Walking the Tightrope

Note: All quotes are from my slightly more modern translation of Beyond Good and Evil dated 1998. Section One of Beyond Good and Evil is entitled "On the Prejudices of Philosophers." Essentially, Nietzsche argues that the traditional approach to philosophy is all wrong.  Past philosophers have taken for granted an "instinct for knowledge" (Kaufmann translates this as "drive for knowledge") that is too restrictive when considering the vast forces in play that philosophy attempts to define and contemplate.  "Thus," he writes, "I do not believe that an 'instinct for knowledge' is the father of philosophy, but rather that here as elsewhere a different instinct has merely made use of knowledge (and kNOwledge) as its tool." (Aphorism 6, the strange spelling by the translator reflects Nietzsche's often joking play on words which, in this case, means "misunderstanding".) Nietzsche critiques traditional metaphysical ap...

I have two translations of Beyond Good and Evil in my library.  One is the classic by Walter Kaufmann published in 1966 .  The other is "a new translation" by Mario  Faber published initially in 1998.  The subtitle for the work is important: "Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future."  As Rudiger Safranski points out, Beyond Good and Evil was part of a multifaceted effort by Nietzsche to create a much broader and complex work which, as I pointed out previously, was never ultimately realized by Nietzsche. From 1885 to 1888 Nietzsche assembled a vast collection of notes, ideas, and unfinished sections of books with the original intent of writing a reevaluation of all cultural values under the working title "The Will to Power".  "Although Nietzsche did not even come close to using all of the material from the preliminary work on these books, he did express what he considered the most significant ideas in Beyond Good and Evil , the fifth book of The G...

Although the general tone is the same, Julian Young's analysis of Beyond Good and Evil is a bit broader and takes in more source material than Curtis Cate (see previous post).  While Young for the most part agrees with Cate, he offers a sharpened context for understanding Nietzsche's powerful and controversial critique of modernity. Christianity, democracy, feminism, socialism, and other cultural forces threaten the "degeneration" (as opposed to the elevation) of humanity.  They are cancerous forces without essential positive effect.  They all contribute to the rise of 'the herd' and the absurd, to Nietzsche, power of 'slave morality' as a force in culture. I find that Nietzsche is not as 'free' of cultural influences as he would like would like to believe.  He has an orthodox Prussian mentality , as I have noted several times previously in this blog (see here , here , and here ).  His criticism of women and the feminist movement, for exam...

Curtis Cate gives us a good overview of the primary areas covered in Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil . It should be noted that the secondary title " Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future " reveals that Nietzsche intended this work as the starting point for a grander philosophic project that was ultimately never completed.  Nietzsche aimed to develop a new basis for high culture, societal values, and personal style by clarifying how the mechanics for existing culture and morality actually work.   Beyond Good and Evil discusses many of these basic mechanics in an often provocative way. Nietzsche continued to build upon many of his earlier fundamental constructs. For example, the relevant and insightful concept of being a "free-spirit" is still very much present in his new work. "The very title, Beyond Good and Evil , summed up what had long been a cardinal tenet of Nietzsche's Freigeisterei : the ability of any 'free-spirited' thinker must dis...

Note: You can read Part One of this aspect of Nietzsche's life here . During his mature and late philosophical years (from 1886) Nietzsche became increasingly isolated. But, he did not become a complete hermit until Turin in 1888-89. The one-time college party boy, crusading professor, and mover and shaker in pre-Bayreuth Wagnerian society, still entertained visitors. Though it is clear that he was, by now, a very lonely person. After a concentrated social life while in Leipzig during 1882, the years following never found him at that level of socialization again. While he could attend such public events as bull fights and opera performances, it was usually alone or with only a couple friends. His interaction with human beings was reduced to 2, 3, or 4 people at a time along with a multitude of letters to still intimate friends like Elizabeth, Overbeck , Milwada von Meysenbug , his mother, among others. Most of what follows are impressions from those who knew him... Fritz met...

The 1885-1886 time period was one of fundamental becoming for Nietzsche. His sister, to whom he was still close despite the strain on their relationship in recent years, would marry a prominent anti-Semite and attempt to form a colony in Paraguay. Fritz would sue his publisher and obtain the sole rights to all his published books along with, relatively, substantial cash. He would finally finish Zarathustra and move on to compose what I consider to be his finest philosophic work, Beyond Good and Evil . He was entering a new phase of his life. Nietzsche's latest work can be considered in conjunction with his next, On the Genealogy of Morals , as a distinctive segment of his intellectual life. "As we have seen, by the mid-1880's Nietzsche had developed a regular routine: Sils-Maria in the summer, the Italian or French Riviera in the winter, with the transitional months of the spring or the fall still a problem. To Malwida von Meysenbug , on December 13, 1886, he wrot...