Synopsis
Human, All Too Human (1878) marks the point where Nietzsche abandons German romanticism for the French Enlightenment. At a moment of crisis in his life (no longer a friend of Richard Wagner, forced to leave academic life through ill health), he sets out his views in a scintillating and bewildering series of aphorisms which contain the seeds of his later philosophy (e.g. the will to power, the need to transcend conventional Christian morality). The result is one of the cornerstones of his life's work. It well deserves its subtitle `A Book for Free Spirits', and its original dedication to Voltaire, whose project of radical enlightenment here finds a new champion. Beyond Good and Evil (1886) is a scathing and powerful critique of philosophy, religion and science. Here Nietzsche presents us with problems and challenges that are as troubling as they are inspiring, while at the same time outlining the virtues, ideas, and practices which will characterise the philosophy of the future. Relentless, energetic, tirelessly probing, he both determines that philosophy's agenda and is himself the embodiment of the type of thought he wants to foster.
About the Author
"Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born on 15 October 1844 in Prussia. He was named after King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who turned 49 on the day of Nietzsche's birth. Nietzsche's parents were Carl Ludwig Nietzsche (1813–49), a Lutheran pastor and former teacher, and Franziska Oehler (1826–97). Nietzsche attended a boys' school, and later, a private school. In 1854, he began to attend Pforta in Naumburg, but after he showed particular talents in music and language, the internationally recognised Schulpforta admitted him as a pupil, and here he continued his studies from 1858 to 1864, finding time to work on poems and musical compositions, in addition to his academic work. At Schulpforta, Nietzsche received an important introduction to literature, particularly ancient Greek and Roman literature, and for the first time he experienced a distance from his family life in a small-town environment. After graduation in 1864 Nietzsche commenced studies in theology and classical philology at the University of Bonn. After one semester, and to the anger of his mother, he stopped his theological studies and lost his faith. Nietzsche then concentrated on studying philology under Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl, and reading the works of philosophers like Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Albert Lange. In part, because of Ritschl's support, Nietzsche received a remarkable offer in 1869 to become professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He was only 24 years old and had neither completed his doctorate nor received his teaching certificate. Despite the fact that the offer came at a time when he was considering giving up philology for science, he accepted. In 1879, after a significant decline in health, Nietzsche had to resign his position at Basel. Although he is best known as a nineteenth century German philosopher and classical philologist, he wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism. Nietzsche's influence remains substantial within and beyond philosophy, notably in existentialism and postmodernism. His style and radical questioning of the value and objectivity of truth have resulted in much commentary and interpretation. His key ideas include the death of God, perspectivism, the Übermensch (variously translated as overman, superman, or super-human), the eternal recurrence, and the will to power. His works include, The Greek State (1871), The Birth of Tragedy (1872), On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873), Human, All Too Human (1878) Beyond Good and Evil (1886), Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883 – 85), Twilight of the Idols (1888), The Antichrist (1888), and Ecce Homo (1888). In 1889 he went insane, living out his remaining years in the care of his mother and sister until his death in 1900."
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