What Nietzsche Really Said Paperback – January 30, 2001

Nietzsche is undoubtedly the most enigmatic, confusing, and ambiguous philosopher of all time. For most of us, we want answers, not more confusion. Fortunately, we have two very able individuals who have studied, analyzed, and understood Nietzsche, at least in a way that makes his insights accessible. They are Robert Solomon and Walter Kaufman. Solomon, an analytic philosopher by training and disposition, has unraveled much of Nietzsche in an articulate, coherent, and powerful way. The consequence is pregnant with riches of existential insight. His clarity and precision, the hallmarks of analytic philosophy, are everywhere evident.Nietzsche's style and manner, so foreign to most of us, is his purpose. While Nietzsche has a handful of strong beliefs, his overriding belief is that of liberation from the imprisonment of our Western inheritance. Hostile to received Traditions, Nietzsche is determined to find alternative perspectives, but he's not about to become the very thing that he deplores, another dogmatist. Hence, rather than compelling arguments, a coherent world view, a grand metaphysic, an endorsement of slave morality, or other dogmatic claims, Nietzsche's scheme of liberation is to tear down the inherited frameworks, and give direction, but few prescriptions, to the alternatives. Solomon provides a fresh, clear, and coherent distillation of that project.The project is inherently dangerous, and has been misused and abused by many, most notably Hitler. Nietzsche is partly responsible, because his deconstruction is more obvious than his reconstruction. But the new paradigm that Nietzsche intended had little to do with Hitler's agenda and misappropriation. Solomon is able to give us a "truer" Nietzsche, with a number of caveats, provisional claims, and a lot of tentativeness. But these "reservations" and "provisional perspectives" are themselves at the core of Nietzsche's existentialist thought. Rather than create a new metaphysic out of whole cloth, Nietzsche is content with providing the tools for us to work them out for ourselves. And yes, that's risky.The hyper-rationalism inherited from Socrates's logocentrism, the "slave" morality inherited from Judeo-Christian nihilism, and the denial of our "animal" natures by the whole of Western philosophy are just a few of Nietzsche's targets. Such a logocentric, slavish, and dispassionate perspective is utterly false. To demonstrate the error, Nietzsche frequently finds resources in the pre-Socratics, where free inquiry still occurred, and where dogmatism is less evident. And one of Nietzsche's schemes is the use of the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as tools for reconciliation. Apollo represents the strong, forceful, rational, and brave; Dionysus represents the carefree, receptive, emotive, and joyful. Unlike nearly all of Western Tradition, which sets Apollo over Dionysus, Nietzsche desires their reunification in an integral self.Despite Solomon's masterful and persuasive overview, in a surprisingly short space, further synopsis here is not feasible. Suffice it for my purposes to hail this work as a great achievement, worthy of wide readership, and a life-affirming alternative to the West's nihilistic and impoverished "Man." Many, if not most, of Nietzsche's new perspectives on the integral life of "becoming who one is," rather than conforming to malformed conception of Humanity from Western nihilism, is truly liberating. Also, I'm more convinced than ever that direct acquaintance with Nietzsche is still improbable, at least for me, and I suspect for many. That makes Solomon's contribution even more valuable. In addition to Solomon and Kaufman, Rollo May (esp.) and Eric Fromm offer great insight from the psychological tradition.In the wadi of nihilism and despair of the present day, despite our technological achievements to placate us, we are right to want a wholly different perspective about the most pressing questions about life itself. Our inherited Traditions have failed because they are fundamentally wrong. Fortunately, we can still reconnect with our true selves and make our lives meaningful and joyous once again. Nietzsche's seminal ideas can be of immense help, and Solomon's and Kaufman's, Fromm's, and May's insights from Nietzsche's treasury of wisdom are now accessible to those of us who cannot abide his confusion, enigma, and ambiguity. Highly recommended.

I had started reading Nietzsche's complete works from Kindle. Translated into Olde English but not a big deal. This book was a fantastic guide and helped confirm some of my interpretations. It also provided perspective from Nietzsche's personal life. Nietzsche loves to reference other philosophers, though, so be ready to be familiar with the classics and other philosophers of his time.

This is a good overview and introduction to Nietzsche, although the writing is sometimes a bit repetitive. But the book is pitched at the right level for someone who knows little or nothing about Nietzsche, but who would like to know more before delving into the original texts. There are a number of books around that analyze Nietzsche's work, but they tend to be advanced studies written for other Nietzsche experts, promoting some particular view or approach. Here you'll find a valuable chapter entitled "Faced with a Book by Nietzsche," that gives short synopses of each of his works, and in the order in which they were published. That latter is important, because Nietzsche's ideas developed and changed somewhat from one book to another; to make sense of those variations you need to know where in the stream you are dipping your toe. The chapters on God and morality are also quite good, and the glossary of favorite images at the back is well worth having around. The authors are also careful to warn the reader that "The Will to Power" is not really a book by Nietzsche, but rather a selection and arrangement by others of jottings from his notebooks, material that he did not choose to publish; those notes are sometimes interesting to Nietzsche scholars for the light they may throw on the things he did publish, but other uses are much harder to justify.Solomon has a later book, 'Living With Nietzsche,' that overlaps a good deal with this one. This is the better written and more useful of the two. If you are looking to follow this one with a somewhat more advanced analysis, I'd recommend Brian Leiter's 'Nietzsche on Morality,' which is excellent.

I found this book excellent.It's well written and presents mature philosophical thought and reflection.The books cuts through a lot of the conventional beliefs/misunderstandings about Nietzsche.It presents a mature, scholarly, balanced review of Nietzsche's life and thought in language that never mistakes academic jargon for clear unpretentious expression.Readers with a small understanding of Nietzsche may find this unnerving!The chapters by Solomon's partner, I found OK - but much less interesting philosophically.

If you want to know about Nietzsche, by all means read this book. But if you want to wake up your mind be sure and read this book. The authors manage to convey complex, intriguing ideas (relativism and the eternal return to mention two) using a clear, simple format that can be grasped by those of us who have not studied philosophy. A stroll through Nietzsche's mind is an education, an education that is necessary to an understanding of contemporary thought. Be sure to read this book if you want to get the most out of John Cleese's "A Fish Called Wanda" and Milan Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being."The Accordion