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jacobwaller's review against another edition
5.0
5/5
First book I’ve read of Nietzsche’s and if all of his other books are anything like this one then I’ve discovered one of my favorite authors ever. He touches on pretty much everything here (religion, morality, art, politics, etc.) But he ultimately keeps returning to a few different motifs that outline the theses. The first of which is a reorientation of physical and metaphysical values. He doesn’t want us putting value into another metaphysical life, seeing this as a highly complex and institutionalized form of escapism. He wants us to embrace the human condition in its entirety, with all its pain and joy, limited by the finite amount of time that we each have. He wants us to embrace our unique human capacity for rational thought as well as our passions and desires. He also gives great psychological insights into how so many different societal, cultural, and moral phenomenon have come into existence as a product of irrational fears and urges that drive rational thought, further illustrating that these different CANNOT be separated, and this is the human condition. Secondly he flushes out the ‘free spirit’ as a particular and exceptional individual that drives humanity towards a higher form of culture, one that is closer to rationality rather than irrationality. He is not bound by any convictions or absolutes and understands the malleability of truth. But still, he searches on, and it is this pursuit that Nietzsche sees as the highest and purest form of human expression, and it is when these individuals come forth that progress in humanity is made.
First book I’ve read of Nietzsche’s and if all of his other books are anything like this one then I’ve discovered one of my favorite authors ever. He touches on pretty much everything here (religion, morality, art, politics, etc.) But he ultimately keeps returning to a few different motifs that outline the theses. The first of which is a reorientation of physical and metaphysical values. He doesn’t want us putting value into another metaphysical life, seeing this as a highly complex and institutionalized form of escapism. He wants us to embrace the human condition in its entirety, with all its pain and joy, limited by the finite amount of time that we each have. He wants us to embrace our unique human capacity for rational thought as well as our passions and desires. He also gives great psychological insights into how so many different societal, cultural, and moral phenomenon have come into existence as a product of irrational fears and urges that drive rational thought, further illustrating that these different CANNOT be separated, and this is the human condition. Secondly he flushes out the ‘free spirit’ as a particular and exceptional individual that drives humanity towards a higher form of culture, one that is closer to rationality rather than irrationality. He is not bound by any convictions or absolutes and understands the malleability of truth. But still, he searches on, and it is this pursuit that Nietzsche sees as the highest and purest form of human expression, and it is when these individuals come forth that progress in humanity is made.
bubos212's review against another edition
This was fairly interesting, though it had quite a few sections that were unspeakably dull. Don't know if Nietzsche knew this but an aphorism is short and concise, not a 12 paragraph essay that takes up five pages. Nietzsche would hate me for saying this, but unless you're really a big Nietzsche fan, you don't need to read all of this. Read the parts that you find fascinating, and skip the ones that don't. This could've easily been 1/2 as long as it was.
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