Book Description

Hollingdale's biography remains the single best account of the life and works for the student or nonspecialist. This classic biography of Nietzsche was first published in the 1960s and was enthusiastically reviewed at the time. Long out of print, it is now reissued with its text updated in the light of recent research. The biography chronicles Nietzsche's intellectual evolution and discusses his friendship and breach with Wagner, his attitude toward Schopenhauer, and his indebtedness to Darwin and the Greeks. It follows the years of his maturity and his mental collapse in 1889. The final part of the book considers the development of the Nietzsche legend during his years of madness. R. J. Hollingdale, one of the preeminent translators of Nietzsche, allows Nietzsche to speak for himself in a translation that transmits the vividness and virtuosity of Nietzsche's many styles. This is the ideal book for anyone interested in Nietzsche's life and work who wishes to learn why he is such a significant figure for the development of modern thought. R. J. Hollingdale has translated and edited several of Nietzsche's texts, as well as other prestigious German thinkers.Mr. Hollingdale worked in the editorial department of the Guardian for over twenty years and has written book reviews for the Guardian and the Times Literary Supplement. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Man Ahead of His Time
Hollingdale's biography/analysis of Nietzsche and his philosophy was an unexpected delight. I had already read Walter Kaufmann's translations of Nietzsche's major works when I came upon Hollingdale's volume; expecting little, I was amazed at the additional insights the author offered into Nietzsche's thought and world outlook. I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to Nietzsche - who would like to learn something of his philosophy, but who has held back because they feel Nietzsche, and perhaps, philosophy in general, is too remote or difficult.
Believe me, Hollingdale's volume will usher you, gently, into Nietzsche's world, and make you hungry for more. Nietzsche, himself, in "Thus Spake Zarathustra" had his protaganist announce, "I am the railing by the rushing torrent - grasp me if you can; your crutch I am not!" Like Nietzsche, Hollingdale does not seek disciples -- he explains the basic concepts of Nietzsche's philosophy with cool detachment, and offers them to the reader as a launchpad from which the reader can, if he/she wishes, soar, exploring Nietzsche's world for themselves, drawing their own conclusions. Nietzsche, the enemy of blind adherence, would have heartily approved such an approach. This is the man who said, "if you wish to strive after peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire!" Enjoy the Journey!

A book that does Nietzsche justice
Anyone interested in a lucid,fair,nonsense and distortion-free overview of Nietzsche's writings and life could do no better than to start here.Hollingdale avoids what the usual crowd of Nietzsche biographers and explainers and interpreters stumble over.Here you will not find the deconstructionist nonsense of Gilles Deleuze or the turning of Nietzsche into a contradictor of his own writings a la Heidegger.Perhaps no philosopher in history has had so many bad advocates and screeching and intentionally misleading and misinterpreting critics as Nietzsche.So much fetid,vapid and idiotic writing has enveloped Nietzsche that it threatens to destroy the philosopher altogheter.The future of Nietzsche scholarship needs many more individuals like R.J. Hollingdale if one of the most profound,original and critically important figures of the modern world is to be given proper justice.More importantly the public sorely needs to have the means to better understand why this philosopher is the axis on which all philosophy of the last century turns.Most of what Nietzsche wrote is still terribly misunderstood and reviled for no good reason.Hollingdale is one of the few,but hopefully the beginning of a flood of well thought out,accurate and sober scholars who will help integrate this most fascinating and courageous philosopher into our public discourse and common knowledge.

perfect antedote to presumptuous thinking about nietzsche
this book should prove useful for readers looking for a well-written, intelligent, and accessible introduction to this often very difficult and enigmatic thinker. hollingdale tackles head on many common misconceptions of nietzsche (i.e. that he was a nihilist, an anti-semite, a fascist) through the use of extensive quotes and poignant commentary. we see the development of his thought, from his youthful admiration of wagner and schopenhauer, through to his mature explications of the idea of life as will to power, and the theme of eternal recurrence. for the disciplined student this book proves to be of great value as well, offering insights into the personality of the man himself, through numerous letters and recollections from those who knew him most intimately. this is a great biography, respectful and humane, but also willing to acknowledge nietzsche's shortcomings and possible confusions as to his own state of mind and health.

Still the definitive biography
Hollingdale worked side by side with the dean of all Nietzsche scholars, Walter Kaufmann, for many years. His biography of Nietzsche parallels Kaufmann's groundbreaking study "Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist", a watershed in American Nietzsche scholarship. While Kaufmann's work has been eclipsed (see R. Schacht's "Nietzsche") in terms of philosophical sophistication, Holligdale's biography of Nietzsche remains the very best in detail, breadth, cogency, and intimacy. Its style is unobtrusive and flowing, making it easily accessible to both the everyday reader and the student of the history of ideas. It is indispensible to anyone with even the slightest interest in Nietzsche.

The perfect antidote to MTV.
R.J. Hollingdale's seminal work continues to dazzle in this dumbed down age. Thank goodness it has been made available for a new generation, hungry for such intellectual gems. This work puts in the shadow Nietzche commentators before and since. If you are serious about learning, not only about Nietzche, but about Western thought in general, then this book is a must. ... Read more

Book Description

A landmark discussion between two great thinkers, vital to an understanding of twentieth-century philosophy and intellectual history. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Mesmerizing and Meditative; The Mind of Heidegger
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If you like Nietzsche, don't ignore Heidegger's monumental achievement.

Walter Kaufmann's Nietzche, psychologist and philosopher and on Heidegger in Kaufmann's, Discovering The Mind, Vol II, criticizes Heidegger to a great degree. In much of Kaufmann's objections to Heidegger's analogy of Nietzsche include his attempt to explain man's "essential ontology" into what really amounts to anthropomorphism. Also the fact that Heidegger uses texts of Nietzsche from obscure manuscripts over his published works. This, along with Kaufmann's personal encounters with Heidegger, in which Heidegger claimed to have unpublished writings incapable of adequate translation and explanation in his possession, esoteric information, an obvious manifestation of a prideful and arrogant personality.

Now I will agree with the majority of Kaufmann's arguments against Heidegger, including the fact that the man was an active Nazi, a party member and an active advocate of a totalitarian atmosphere imposed at the University he taught at. And it must be noted; there is no anti-semtic writing here, there is only deep and profound analytic treatment of Nietzsche.

Despite all of Kaufmann's valid criticisms and objectifications, I find Heidegger's Nietzsche, both mesmerizing, thought provoking and soul stirring. One needs to recognize this book is Heidegger, not Nietzche and Heidegger is a deep analytical thinker, whereas, Nietzche was both philosophical and poetic and top it all off, psychological. It takes a man like Heidegger to give it the philosophical, analytical style. Perhaps it is bias and to a degree "scandalous," as Kaufmann so brazenly claims, but to ignore these volumes would be foolish. For me, Heidegger's work is monumental and inspirational. If one reads Heidegger with discernment and awareness, then the four volumes of Nietzche are most beneficial and most certainly worth the read, not to pass in one's study of Nietzsche.

In particular the study of the "Will to Power as Art," where the truth is an error since art is the becoming and truth is always the become that is becoming in self positing, in artistic creativity of thought, the affixation on an apparition. And Heidegger's analytical explanation of Nietzsche's "Eternal Return" are far worth this read.

Also in line with this, is the explanation of Kaufmann in Nietzsche's Will To Power; not being self-preservation of Spinoza, nor pleasure principle of Freud, but of power, the power of the self-positing and creative center, not the power that dictates over others, which has been administered by totalitarian and authoritarian governments.

