Customer Reviews (2)

Monotheism, Enlightenment, Autonomy
After a series of works on the Enlightenment and the Jews, this work by Y. Yovel, author of a work on Kant's philosophy of history, and on Spinoza, is to be welcomed for a more sophisticated, if debatable, view of these matters, which, however, seem to elude simple explication. Due to the legacy of the Holocaust, all parties seem to have jitters on these issues, and more than arguably seek the reasons for that monumental tragedy in the wrong place.
Covering a wide range of topics, and fascinating at each point, this book is highly readable, but I nonetheless felt the 'dark riddle' yield to another series of problems. The account of Hegel's views on the Jews (indeed of Kant's), then those of Nietzsche, gives a misleading impression, does it not, for Nietzsche's advice to the Jews (behind some solid appreciation) would seem the worst they ever got, while the tradition of autonomy emerging in a figure such as Kant would better fulfill the hope of Spinoza for a real Judaic modernism.
Throughout, the ambiguity of the term 'antisemitism' tends to complicate discussion, and some might be left to conclude that atheism, Biblical Criticism, secular culture, were all antisemitic. Yovel leads us past these dangers by and large with a consideration overdue, but still not quite right, perhaps, of these subjects.
The stolid Hegel's views here would seem less than surprising, the more so as he was able to revise his thinking. In any case, there is an irony here, for the rise of the modern and the era of the Prophets, have a deep resemblance to each other, and to the era of the Greek and Indian Enlightenment. We need to look at them all without prejudice, and somehow rescue the modern instance from the plight to which it is now being unfairly subjected. Engaging work, with some fascinating moments.

Solid thesis and very apt analysis of an abused subject.
First and foremost, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yovel has a clean and sharp analysis that only rarely seems a bit apologetic for the authors he presents vis-a-vis the subject matter.But this is not to detract from hisimportant contribution to that subject, in fact, I would like to see thewriting of another book that he has alluded to in his epilogue; the Jewishtake on the two philosophers. Ialso have to say that Yovel has for themost part redeemed Nietzschean thought for me, I wish he would havespeculated some more on the genealogical method devised by the philosopher.My own interest is in East European cultural Zionism and also k'naanitemovements in Israel benefiting from the superstructure that both Hegel andNietzsche created. I can't wait for further exploration of these areas.Lehatzlecha adon Yovel. ... Read more

Book Description
Nietzsche has long been recognized and acclaimed as a thinker who transcends disciplinary categories.Although much has been written of him as a forerunner of existentialism, Freudian psychology, and modern linguistics, no modern study had been devoted to one of his lifelong preoccupations: his poetry.This book--the first to bring together the poems in English--restores them to their proper central position in the Nietzsche canon.Begun in early youth and composed and revised until the onset of his insanity in 1899, the poems reflect his own imperative that "the philosopher should recognize that which is necessary and the artist should create it."In The Poetry of Friedrich Nietzsche Grundlehner examines 30 major poems and in so doing draws allusions and references to 220 juvenilia, songs, epigrams, dithyrambs, and verse fragments found throughout Nietzsche's writing.Arranged chronologically according to the various stages of Nietzsche's life and philosophical development, these not only bear testimony to the many changes in his environment and thinking, but from a rich background to his prose writings. Excerpt:"Toward New Seas" (1882)Toward that place--is my will.And I trustHenceforth myself and my grip.Open lies the sea, myGenose ship heads into the blue.Everything is shining new and newer for me.Noon sleeps upon space and time--:Only your eye--monstrously,Stare at me, Infinity! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Facts on poems and philosophy to match
If you would like to read a book about Nietzsche and Columbus, POX / GENIUS, MADNESS AND THE MYSTERIES OF SYPHILIS by Deborah Hayden is more exciting than this one.The first chapter of that book is about Christopher Columbus, chapter 8 on Beethoven, chapter 12 on Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln, chapter 15 on Vincent van Gogh, chapter 16 on Friedrich Nietzsche, and chapter 20 on Adolf Hitler.Anyone who reads it is sure to be astounded at how close Columbus, Nietzsche, and Hitler could be considered as possessing symptoms of the same disease.

