (are you really the ideal/person you represent to be, or just an actor?) This book is also the origin of the famous "what does not destroy me, makes me stronger" maxim. It's a terse and impressive statement, but it is clearly not always true. You may not come out stronger out an illness or a psychologically traumatic experience. Nietzsche overvalues hardness and overestimates the power of the subconsiouss to motivate our actions. As a short and insightful book, however, this is still a great read. ... Read more

Product Description
Nietzsche's late works are brilliant and uncompromising, and stand as monuments to his lucidity, rigor, and style. This volume combines, for the first time in English, five of these works: The Antichrist, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche contra Wagner, andThe Case of Wagner.Nietzsche takes on some of his greatest adversaries in these works: traditional religion, contemporary culture, and above all, his one-time hero, Richard Wagner. His writing is simultaneously critical and creative, revealing his alternative philosophical vision, which, after more than a hundred years, still retains its audacious originality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Affordable, but Uneloquent translation
Mainly because of its low price, I bought Judith Norman's translation of Nietzsche's The Antichrist, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, and Other Writings, thinking that the recent scholarship that has passed by must make this an excellent translation.To my dismay, however, the translator seems to make Nietzsche sound much more colloquial than the Nietzsche I am used to reading by Hollingdale and Kaufmann.Words are simplified and dumbed down; Nietzsche's concise tone is not as sophisticated; and the prose is not as enrapturing.

Although, I will admit, this translation is probably (I don't read German.) highly accurate, it sacrifices a lot of eloquence in doing so, and making it worse, the occasional use of colloquial phrases unique to this translation ("for real" "bit of a break" and etc.) do not seem true to Nietzsche's "aristocratic radicalism."

If you have the money, I would recommend you to buy better translations, but if you're on a tight budget like me, this, unfortunately, will have to do.

good philosophy for our time also!!!
the nietzsche philosophy works well for our modern times and is not dated at all this is great views to all those who are their own persons not sheeplike clones who follow the rest of the boring flock think for yourself judge things for yourself that's how i feel think for yourself find your own views on life don't be a follower be a leader.

Nietzsche:The Anti-Christ, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols
The Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy yet again struck gold, enshrining history's greatest thinkers in pre-eminently handsome texts, robust and readable translations, and scholarly and timely commentary and introductory exegesis.

Despite Nietzsche's admonition greeting us in the very first prefatory page, this book belongs not to the few, but to all seeking meaning beyond society's regurgitated paradigms and ossified constrictions.

A philosopher-bibliophile's "must have"! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil."When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer.However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature.Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power.Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live.He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power."One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world.Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create.Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind."A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13).The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others.Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258).In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms.He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself.Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations.To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind.However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260).Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming.Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality.The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo.The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199).The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil."Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219).The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive.Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality.Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.
... Read more

Product Description
The literary career of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) spanned less than twenty years, but no area of intellectual inquiry was left untouched by his iconoclastic genius. The philosopher who announced the death of God in "The Gay Science" (1882) and went on to challenge the Christian code of morality in "Beyond Good and Evil" (1886), grappled with the fundamental issues of the human condition in his own intense autobiography, "Ecce Homo" (1888). Most notorious of all, perhaps, his idea of the triumphantly transgressive ubermann ('superman') is developed in the extreme, yet poetic words of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (1883-92). Whether addressing conventional Western philosophy or breaking new ground, Nietzsche vastly extended the boundaries of nineteenth-century thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

