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A review by jacobwaller
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits (Revised Edition) by Friedrich Nietzsche
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.