THE POETRY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE by Philip Grundlehner has a chapter on "New Lands," in which a poem about Columbus is a major topic.Nietzsche vaguely associated Columbus with sickness "In late November of 1881, for example, he wrote:`Here in Genoa I am proud and happy--quite a "Doria magnate"--Or a Columbus? . . .I need space--a great wide, unknown, unexplored world; otherwise I shall get sick of it all.' " (p. 120).Back in Germany on September 9, 1882, he wrote to Franz Overbeck, "Everything that lies before me is new, and it will not be long before I catch sight also of the terrifying face of my more distant life task."(p. 129).Two versions of the poem, "The New Columbus" from 1882 are translated on page 137, and the final three-stanza version of 1884 on page 138.Columbus sometimes had trouble walking, but it is not clear how much Nietzsche actually knew about how disabled he was when Nietzsche wrote:

Let us stand firm on our feet!
Never can we go back!
Look forward:from far away
One death, one fame, one happiness greet us!(p. 138).

One of the early versions of "The New Columbus" was sent to Lou "as part of a dedication of a copy of THE GAY SCIENCE `to my dear Lou.' "(p. 136).Each version starts with a warning."Since the adventurer's fidelity must be to his spirit rather than to another person, a selfishness results that forbids any sharing relationship.Nietzsche identifies this characteristic as a part of the Genoese heritage when he states in THE GAY SCIENCE that the people of this area are `overgrown with magnificent, insatiable lust for possessions and spoils.' "(p. 139).Grundlehner thinks that the use of the plural "we" and "us" in the last stanza is meant to include Lou."A probable explanation for this paradox lies in the confidence that Nietzsche gained in Lou Salome as an intimate who could accept the insecurities and dangers of the unknown and therefore participate in his vision."(p. 139).That interpretation is more gentle than the idea that Nietzsche would be bound in chains and brought back to Spain, as Columbus was in 1499, for exceeding his authority by executing Spaniards "for insurrection against Columbus's rule," as in the book, POX.The officially available information about the health of Columbus was not available "until de Ybarra compiled it in 1894, [which] allowed later syphilologists to see a pattern of syphilis in Columbus's history."(POX, p. 11).Whatever Nietzsche knew would have been by rumor, but the history of the Pox that was widely known included an epidemic in Naples, particularly among a French army which conquered it for a week in 1495, when the Pox became known as "Morbus Gallicus."(POX, p. 18).

Chapter 8 of THE POETRY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE is called "Poetry as Pretension."(pp. 147-165).The last line of the first stanza of "To Goethe" in the Appendix to THE GAY SCIENCE, as translated by Walter Kaufmann in 1974, was:

poetic pretension.

So it is not surprising to find the poem "To Goethe" discussed on pages 150-157.The surprise is that the translation is so literal that it does not retain the poetic quality of Nietzsche's German or Kaufmann's English.Instead,

is a poetic trick . . .

Walter Kaufmann might be assuming that anyone who had proceeded that far in THE GAY SCIENCE was familiar with all the terms that philosophers, poets, and great minds on the order of Goethe and Nietzsche could use without being misunderstood.My confusion was greatest on Kaufmann's use of the word, "ineluctable," where THE POETRY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE uses "deceitful" and, in its translation of the concluding "Chorus Mysticus" of Goethe's "Faust," "inaccessible."(p. 151).The best rhyme in the final stanza, of "the ruling force" with "the eternally fooling force" in Kaufmann, lacks "force" in THE POETRY OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, and the other rhyme in that stanza disappears completely with the use of a literal "being and appearance" instead of "false and true."You might learn a lot from this book, but people who are more interested in poetry than philosophy might be able to maintain the common prejudice that philosophers do not make very good poets.But if you don't like to read much German, consider how likely it is that some of the German poetry in this book is top-notch, and can be compared to Goethe, as on pages 150-151.

