Basic Writings of Nietzsche [Paperback]

 

 

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The first work of Philosophy I slogged through was Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, in a standalone edition translated by Kaufman. I suppose that is as good a place to start as any. The most important thing that this volume highlights is how easily anything Niezsche said can be so easily taken out of context and abused by anyone who so chooses. For example, his "blond beast" is quite literally a lion, and not an Aryan Superman.

Work by work analysis:

The Birth of Tragedy -- Only attempt this as your first Nietzsche book if you already have a good understanding of how Greek Tragedy works. At the very least, you should have read Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, Sophocles' Theban Plays, some Euripides, Aristophanes' The Clouds, Plato's Apology, and if possible, Aristotle's Poetics. Also, as Kaufman makes clear, the last ten sections, about Wagner, should be taken with a shakerful of salt.

The Aphorisms -- It is very easy to take these gems especially out of context. However tempting it is to browse them for a few good quotes, I strongly urge you against it. They are, however, very helpful when Nietzsche refers to them.

Beyond Good and Evil -- This is as good a place as any to start your exploration of Nietzsche. The problem is, even though it is supposed to be a more straightforward approach at communicating the message found in Zarathustra, this is still written very pithily. The prose is very joyful, poetic, and requires thought. Then again, if you weren't willing to commit some thought to Nietzsche, then it's not worth picking up Nietzsche.

On The Geneology of Morals -- A sequel to BG&E. I don't suggest starting here. The prose is more straightforward than BG&E, he is attemting polemic in essay form. Yet still, it is still a voice in your head, consipring with you, coaxing you toward understanding. Here, the prose style of BG&E becomes apparent.

The Case of Wagner -- This is a good shakerful of thought to take the last ten sections of Birth of Tragedy. In fact, this is a good shakerful of thought to take all of Nietzsche's work. I read this with only the very barest background on Wagner, that is I've heard one Aria from The Ring (Three minutes of Brunhilde), The Flight of the Valkeries (I still see tanks), and I know somewhere, Vahalla burns down. Still, the work makes sense. Stylistically, this work is absolutely amazing. It's very relaxed and informal, again, conversational. Nietzsche doesn't even sound angry, but just wants to clear the air a litte, almost naively.

Ecce Homo -- This would seem like a very pretentious work. It is not. He comes off almost modestly here. This too, clears the air of all that is rotten about what has been said about him. It is as if he had guessed what evil things would be said about him.

Oh yes, and if it seems like I wrote this assuming that you already ordered the work, I have.

