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32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Must" reading for all students of Nietzsche's philosophy., May 8, 2000
What Nietzsche Really Said Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins Schocken Books 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022 ISBN: 0-8052-4157-4 $23.00 Hardcover, 263 pages, "To be great," wrote the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, "is to be misunderstood." Excepting Sigmund Freud, no thinker in recent history has been more talked about and less understood than Friedrich Nietzsche. How can we -- soft-living members of the herd, untrained in the linguistic labyrinth of contemporary philosophy -- understand this complex author who wants to revolutionize our lives? We might begin with three seminal books. The third would be a reliable anthology of Nietzsche's writings, such as The Portable Nietzsche, edited by Walter Kaufmann. Second on my list is Neils Lyhne, by the Danish novelist Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-1885), which dramatizes the continual conflicts of any 19th-Century man who dares to embrace atheism and shout that God is no longer with us. And firstly, we might begin with this new work by Solomon and Higgins, which may be -- for the student and general reader -- the most readable and interesting introduction to Nietzsche currently in print. The book begins by blasting away thirty common rumors and misunderstandings about Nietzsche's life and work. With the air cleared, the authors provide guidelines for approaching a book by Nietzsche, then summarize the major books, then explore the quintessential Nietzschean themes. Nietzsche is better-known as a destroyer of values, but thankfully, Solomon and Higgins correct the picture by highlighting the affirmative values and ideas imbued in Nietzsche's work. Nietzsche newbies as well as more advanced users will appreciate the book's clarity and liveliness, which brings us all the benefits of good scholarship without the stuffiness and cobwebs which clog the pages of too-many modern academic tomes. Most valuable of all is the way the book illuminates the many connections from Nietzsche to writers and ideas, present and past. Guided by the authors, we explore Nietzsche's love-hate relationships with Socrates, Wagner, Schopenhauer, Kant. We begin to grasp Nietzsche's vast influence upon modern writers in many diverse intellectual and artistic fields. We see the German philosopher in light of his philosophic stance called 'perspectivism,' and learn the difference between this view and the jello-like school of 'relativism' which prevents us from declaring that any one value is better or worse than any other one. During Nietzsche's lifetime, the two great forces that squeezed, shaped and molded his world were Christianity and scientific materialism, the philosophy that powered the industrial revolution into high gear. Today, it is generally acknowledged that religion is losing its grip; and recently --thanks to a confessional essay by Bill Joy -- we are admitting our collective fears about a world where Technology sits on the throne of God. For those of us wondering if there might be more to life than staring at computer screens, then coming home to a study of philosophy -- and especially Nietzsche -- is one way to search for deeper meanings in our lives. What Nietzsche Really Said is an engaging study, completely faithful to the philosopher's passionate ideas. Readers of this work will be not only inspired, but be thoroughly equipped to tackle the challenge of opening (or reopening) even the most complex of Nietzsche's books. Michael Pastore Reviewer
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35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And He Had A Lot to Say, May 31, 2000
Few philosophers have been so widely read and yet so incredibly misunderstood as Friedrich Nietzsche. Many people have used Nietzsche's words to advance their own agendas. Hitler was supposedly a fan even though the philosopher was a staunch opponent of anti-Semitism and would have found the Third Reich abhorrent. Many atheists twist Nietzsche's remark that "God is dead" into an endorsement of nihilism when in truth, the German's writings are full of joy and spirit. Clearly, the misinterpretation of Nietzsche's words over the past century makes a book that synthesizes his ideas an absolute necessity. This is that book. The authors have much enthusiasm for Nietzsche's writings and their feelings spill over into the reader. They begin by refuting "thirty rumors" that swirl around the postmodernist. These include accusations that Nietzsche was a misogynist, an alcoholic, and drove students to murder. They are all dismissed. Mr. Solomon and Ms. Higgins go on to explore Nietzsche's critique of other philosophers and include a list of his heroes and villains. The strongest section of the book illuminates "Nietzsche's virtues." Here, the German's "life-affirming" philosophy is explained in detail. If ever there was a man ahead of his times, it was Nietzsche. Over a century ago, he anticipated a profound crisis in morality. He recognized that the old religious institutions were losing their credibility and influence. With their decline would come the ascent of scientific materialism. This new system, however, is a poor instrument for creating morality and virtue. Nietzsche offers his students an alternative: a morality from "within;" a perspective that sees life as worth living for its own sake and cultivating a character written with "style." Nietzsche is a living voice that sees life as a joy, encouraging us to treat every moment as such. That is what Nietzsche really said.
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48 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A poor review of Nietzche's philosophy, March 30, 2000
The authors wrote this book with the intention of exonerating Nietzsche from many nasty rumors which have long been dismissed by scholars and intellectuals but are still common with the common. The first half of the book directly comments on 30 such rumors: e.g., "Nietzsche was a Fascist," "Nietzsche Hated Jews," "Nietzsche was a Nihilist," etc.. The second part of the book has some features like "Nietzsche's Top Ten"--and also Nietzsche's bottom ten--where the authors present Nietzsche's opinions about other philosophers, like Socrates and Spinoza (Heraclitus is inexcusably absent). Then in the final part this book glosses over some other Nietzschean concepts such as the eternal return. The entire book is an exercise in lost opportunities; the authors often (but hardly always) make correct claims, but the evidence they present is insubstantial. There is very little direct quotation of Nietzsche. For example, in the section where they try to destroy the rumor that "Nietzsche Hated Jews," the only evidence the authors present is a phrase from a letter Nietzsche wrote after he had gone insane. They had here the opportunity to present several Nietzschean quotations, from his books, which supported their point; but instead of getting right to the point and presenting Nietzsche's unequivocal rejection of anti-Semitism and of what he called the "race swindle," his admiration of the Jews, of the Old Testament, in his own words, this book just contains the aforementioned fragment and the authors' often confusing and poorly written commentary. They expect people to believe them just because they are "Nietzsche scholars"; as such, people may believe them, but I imagine that for an uninformed but otherwise skeptical or precise reader, this book would not be very convincing. The book often panders to modern prejudices and concerns, and generally the authors try to be very fashionable--e.g., they give credit to a completely unsupported and totally raw theory that Nietzsche was gay--and at other times they deal with completely absurd and irrelevant issues, for example Nietzsche's dancing abilities. What angers me most about this book is that it's a trendy PR campaign; the idea was "How can we make Nietzsche fashionable for mass culture?" These presumptuous technicians and shameless advertisers even go so far as to portray Nietzsche as a victim-figure, with the obvious intention of widening his appeal--or rather, _their own_ appeal--to the victim-loving cult so popular today. They superficially aim for a "balanced" view of Nietzsche, often forcing in artificial admissions of what they think the philosopher's faults were. Here the authors never present any evidence, and they are in fact generally wrong. It is here that they are the most snug and aritifical--and most reprehensible, because they criticize Nietzsche for faults he never had, ignore faults he might have had, all for the sake of fashion. A very poor book; I give it two stars only because the authors had a good intention (but maybe I should follow Nietzsche here, who said intentions are never to be trusted) and because some superficial readers might be swayed, and might start giving Nietzsche the respect he deserves. But if you want to see correct, honest, well-written commentary on Nietzsche, read Walter Kaufmann's Nietzsche: Psychologist, Philosopher, Antichrist. It will give all the information in this book and so much more; this book is just a really dumbed-down version of Kaufmann's, and poorly written and incoherent on top of that.
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