First bookever on Nietzsche's poetry. A brilliant first!
His is an extradinary book, especially for an American writingabout German poetry.Mr. Grundlehner should write it (poetry andliterature)--not write about it. He writes with style and grace, and his potential is there for the reader to behold.A must read.Even Nietzsche would be proud. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ehhh
This was the first book I read on or by Nietzsche. It did provide a good introduction to some of Nietzsche's ideas, but is very outdated and mediocre. Mencken is a racist, as evidenced by many of his comments, and tries to present himself as an expert, when he is far from it. Instead, check out Walter Kaufman's analyses of Nietzsche. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume is a popular presentation of Nietzsche's thought. Hoover's analysis comes from the viewpoint of a Christian operating within a Thomist framework. An early chapter focuses on Nietzsche's life; the following chapters weave autobiographical materials into the treatment of his philosophical system, showing the close relationship between his life and thought. Hoover's study includes an analysis of Nietzsche's perspectivism, his contribution to propaganda theory, the demonstration of a deep and fundamental contradiction in his epistemology, and an analysis of his critique of anti-body idealism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A superb critique of an influential philosopher
Nietzsche's philosophy is sometimes dismissed because of his lapse into insanity in 1889, which continued until his death in 1900. The politically correct opinion is that Nietzsche's ruthless atheism and brutal intellectual battles with nihilism had absolutely nothing to do with his breakdown and everything to do with a case of syphilis. A. J. Hoover's Friedrich Nietzsche: His Life and Thought (Praeger, 1994) dares to challenge this on historical and philosophical grounds by arguing that it is not beyond question that Nietzsche suffered from syphilis. The insanity that results from the disease rarely lasts eleven years, and "Nietzsche's sex life was cool to nonexistent" (although Hoover mentions the theory that Nietzsche was infected during the Franco-Prussian War while attending to wounded soldiers).

Although Hoover does not condemn Nietzsche's thought because of his eventual insanity, he does carefully explore the features of Nietzsche's thinking that might have helped topple one of the greatest minds of his day. In so doing, he also exposes several vertiginous elements in the postmodernist posture that could similarly lead to a cognitive crisis, if not a total collapse.

Particularly troublesome is Nietzsche's perspectivism, a staple of postmodernists who are "incredulous toward metanarratives" (Jean Francois Lyotard). Having deconstructed the untrammeled intellect as a means of ascertaining objective truth, Nietzsche avers: "There are many kinds of eyes. Even the Sphinx has eyes--and therefore there are many kinds of `truths,' and therefore there is no Truth." Viewing the world as a text with an indeterminate profusion of subjective meanings, Nietzsche affirms that there are no facts, only varying interpretations. But should we take that statement to be a fact--or only an interpretation? If it is an interpretation, the whole idea self-destructs.

However, as Hoover points out, Nietzsche is not consistently perspectival, particularly when he makes absolute metaphysical claims such as this one from The Will to Power: "This world is the Will to Power--and nothing else. And even you yourselves are this Will to Power--and nothing else!" When Nietzsche speaks of the eternal return--which he calls "the most scientific of all possible hypotheses--and the emergence of the Overman, he is describing what he must claim to be the Truth, not just his truth. This vacillation between subjective projection (my truth) and objective evaluation (the Truth), a recurring feature in postmodernist philosophy, is not the elixir of intellectual insight; it could even contribute to madness.

When Nietzsche sees the cosmos in objective terms, he finds a world bereft of intrinsic or God-given value: "The nut of the universe is hollow," declares Zarathustra. This hollowness leads to a "feeling of valuelessness" and "weightlessness," which Nietzsche tries to overcome through his faith in the appearance of Overman and his doctrine of the eternal recurrence, whereby all things are recapitulated endlessly. Since the latter lacks any teleology, Nietzsche says that it entails "the nothing (the `meaningless') eternally!" Nihilism threatens. Yet through a kind of compensatory psychological alchemy, Nietzsche labors to transmute eternal recurrence into a beatitude without a Benefactor (as if nothing multiplied by infinity could produce Meaning)--a beatitude, at least for the Overman who embraces it without reservation through amor fati.