"We would not let ourselves be burned to death for our opinions: we are not sure enough of them for that."
Nietzsche has been interpreted to represent the last word in a line of thought which begins with Socrates, generally referred to as the era of Western classical philosophy. Like enormous bookends, Nietzsche and the object of so much of his thought, Socrates, sit, at the crucial intersections of the flow and development of ideas, and adjudicate, with all that came between and after somehow in the radius of their influence.Nietzsche, father of existentialism, intellectual father of the 20th century.
The battle will always rage (Nietzsche, true to the fire of his Herakleitian habit, would have liked that): which is better, this one, Hollingdale's anthology, A Nietzsche Reader, or Kaufmann's anthology, the venerable Viking Portable Nietzsche? I'll cop on that one. But, for the prospective buyer, I'll attempt a brief, opinionated comparison.
1) Translation: I was nurtured on the Kaufmann, which I used to carry around with me in my high school days, 40 years ago. Thus, for me, the Kaufmann translation rings truer to my tinny ear and limited knowledge of German. Besides, Kaufman was German.But, as Nietzsche gets down on the Germans at least as much as the English (a fact to which his Nazi misinterpreters liked to turn a blind eye), and, as Hollingdale's translations are accepted in the academic world to be at least as accurate as the revered Kaufman, pas differance there, or one merely of taste.
2) Organization: The Hollingdale is far better organized for quick reference or for the first time reader who wants an easily accessed guide to Nietzsche "from the horse's mouth" (with Nietzsche - this way is best, for so much of Nietzsche's power is in his enormous literary gifts). The creme de la creme of much of Nietzsche's most powerful work is arranged under the key rubrics: Philosophy and Philosophers; Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics; Morality; Art and Aesthetics; Psychological Observations; Religion; Nihilism; Anti-Nihilism; Will to Power; Superman; Eternal Recurrence. The book ends with a truly neat 20 page collection of many of Nietzsche's best aphorisms and summary statements.
The Kaufmann, on the other hand, sprawls, and weaves a tapestry of the man's conceptions, which coalesce finally into a remarkably comprehensive summation of Nietzsche's basic positions.One could say that if the Hollingdale is the digital approach, the Kaufmann is the analog. The Kaufmann, however, has one insurmountable advantage: included are the complete texts of Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Neitzsche Contra Wagner, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra.The Kaufmann translation of the latter is widely regarded as the best ever, and the book is an awesome masterpiece, at once hilarious and deep, a classic among classics, which says almost all that Nietzsche wishes you to hear in one loud shot.
3) Construction: Both have useful introductory sections, the Kaufmann is a bit better, including a helpful chronology. Neither has a particularly huge Bibliography, but the Kaufmann has been updated fairly recently by Viking. The Hollingdale is svelte, 285 pages, in the time tested Penguin format, tightly bound, light in the pack. The Kaufmann is chunky, 700 pages, a number of which are falling out of my 1968 edition bought for a pittance at a good, old fashioned, independent used bookstore.
My advice: Take the Hollingdale to school, but take the Kaufmann to that proverbial desert island.

Disjointed - but effective introduction to Nietzsche's writings
The 240 extracts from Nietzsche's best known writings provide an ample introduction to his philosophy. The most powerful sections - 'Morality', 'Will to Power' and 'Superman' are well represented, and the slim volume is bolstered by some interesting sections on art and aesthetics. The novice Nietzsche reader will gain a good overall impression of Nietzsche's powerful philosophy, which aims to strip human morals down of all their falseness and affectations and misguided Christian influence.

Only one drawback - given the necessarily fragmented nature of the book, some sections hop disjointedly from one writing to another, giving a somewhat inconsistent impression of Nietsche's philosophy as a whole. For example, a long treatise deconstructing the impact of Wagner's music in sublime descriptive prose is followed by a terse section condemning literary style as an affectation as it purports to point to something beyond itself, which does not exist.

What does not kill me will make me stronger ...
As long as one is still young, one tries to philosophize. One guesses the delirium which philosophy has produced, one dreams of copying it and of carrying it further. The youth likes itself in the trick of the heights; with a thinker youth loves the tightrope walker; in Nietzsche they loved his poses, his mystic clownery; really a summit fun fair ... " wrote Emile Cioran.

But nowadays with Nietzsche one has his problems. Maximum embarrassingly had been how Nazi-leaders misinterpreted and misused Nietzsche for their race theories, veiled by Richard Wagner's melodramatic style.