In addition to Kaufmann and Heidegger, Also excellent books:
Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Rudiger Safranski
Nietzsche : The Man and his Philosophy - R. J. Hollingdale
Nietzsche: by Karl Jaspers

Long-winded
Heidegger is a man who knows how to fill up a full class period with lots of talk. It would be possible to condense this book, the transcripts of two lecture courses given in 1936 and 1938, into a book 1/4 the length of the current tome. First of all, the time spent on Nietzsche's Nachlass is not particularly fruitful. What Nietzsche has to say regarding the eternal recurrence and the will-to-power can be found, and in the mature form, in BGE and Zarathustra. The lectures are interesting in some respects, for instance the chapter on Nietzsche and positivism is interesting and worth consulting in connection with "Plato's Doctrine of Truth." The reading of Kant's Third Critique is unique as a demonstration of Heidegger's approval of Kant, specifically the treatment of the beautiful.

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
Prior to reading this book, Kaufmann was my favorite interpreter of Nietzsche's writings; but now, Heidegger has the prize. No other book that I have read on Nietzsche has come close to the depth and detail of this work. Heidegger masterfully exposits the concepts of will to power and eternal return to illumine Nietzsche's whole philosophical project in a way that I just haven't encountered previously.

A fair criticism of this book might note that Heidegger draws parallels between Nietzsche and himself (Being and Time: being = will to power; time = eternal return), and that this suggests he may be reading more than is really there. But considering how cryptic some of the original writings are, he'd almost have to. In his own defense, Heidegger does all his thinking right before our eyes, so to speak, and I'm satisfied that any possible invention on his part is true to the original concepts.

Where this book really shines is in its handling of the eternal return. This is Nietzsche's most troubling idea, and many commentators treat it as mere novelty and move on. I must confess that I used to think it was Nietzsche's Achilles' heel; a sort of personal fancy that he worked into the background for giggles. But Heidegger proves the opposite to be true. It is really the mature fruit of Nietzsche's whole project; and along with the will to power, a truly exciting and profound view of the phenomena of life.

Forget about any other books on Nietzsche
I read the volumes on The Will To Power as Art and as Knowledge whilst at university studying philosophy and it illuminated Nietzsche's thought for me. Heidegger's is the only worthy exposition of his philosophy because not only does he seem to be the only one capable of comprehending it but he doesn't seek to distort it in any way or use it for his own ends. There are no ulterior motives here : Heidegger lets Nietzsche's philosophy speak for itself - and what a magnificent and awe-inspiring philosophy it is ! If you have ever wondered, as I certainly had prior to finding these works, about the precise meaning of Nietzsche's thought of the 'Eternal Recurrence of The Same', or how it relates to the 'Will to Power', then these are the book you want to read. I had become thoroughly frustrated at the cursory treatment which this part of N.'s philosophy receives elsewhere, but Heidegger shows that the thought of 'Eternal Recurrence' is in truth one of the two indispensable fundamental elements of N.'s philosophy - along with 'Will To Power', without which the thought of Eternal Recurrence cannot truly be thought. The lecture course 'Nietzsche' (reproduced in these books) is a comprehensive and faithful account of Nietzsche's thought (and life) - perhaps the only genuine one. It will also help those who know about Nietzsche's ideas but haven't encountered Heidegger's or can't see the relation between these two giants of Western thinking.

Excellent Book
Having taken a class on Nietzsche at DePaul University with D.F. Krell, I highly suggest this book as it helped me keep up with his class. This book was not the topic of discussion in the class, but the book added more color to the class for me.

D.F. Krell provides wonderful insights in his essary in this collection and he provides a wonderful translation.

If you would like to dig deeper in Nietzsche's past, I suggest reading D.F. Krell's book "The Good European" as this is a

very beautiful book and well written! ... Read more

Book Description

The opening essay of this Companion provides a chronologically organized introduction to and summary of Nietzsche's published works, while also providing an overview of their basic themes and concerns.It is followed by three essays on the appropriation and misappropriation of his writings, and a group of essays exploring the nature of Nietzsche's philosophy and its relation to the modern and postmodern world.The final contributions consider Nietzsche's influence on the twentieth century in Europe, the United States and Asia. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

nothin much here
This is like the other cambridge companions: it is not a reference work, is not thorough, is not authoritative nor objective. This is a collection of essays tending toward the highly speculative, each around 50 pages in length. They range from the silly to the ok, and none are very impressive. The cambridge companion series is misleadingly titled. They cater to narrow interests, not to the general public. Students who need a basic understanding of Nietzsche before they start delving into special topics will find almost no assistance here. Most of the material is of the professorial, specialized, not-generally-interesting variety.

Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche
I felt that this Cambridge Companion was extremely well written and provides an inquisitive and responsible look at Nietzsches works. It provides a rational and judicious insight into Nietzsches philosophical writtings, as well as his personal life, allowing the reader to further understand this often times misrepresented philosopher. Any Cambridge Companion is a must for an individual who is interested in a deep study of a philosopher for it acts as a teacher; guiding the student through difficult passages and texts. ... Read more

Book Description

A landmark discussion between two great thinkers--the second (combining volumes III and IV) of two volumes inquiring into the central issues of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Heideggerian view of Nietzsche in its entirety
Due to the political affiliation of Martin Heidegger and his place in history, it is perhaps difficult to analyze his works objectively. The temptation might be then to lift him from history, with the imagined goal of perhaps cleansing him from the troubling influences he chose to be in. But however Heidegger is read, whether in historical context, or from a "modern standpoint", he does have some interesting and original things to say about Friedrich Nietzsche. His politics was destructive, as history has shown, and that is a fact that can be discussed completely outside the context of this book.

This is a lengthy book, and concentrates on Nietzsche's work "The Will to Power". Space therefore prohibits a detailed review, but some of the more interesting discussions by the author include: 1. The classifying of Nietzsche as being the "last metaphysician" of the West. The author believes that his thought was a consummation of Western philosophy, and that the will to power is an appreciation of the decision that must be made as to whether the this final age is the conclusion of Western history or a prelude to another beginning. Nietzsche wanted philosophy to not shy away from the predicament it found itself in. Therefore the author encourages philosophers to not merely "toy" with philosophical thoughts, as this will place them merely at the boundary of the set of important philosophical issues. The will to power is a sign of courage that consists of shedding one's reservations, and in recognizing the stakes in the issues at hand. 2. The reading of Nietzsche as someone who believed that the essence of life is in "self-transcending enhancement", and not in Darwinian struggle. Value is to be equated with the enhancement of life. 3. The author's overview and explanation, and deduction of what "truth" meant for Nietzsche. Truth can become a "de-realization" and a hindrance to life, and therefore not be condition of life, and thus not a value. But for the author, Nietzsche wants to overcome nihilism, and this implies therefore that there must be a value greater than truth. And what is this value? It is art, says Nietzsche, which is "worth more than truth". 4. The author's discussion of the alleged biologism of Nietzsche. A reading of Nietzsche might tempt one to conclude that he was, but the author cautions that such a characterization of his writings would be unfounded. One must not base an understanding on mere impressions, and "unlearn" the abuse that has been leveled against the "catchword" called "biologism". The author therefore suggests that we must learn to "read". 5. The description of Nietzsche's epistemology as "schematizing a chaos". For Nietzsche, this schematizing is an act of imposing upon chaos as much regularity and as many forms as our practical needs require. This is an interesting move, for is the characterization of something as chaotic itself subject to the imposition of this regularity? But the author is certainly aware of this problem, for he discusses in detail the Nietzschean concept of chaos. His reading of Nietzsche in this regard is that chaos does not mean confusion or the removal of all order. It rather means that order is concealed, and is not understood immediately. Most eloquently, the author describes the Nietzschean epistemology as a "stream that in its flow first creates the banks and turns them toward each other in a more original way than a bridge ever would." Such a concept of knowledge may seem poetic and too ephemeral to support what is needed for activities such as science and technology, and this is correct. 6. The discussion of Nietzsche's stand on the law of contradiction. Heidegger reads Nietzsche as holding to (without an explicit admission on Nietzsche's part) an Aristotelian notion of this law, saying in effect that taking the position that the law of contradiction is the highest of all principles demands an answer to the question of what sorts of assertions it already fundamentally presupposes. Again following Aristotle, Heidegger uses 'Being" in his most powerful sense here, as it is 'Being' that has its presence and in permanence. This means that beings represented as such will take into account these two requirements via being "at the same time" and "in the same respect". But this permanence is disregarded when an individual makes a contradiction. It is a loss of memory about what is to be grasped in a "yes" and "no". Such an activity will not be harmless, says Heidegger, as one day its catastrophic consequences will be manifested. Heidegger sums up the law of noncontraction as that the "essence of beings consists in the constant absence of contradiction". Further, Heidegger says, Nietzsche's interpretation of the law of contraction is one of an "imperative". This means that its use is a declaration of "what is to count" and follows Nietzsche's conception of truth as a "holding-to-be-true". Nietzsche therefore says that "not being able to contradict is proof of an incapacity, not of a 'truth.'"

