Customer Reviews

The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

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Edited by Magnus and Higgins this installment of the Cambridge Companions series examines the influential work of the great nineteenth century thinker Friedrich Nietzsche. Though the series professed audience includes both the specialist and the non-specialist reader, the latter expert reader would seem to be the better fit given that many of the contributions deal with niche issues and nuances of interpretation.

In general the essays are of solid quality, if a touch too revisionist and apologetic - trying hard to refute the popular view of Nietzsche as gifted but troubled and angry man and recast him as a strong, self-made and misunderstood individual. Perhaps some such recasting is appropriate, however, it is overdone in several of the essays and may be misleading to those new to Nietzsche. The essays also have a distinctly mid-late twentieth century continental flavor - a broader perspective might make the text appealing to a wider audience.

With regard to specific contributions, Solomon's essay on the ad hominem in Nietzsche was far and away my favorite. It is an outstanding discussion of ad hominem argumentation in general, and, an insightful analysis of Nietzsche employment of such personal attack. Although I believe variants of this essay are published elsewhere, the text is worth picking up for it alone.

The overview of Nietzsche's work by Magnus and Higgins is also helpful, as is Behler's look at Nietzsche's reception in the twentieth century. With regard to weakness, the essays by Nehamas and Schrift add little and could be dropped in future editions.

Overall, the majority of this text is probably only of interest for dedicated connoisseurs of Nietzsche.

I felt that this Cambridge Companion was extremely well written and provides an inquisitive and responsible look at Nietzsches works. It provides a rational and judicious insight into Nietzsches philosophical writtings, as well as his personal life, allowing the reader to further understand this often times misrepresented philosopher. Any Cambridge Companion is a must for an individual who is interested in a deep study of a philosopher for it acts as a teacher; guiding the student through difficult passages and texts.

This is like the other cambridge companions: it is not a reference work, is not thorough, is not authoritative nor objective. This is a collection of essays tending toward the highly speculative, each around 50 pages in length. They range from the silly to the ok, and none are very impressive. The cambridge companion series is misleadingly titled. They cater to narrow interests, not to the general public. Students who need a basic understanding of Nietzsche before they start delving into special topics will find almost no assistance here. Most of the material is of the professorial, specialized, not-generally-interesting variety.