If one takes his gossip of the "Superhuman" [Übermensch], nevertheless, as the psychoanalytic classified attempt, to know himself as gotten sick in need of care (fallen ill with Syphilis) between sister and mother, rescueless wedged, and therefore, as a counterbalance, get lost in the daydream to be a new Dionysos or a Greek God (at first mockingly, then in the final stage schizophrenic megalomaniac), - then his efforts seem to be "human, all too-human".

"What does not kill me, will make me stronger ... " he tried to persuade himself euphorically, in fear to have a lack of courage. The treating physicians probably did not tell him (regarding the prudishness of that time) the shocking truth of the irreparable gravity of his illness.

"Philosophy is a kind of revenge versus reality ... " he wrote full energy, high-spirited. One dreams to have a power, which one does not possess in the reality. Nietzsche's writings are a sort of compensation of a frustrated human being, writings like a battle-cry, tattooed deep in the soul, hoping to get managed a departure into success.

The only germ of a flaming up love relationship - namely to Lou Salome (later companion of Rainer Maria Rilke and at the same time famous first female psychoanalyst in the circle of Freud) - this only germ, rich in chances of an erotic self-realization, was trampled down by the heavy envy and jealousy of his frigates-like sister and his mother.

Aged twenty, however, he had used a experimental way, practicing his sort of sexuality, which seemed at first sight easy and more cheap, in the final effect has been full of pain: "There are two things, a genuine man wants: danger and play. Therefore, he wants the woman, as the most dangerous toy ... " he noted in juvenile carelessness. He himself reported to the doctors in Leipzig and Jena, whoshould treat him against his Syphilis infection, that he had practiced brothel visits 1865 in Cologne and 1866 in Leipzig.

Indeed, he struck already in 1865 in Trieste by the fact that he, weeping, embraced a horse (hit by a coachman) and then broke down. The actually heavy outbreak of the illness is dated by doctors on 1888. Nietzsche's note "The degree and kind of a person's sexuality reaches up into the topmost summit of his spirit ... " oscillates on this background ambiguously of course with a maybe unintentional double-sense. Certain is, that only the final phase of his writing (ecce homo) is to be considered as intellectually clouded.

Yet we have the duty to weigh with necessary care the writings before 1888. But even as a heavy nursing-destitute he still produced some special diamonds of written language: "If you look for a long time into an abyss, the abyss afterwards also looks into you inside ... "; "He who has a goal to live for, is able to endure almost everything ... " or: "There are servile souls, which propel the appreciation for given benefactions so far, that they strangle themselves with the snare of gratitude ... " That means evidently, that he only rather sullenly will have submitted himself under the over-protection, coming from his sister and mother. Nevertheless, no superhuman-power could help him to escape their claws.

On the other hand, maybe just by the distance to an everyday life Nietzsche was able to focus the society in such a cool manner - and to daydream completely undisturbed a total free self-reliant human being. This ideal type is a little bit shaped like Nietzsche himself: The "Superhuman" is a strong-minded and unbound philosopher, but sometimes the cautious and shyphilologist Nietzsche is shining through.

On the one we remember the popular Nietzsche-slogan "God is dead", then, on the other hand, we feel, that his origin from a priest's family has not passed - and we even suppose, that the negative posture towards the religion and the minister's family, are finally only the two sides of the one and same coin.

Though - the religious criticism of Nietzsche is not to understand only psychologically as an opposition against his family background (11 forefathers on the paternal side were ministers): To see denominations critically has been theintellectual behaviour of that time. Nature science, Kant, Descartes: they shocked the church authorities of that days.

Nietzsche's mocking remark "Madness of single persons is something rare, but the madness of groups, parties, crowds seems to be the rule ... " qualifies his personal fate (syphilis) nearly not as bad as the ("healthy") foolishness of the masses - especially, if one considers, what the German history planned to bring up ...

