Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

Michael Tanner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Very Short Introductions | Publication Date: February 1, 2001

With his well-known idiosyncrasies and aphoristic style, Friedrich Nietzsche is always bracing and provocative, and temptingly easy to dip into. Michael Tanner's introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inherent in his writings and explodes many of the misconceptions that have grown in the hundred years since Nietzsche wrote "do not, above all, confound me with what I am not!"

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...I find Tanner's book enormously useful for introducing Nietzsche philosophically.... Tanner manages to be succinct without being boring or pedantic.... I think his succinct and highly critical readings encourage genuine philosophical grappling with our modern self-proclaimed Dionysus, who after all needs to be treated as a philosopher, not an idol or a god."--Teaching Philosophy

"A breezy first look at Nietzsche...useful for undergraduates who need a quick and painless dose of Nietzsche's ideas."--Ethics

About the Author

Michael Tanner is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and a University Lecturer in Philosophy. He is author of Wagner (Fontana, 1995).

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192854143
• ISBN-13: 978-0192854148
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Philosophers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Will to Brevity..., July 3, 2003

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nietzsche (Past Masters) (Paperback)

No one can reasonably expect to sum up Nietzche's views and philosophy in under 100 pages. The reader should not go into this work expecting to come out understanding Nietzsche, but maybe make him a little less obscure or receive a slight bit more context in which to read Nietzsche's books. For those who have already read some Nietzsche and are left nonplussed, this tiny book may help you out as well (it did me).

The book follows Nietzsche's publications more or less in chronological order. The longest and most difficult chapter is the one on "The Birth of Tragedy." This work gets the most attention of all of Nietzsche's works, presumably because it is easier to "sum up" or encapsulate than any of his other works. For instance, the section on "The Genealogy of Morals" will leave you wondering what the book is about (in fact, reading the book itself may also have this effect - it's a tad difficult).

"Morality and its Discontents" is one of the most illuminating chapters, and will shed some light on Nietzsche's proclamation that "God is dead" which is probably his most infamous and misunderstood concept (there's also a lot more meat to it than the eternal recurrence and the Ubermensch, which Tanner points out).

Overall I agree with Tanner's assessment of Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra." It was the first book of his I read, and I came out of the experience energized, but I had no idea why. "Zarathustra" is a passionate but potentially misleading read. It's nothing like his other works, and introduces concepts that never come up again, though they seem to be of utmost importance in the context of the book (i.e., the eternal recurrence, Ubermensch, and the will to power - at least in his published works).

The pace of Tanner's book quickens and the delineation of Nietzsche's texts becomes more and more sparse towards the final few chapters. There is very little information about Nietzsche's insanity, or Lou Salomé or even the details of his life. The book is almost completely dedicated to Nietzsche's philosophy. In fact, the book ends as abruptly as Nietzsche's own sane life must have. There's a slight feeling of "so what's next?!?" at the end of the last and shortest chapter that discusses the works of 1888 in a flash.

Nietzsche is a huge subject, and his books are thick conceptually if not physically. He was a thinker that wanted to teach us to think differently, which makes him a valuable read no matter what your stance on the views he covers. This minute book will help you peek through the keyhole of this enormous and overwhelming subject.

Lastly, Richard Wagner figures hugely in Nietzsche's work. Knowing more about Wagner will only elucidate some of Nietzsche's works and concepts. Tanner also supports this view.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nietzsche demystified (well, sort of), March 7, 2003

By 

Mark I. Vuletic (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

Tanner's NIETZSCHE provides as plain-spoken an account as can be managed of what the philosopher was all about, taking the reader through Nietzsche's life and work step by step. There are a few things about the book I do not like -- for instance, insufficient discussion of the abuses of Nietzsche by others, too short shrift to THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA, and an unhelpful final chapter of assessment -- but its merits outweigh these several flaws. I would definitely recommend that others read this book before tackling Nietzsche's works directly.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting -- but not a good introduction for newcomers to Nietzsche, May 6, 2009

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

This brief book on Nietzsche contains many good things, though I'm pretty confident that it is not a very good introduction to his thought. Twenty years ago when I was studying philosophy in grad school I read through most of Nietzsche's works at one time or another and delved fairly deeply into the secondary literature. I picked this up as something of a refresher, but was quite surprised at what a poor job it did at explaining and summarizing what Nietzsche said and why he said it. The book's main interest comes from its analysis of where Nietzsche's thought fails to maintain coherence as well as some misunderstandings of his thought by various scholars. The book is useful as a corrective and at pointing out where Nietzsche sometimes fails to make sense, but this is pretty far down the list of books that I would recommend as an introduction. As such, it is one of my least favorite of the books that I've read in Oxford's Very Short Introduction series.

Even if one thinks that much of what Nietzsche says, however important it may be despite that, ultimately fails to be coherent, it is essential before saying why what he says is wrong, to say as clearly as possible what it is that he does say. The problems become pretty early in the book. The summary of THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY is patchy and barely explains -- which is what one would expect in an introduction -- the contrast between the Dionysian and the Apollonian. Tanner nicely explains Nietzsche's idea that suffering is the central fact of human existence, but the content of many of his books is left something less than clear. Worst of all, Tanner -- despite in the final section of the book writing that he assumes that everyone will grasp how much he admires Nietzsche -- doesn't make clear why Nietzsche is important. He doesn't explain precisely why Nietzsche is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the past two centuries.

In short, I do not think that this is a good first book for those wanting to explore Nietzsche's thought. The truth is that while there are several excellent books on Nietzsche, most of these are for people who are already familiar with at least some aspects of his work. There is one book that I would recommend as a first introduction, R. J. Hollingdale's intellectual biography. The problem with that one is that it is only available in a ridiculously high priced paperback (I own what was in the 1980s a very reasonably priced paperback). Hollingdale, Nietzsche's most important translator into English after Kaufmann, writes clearly and sympathetically about Nietzsche. Like Tanner I am not a fan of Walter Kaufmann's famous work on Nietzsche. Like Tanner I am a big fan of Alexander Nehamas's book, but it is definitely not an introductory work. Possibly the best secondary work after Hollingdale to find a way into Nietzsche may be THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO NIETZSCHE. It is not any cheaper than the Hollingdale book, but it is a book not useful exclusively to beginners. I have not read Safranski's biography, but that is a book that I would investigate if I were a beginner. But perhaps the best approach is simply to plow through Nietzsche's books. I think what Tanner suggests about the best way to read THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY holds true for most (though perhaps not for the late works written during his last year of sanity) of Nietzsche's books: read through quickly the first time to get a sense of the overall shape and form of the book. Then read it through slowly and carefully a second time. Nietzsche is a difficult thinker, not least because he is almost intentionally messy. He makes sudden and surprising transitions apparently unrelated to what has gone before and it is often difficult to grasp what he is talking about. Despite this, he is a brilliant writer, often writing breathtaking passages, with many unforgettable sentences. However one is introduced to his thought, he repays the effort.