There is a common view that Nietzsche was an atheist. He certainly encourages this view, but as Walter Kaufmann says, he commonly attacked what he valued. There is no doubt that Nietzsche opposed the Jewish and Christian Gods. He said he opposed the Jewish religion because it gave rise, in his view, to Christianity. The view of Paul Tillich that he opposed the god who deprives the individual of subjectivity is beyond much doubt. Kaufmann puts it in terms of Nietzsche's struggle for creativity. He opposed the god which is identified with natural law and causality. To understand this opposition one must understand the God whom Tillich says Nietzsche says must be destroyed, which is natural law, spacial relationships and most of all the mechanistic nature of causality. To understand this one must visualize the balance, the principal characterisktic of God in the Old Testament of the Bible. To grasp this takes more than a little doing. It is hidden in texts. If, however, you try a little experiment, you will be able to actually see the God whom Nietzsche thought had to be destroyed. Take a pencil and hold it at the center between your fingers and move one end up and the other down. Notice that if one end goes up the other goes down. This is IF and THEN; between them is the shaft of the pencil, which is AND. The movement of the pencil is a moving syllogism. It is the beginning of the infinity of causal relationships which Spinoza considers. It is also a lever, the fundamental machine, the basis of the mechanical nature of the universe. It is also the principal of economics; let yourself think of the balance for trade and you will see. Money on one side and goods on the other. If the fulcrum is in the center, the match is even; if the fulcrum is nearer one end, mechanical advantage and economic advantage can be seen and understood. It is also the principle of justice.
It is the breaking of the balance, the breaking of the visualized relationship between cause and effect which is the essence of Christianity. Nietzsche opposed Christianity not because it anulled visualizing the mechanical relationship between cause and effect, but rather because it changes the meaning of the word "meek" to be what it has come to mean in the expressionin "The meek shall enherit the earth" rather than the Old Testament meaning of "logical". Moses, the author of logic in the Bible was said to be the meekest man who ever lived. "Meek" in Judaism meant subordinate to God, not subordinate to other humans. God in the Old Testament shows himself in balance, so Moses is the lawgiver of logic, not humility before other men and his people before other peoples. Nietzsche says "Fight! Do not work" and he means create from nothing, do not move around things already created. "I love that which creates something greater than itself and dies," says Nietzsche. The human mind independent of the rule that governs the universe and not timid before others--this is what Nietzsche meens by "The Will to Power". It is also what Nietzsche means by "God is dead." As Kaufmann points out, it is more than the Protestant "invention" of the individual, it is the knowing self, aware of the governing power of the universe, creating in spite of this knowledge, refusing to be timid before other men whom Nietzsche calls the "Ubermench" or Superman.
The "Ubermench" KNOWS, but he and CREATES rather than simply moving about "dead ideas", he acts knowing that the LAW of the universe may destroy him. But the "Ubermench" will CREATE before he is destroyed by the world whose governing law he understands. The "Ubermench" is not an ignorant man not seeing the order of the universe, whose mind and spirit are where "Ignorant armies clash by night." Nietzsche knows that pain is part of his creativity. He accepts that pain. He knows that the mockery of the crowd who do not know as he knows may come, but he is willing to suffer that. If this interests you, see my review of Paul Tillich's "Courage to Be".

Historian Will Durant in his book "The Story of Philosophy" has a very different and unflattering view of Nietzsche. Durant thought Nietzsche was simply a neurotic who had nothing wrong with him which could not have been cured by the love of a good woman.

This book helped me understand the basic, elemental criticisms and beliefs of Nietzsche. It contained several of his works and allowed me to deeply understand other, more complex philological writings later on.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless
The worst part about Nietzche is the dumbass pseudointellectuals who always want to quote him. His philosophy is a bunch of self indulgent nonsense. Read more

Published on Mar 24 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Break glass and grab Nietzsche in case of emergency.
This collection of Nietzsche's writings are completely enjoyable, the life and muscle only brings grins to the face of those who dare to experience it. Read more

Published on Dec 30 2003 by K. L. Woomer

5.0 out of 5 stars Contra
This is an excellent introduction to Nietzsche's philosphy with some of the major and most acknowledged of Nietzsche's works (it could have done better having Thus Spoke... Read more

Published on Dec 13 2003 by Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars If you haven't read his work, you aren't well read
Let me make one thing clear--I disagree with Nietzsche. Like all atheists, he doesn't understand Christianity--especially Catholicism. Read more

Published on Feb 13 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential core of Nietzsche's thought
An excellent collection of Nietzsche's works. His philosophy marked the major turning point of philosophy, away from inflexible, rational, absolute truth. Read more

Published on Jan 26 2003 by Nathaniel Avery

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Nietzsche
If one has studied Nietzsche long, one will often find themselves with individual copies of each of Nietzsche's works. Read more

Published on Dec 26 2002 by R. Kastl

5.0 out of 5 stars Jenseits von Gut und Bose
This is very simply an extraordinary book. Some of Nietzsche's best writings are included in this book, all translated by Walter Kaufmann - Kaufmann being, of course, one of the... Read more

Published on Oct 14 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars Trash!!
Kaufmann is the absolute WORST translator Nietzsche's writings have ever had to endure. Not to mention his blatant bastardization of Nietzsche's philosophy, which was carried out... Read more

Published on Aug 1 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars As a general introduction to Nietzsche's works
My purpose is to advise new readers of Nietzsche to trust W. Kaufmann's handling of Nietzsche's works. Read more

Published on Mar 21 2002 by eric garrett

5.0 out of 5 stars Not THAT kind of hammer !
I love Nietzsche, just not most of the people who read him.

Published on Mar 31 2001 by Craig

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