And because he wrote (and his power-mad sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche has forgotten to censure and to extinguish that during the posthumous publication of his writings:) "He who thinks a lot, is not suitable for a party man; too soon he thinks through the party throughout ... " - because he wrote this, it is not to be accepted seriously, that he could have live in harmony with a National Socialist party.

Also he brought on paper: "I mistrust all dogmatics and systematic and avoid to contact them. The will to a system is a lack of righteousness." And, elsewhere: "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies." Or (without ever having heard an O-tone of Goebbels or Hitler, Nietzsche formulated timeless brilliantly): "With a very loud voice in the neck one is nearly unable to think fine things."

"The most valuable examinations are found latest, but the most valuable examinations are the methods " - Nietzsche wrote. Indeed: if one did not take Zarathustra's words as instructions for war lords or other dubious idols, but, in the contrary, classifies this work as a brilliant, highly ironical effort to use language creatively, Nietzsche's books would have a fair chance to survive. Maybe his ability to describe psychological subjects will live longer than some of his philosophical disputes. The collection of R.J. Hollingdale (he died 2001) is a very good chance, to proof Nietzsche's message ...

Whetted my appetite for more
Assigned as a textbook in my 19th century philosophy class, I must admit that this little volume was a pleasure to read - twice. While it may be criticized as a collection of Nietzschean quotable quotes, I was continually fascinated by his insights. It left me wondering if any of the ideas attributed to Freud were actually original, and it confirmed some of my own hard won critiques of contemporary evangelicalism.

Before the class was over I had purchased another half dozen books by this man!

A warning to those considering reading this - you will not receive pages of editorial content. Go elsewhere if you are looking for an interpretation of Nietzsche. Also, you may find this thinker as addictive as I have.

Excellent intro, though not the real thing
THE way to start Nietzsche.It's good to know the basic philosophical currents of Western thought(at least Plato and Aristotle for the basic schools of philosophy, with Augustine, renaissance thinkers like Erasmus or Bacon, Kant, and the other German philosophers of the time being good addenda for added richness) before you get into this, because so much of this is either a recasting of those old thoughts or a vicious attack upon them.I didn't find the language difficult at all...every once and a while, there would be a convoluted sentence that took several passes to understand, but in general it's quite straightforward.A beautiful body of work condensed into some salient passages.Suggestion: start with this...you'll be able to have a perfectly educated conversation about all of his major ideas after reading this book, and you'll be able to tell how much you agree or disagree with him.Then, if his work agrees with you, pick up the Viking Portable Nietzsche, which has all of Thus Spake Zarathustra, Twilight of the Idols, the Antichrist, and Contra Wagner, and then a section of excerpts similar to this book.By that time, you'll know what other works you want to read in their entirety(I suggest Beyond Good and Evil, to begin with, along with The Birth of Tragedy as a side-endeavour), and you'll also know more Nietzsche than any pseudo-intellectual poseur who wants to sound good at parties could comprehend.

The philosophy itself deserves five stars for being eloquent, fully realised, and the work of an educated genius, not to mention its historical value on the way modern thought works, but I simply must subtract one star for its incompleteness.You get the ideas, but not the full range of its art and magesty. ... Read more

Product Description
First released in 1901, about one year after Nietzsche's death, "The Will to Power" is a collection of Nietzsche's unedited and unpublished writings. Though the title and all of the ideas are of the radical philosopher's own invention, the order and selection of Nietzsche's notebooks are due to the organization of his sister. As a result of his poor health, Nietzsche used his remaining energy to write a different work, leaving "The Will to Power" in the earliest stages of writing. The topics he explores vary widely and include nihilism, religion, morality, the theory of knowledge, and art. Some ideas are reflected in the works Nietzsche managed to complete in his lifetime, while others show his progression toward those ideas in his earlier life. Overall, "The Will to Power" is an opportunity to read the intellectual journaling of one of the nineteenth century's most brilliant thinkers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (50)

Kaufmann & Hollingdale's translation is quite poor in places
Walter Kaufmann's translations of Nietzsche's books in the 1950s and 1960s brought a new appreciation for Nietzsche's work because they were, he claimed, better than the set published under Oscar Levy in the early part of the 20th century.

