NIETZSCHE
Who was Nietzsche?
Prodigy
Schopenhauer
University of Basil
Academic outcast
Mental Illness
After his death
Sister takes control
Nazism
Modern influence
Reading Nietzsche
Difficult to read some work
Playful and ambiguous
Various interpretations (Kaufman,
Connolly, Foucault)
Somewhat like an acquired skill
Essential Nietzsche readings
Birth of Tragedy Thus Spoke Zarathustra Genealogy of Morals
Nietzsche wrote far more than these, but these three writings represent three phases of his work and key points of his philosophy
Important concepts in Nietzsche
Master Morality Vs. Slave Morality Dionysian vs. Appolonian Nihilism Blonde Beast Will to Power
“God is Dead”
Master Morality Vs. Slave Morality
Geneology of morals Master morality Slave morality Judaism
Dionysian vs. Appolonian
Birth of Tragedy Dionysian Appolonian Art and music uninhibited life
Nihilism
What most people think of when they think of Nietzsche
There is not objective value or meaning
Symptom of the modern world
Dissolution of Christianity
Blonde Beast
Previously represented the lion
Represents the powerful
Can’t shun the beast for taking what he wants and exercising his superiority
Highly controversial, often used when discussing Nietzsche’s relation to Nazism
Will to Power
Common drive for people
We want to obtain our highest possible station in this world
That’s okay
Natural instinct
Nietzsche in debate Nietzsche did not focus on the world
beyond the mesosphere Not necessarily one way to run Nietzsche,
so we will focus on the file you have been given
Inability to accept the world as it is If you don’t accept all of life, good and
bad, you reject it, erase it’s value Affirm life (Dionysian)
Common arguments made against Nietzsche
permutation
Nazism
Nietzsche glorifies violence, racism,
genocide
Anti-politics (Wolin)