Heidegger in Secret Sacred Cowsville
This is heavy reading, as only philosophy would dare to be. It involves internal hysteria about matters which ordinary people are supposed to avoid in a way which Heidegger called the "often practiced procedure" of taking Nietzsche's revelations "as the harbinger of erupting madness." (p. 3) What Heidegger contributes to the psychotic multiplicity is the recognition that Nietzsche's thought illustrates a particular philosophy. As the first paragraph of this book puts it, "Nietzsche is that thinker who trod the path of thought to 'the will to power.'" By the next page, Heidegger turns away from individual matters to what he feels, in the agony of our times, to be really philosophical issues. "Neither the person of Nietzsche nor even his work concern us when we make both in their connection the object of a historiological and psychological report." (p. 4) This is not simple reporting: people tend to think most deeply about whatever they find most troubling. Nietzsche could relate this kind of thing to the bite of a dog on a stone. Nothing is yielding here. Objections which suggest themselves to anyone who tries to observe this effort might best be directed elsewhere, but in the realm of philosophy, this is the best example of the notion that science is a sacred cow. A full understanding of the mental effort involved in this exercise might be closer to stripping away any individual's defenses than to the kind of herd instinct of those parties whose imperviousness to thought is typical of what a political philosophy would normally represent. This is not an effort to produce a sacred cow. This is an attempt to penetrate the heart of secret sacred cowsville. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Some Content but Mostly Irrelevant
This is one of the well known hatchet jobs done on Nietzsche over the last two decades in order to sell the idea that Nietzsche is a postmodernist -- a person who buys the Derridian line that there is nothing outside the text. But Nietzsche is not one of those types. Indeed, 'there is nothing outside the text' is one of those pieces of philosophical insanity that can only be compared to other such pieces: like Parmenides belief that nothing moves, or Barkeley's belief that there is no such thing as matter, or Palto's belief that things do not have their properties, and so on. The position Nehamas takes is an outgrowth of German Idealism, which is just Berkeley all over again. Nietzsche was a realist. He thought of German philosophy as a flight from reality, and a coward's philosophy designed to make a big show. The very notion of life as literature is self-contradictory. But, of course, like all postmodern theorists, Nehamas is un-selfcritical. His rectitude is all that matters, and it cannot be questioned.

How NOT to read Nietzsche
Strongly influenced by an analytical interpretation of Nietzsche from Danto's Nietzsche as Philosopher Nehamas does more harm to Nietzsche than good. Nehamas's own "creative" interpretation of Nietzsche is utterly irresponsible. Interpreting Nietzsche analytical only makes Nietzsche's moral properties run amok. Nehamas interprets Nietzsche like most Christians interpret the Bible: He takes away a few things he can use, dirties and confounds the remainder and reviles the whole. Nietzsche asserts, rather than believes, that "untruth" is indeed a condition of life. But he does not assert any kind of "theory of truth," as Nehamas would have us to believe. Nietzsche's moral philosophy is Descartian - doubting to believe to discover one's own perspective of truth - not a dogmatic religious truth! His intent is rather, to give us his perspective to help us discover truth in ourselves, not in Nietzsche, himself.

a book that deserves careful reading
This now-famous book is probably the most original work on Nietzsche in English; it is about the very idea of interpretation as well as about Nietzsche.

You may not agree with Mr. Nehamas's interpretation on Nietzsche, but you have to off-cap to Nehamas's striking originality.

There are better books than this one.
Each chapter of Nehemas' book begins by problematizing an issue central to Nietzsche's philosophy. The way in which Nehemas problematizes these issues can make your head spin because he throws so many considerations at you all at once before finally resolving them in the last few pages. Although the ideas are good, they suffer from a poor presentation.

The best book on Nietzsche
While Michael Tanner's criticism of this book in his Nietzsche is valid (Nehamas does quote way too much from The Will to Power), it is by far the only book on Nietzsche that I own that actually suggests how to use Nietzsche's philosophy in life. Who cares that the world is the will to power is a fact? This book suggests that perspectivism, will to power and surviving the thought of eternal recurrence are ways of thinking in which we can enhance our lives. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Provocative Woman
This is one of the most curious books I have ever read: on the one hand, there is the story of a failed 19th C German colony in Paraguay, founded on eugenic principles that would be echoed in Hitler's time; on the other hand, there is the biography of one of the most overlooked figures in 19th C philosophy - Elisabeth Nietzsche, sister of the famed philosopher, and apparently the one who twisted her brother's ideas to conform to her own concept of racial purity (and a woman who Hitler courted in his early years of power).
The author, Ben Macintyre, does an admirable job of bringing these two stories together: Elizabeth and her husband, "professional anti-semite" Bernhard Forster, attempt the Paraguayan colony as 'New Germany' (Nueva Germania); this colony was designed to appeal to 'true' Germans who wanted to establish not only an ideological power base, but flee economic problems at home. The colony does not succeed, as Macintyre discovers when he journeys there in 1991: there are a few of the old families around, and the dangers of inbreeding, according to one recent German immigrant doctor, are becoming noticeable, heralding the inevitable decline of what Elisabeth envisioned as her own pure, private kingdom.
As the parallel story of Nietzsche develops, we see perhaps Elisabeth's real impact on history: her reinterpretation - or even reinvention - of her brother's theories. Macintyre makes an excellent case for Elisabeth's "mythologizing" of her brother and his works to further her own agenda (and help set the stage for Hitler and company's racial programs of the 1930s): although Nietzsche himself was "anti-anti-semitic", during his insanity and after his death, Elisabeth shamelessly made herself the custodian - and editor - of many of his works, linking her brother to an ideology he actually despised. It is no wonder that Nietzsche's named became philosophical "mud", as Macintyre recounts. This part of the book is worth reading for the blatant rewriting of history done by a woman who would not apologize for her views or actions (and whose death in 1935 prevented her from seeing the result of racist views she helped promulgate).
Macintyre's physical investigation of what happened to New Germany is entertaining, and provides a respite from the depressing - but riveting - narrative of the rest of the book. His concern with becoming a 'stud' to a colony of desperate young German colonists is hilarious, as are his equestrian, translating, and lodging adventures. When he finds the remnants of New Germany, the book seems to lack content - until you realize, as Macintyre does -- that the colonists' dreams for a racially 'pure' paradise is exactly what will cause them to disappear. The lack if information on the descendents of the original colonists seems to be because they either won't talk, or avoid talking by hiding in the forest. The pictures included in the book provide a great backdrop to what the colony wanted, and what it actually received. The book also relates a brief history of Paraguay and several colorful characters (some not even connected with the events the book is about), that put the whole thing in an understandable historical context.

fun read
A biography of Nietzsche's sister Elizabeth that would make good airplane reading. Partly that's because the bio is hung on a story, that of the author's trip to backwoods Paraguay to look for the colony she helped start.

