The Will to Power [Paperback]

Friedrich Nietzsche (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0394704371 | ISBN-13: 978-0394704371 | Publication Date: August 12, 1968

Represents a selection from Nietzche's notebooks to find out what he wrote on nihilism, art, morality, religion, and the theory of knowledge, among others.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Represents a selection from Nietzche's notebooks to find out what he wrote on nihilism, art, morality, religion, and the theory of knowledge, among others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (August 12, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394704371
• ISBN-13: 978-0394704371
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A raw, passionate,superior interpretation of life., March 6, 2000

By 

Anhur-Shu (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Will to Power (Paperback)

The first thing to understand is that The Will to Power is not Nietzsche's magnum opus. It is a collection of his unpublished writings from the 1880's, collected by his sister and published under the title The Will to Power. I've studied Nietzsche for over two and half years now, extensively reading and comparing his works, specifically from The Gay Science on to The Will to Power. Those who say that this work presents ideas that contradict his published works are wrong. Nietzsche certainly does elaborate on certain concepts that are not introduced in detail in his published works. But this is to be expected. Being his notes, one can expect that these passages,aphorisms, quotes, and notes are rather unpolished and therefore lack the kind of sophisticated poetical style that characterizes his published work. However attempts to refute these notes as mere propaganda perpetuated by his sister is simply ludicrous. Certain concepts such as nihilism, breeding, the will to power, and the eternal recurrence are covered more. The writings do not usually go into great detail, and are often ambiguous, but this is what one should expect from one's notes. However you will not find ideas in this book that are really different from those in his published works. There have been two main errors that have been perpetuated upon this book. First, some take this as his magnum opus and therefore overlook his other writings, however others ignore this book and pass it off as propaganda that represented his sister's agenda. Most scholars of Nietzsche agree that this work is very important as long as one also reads his published works. From my studies,I have come to believe that this work merely represents ideas and passages that were not fully worked out, ideas that were still in process of being elaborated, and even ideas that were perhaps too extreme to put in his published writings. One must remember that Nietzsche was criticized over the extreme content of his published writings, and he probably knew that some of his material should be kept unpublished. However his most extreme ideas such as the glorification of war and conflict, his hypothesis of the will to power as the basic essence of life, his defense of aristocracy as a superior form of government, hatred of christianity and other institutions that preserve christian moral ideals,i.e.,democracy, socialism, his praise of master morality and the virtues associated with it..pride,domination,violence,cruelty,hardness,are all put forth in his published works as well, especially in Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Ecce Homo, the Antichrist, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. So if you have enough intelligence to read all of his works and comparatively study them and look beyond the mere raw form of these passages, you will find many notes and aphorisms that elaborate on the detailed work already put forth in his published writings.

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A godless beautiful affirmation of life!, March 12, 2000

By 

Brian (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Will to Power (Paperback)

This book changed my life. Philosophy has always interested me, but it has always seemed that most philosophical systems were so dry and abstract to be devoid of any real implications to one's life. This book, I dare say, is more pratical, but not in a common everyday sense of that term. I would say this work is mystical, for lack of a better word. This is a collection of notes by a man, who not only interpreted the world in a unique way, but really felt it. To Nietzsche this was not just some various thought experiments. This work and his other works, particular his later material, are an attempt to provide a new worldview, a new way to interpret life that is almost the complete opposite of the traditional worldviews that have dominated the world, such as christianity, judaism, buddhism, i.e. the philosophies of world renunciation and the ascetic ideal. Nietzsche reveals how the world really is, not some ideal of the world, namely that the world is violent, chaotic, without any kind of teology. He then proceeds to affirm this world, otherwise affirming life for those very characteristics that had led others to deny it. The ultimate value by which all is measured in his works, particular in this work, is power. Life is seen as the will to power. In other words, life's essence is the drive, impulse to grow, to conquer, to dominate, and accumulate force, to increase and grow in every possible way, phsyically, mentally, and spiritual (remembering that all these are all still physiology to Nietzsche). ONe of the best ideas can be found when he contrasts the Dionysian worldview with the christian worldview, namely Dionysus vs. The Crucified. He says that the christian sees suffering as a means to an end, as necessary to attain holiness and heaven. The disciple of Dionysus however sees existence as holy enough to justify a monstrous amount of suffering. I often feel a mystical state of being, or as Nietzsche would say, intoxication, upon reading this book. NOthing has every touched me so closely, so personally, so intensely as this work. Do yourself a favor, if you are brave enough, and hard enough, and desire a alternative to the degenerate ascetic philosophies that dominate today, pick this up and revel in its utter tragic beauty.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Response to Fred Strohm's Review, June 3, 2003

By 

"sstrick9" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Will to Power (Hardcover)

Obviously, Mr. Strohm, in his absurd repudiation of Nietzsche's "will to power", failed to recognize the true meaning of "power" as N conceived it. Power, to N, is not political or physical; it has nothing to do with how "power is gained in human society". N himself declared that the desire to have power over others is itself a form of weakness, insofar as it serves as an escape to overcome oneself, which is true power. N even declares that the ascetic, who turns his back to society and "social power", represents one of the highest manifestations of the will to power. The will to power is about self-realization, overcoming the passions, creating [internal] order out of chaos, mastering one's fate; it is most certainly not about political power. Mr. Strohm's "glaring stupidity" concerning one of the greatest and most individualistic philosophic conceptions, leads one to conclude that even well-read "know-it-alls" fall embarrassingly short of N's persistent concern: "Please do not misunderstand me!"