Hoover convincingly argues that irrespective of Nietzsche's intellectual travails, he failed to neutralize the leaven of nihilism laced throughout his outlook. Against the cottage industry of Nietzschean apologists, they rightly indict him as a nihilist whose unfettered philosophy has no resources for either restraining evil or fostering virtue. When Richard Rorty confesses that there is no objective, rational reason not to be cruel, and when other postmodernists dismiss any objective foundation for morality, they betray their fatal embrace of the emptiness of being. If the passion and brilliance of Nietzsche failed to escape the intellectual and ethical consequences of nihilism, the burden of proof is on the postmodernists inspired by him who purports to do otherwise.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best book on Nietzsche
Steiner argues that the overman is Nietzsche's central contribution. (compare deluze and Kaufmann both of whom make convincing cases for the Dionsion and eternal reoccurance as the important themes) Unlike other authors, Steiner is clear and fun to read. Nietzsche readers will appreciate what he has done with Nietzsche corpus.
... Read more

Book Description

Published in France in 1980,Marine Lover is the first in a trilogy in which Luce Irigaray links the interrogation of the feminine in post-Hegelian philosophy with a pre-Socratic investigation of the elements. Irigaray undertakes to interrogate Nietzche, the grandfather of poststructuralist philosophy, from the point of view of water.

According to Irigaray, water is the element Nietzsche fears most. She uses this element in her narrative because for her there is a complex relationship between the feminine and the fluid. Irigaray's method is to engage in an amorous dialogue with the male philosopher. In this dialogue, she ruptures conventional discourse and writes in a lyrical style that defies distinction between theory, fiction, and philosophy.

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting
While there is so much talk about Irigaray's lack of understanding of Neitzsche, it is obvious that previous reviewers have a lack of understanding of Irigaray.Her inquiries are focused around language and how it is used.Her analysis is nothing short of detailed."Man-hating" it is not, patriarchy-hating it is, what is more this book draws attention to the language that perpetuates patriarchal society and the damage it does to women, but also to men.

Difficult, maybe preposterous, with few comic triumphs
The first thing that I am likely to notice about a book is whether it has an index.This book has no index.I have the 1991 English translation by Gillian C. Gill of Luce Irigaray's book MARINE LOVER OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE in paperback, and between pages 75 and 119, the only indication at the top of the page to show what this part is about are the words, "Veiled Lips."This is not too surprising for a book that seems to be mainly about the attractions of Nietzsche's ideas because it builds on a section of SPURS / NIETZSCHE'S STYLES by Jacques Derrida called `Veils' in which truth is compared to woman as "Nietzsche revives that barely allegorical figure (of woman) in his own interest.For him, truth is like a woman.It resembles the veiled movement of feminine modesty.Their complicity, the complicity (rather than the unity) between woman, life, seduction, modesty--all the veiled and veiling effects . . ."(SPURS, p. 51).

Fortunately, there is an index in WOMANIZING NIETZSCHE / PHILOSOPHY'S RELATION TO THE FEMININE by Kelly Oliver, and "Veiled Lips" even appears in her index, for a discussion of this book in a chapter on Jacques Derrida (3The Question of Appropriation).Kelly Oliver suggests, "Irigaray's criticism could be seen as a lesson in psychoanalytic theory."(Womanizing Nietzsche, p. 81).The theory here is not as interesting to me as the possibility of gaining a woman's perspective on a point at which philosophy seems to be close to humor, if modern comedy is recognized in the playful manner in which Derrida explains the great question "Supposing truth to be a woman--what?" found at the opening of Nietzsche's BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL. His translation gains clarity by emphasizing a term of contempt:". . . all philosophers, when they have been dogmatists, have had little understanding of women . . . [and] the gruesome earnestness, the clumsy importunity with which they have been in the habit of approaching truth have been inept and improper means (ungeschickte und unschickliche Mittel) for winning a wench (Frauenzimmer is a term of contempt:an easy woman)?"(SPURS, p. 55).