Tell me more!
I enjoyed this book because I found the story of Nueva Germania very interesting, although it turned out to be more of a biography of Elizabeth Nietzsche. I was expecting more on the actual inhabitants of Nueva Germania. I think it is still worth reading though because of its unique subject matter.

How could Nietzsche's beautiful ideas be so misunderstood?
This book is interesting up to a point, and it contains some good anecdotes. But the author's almost touching need to prove that the Third Reich's admiration for Nietzsche was based solely on a combination of willful misreading and Elisabeth Nietzsche's influence leads him into all manner of logical quagmires.

At one point, he claims that Nietzsche's idea of the "superman" is "a concept intended to inspire but one which would develop sinister overtones in the wrong hands." This begs several questions: Whose are the right hands? How many people read--and believe-- Nietzsche without considering themselves to be at least larval supermen? Why should anyone be surprised when a philosopher who "rejected Christian morality and all other ideologies with moral imperatives," who claimed that "man should be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior," and who trumpeted the obligation of the self-styled strong to stamp out the "weak" is well received among brutal eugenicists with a lust for military power? I would think that a necessary competence for a career in philosophy would be to possess some slight awareness of the practical implications of one's ideas.

MacIntyre makes a convincing argument that Elisabeth Nietzsche was responsible for trying to pass her brother off as a rabid anti-Semite, but leaves one wondering precisely what benign effects Nietzsche's own drab and cruel political thought was supposed to have had on the world. Nietzsche would surely have rejected the notion that he was dealing in abstractions, so it seems disingenuous to treat his political notions as some form of Platonic ideal. MacIntyre's confusion is especially evident when, after praising Nietzsche for freeing mankind from the tyranny of false morality, he calls the Nazis "moral cripples"...beyond good and evil indeed!

A must if you're interested in this century's politics
MacIntyre's book casts a light over a little known part of our history from the end of the last century over the the Weimar republic (1918-33) and onwards. It also shows how a philosopher's work can be totaly misused in order to fit other purposes; in this case the furthering of nazi theories still, unfortunately, not dead. ... Read more

Book Description

The first book on Nietzsche ever to appear in English, this examination by legendary journalist H. L. Mencken is still one of the most enlightening. Mencken wrote this book while still in his 20s, but his penchant for thoroughness was evident even at that young age-in preparation for writing this book, he read Nietzsche's works in their entirety, mostly in the original German. A brief biographical sketch is followed by clear and thorough explanations of Nietzsche's basic concepts and attitudes. Analyzed are Nietzsche's much-misunderstood concept of the superman, his concept of eternal recurrence, his rejection of Christianity, and his basic rationalism and materialism. Included are two essays on Nietzsche that appeared in Mencken's magazine The Smart Set subsequent to the publishing of the original edition of this book. Also, nearly a century after its original publication, this remains one of the clearest, most concise, and entertainingintroductions to Nietzsche to date. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Nietzsche + Mencken = Awesome book
Mencken's ability to clearly explain Nietzsche's philosophy in a way that is both accessible to the average reader(that's me) and faithful to the original is impressive. But this doesn't surprise me, and I doubt anyone at all familiar with Mencken's work will be surprised either. What's surprising is the fact that Nietzsche's philosophy has had such widespread influence, and that this influence is usually so vehemently denied. Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy is a perfect example of this. How much difference is there between "the will to power" and "rational self-interest", after all? Not much. Another thing that surprised me was Nietzsche's occasional detours into utter nonsense -- eternal recurrence, for example. In the main, his conclusions follow from his premises, and his arguments are, if not tenable, at least reasonable. What led him to his belief in the theory of eternal recurrence and a few other anomalies that pop up is anyone's guess. These glaring absurdities are pointed out as such by Mencken throughout. Obviously some of the ideas in this book were, and remain, controversial and have been credited with horrors as terrible as Nazism, but looked at simply as food for thought, it's a great read. Probably the most admirable notion put forth by Nietzsche was his acceptance of the fact that his philoshophy would not stand the test of time, that it was only a step in the right direction. Although he did seem to turn from this near the end of his life. Incidently, he also went insane. The vanity of thinking that one has solved, once and for all, the great riddles of life is a very annoying trait among philosophers. Anyone interested in learning about Nietzsche will get much from this book. The fact that Mencken's prose is as smooth as a baby's behind is an added bonus.

Good as an example of early Mencken
As an example of H.L. Mencken's nascency as a serious writer and critic, this biography of the philosopher Nietzsche is invaluable to anyone interested in the writings of either man. The introduction by the editor is insightfully critical but does fail to emphasize the context in which Mencken himself held certain views controversial by today's accepted standards. Mencken's interpretations of Nietzsche's ideas tend toward social Darwinism. Especially where he is writing about the early life of Nietzsche, Mencken's outline is better than any other book in English on the subject. But Mencken mixes and matches concepts arising from Dionysus and Apollo too loosely, sometimes to the point of miscomprehension of Nietzsche's position, and sometimes by using their Roman name equivalents. All in all, Mencken is thorough, conscientious and clear in his expose on the great German philosopher.

