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)