This is not quite true. Although he argued that as native German speaker, his grasp of Nietzsche's thought, which depends on having native language skills, would be better, it does not reveal itself in his translations: the sad fact is that Kaufmann's English translations are often poor.

What's most distressing is the lack of consistency in his work; some of his translations are quite good. This one, however, does not represent Kaufmann's best work: he doesn't display a nanogram of feeling for English idiom.

According to his introduction, Kaufmann translated only Book I himself; Hollingdale translated Books II-IV, and Kaufmann revised those.

Regardless, the results are mixed at best. There are some atrociously bad passages.

Can you imagine how difficult it is to follow Nietzsche when you come across passages such as this? (Section 65):

"The tensing of a will over long temporal distances, the selection of the states and valuations that allow one to dispose of future centuries--precisely this is antimodern in the highest degree."

The German reads thus:

"Die Anspannung eines Willens über lange Zeitfernen hin, die Auswahl der Zustände und Werthungen, welche es machen, dass man über Jahrhunderte der Zukunft verfügen kann-das gerade ist im höchsten Maasse antimodern."

What, I ask, is the meaning of "the tensing of a will over long temporal distances"?

What are we to make of "dispose of future centuries"? HUH?

A far more intelligible translation is given below:

"The exerting of one's will over long periods of time, the selection of conditions and valuations which place centuries of future time at one's disposal: this, precisely, is what is most utterly anti-modern."

Other examples of poor work:

In Hinsicht auf all ästhetischen Werte bediene ich mich jetzt dieser Grundunterscheidung: ich frage in jedem einzelnen Falle "ist hier der Hunger oder der Überfluß schöpferisch geworden?"

Why 'superabundance' for Überfluß? What's wrong with 'plenty'? Why the overly literal `hunger' for Hunger? Why not "want" and "plenty"?

Here is my version of this passage:

"In regard to all aesthetic values I now use this criterion; in every case I ask myself: Has want or rather plenty been the creative force here?"

Also, you don't need to follow the form of the German slavishly: "romantischer Pessimismus in der ausdrucksvollsten Form" doesn't have to be "romantic pessimism in its most expressive form"; in fact I think "fullest expression of Romantic pessimism" is both more elegant and more idiomatic. German loves semantically `empty' nouns (Form, Sinn, etc.); in English we have more adjectives and other parts of speech to carry the semantic load. You have to be sensitive to this stuff. In fact, 'form' in English is just as semantically empty as it is in German. The preference for nouns in German is so that pronouns can be substituted and, using gender, trace the noun back through the sentence.

"Letzteres ist romantischer Pessimismus in der ausdrucksvollsten Form: sei es als Schopenhauersche Willens-Philosophie, sei es als Wagnersche Musik."

Here's mine:

"The latter represents the fullest expression of Romantic pessimism, whether in the form of the Schopenhauerian philosophy of the will [i.e., World as Will and Idea], or Wagnerian music." You'll note I used `form' to translate `als' and dropped form altogether in the preceding part.

Compare his:

"The latter is romantic pessimism in its most expressive form, whether as Schopenhauerian philosophy of will or as Wagnerian music."

Kaufmann's criticisms of Ludovici are ludicrous in light of what I see in his work. He states:

"Dr. Levy was probably quite right when in a prefatory note he called Ludovici 'the most gifted and conscientious of my collaborators,' but unfortunately this does not mean that Ludovici's translations are roughly reliable....Let us say that Ludovici was not a philosopher, and let it go at that."

Kaufmann clearly followed Ludovici's text, sometimes copying his mistakes, while contributing his own misunderstandings, making mistakes where Ludovici has it right or nearly so.

Let me say that Kaufmann has almost no literary talent and let it go at that.