Nietzsche and Mencken: "Let the Harshness Commence!"
_Friedrich Nietzsche_ by noted early 20th century American journalist H. L. Mencken is a both a brief biography of Nietzsche as well as a basic outline of his philosophy. Nietzshe's biggest influence is easlily recognized as his predescessor in German pessimism, Schopenhauer, along with the ancient Greeks before Socrates. Nietzsche is criticized as being only a destructive force in his philosophy, merely tearing down the decadent Christian morality that reigned in the West during the 1800s. However, Nietzsche's ultimate goal was the "superman," men who were above morality, sentimentality, religion and the "mindless grazing herd of cows" that constituted most of humanity. Much of this book attacks Christianity, which Nietzsche abbhorred above all other things, and considered it a "slave-morality" derived from the Jews as opposed to the "master-morality" of the European aristocrats. The origin of morality, according to Nietzsche and derived from Schopenhauer, comes from a race's will to live, and this manifests itself in a the law codes, usually of divine origin, of any given tribe, ethnicity, social group, civilization, race or nation. Nietzsche differed from Schopenhauer in that he felt that a heroic life was the best life to lead, instead of giving up the will to live as Schopenhauer taught. Both Nietzsche and Schopenhauer rejected trying to live a "happy" life, realizing that true happiness is unnatainable. In some respects, Nietzsche is reminiscent of the religious prophets he hated so much--he does not believe in free will, that people are more or less determined in their ways by forces that are beyond individual control, but he still exhorts them to dust themselves off and better themselves anyway. As far as his views of marraige and women are concerned, they are very pessimistic yet grounded in reality. "Love" comes from physical desire, and marriage is the official sanctioning of it. The ultimate purpose of marraige should be to breed a better race of humans to attain the "superman" in the future. There are some areas where Nietzsche's thoughts went a little fantastic. One theory he propounded was that Christianity was created by the Jews to make the rest of the ancient world a "slave morality". This is ridiculous, as Mencken notes, however some Jewish scholars today like to credit their own people with Christianity's rise at the same time voicing their disgust towards Christianity itself. But Nietzsche predicted that in the future Jews would be the ones that would virtually rule the world and have the greatest amount of influence in the intellectual fields. Another of Nietzsche's offbeat ideas is the doctrine of "eternal reccurance," that time repeats itself in cycles from eternity to eternity and gives the heroic "superman" the same struggle (in which the superman glories in) forever. As far as Nietzsche's influece goes today in 21st century America: I would only conclude that it is partial. It is readily apparent from reading Menckens exgesis where Nietzsche influenced Nazism, libertarians, nihilists, right-wing anarchists, "Ayn Rand style" objectivism and Satanism. Nothing exists for racial improvement, eugenics or euthanasia that is propelling humanity upward. The racial policies and ideals in ascendancy today are extremely dysgenic instead. Some of Nietzsche's ideas which are more readily observabable are the rule by an elite that is above the law--an "Illuminati" of sorts--but it is not bringing the human race upward--it is sending it crashing down to hell. I do not personally agree with many of Nietzsche's ideas, especially his attack on Christianity, but this is a thought provoking book of the "mad prophet of Nihilism."

Nietzshe Explained
This is the most lucid and entertaining explanation of Nietzche's thought and life that I have ever encountered. Philosophical goobledygook is virtually absent and the essence of Nietzche's philosophy is accurately expounded in a no-nonsense style.

A very readable account of the subject matter.
First published in 1907, this book is an extraordinary work by one of the great early 20th century American wordsmiths. The subject matter, the philosophical perspective outlined by the life's work of 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, strikes me as one of the most important that modern man can hope to tackle. Mencken never talks down to the reader, yet this work is accessible to all. I highly recommend it to all men and women, but especially to students of philosophy and the social sciences ... Read more

Book Description

Ecce Homo is an autobiography like no other. Deliberately provocative, Nietzsche subverts the conventions of the genre and pushes his philosophical positions to combative extremes, constructing a genius-hero whose life is a chronicle of the incessant struggle to overcome himself.Written in 1888, a few weeks before his descent into madness, the book sub-titled ""How One Becomes What One Is"" reviews all of Nietzsche's previous works so that we, his ""posthumous"" readers, can finally understand him on his own terms.He reaches final criticism of his many enemies--Richard Wagner, German nationalism, ""modern men"" in general--and above all Christianity, proclaiming himself the Antichrist. Ecce Homo is the summation of an extraordinary philosophical career, a last great testament to Nietzsche's will. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Boring
I bought this book because I know that Nietzsche is considered one of the most important philosophers of all times and wanted to learn something about him. I tried before to read "Thus Spake Zarathustra" but it was very hard to understand anything, so I decided to buy his autobiography in the hope of finally learning something.
The book is hard to read, his ideas are not clear, but at least the book is thin so you can read it fast (one day is enough). Thanks god (oh, I forgot he is dead!)! I would not read it to the end if it were thicker.
The conclusion is: if you are not an expert in philosophy or had not attended to many lectures explaining Nietzsche, do not waste your time reading this book. Read the explanations of Nietzsche's thoughts by other authors and you will learn much more.

Celebrate Self and Life!
I first read Nietzsche's Ecce Homo in August 1988. I bought another copy in October 1989 to read again to decipher more of Nietzsche's wit. On the inside cover of the first reading I wrote, "The style and the language of the writings of Nietzsche are ingenius! He stands alone with honor and respect. Psychologically dangerous to one's health for its extravagant and eloquence of expressed ideas, it is nevertheless psychologically beneficial as an eye-opener to affirm SELF and celebrate LIFE!"

nietzsche's most bizarre book--and that's saying something
"ecce homo" is certainly the most, eh...'unusual' autobiography i've ever encountered, and has a fascination all its own, but i would take nietzsche to task for his constant criticism of scholars and those prefer to live in the imagination and language rather than in what he preferred to think of as 'reality. this kind of positivistic nonsense is what makes me prefer schopenhauer's philosophy to nietzsche's, in the end. its odd that a man with the sensitivity, perceptiveness and intelligence of nietzsche never seemed to realize that after awhile, the external world of people, things, egoism and power seeking simply becomes a tiresome bore. still, though, the concept of the dionysian is intriguing and the fiery, poetic quality of nietzsche's prose keeps the reader riveted to his unbelievably original thoughts and indispensable critique of christian beliefs and ascetic ideals.

the titles of the chapters are slightly amusing--"why i am so clever", "why i write such good books", "why i am a beginning". this isn't a question of not worrying about modesty, but one of impending insanity. its almost as though on some level nietzsche was aware that the end was near and that he needed to write something that expressed his heart and soul before he fell apart completely. one of the most stunning parts in the book are nietzsche's wholly accurate predictions for the twentieth century:"there will be wars such as mankind has never seen before." he said it with a certain delight, no doubt, but nonetheless, this man possessed the intuition and foresight of an almost mystical kind, although he would punch me in the mouth for saying that. he also admits some curious things about himself that contradict his professed philosophy more than slightly:"i know nothing of the 'heroic', i know nothing of 'will'. my being would rather say 'no' than 'yes'; in fact, it would rather say nothing at all." this, from the eternal yea sayer? "ecce homo" offers some curious insights into the actual psyche of the man who preached life affirmation with his more formal works.

How to Truly Write Autobiography...
"I possess a perfectly uncanny sensitivity of the instinct for cleanliness, so that I perceive physiologically, smell the proximity, or - what am I saying? - the innermost parts, the 'entrails', of every soul... I have in this sensitivity psychological antennae with which I touch and take hold of every secret: all the concealed dirt at the bottom of many a nature, perhaps conditioned by bad blood but whitewashed by education, is made known to me almost on first contact."

-- Friederich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo is not a book of philosophy. It is not, for that matter, a book that conforms to any conventional genre of literature to which one can relate from ordinary reading. Rather, it is an elaborate anamnesis, a haunting excursion into the strange world of a moral hygienist, written by one of the most peculiar, though no less intriguing, minds of modern European history.

Very much out of line with the spirit of autobiography, Nietzsche ridicules with remorseless cynicism the very idea of writing a book about oneself. He begins his chapters with such titles as, "Why I Am So Wise", "Why I Am So Clever", "Why I Write Such Good Books", and "Why I Am A Destiny". Such titles, so egregious and perverse, deride the sheer arrogance presupposed by the writing of autobiography. For, if we are to be honest with ourselves, autobiographies are little more than shameless excercises in self-indulgent egotism, written exclusively for the scandalous purpose of public consumption. At no point does Nietzsche exhibit the sort of false modesty with which autobiographers make a mockery of their readers. What is presented in this book is something quite different. The readership here is never assumed to be a general audience. Marketing played was given no consideration in the writing of this book. Nietzsche takes little care (none, in fact) not to offend the reader. He writes absolutely whatever springs to mind, laying bare in defiantly candid terms his essential line of thinking, more rightly described as his 'essential attitudes', esteeming everything pleasing to his instincts and lashing out with utmost violence against every conceivable source of putrefaction and disease - German culture, Christianity, modern industrialism, the obsessive 'scholar' and bibliophilic pedant, dispiriting weather, and even English cookery. Herein lies Nietzsche's famous declaration: "I am the anti-ass par excellence and therewith a world-historical monster - I am, in Greek and not only in Greek, the Anti-Christ..."

