Nietzsche

Elliot · 02-20-2007, 06:52 PM

I really like a lot of his work.

It's interesting how much of his anti-religious rants line-up metaphorically to the socialist views of Germany and Italy at the time when he was living. If you read a lot of work replace God with "monarch" or whoever was the head of power at that time, it's interesting.

Anyways, my favorite book of his is "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Who else reads/has read his literature?

Circle V · 02-20-2007, 07:17 PM

I've read quite a lot of his work. I never finished Zarathustra-- I didn't like the writing style.

Vyvian Blackthorne · 02-22-2007, 05:36 PM

I love his work, he is a true philosopher. Beyond Good and Evil is a good read to, though it's at times hard to see exactly what opinion or direction you should go with what he speaks of. That's a good way to challenge your mind though

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

angst-zine · 03-04-2007, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vyvian Blackthorne

God is dead. God remains dead....

—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

To quote this is lacking without the reference to section 108 also where Nietzsche states:

"After Buddha was dead, his shadow was still shown for centuries in a cave-a tremendous gruesome shadow. God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. --And we--we still have to vanquish his shadow too." (Same edition as above)

Referring to the way in which science has become the new dogma, though man is not prepared to accept it. Nietzsche takes this further and says that the dogma laid down by the priestly caste is unnecessary for the modern, enlightened man, i.e. the übermensch. The only reason that it is important that God is dead is that men are mostly herd; once they have been given dogma, they will follow long after the dogmatist has been eliminated. Furthermore, the very fact that Nietzsche states we killed God is ironic since God is merely an imagined figurehead for the moral dogmatist to point to when claiming some non-existent moral high ground. Nietzsche states this in direct opposition to other German idealists who were on a side with Immanuel Kant.

LOL I guess the short statement is I like Nietzsche too. : ) Perhaps more accurately: I like 19th century German philosophy.

IsolatedReptile · 03-04-2007, 04:27 PM

Nietzsche is very interesting, and his writing style is very complex, and I have to agree that it challenges the mind, which is possibly one of his appeals to many. He reminds me of a poet as much as a philosopher, mostly because his writings are as beautiful as they are functional.

Drake Dun · 03-04-2007, 05:41 PM

Sometimes they are beautiful. I think his real power lies in his singularly brutal honesty. He says things that everybody knows, but that few people are ready to acknowledge.

He also says a lot of nonsense and crap, but you tend to get that kind of mix with a person as passionate as that.

Drake

angst-zine · 03-04-2007, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IsolatedReptile

He reminds me of a poet as much as a philosopher, mostly because his writings are as beautiful as they are functional.

It's funny that you use that word "poet", since Nietzsche said in Gay Science as well as Ecce Homo that in order to fully live and accept life you must become the poet of your life. It seems, and Kaufman, as well as other Nietzsche experts, would agree, that Nietzsche was aiming for a poetic/artistic feel when he wrote Gay Science.

Spright, I would agree with you that too many people have made Nietzsche into something of a coffeehouse pseudo-intellectual pursuit. I have been studying Nietzsche, and specifically under a specialist. There is a lot of depth to his work and too often it can be cheapened. His work requires thought for certain.

Encaitare · 03-04-2007, 07:37 PM

I've read Zarathustra... I also got Beyond Good and Evil at the same time, but decided one book was quite enough for a while and returned them both to the library. =P

There was a lot of interesting stuff in Zarathustra, although Nietzsche's kind of a jerk sometimes.

angst-zine · 03-04-2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super Spright

I know that. I respect him in that sense. I am just SO tired of these assholes speaking about him like they know him. They just wikipedia him and think that it's enough. Philosophy isn't so easy to digest. Especially something like existentialism.

I understand you knew that. It was simply a long-form agreement with you. : ) Have no fear, for any past disagreement you and I may have had I am in full agreement with you with regard to the cheapening of philosophical work, Nietzsche in specific.

angst-zine · 03-04-2007, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super Spright

Still, do you know if a library might carry some of his works? I wanted to get into him. Also, I wanted to get into Sartre.

I'm certain they would. Nietzsche is such a popular author, it would be surprising if they didn't carry almost his entire collection, save for perhaps "The Dawn." Sartre I haven't read any of, however you should have pretty ready access to his work as well, especially at a university library, I would assume.

Vyvian Blackthorne · 03-13-2007, 05:25 PM

Sartre is brillant. I reccomend him undoubtedbly, though he's also quite the marxist as well.

Godslayer Jillian · 03-13-2007, 08:44 PM

Marxism would be alright, but Marx completely forgot the fact that all resources are limited.

IsolatedReptile · 03-15-2007, 05:33 PM

Ignoring resource's limitations and people's stupidity, people's greed far outweighs both of these things.

I know I work hard only for the benefits it offers. I get overtime and promotions the harder I work. The person next to me does not if he works less than I do, or not as well. Therefor, I feel rewarded for my efforts. If I worked harder than he did, and he was given the same that I was, I'd not work as hard as I could, or even well at all due to the fact that I feel as though the system is not giving me what I deserve.

On the evolution of money and governments, it is something that will take time, and evolves naturally. We are not ready for Marx's advanced systems, and will not be for quite some time. We've only recently entered a more democratic stage and often treat it as though it were closer to an elected monarchy. We have difficulty grasping it (the masses seem to at least, it's amazing how many people think no one can challenge the president of US of A).

Circle V · 03-15-2007, 06:00 PM

To quote my own post from another thread about Nietzsche:

Quote:

I've read, um...

Daybreak (also known as The Dawn, I believe)
The Antichrist
Twilight of the Idols (or, How One Philosophizes with a Hammer)

...as well as much of...

Beyond Good and Evil
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Nietzsche Contra Wagner

...and some of...

Homer's Contest
Ecce Homo
Human, All Too Human
On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense
Mixed Opinions and Maxims
The Wanderer and His Shadow
The Gay Science
Toward a Genealogy of Morals
The Wagner Case

I have two "Best of" (portable, that is) Nietzsche books and have read both almost entirely, which accounts for all of the partial reads.

I'd recommend "A Nietzsche Reader" published by Penguin Classics for anyone looking for examples of his mature philosophy. "Twilight of the Idols" and "Beyond Good and Evil" are excellent. "Zarathustra" is a bit pretentious and bores me with it's pseudo-prophetic style. "The Antichrist" is quite funny, and no doubt led to the idea of Nietzsche as a rabid extremist.

In case anyone was wondering, I love Nietzsche. Reading his books has changed my entire outlook on life-- perhaps not the way he intended, but it can't be undone. It's a bit sad that I can't look at conventional ideals or religion in the same way without bad conscience, but Nietzsche's books have given me more "Holy crap, why didn't I think of that?!" moments than anything else.

Quote:

Several of Nietzsche's texts are available free here.

Aaroneet · 05-02-2007, 05:56 PM

I need to read Nietzsche.

Aaroneet · 05-02-2007, 05:56 PM

Would it be wrong to recommend Albert Camus here?