Do I need to be forgiven for such a rude interruption?By emphasizing the comic aspects of modern society, I often make myself feel that I am interrupting people who have far more serious concerns.This could be a good time for appreciating the earnest efforts of a woman to meet Nietzsche halfway on ideas which he chose, as Luce Irigaray attempts to do in MARINE LOVER OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.The section `Veiled Lips' opens with a few paragraphs containing words that might be found in joking about which lips are meant:"if not its accessories and its underside.And the opposite remains caught up in the same. . . .With a flip of the coin,"(p. 77).She knew what Nietzsche's laughter was:"And you laughed at having been so blindly trusting.And burned as you reclaimed the flames once devoted to their cult."(p. 53).I have not usually been too concerned with the interpretation which might be placed upon Nietzsche by typical modern scholarship, such as it is, but the problem of the education of women looms large in trying to understand what moderns might consider the worst things he wrote.

Nietzsche had excelled in school in studies of the ancient Greeks, and he was made a professor at the age of 24 in 1869 so he could teach Greek ideas to boys in an educational system that was primarily about dead European males.His first book, THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY, praised the Greeks as surviving from one culture to another:

"And so one feels ashamed and afraid in the presence of the Greeks, unless one prizes truth above all things and dares acknowledge even this truth:that the Greeks, as charioteers, hold in their hands the reins of our own and every other culture, but that almost always chariot and horses are of inferior quality and not up to the glory of their leaders, who consider it sport to run such a team into an abyss which they themselves clear with the leap of Achilles."(BIRTH OF TRAGEDY, section 15, Kaufmann translation, p. 94).

Taking such a long view of things hardly helps the modern student who is looking for something useful, but this book is not likely to find readers for whom it accomplishes much.Women having equal access to such an education could hardly fail to make their own proclamations about what might be worth knowing, and the chaos of modern society gets boosted for diversity in the process, but my personal theme of praising the hemlock which Athens granted Socrates as a sentence for engaging in philosophy is not too wild to be found in this book, even where it is not stated explicitly."What are you unable to abandon?What place are you unwilling to leave?What weight always holds you back at the same point?The will to live or to die? . . .Because to receive, without swallowing up what has been given to you . . ."(p. 42).

"Socrates desiring death, and achieving it thanks to a drink given to him by the citizens, signifies his allegiance to the Dionysiac.It is by this means that he will take away its power. . . . the death `for a laugh' of the philosopher whose potion is the logos."(p. 98).

I probably left out the best parts (for everybody but me), but by cherrypicking a few themes and some indication of who might consider this book important, some people might get the idea that guys aren't likely to do great in the humanities anyway, so why try?

Irigaray tries hard but misses her mark
Unfortunately for feminists, the mythology and set of symbols commonly recognized by feminists as "universal" do not apply in a large part with anything Nietzsche writes. Granted, Nietzsche does address similar subjects of discourse as include such symbols, but he doesn't utilize his symbology the way feminists have decided he does. Furthermore, Irigaray intentionally confuses Nietzsche with Man In General, and thus loses sight of Nietzsche as individual, with individual experiences and opinions concerning Woman In General and separately the individual women he loved. The worst part of Irigaray's failed attempt to respond or understand Nietzsche is when she declares *evil* his inability to find greater good in the happiness of others as opposed to his own individual goals! Has she never read Thus Spoke Zarathustra? Has she no idea what this cult of the ego is all about? Humanism is outdated. Nietzsche was probably the first individualist, and she apparantly just doesn't get individualism. She takes his individualism as an attack on gender, which it simply is not. Overall, Irigaray's commentary is only more self-serving man-hating feminist pseudo-intellectual vomit. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description
Series Editors: Bernth Lindfors, University of Texas at Austin; Robert Lecker, McGill University; David O'Connell, Georgia State University; David William Foster, Arizona State University; Janet Pérez, Texas Tech University