Section 109 by Kaufmann
Principle: There is an element of decay in everything that characterizes modern man: but close beside this sickness stand signs of an untested force and powerfulness of the soul. The same reasons that produce the increasing smallness of man drive the stronger and rarer individuals up to greatness.

Section 109 by me:
First Principle: There is a hint of decay in everything modern, but alongside the prevailing sickness there are signs of a spiritual strength which has yet to be exerted. The same causes that humble most men, also drive the fewer stronger individuals toward greatness.

Section 109: the German
Grundsatz: es giebt etwas wie Verfall in allem, was den modernen Menschen anzeigt: aber dicht neben der Krankheit stehen Anzeichen einer unerprobten Kraft und Mächtigkeit der Seele. Dieselben Gründe, welche die Verkleinerung der Meisten hervorbringen, treiben die Stärkeren und Selteneren bis hinauf zur Größe.

A Philosopher of the Past or of the Future?
Commanding the earth and Ruling Religion: Nietzsche's Dionysian Apocalypse of Man

Nietzsche's classic work, unfinished and unpublished when he collapsed into insanity, is the most controversial of his works. Some avoid using it as the basis of their Nietzsche studies because they cannot be sure if these thoughts are genuinely Niietzsch's, a question that is largely a question of the way Nietzsche's legacy was handled by his sister. However, somewho have interpreted Nietzsche, most notably Heidegger, tend to emphasize this work above his other works, especially with respect to clarifying the question of Nietzsche's thought and its relationship to metaphysics. I sympathize with this approach to Nietzsche, for Heidegger was a philosopher interpreting a philosopher, and his judgement can, perhaps, be considered valuable for that reason, but not for that reason alone: I think Heidegger reads Nietzsche in a way that allows him to best see how the various parts of Nietzsche's philosophy can be conjoined so as to facilitate its proper interpretation: the will-to-power has a central relationship, Heidegger asserts, to all of the other parts of Nietzsche's thought, so he tends to read Nietszsche to some degree as a systematic thinker, which in another sense, cannot be further from the truth: Heidegger and Nietzsche both seek to do justice to the complexities or oversimplicities of modernity, but they also seek to found a discourse that is faithful to the almost infinite perspectives that are existentially possible.

Caveat--The Will To Power: Notes forseveral works, all incomplete.
HAH, Mixed Opinions and Maxims

[Appetite seeking vs. Truth seeking]
137. The worst readers.- The worst readers are those who proceed like plundering soldiers: they pick up a few things they can use, soil and confuse the rest, and blaspheme the whole.

157. Sharpest criticism.-- One criticizes a person, a book most sharply when one pictures their ideal.

Here I will say that there is an enormous difference between a sword and a pen. Too many reviews here say nothing, and if they do, it is with a sword inveighing against straw men. So, to clear the air, I quote from the Gay Science:

[What is All cannot be added to-- least of a by worship or praise.]
130. Incense.-- Buddha said: "Do not flatter your benefactor." This saying should be repeated in every Christian Church--right away it clears the air of everything Christian.

[What is Compassion?-- Sparing another the onus of Sin, all things contingent, necessary. What is Hateful? -Making conscious of Sin when one 'ought' to have born one's cross, one's Fate, Necessity itself.]
273. Whom do you call bad?-- Those who always want to put to shame.
274. What do you consider human?-- To spare someone shame.


Again, this should not be your introduction to Nietzsche. It is a tedious and poorly constructed compilation of unpublished notes from the Nachlass, arranged by his Anti-Semitic sister with the aid of Peter Gast, and the general intent of the collection lies at her feet, not Nietzsche's. Furthermore, most of it is jabberwocky without some prior familiarity with Nietzsche's published intentions; the references are uncharacteristically vague and esoteric being jottings, so this problem is only compounded. Nonetheless it's some of the only material from it that is available in English with extensive notes. That said, the best introduction to the man's thought is probably not the posthumous writings of this posthumously born man, but those from his youth: The Birth of Tragedy, The Untimely Meditations, "On Truth an Lying in the Extra-Moral Sense" and so on.