Ecce Homo follows no chronological order. It reads quite erratically, touching upon the most random points of concern (one might say fetishes) in Nietzsche's brief, but profound life. He elaborates with great passion upon his love of Wagnerian music, his intimate hatred for false 'idealism', and the destructive consequences of excessive rationalism. " 'Rationality against instinct. 'Rationality' at any price as dangerous, as a force undermining life!" He emphasizes endlessly the importance of intellectually and spiritually conducive surroundings, of "[s]electivity in nutriment; selectivity in climate and place", making it painfully clear that Germany was thoroughly godforsaken in this respect. The reader is given a refreshing sense of what is means to be cultured and civilized in Nietzsche's view. He reveals his love of Italian life, French cuisine, and Moorish architecture. He also has been described as having an extraordinary perception for diagnosing symptoms of social rot. Nearly all of Europe, with its embrace of industry and technology, was condemned by Nietzsche as being sick to the bone. Christianity is used as an unfailing example of what it means to be truly dirty in both body and mind. Surprisingly thrown into this wild mix of bitter damnation is alcohol, entirely shunned by Nietzsche for being an influence as criminal and destructive in its effects as Christianity itself: "Alcoholic drinks are no good for me; a glass of wine or beer a day is quite enough to make life for me a 'Vale of Tears'...To believe that wine 'makes cheerful' I would have to be a Christian, that is to say believe what for me is precisely an absurdity".

Of practical value and written in the most coherent fashion are the individual chapters devoted to each of Nietzsche's books. These chapters present a 'lightning tour' of his philosophy, giving concrete definition to his most celebrated ideas. The reader is given a taste of the elevated euphoria that went into the writing of the Gay Science. Nietzsche generously quotes from Thus Spake Zarathustra, highlighting its most graceful passages in which his lyrical talents shine forth in resplendent brilliance. In the chapter titled, "The Untimely Essays", Nietzsche offers his views of scientific management and modern industrialism, unveiling "what gnaws at and poisons life, in our way of carrying on science: life sick with this inhuman clockwork and mechanism, with the 'impersonality' of the worker, with the false economy of 'divison of labor' ". Such openly Marxist overtones belie all attempts to characterize Nietzsche as the unsuspecting prophet of fascism.

Nietzsche possessed, among other things, an exceptional gift for conveying seemingly simple ideas with a profound, hammering intensity. In these pages, one will encounter a uniquely superior command of language, in lines of unrivaled grace, eloquence, and passion, and laced with the sort of formidable literary power that will violently shake the ground beneath one. It is said that Ecce Homo is "one of the supreme masterpieces of German prose". I would go so far as to suggest that R.J. Hollingdale's translation of this magnanimous work is one of the supreme masterpieces of *English* prose.

"I can write in letters that make even the blind see." -- Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ

Portrait Of An Ubermensch
In Ecce Homo, Nietzsche, clocked in the overt convention of the critical autobiography, lashes out at the practice of divorcing art from action. He takes aim at the reification of the linguistic world, which he believes has grown at the expense of the pre-linguistic world and his quarrel is with those who use words to mediate their experiences in the world in order to deny their own heroic capabilities.

"Saying 'Yes' to life," says Nietzsche, "is its strangest and hardest problem; the will to life rejoicing over its inexhaustibility even in the sacrifice of its highest types--that is what I call Dionysian, that is what I understood as the bridge to the psychology of the tragic poet." This Dionysian status, he goes on to say, is not gained through "thumbing through books," but by suffering through experience and rejoicing in the vitality of living.

Nietzsche also writes, "In questions of decadence I am experienced." In this he intimates his own experience of life denial through words and his imagery compares intellectual endeavors with physical conditions, e.g. digestion.

"The German spirit," he says, "is an indigestion: it does not finish with anything." Nietzsche uses the human stomach as a metaphor of the reification of the linguistic world. The stomach digests food by breaking it down into its component parts, readily recognizable to physiology but having little to do with the original product.

An orange, after all is not just vitamin C. Furthermore, says Nietzsche, what the body cannot use is rejected as waste product. When disorders of the stomach occur, the body cannot distinguish between waste and nutrient and consequently it churns endlessly, causing distress to the entire organism. Nietzsche, himself, is not embarrassed by his experience of decadence but sees it as something which has given him a special sensitivity to the "signs of ascent and decline."

For Nietzsche, the world is a chaotic place, given order only by the imposition of human will. Humans, in this way, says Nietzsche, create something out of nothing. However, in the face of the "abyss," man creates and acts as if his creation is real, in such a manner as to allow himself the vital and joyous activity of affirming the very importance of his creation. The heroic figure then moves on towards greater acts of creation using each personal, willful creation as a stepping stone, not towards an ultimate goal, but towards other projects. Nietzsche tells us to beware of the organizing "idea" which "...leads back from side roads and wrong roads...as a means towards a whole." The endless road of "becoming" is traveled by a will which is excited and invigorated by its trip, enjoying its stops along the way, but which ultimately has no other purpose but to go further and further as the journey becomes more and more exhausting.

For Nietzsche, the battle is always emphasized over the goal. It is a simple matter, he tells us, to conquer that which is already beneath you. To move beyond that which is your equal is the real test of the will. This is the essential process of "overcoming" which leads one higher and higher, eventually reaching the experience of the "tragic." As the linguistic world becomes more and more complex, its position in relation to nothingness becomes more and more precarious. This situation threatens a fall of apocalyptic proportions, for it is necessary for the tragic aesthetic that there be a certain height to the descent. For Nietzsche, rejoicing in the sacrifice of the highest types is a key element in experiencing tragedy.

"...and whoever wants to be a creator in good and evil, must first be an annihilator and break values." Creation, according to Nietzsche presupposes the willingness to destroy. The order we impose upon the world is a constraint upon us when the time to overcome occurs, and at such times, the spirit of the Ubermensch is needed in order to decimate the linguistic constructs that we have come to depend upon. For original, creative activity to be allowed, there must be nothing available to plagiarize or react against. Nietzsche refers to this resignation in the face of the void as "Russian fatalism" which occurs when the individual no longer attempts to "...accept anything at all--to cease reacting altogether."

In the end, for Nietzsche, nobility of spirit is akin to a meniscus, relying on the tension created by contrasting nothingness with creation. It can tolerate very little unequal pressure; too much and it ruptures. And aesthetically pleasing life is to be sought in that in between area inaccessible to words or to action alone. Ironically, Nietzsche's severe philosophy seems to advocate a kind of moderation. For the truly heroic figure is valued for his ability to live a life in which he moderates the need for order with the desire for creative action. Standing between empowerment and dissolution, as he must, the hero, says Nietzsche, is as deserving of "songs of praise" as is any god. ... Read more

Book Description

This English translation of Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werken offers a rare, intimate view of the philosopher by Lou Salomé, a free-thinking, Russian-born intellectual to whom Nietzsche proposed marriage at only their second meeting.

Published in 1894 as its subject languished in madness, Salomé's book rode the crest of a surge of interest in Nietzsche's iconoclastic philosophy. She discusses his writings and such biographical events as his break with Wagner, attempting to ferret out the man in the midst of his works.

