by Friedrich Nietzsche
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Product Description
"Beyond Good and Evil" is Nietzsche at his best. In the book the philosopher attempts to systematically sum up his philosophy through a collection of 296 aphorisms grouped into nine different chapters based on their common theme. For the reader who has yet to discover Nietzsche in this translation by Helen Zimmern will be found a fabulous introduction. For those who have already discovered Nietzsche here you will find the opportunity to understand the whole of Nietzsche's philosophy.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
BGAE, 2008-12-24
If you have not read this I must ask why. Then I must ask you to ask yourself why. Anything by Nietzche is not just interesting and a learning experience, it is hillarious as well. despite the label of being a nihlist, given by people who never read him or disagree with him, Nietzche has a profound insight to life that is actually quite joyous-not just in this work but in general. I suggest every book he has, mind you I am biased as I was a philosophy major and had to read him anyway, bvut I had read him befor that too. It's worth it to buy this alone or better yet buy a collected works that includes his other work as well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Nietzsche "wickedly" separated himself from the "herd", 2008-11-13
In beyond good and evil, Nietzsche simply rejects all dogmatism and argues against any fixed understanding of "the truth". "perspectivism"; which is Nietzsche's point of view assumes that absolute truth does not exist, but rather there are equally valid perspectives of any perceived truth. In that way, Nietzsche relegates philosophical foundations, especially Plato's teaching, to the rubbish heap of childish fantasy for relying on assumptions that can't be proven. Nietzsche heavily criticizes Plato's ideals of pure spirit and the form of the good, and condemns Christianity as "Platonism for the people"
Nietzsche's main issue with Platonism, or any dogma or faith, is that it enslaves one's mind to a fixed understanding, without having that understanding proved or justified. This book is a dictate from Nietzsche, in which he demands that the reader discard any previous assumptions, and open his/her mind in order to separate from "the herd". "The herd" is Nietzsche's title for people who lack individual will and live by group instincts like herd animals.
Nietzsche's own sister used his early death to manipulate his writings. She distorted his opinions and selectively published his writing to support her pro-Nazi and anti Semitic views. The publishing of this work by Nietzsche, in which Nietzsche criticizes socialism, anti-Semitism, and the nihilism of Europe, at a time when values were totally abandoned and overwhelmed by blind faith, racism, fascism and blind belief of the superiority of science, vindicated one of the most misunderstood philosophers.
Nietzsche brilliantly explains how any one can become a "free spirit"; a noble, free and un-dogmatic person. "sublimation", which is repressing one's desires and instincts is how a person can have control over his/her will of power. The will of power, if uncontrolled can result in rape, killing and hatred, but once controlled it can result in deeper, stronger "free spirit". The most fascinating part is Nietzsche's revelation of his own prejudices against women, as an example of how deep human prejudices are. Nietzsche actually presents the case that a strong person is a person who is strong enough to discipline himself and to admit his most inner weakness like he did.
The ending poem, or "after song", is about a man who became a" free spirit" living on top of a mountain, where all his friends are leaving him after giving up trying to understand him. Admittedly, the poem is weak and chaotic, but I think that was intended by Nietzsche to be a reflection of his inner noble "free spirit"; a solitary, suffering, and misunderstood soul that is ever changing.
It is interesting that Nietzsche, the free spirit who longed for a friend all of his life, died alone after spending most of his physical deterioration phase in the Alps; on a mountain just like the "free spirit" in Nietzsche's " beyond good and evil".
I suggest that any skeptical reader, who wants to approach Nietzsche's work should open his/her mind, abandon any previous assumptions, let go of any religious dogmas, and try to understand Nietzsche's perspective instead of judging it. The key to understanding Nietzsche's analytical nature and even his anger towards women or society is to know the details of his life and the moral, political and social nature of that period in Europe. The beauty of most philosophical works is that they were written by thinkers, who had a life experience different than ours. Enjoy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A Grand Summation of Nietzsche's Work, 2008-04-19
I have come to this book late in life after seeing it quoted and referenced more than a hundred times, and at first reading, I was quite under whelmed, almost disappointed. I still personally do not care for the style. However, after taking into account the context of the times in which it was written, and the fact the Nietzsche was a student of Schopenhauser, a friend of Richard Wagner and received his Phd at 25, I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He appeared on the scene during really heady times.
With all of this, this book along with three of his others (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Genealogy of Morals, and The Will to Power (published after his death)), almost single-handed erected the fundamental pillars of modern existentialism and propelled us into the post-modern world. BGE probably still remains one of the most penetrating and passionate (if not a somewhat scattered) forays into the meaning and structure of mainstream existentialism. While certainly not as organized and refined as a Sartre, or as artistic as a Camus, Nietzsche nevertheless makes his points with deep emotions and with deep passion, with a great deal of subtly and some much needed humor. In today's world where philosophy (with a few notable exceptions, like Cornel West) is sterile and philosophers are just barely "undead," this in itself is worth a lot.
I broke one of my cardinal rules of not reading reviews before I read or review a book, and unfortunately for me I did it at a time when there are some very good reviews on this book. I am finding it difficult to add anything to the discussion.
So I will simply point out to other prospective readers to be aware that this is a most spirited attack on the conventional philosophy of Nietzsche's day (around the turn of the 19th century), especially on the notion that philosophy like mathematics, is a synthetic, wholly logical and rational discipline. It also does not spare religion, and rightly so. Nietzsche chops feet right from under these somewhat pretentious and pseudo-rational and pseudo-moral areas, exposing them both as being hollow and mostly subjective and consensus-based.
In doing so he tried, as did his mentor Arthur Schopenhauser, to get to the core of what makes man tick. It was Schopenhauser who put forth the notion of man's "will to live" as being central to his existence. Nietzsche tried to improve on this, giving it what he thought was a more optimistic interpretation with his "will to power." But that formulation presented, and still presents problems. Despite this, it is worth mentioning if only in passing that contemporary formulations (in psychology mostly) have not improved much on Nietzsche's version, and here I refer to Alfred Adler's "will to achieve," or Ernest Becker's "self-esteem machine," or his "man's prosperity project," etc.
Here in one collection of aphorisms is the grand summation of Nietzsche's work.
Five Stars
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, 2007-04-30
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 1 people found the following review helpful:
Aphorisms alone are worth the price, 2006-07-03
I think that the entire book is fascinating, but the one part that I read over and over is the aphorisms section. The entries are, at once, deceptively simple, sometimes offensive, always provocative, and ultimately mind-blowing. Similar in tone to the aphorisms in "Twilight of the Idols", but somehow more incisive and memorable.
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