Aside:[ etymology of "Snob": ORIGIN late 18th cent.(originally dialect in the sense [cobbler] ): of unknown origin; early senses conveyed a notion of `lower status or RANK,' later denoting a person seeking to IMITATE those of superior social standing or wealth. Folk etymology connects the word with Latin sine nobilitate `WITHOUT NOBILITY' but the earliest recorded sense has no connection with this.] -Elitism is justified where egalitarianism IS palpably mendacious. Or as Benjamin Franklin put it, "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to eat for supper."

Nietzsche's philosophy centers on the ideas of nobility and integrity; of firm individual determination and strength of will; of naturalness in every form; of achieving the means to future goals one has set for oneself and expanding one's horizons to their furthest limits to find what is sought and claim what is one's own and take it -or to bravely face destruction on the road there. If you are fanatic about 'equality' and 'justice' or are compelled to things via independence of thought by association ("I am not your crutch" TSZ) you had best stay away from this man, whose model is the "Roman Caesar with Christ's soul" and "Dionysos against the Crucified." -It's dangerous to play with dynamite!

Five stars for content, -1 for Form and historical-editorial infelicity.



***
Summary of The Will to Power with Heidegger in Mind.

Nietzsche is emphatically anti-existentialist and preempts them (along with so many others) specifically in the Gay Science, for which Kauffman blithely -if dutifully- points out at least two apothegms which 'may well have been titled Nietzsche contra Sartre';here Nietzsche and Heidegger are together, if anywhere at all.The Will To Power, the 'feeling of power', appears early on and is a central feature of his psychological accounts and mode of physiological interpretation, but as being but one conscript of his 'mobile army of metaphors', the question of The Will to Power as an ontological account is troublesome, even tendentious.If we are to argue for a higher unity of thought, as we must if we're to take the philosopher seriously at all, The Will To Power most aptly applies to Nietzsche himself-- the ideogram of the intentional force and direction of the work.What is he aiming at?--He states this quite clearly: the Future.What is to come, what is To become of man.An antithesis to Thales' prediction of the meteorological phenomena of a solar eclipse which *arguably* inaugurated Philosophy as such, Nietzsche directs us to 'what is most distant' -to live and think with the highest time preference, with love towards that which is to come, that which as he says MUST come:Noontide, the Over*man*, Zarathustra and the legislation of New Values; nothing short of the development of man beyond what he has been hitherto -and will be hitherward, be he a Last Man such as proliferates today.This, if for no other reason, Nietzsche explicitly, if briefly disclaims (in a single sentence, if I'm not mistaken) phenomenology as a way out of our labyrinth --for it is no less than the Cognito Ergo Sum of Descartes, the Thing-in-itself, the Soul myth over again.All 'things', 'beings' are composite, and that which becomes Is only within the range of its effect, its duration tantamount to continuing development --The Will To Power defines a thing as the order established, the 'regime' that governs the operation of its individual functions, it's inner necessity: Being being One and no other, our world of becoming is not It nor can ever become it.Intrinsically, we -humans are- nothing at any given time except be it *a unity of command* over ourselves, the biological and psychological multifarious congregation we are,directed to still further states of 'the feeling of power', still further and higher unity of 'consciousness' in more integrated and comprehensive forms: self-overcoming.The end of development is the end of life, physically and morally speaking.So Being for Nietzsche is not the final triumph of development --effectively the denial of the will on the cosmic scale, but what is is always and at no time comes out of or into Being, thus such a state is unthinkable-- the end of willing, the end of becoming; it is the Coda, the Eternal Return at which everything in development stands at the gates of.Ever in ascent, ever down-going, ever arriving and leaving as the River Heraclites spoke of.

The one thing Nietzsche feared for his posterity most in his last days, was that he would one day be regarded as a God, as Being, --as *Truth*.

