Perhaps the most accessible part of Nietzsche’s philosophy is his idea of the “free spirit.” This comes mostly from the “middle period” of his works, when his ideas, though solid and sophisticated, were still becoming more defined. Beginning with Human, All-too-Huma n (HH, 1878) and going through On the Genealogy of Morality (GM, 1887) the “free spirit” appears frequently in Nietzsche’s work. Rebecca Bamford has put together a collection of essays from a variety of Nietzsche scholars investigating this aspect of his philosophy in Nietzsche’s Free Spirit Philosophy (2015). One of the primary themes throughout this collection of 13 essays is how the free spirit is a student of and then the master of the multiplicity of drives that churn in each human being, giving an illusionary appearance of a singular self. This multiplicity is inherently ambiguous for the most part, which makes understanding it and cultivating it all the more rare. “He says that ‘the way is open for new v
This blog is intended to be read in reverse order. That is, the most distant entry first. Friedrich Nietzsche offers possibly the best insights on how to posture and express one's life. His life's work was devoted to finding one's "style" within the chaos of existence. The trick, obivously, is not to lose your mind in the process. The title of this blog is explained in the February 29, 2012 post.