Beyond Good and Evil [Kindle Edition]

Friedrich Nietzsche (Author), Helen Zimmern (Author, Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to the Philosophy of the Future is basically a summary of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies and basic predictions for the future. First published in 1886, the book is made up of nearly
three hundred statements ranging from one-line aphorisms to "rants" that are several pages in duration. In his book, Nietzsche denounces what he considers to be the meaningless moralities of nineteenth century scholars and thinkers. He criticizes his contemporaries for following Christianity and its morals without question. Essentially, Nietzsche has written Beyond Good and Evil as a critique of philosophy, religion, science, politics, and ethics. He feels that his contemporaries are proceeding in the wrong direction; he has no qualms about revealing their mistakes.
Because of Nietzsche's attitudes and criticism toward his contemporaries, Beyond Good and Evil functions as a note to future thinkers, a warning per se about what is to come and what to avoid. However, it is apparent that Nietzsche had plenty of advice for his audience; quite possibly even too much. Though Nietzsche touched on important themes such as truth and morality, his somewhat manic and cyclic style, as well as the abundance of information that he included in his book transformed what was intended to be a manual for future thinkers into a chaotic diatribe in which too many ideas are presented. (non illustrated)

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 376 KB
• Print Length: 130 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0012KT1V6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,378 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, February 17, 2009

By 

Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Good and Evil (Kindle Edition)

This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil." When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature. Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power. Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live. He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power." One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world. Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create. Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind. "A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13). The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others. Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258). In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms. He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself. Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations. To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind. However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260). Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming. Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality. The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo. The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199). The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil. "Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219). The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive. Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality. Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.

0 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Who Translated??, March 3, 2009

By 

Van A. Sanders "Flof Brimpton" (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Good and Evil (Kindle Edition)

This book has been an immense help, having read it along side the Kaufman translation. But who translated THIS version? To have any kind of legitimacy as a reference, the translator must be known!