The Greatest Book Of One Of The Greatest Minds
This is the literary equivelent to a posthumous release of demos from a great musician. Nietzsche will always be a source of inspiration to the people who reserve the right to form their own opinions. I think what endears him to people such as myself is his ability to trim the fat off the obvious and serve up only the best and most essential for our intellectual consumption. The first time I read this book I had felt a great deal of relief that the general essence and inspiration found in many of Nietzsche's books could be crystalized in so perfect a tome of mental clarity as well as personal strength. This is a book made to make men stronger and should be read for pleasure as well as self improvement.

Good Book but not to be read through
This book is loaded with good philosophy but don't expect to pick it up and read through it. It is comprised of various notes left behind by Nietzsche and that is how they are put in the book. There is very little structure and the entries may seem drawn out and repetitive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Funnier than Bansky, but unintentionally so
Check out the titles of the three "chapters" in this thing; let it dawn on you that he wrote this whole book about HIMSELF; and then see if you can keep yourself from peeing your pants, laughing.("Gimme a break!")

A little snippet of Nietzsche.
Even if you are not a fan of Nietzsche, this little book is a great place to get a snippet of what he was all about. Granted, it's only a snippet, so there are naturally better places to turn to if you wanted more; Walter Kaufmann's Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics) or The Portable Nietzsche (Portable Library) for example. That said, this 90 page book does contain several of Nietzsche's more famous ideas and frequent quotations: "revaluation of all values", "I know my fate. One day there will be associated with my name the recollection of something frightful - of a crisis like no other before on earth, of the profoundest collision of conscience.", "From the military school of life - What does not kill me makes me stronger.", "I have need of washing my hands after contact with religious people".

The book contains excerpts from Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is (Oxford World's Classics) and Twilight of the Idols, Or, How to Philosophize With the Hammer. In sum, even if you are not interested in learning more about Nietzsche, this is such a short introduction that everyone could benefit from this brief induction to Nietzsche.

prelude to madness
This is an exhilarating, sobering, beautiful, sad, scary book. The product of a great intellect on the brink of madness, it clearly reflects the encroaching grandiosity characteristic of general paresis, the form of neurosyphilis which together with the meningovascular form ultimately killed him. Within three months of writing Ecce Homo, Nietzsche suffered a complete mental breakdown from which he never regained his sanity. He was nursed by his mother and sister until his death in 1900. They suppressed publication of Ecce Homo until 1908 due to its disturbing content. Yet it provides valuable insights into his philosophy. Before we yield to the temptation to feel sorry for him, let us remember that Nietzsche's philosophy was first and foremost about affirming life in all its tragedy. As he once remarked, "all philosophers are united in their low estimation of pity."

Be wise like Nietzsche
If you are interested in understanding Friedrich Nietzche's philosophy this little book is a great place to start. In this book the philosopher
who coined the phrase "God is dead" brings us two two other ones in this little book "What does not kill you makes you stronger" and "Do not spit against the wind". He was the first immoralist who believed that freeing the world from a make believe God and our accountibilty to him was the true way to redemption. He was one of the first antagonists to Christianity and disagreed with Christian morality. He thought guilt was terrible. Buy this book if this sounds interesting. I have always found his writings deep and memorable, he was way ahead of his time in the 19th century. He was truly a great thinker whether you agree with him or not. This book can be read in a little over an hour.

Be wise like Nietzsche
If you are interested in understanding Friedrich Nietzche's philosophy this little book is a great place to start. In this book the philosopher
who coined the phrase "God is dead" brings us two new ones "What does not kill you makes you stronger" and "Do not spit against the wind". He was the first immoralist who believed that freeing the world from a make believe God and our accountibilty to him was the true way to redemption. He was one of the first antagonists to Christianity and disagreed with Christian morality. He thought guilt was terrible. Buy this book if this sounds interesting. I have always found his writings deep and memorable, he was way ahead of his time in the 19th century. He was truly a great thinker whether you agree with him or not. This book can be read in a little over an hour. ... Read more

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