Twayne's United States Authors, English Authors, and World Authors Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works. Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an author's work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writer's work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading the Authors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives. Each volume features:

• A critical, interpretive study and explication of the author's works
• A brief biography of the author
• An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author
• Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index
• A readable style presented in a manageable length

Book Description
This book argues that Nietzsche's polemics against the 19th-century reception of Goethe and Schiller should not obscure his own more positive evaluation of Weimar classicism, as has generally been the case. The authors uncover the continuing influence of Weimar classicism at the very heart of Nietzsche's aesthetic theory, which in turn became the cornerstone of his epistemological and moral concerns. The book takes as its starting point the view that Thus Spoke Zarathustra has a single, coherent message that it identifies with what Goethe called "the gospel of beauty." A hitherto unappreciated unity of plot, style, and argument is thus revealed in both Zarathustra and Nietzsche's philosophical oeuvre as a whole, showing how he participates in a "perennial aesthetic." In this connection Nietzsche's statement in The Gay Science is revealing: "I want to learn more and more to see what is necessary in things as what is beautiful ? then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful." The book provides an overview of related scholarly literature; discusses Nietzsche's aesthetic theory in The Birth of Tragedy; recounts the composition of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and offers an interpretation of its "aesthetic gospel"; a concluding chapter explores historical continuities in aesthetic theory. By demonstrating the constitutive function of the aesthetics of Weimar classicism in his philosophy, this book opens up a fresh and original perspective on Nietzsche. Paul Bishop is Professor of German, and R. H. Stephenson is William Jacks Professor of German Language and Literature, both at the University of Glasgow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the two best books ever written about Nietzsche!
F. A. Lea's THE TRAGIC PHILOSOPHER: FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE is eminently fair and shows a depth of insight into Nietzsche's philosophy not often found even in the best of commentators. In my considered opinion, Lea's work (first published in 1957) rivals Walter Kaufmann's NIETZSCHE: PHILOSOPHER, PSYCHOLOGIST, ANTICHRIST (first published in 1950) as the best commentary on Nietzsche ever written. Lea's work is even better than Rudiger Safranski's NIETZSCHE: A PHILOSOPHICAL BIOGRAPHY (2002), an outstanding volume in its own right. Lea has the highest respect and appreciation for Nietzsche's accomplishments, but he does not shy away from criticizing Nietzsche, who, after finishing the Third Part of THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA, began his slow, sad decline into nay-saying and insanity. A tragic philosopher indeed! According to Lea, Nietzsche misunderstood men like Jesus, the apostle Paul, and St. Augustine, and he provides convincing reasons for such an interpretation. In effect, Nietzsche, the man who struggled valiantly to be a Ja-sager (Yea-sayer) and overcome nihilism, at last succumbed to the demon of nihilism and the negative, destructive spirit of nay-saying. Nietzsche, asserts Lea, was much closer to Jesus, Paul, and Augustine than he realized. I recommend this book with the highest recommendation possible. It deserves a wide readership. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ignore the interview!
This is an in-depth academic study of the influence of Nietzsche on Jung. As an enthusiastic reader of both these men I found the book very interesting and thorough, but somewhat dry. It readslike a (very very good) PhD thesis. It is a shame the influence of Jung andNietzsche on the author rarely rises to the surface!

Highly recommendedto Jungians and Nietzscheans alike.... ... Read more

Book Description
Discusses Nietzsche's philosophy, especially as it relates to the state, moral law, religion and his theory of the superman. Also presents an afterword of Nietzsche's importance as a philosopher and poet._"An admirably lucid and thorough exposition of Nietzsche's philosophy and life." ALA BOOKLIST ... Read more