Salomé's provocative conclusion -- that Nietzsche's madness was the inevitable result of his philosophical views -- generated considerable controversy. Nietzsche's sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, dismissed the book as a work of fantasy. Yet the philosopher's longtime acquaintance Erwin Rohde wrote, "Nothing better or more deeply experienced or perceived has ever been written about Nietzsche."

Siegfried Mandel's extensive introduction examines the circumstances that brought Lou Salomé and Nietzsche together and the ideological conflicts that drove them apart. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A personal psychological expert on Nietzsche
The German version of this book, published in 1894, about 108 years ago, was among the first books written about the books of Nietzsche. The photograph on the cover was taken in May, 1882 and a portion of it (as shown on p. 132) appeared in her book with the caption, "Friedrich Nietzsche, formerly professor and now a wandering fugitive" (p. ix), as Nietzsche had described himself in a letter to the third person in the picture in 1879, "referring to the severance from his ten-year position at the University of Basel." (p. ix). These people are all dead now. When she was 20, Lou wrote a poem "To Sorrow" (pp. xlviii-xlix) which praises it as "the pedestal for our soul's greatness." (p. xlix).

Lou reported a conversation about the changes in his life in which Nietzsche raised the question, "When everything has taken its course--where does one run to then?" and told her, "In any case, the circle could be more plausible than a standing still." (p. 32). She described his books as the product of "his last period of creativity, Nietzsche arrived at his mystical teaching of the eternal recurrence: the picture of a circle--eternal change in an eternal recurrence--stands like a wondrous symbol and mysterious cypher over the entrance to his work." (p. 33).

This book does not have an index, and the notes on pages 160-8 merely clarify a few things, such as the date of the letter from Nietzsche to Lou at the beginning of Part III Nietzsche's "System" on page 91 which Lou used without the final comment, "be what you must be." The possibilities might not be considered so great. "In that regard, if the sickliness of man is, so to speak, his normal condition or his specific human nature itself, and if the concepts of falling ill and of development are seen as almost identical, then we will naturally encounter again the already mentioned decadence at the culmination of a long cultural development." (p. 102). The ascetic ideal "is also a third kind of decadence which threatens to make the described illness incurable and threatens the possibility of recovery. And that form of decadence is embodied in a false interpretation of the world, an incorrect perception of life encouraged by that suffering and illness. . . . every kind of intellectualism extols thinking at the expense of life and supports the ideal of `truth' at the expense of a heightened sensation of living." (p. 103). "In respect to Nietzsche's own psychic problem, it is of less interest to determine correctly the historicity of master morality and slave morality than it is to ascertain the fact that in man's evolution he has carried these contrasts, these antitheses, within himself and that he is the consequent sufferer of this conflict of instincts, embodying double valuations." (p. 113). Ultimately, "Nietzsche's thought of the Dionysian orgy as the means for release of the emotions" (p. 127) are considered "the necessary conditions for the creative act out of which one shapes the luminous and godly." (p. 127). Nietzsche and Schopenhauer are tied to "the deeply pessimistic nature of the Greeks because their innermost life, as revealed through the orgiastic, was one of darkness, pain, and chaos." (p. 127). Art is the answer, here. "The highest or the most religious art is the tragic because within it the artist delivers beauty from the terrifying." (p. 128). Modern society can hardly be comprehended without accepting that much of what is popular is produced in the attempt to satisfy that desire for art.

An Important Addition to Nietzsche Studies
To scholars and admirers of Nietzsche, Lou Andreas-Salome has always been seen as his Irene Adler, the intellectual equal who got way or was driven away, depending on one's point of view. Although their affair lasted for only a few months, it left an indelible mark on both, for it came at a turning point in Nietzsche's life where he would leave the realtively safe nests of academia and the Wagners for a peripatetic life in the Eupopean Alps.

Over the years we have heard from almost everyone who was anyone in Nietzsche's life, except Lou Salome. This makes the published reprint of her 1894 even more important for those involved in Nietzsche studies. To say that Salome brings a unique perspective to her work is a bit of an understatement, but those who simply expect this to be memoir of the man she knew will be, I think, somewhat joyfully disappointed. Instead she has written what well may be the first attempt to view the persona behind the works. After giving us an excellent analysis of Nietzsche's philosophy, she comes to the conclusion that perhaps Nietzsche's madness was the inevitable result of his philosophy. Was this, as Nietzsche's sister said, merely a fantasy of female revenge? Then simply compare the last page of her book with the events of Nietzche's last days in Turin, events which she cannot have known. Hers is a provactive and illuminating look at Nietzsche, made more powerful by the fact that she was first to the gate and that the strength of her book is the analysis, not the memories.

As with any book on Nietzsche that comes to us in a foreign language, translation is most important if we are to have not only a working understanding, but also a deeper understanding than we would ordinarily expect. That the translator should be the late Siegfried Mandel is only to the reader's advantage. His translation is crisp and clear. His excellent introduction makes it all the more clear to me that this man is, or should be at least considered, one of the formost Nietzschean scholars of his time. (For further reference, see his excellent "Nietzsche and the Jews.")

This is a book every serious student of Nietzsche should have in his or her library and a book that may contribute to a new vision of the tortured harbinger of the overman. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of the best biographies of the philosophers
This is a great, however brief, look into the life of one of the world's greatest minds. Hayman opens with a fleeting glance at Nietzsche's genealogy before diving into the seemingly bright life of the future philosopher. He cites Nietzsche's pendulum-esque nationalistic devotion prior to his near-death collapse from a horse. He then charts Nietzsche's intellectual progress from the life-altering secondhand bookstore find of Schopenhauer to the later critique of previous idols Wagner, Kant, and Renee. Hayman, however repetitiously (though nonetheless factually), outlines Nietzsche's incessant battle with illness throughout his life. The key to this text is that is does not attempt a definitive stance at the perpetual enigma as to the cause of Nietzsche's demise, but rather outlines possibilities starting from birth until his death. For those unfamiliar with the German titles of Nietzsche's works, it will require a bit of page flipping to the appendix until one grows accustomed to Hayman's methodology. Also, all passages from the philosopher's works are translated by Hayman that, in some cases, are clearer and more concise than the renounced Kaufmann readings. My only complaint is that Hayman didn't spend more pages in his great explication of the philosopher's life. I rate this alongside Monk's biography of Wittgenstein.

One of the best biographies of Nietzsche I've read.
This biography is the most accurate and indeed, critical. It dealves into the life and thought of one of the greatest thinkers in Western Europe. Anyone who wishes to have a good introduction into Friedrich Nietzsche should read this book...by all means, read it!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interesting reading
If you want to gain insight into Nietzsche's thinking outside of his usual philosophical writings, or follow his chain of thought throughtout his life, this collection of letters is somewhat helpful, but he does not seem to engage in the manner in which he does in his formal philosophical works. One of the features I found surprising in his letters is the courtesy he showed to his recipients. It is evident that Nietzsche treasured the friendships he had, and this is very apparent in his letters. And interestingly, I did not find any hostility in any of the letters addressed to Richard Wagner, considering the history of their relationship.

The book is well-edited, and there is an index of recipients near the end of the book. The editor also includes a general index with subentries that allow the reader to scan an entire topic. This is a helpful aid for amateur readers of Nietzsche, such as myself, but could also be helpful I think to dedicated scholors of Nietzsche.

I was only disappointed that more letters did not address more of Nietzsche's thinking on Dionysus and Apollo. It would have been interesting to read what he had to say about them via the "freestyle" of letter writing. Nietzsche's philosophical writings are actually the most frank and unrestrained of all in nineteenth-century philosophy. He is very honest with himself, and because of this he might be viewed as somewhat narcisstic by some readers. This may be true to some degree, but Nietzsche is refreshing in his style of writing, and actually it is quite entertaining to randomly move through his books and read his maxims and opinions.

The most interesting letter is the one addressed to Carl von Gersdorff on April 6, 1867. He is writing about what he has called "the scholarly forms of disease", and tells of a story about a talented young man who enters the university to obtain a doctorate. He puts together a thesis he has been working on for years, submits it to the philosophical faculty. One rejects the work on the grounds that it advances views that are not taught there. The other states that the work is contrary to common sense and is paradoxical. His thesis is therefore rejected, and he does not therefore earn his doctorate. Nietzsche describes the "not humble enough to hear the voice of wisdom" in their negative judgment of his results. Further, the young man is "reckless enough", in Nietzsche's view, to believe that the faculty "lacks the faculty for philosophy. Nietzsche uses this story to emphasize the virtue of independence: "one cannot go one's own way independently enough. Truth seldom dwells where people have built temples for it and have ordained priests. We ourselves have to suffer for good or foolish things we do, nor those who give us the good or the foolish advice. Let us at least be allowed the pleasure of committing follies on our own initiative. There is no general recipe for how one man is to be helped. One must be one's own physician but at the same gather the medical experience at one's own cost. We really think too little about our own well-being; our egoism is not clever enough, our intellect not egoistic enough."

He's right.

What a strange but brilliant fellow...
This book is real fun to have, and shows a side of Nietzsche that is hard to come across in his formal works and the countless biographies. You can read first-hand the conflicts with his sister's anti-semitic husband, read his own giddyness about finishing a new book, and follow his decline into a state of insanity (during which he wrote the strangest letters of all). His wierd sense of humor is much more visible in his letters, which helps one to recognize when he is humoring himself at the expense of the suprised reader in his other works.

"Dear Professor: Actually I would much rather be a basel professor than God; but I have not yet ventured to cary my private egoism so far as to omit creating the world on his account. You see, one must make sacrifices, however and wherever one may be living..." (Jan. 6 1889, To Jacob Burkhart, from Turin).

Also, the index in the back of this book is very thorough, making it easy to find any person or concept that he deals with.

Note: If you are looking for other writers that write as intangible and beautiful as Nietzsche's works but less harsh on the world, try reading some Emmanuel Levinas, a briliant French Jewish Philospher who died in 1995, (Good book: Dificult Freedom) ... Read more

Book 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

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

Book Description

The long-awaited biography of the world's most notorious philosopher reveals a man struggling against his own principles. No other modern philosopher has proved as influential as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and none is as poorly understood. In the first major biography in decades, Rüdiger Safranski re-creates the anguished life of Nietzsche while simultaneously assessing the philosophical implications of his morality, religion, and art. Plagued by illness and profoundly shaped by his tortured sexuality, Nietzsche was a man of masks and mood swings, a thinker who called himself "dynamite" yet labored under the weight of compulsive self-consciousness. Posing apt questions and at times offering unorthodox interpretations of Nietzsche's philosophical writings, Safranski offers a brilliant portrait of a historical figure in a work that is as groundbreaking as it will be long-lasting. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Understanding the misunderstood.
To truly understand a philosopher/philosophy, one must understand the context within which that philosopher developed.
Rudiger Safranski does an excellent job of both describing Nietzsche's environments as well as distilling the esentials of his philosophy. Way too many people have mis-stated the Nietzsche message - this is an excellent source to determine what the 'valuable' message is for you.

Best biography/philosophical overview out there.
Since it is impossible to separate Nietzsche's life from his philosophy, Safranski doesn't even try.
This is the best book on Nietzsche and his philosophy I've ever read.
Why? Because instead of trying to explain N's complicated philosophical ideas all by themselves (which invariably leads to many footnotes about N's life to try and clarify them), Safranski explains the evolution of N's philosophy along with his life. You cannot help but understand it in this way.

A Meal Served In Flames
'What meaning would our whole being have if it were not that in us that will to truth has become conscious of itself _as a problem_ within us?' --*On the Genealogy of Morals*

Nietzsche lived the life of an ascetic priest who tried to pull Dionysus *inward*, internalizing the Graeco-Gnostic night journey of transformative self-enhancement, lifelong psychic combat at the frontiers of metaphor and expression. There is so much rebellious kicking and thrashing in N.'s collected works, a witch's wind of wild conjecture emanating from a chthonic whirlpool, that a long, embattled tradition of miscomprehension, accusation, and resentment was bound to ferment in its wake.... In the final year before his breakdown, N.'s landlady heard strange noises coming from his room, and sneaked upstairs to peek through the keyhole. The sight of N. dancing naked like the Hindu god Shiva, teetering on a ground-swell of hysteria, is a popular image (second only to that of a stonefaced, embittered loner pouring scorn on 'the herd' from the separatist darkness of his cold rented room) that Rudiger Safranski aims to dignify, flesh out, qualify, and redact. In this regard, *Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography* is a boon and a delight, a sure-handed trump to all who doubt the centrality of N.'s thought (most American philosophy departments, monopolized by logicians of the 'analytical' school, do not offer a course on Nietzsche).

Safranski's biography hits hermeneutic pay-dirt, delivers all the important playlets and dramas of N.'s strange and embittered life, the byzantine reversals, the ascetic hardships, the wild years of thought-experiment and self-overcoming as this great thinker pioneered the course of non-analytic philosophy in the 20th century. N.'s passion for conjecture inspired him to structure his life so as to yield Dramatis Personae for thought, a vast cosmological theater of monstrous forces and sibylline potency blazing trails through psychology, aesthetics, philosophy of science, moral theory, and (most disastrously) politics. All philosophical thinking that measures its worth against the great Tolstoyan question 'How should one live?' will ultimately circle back to Nietzsche.

Tactfully, Safranski skimps on the details, focusing on N.'s intellectual development, bringing anecdotal data to bear at strategic moments to help qualify the radical contradictions (and/or developmental reversals) of N.'s ever-flowing deluge of path-breaking insights. When the biographer gets his blood up, his pages glimmer with concise, penetrating analogies, quicksilver correspondences, and (most importantly) stark, evenhanded censure whenever N.'s blazing hubris gets ahead of itself, as in the notorious dogmatic triptych of Ubermensch, Eternal Recurrence, and Will to Power -- a thunderous, fulminating triad of doom-eager pomposity, the fulcrum of N.'s last-ditch hysterics and tragic mental collapse.

What moves this reader most (apart from Safranski's sparkling analytic concordance) is the story of N.'s transformative self-dramatizing putting him further and further outside the loop of human relatedness (even as he penetrated deeper into the chthonic underside of morality, desire, and the historical formation of contingent knowledge-structures). The Nietzsche Syndrome has become an occupational hazard for all lonely, dejected, ego-intensive scholars -- a millstone of toxic self-importance contaminating interpersonal nuance and making the most routine human contact an act of heavy lifting. 'I feel as though I am condemned to silence or tactful hypocrisy in my dealings with everybody.' The chapter focusing on N.'s anguished courtship of Lou Andreas-Salome' is powerfully instructive. Here we see the proud egomaniac so befuddled by his philosophic fantasies (and their ruthless misapplication) that the lonely human being fulminating at their center can no longer break bread with the rest of