Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography

No other modern philosopher has proved as influential as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1990) & none is as poorly understood. In the first major biography in decades, Rudiger Safranski re-creates the anguished life of Nietzsche while simultaneously assessing the philosophical implications of his morality, religion, & art. Plagued by illness & profoundly shaped by his tortured sexuality, Nietzsche was a man of masks & mood swings, a thinker who called himself "dynamite" yet labored under the weight of compulsive self-consciousness. Posing apt questions & at time offering unorthodox interpretations of Nietzsche's philosophical writings, Safranski offers a brilliant portrait of a historical figure in a work that is as groundbreaking as it will be long-lasting.… (more)

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literaturkritik.de

Dennoch ist Safranskis Nietzsche-Buch von den vielen Büchern, die zum hundertsten Todestag des Philosophen bisher erschienen sind, zweifellos eines der besten und erstaunlichsten.

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LibraryThing member gergacheck

Safranski’s treatment of Nietzsche’s life is, as the subtitle indicates, predominately a philosophical biography. As such, speculations regarding Nietzsche’s relation to homosexuality, or details pertaining to the causes of his mental collapse and his behavior during the subsequent decade

leading up to his eventual death, remain sparse and are left largely unexplored. The reader who is looking for insight into these themes will be disappointed with this book. That said, what actually makes it into the book is admirably balanced and thorough, and gives an excellent chronological account of the development of Nietzsche’s thought as it related to his life. From his early work in philology and his engagement with the works of Schopenhauer and Wagner, to his later developments and semi-obsession with ideas like the eternal recurrence, Ubermensch and will to power, Safranski does a fantastic job of contextualizing Nietzsche’s thought with the intellectual trends of his day. One gets a strong sense that although many of Nietzsche’s ideas may have been selectively appropriated by a variety of crowds for some esoteric and less that respectable purposes, his trajectory stood alone and he likely never would have aligned himself with any sort of organized group or systematic philosophy -- a true wanderer and pillar unto himself.

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LibraryThing member jwhenderson

A critical reappraisal of Nietzsche's thought and its relation to his life. This is a worthy addition to the shelves of Nietzsche criticism and exegesis.

LibraryThing member jonbrammer

Nietzsche is one of those philosophers that you don't just pick up and read and digest and move on. Really you have to wrestle with his ideas over the course of your life. The young and ambitious are attracted to his ideas about rebellion - I think most people, at some point in their lives, view

themselves as "exceptional" . . . while the older and experienced readers might be attracted to some of the more of the cynical side of N.'s writing.

This biography illuminates some of his more difficult or obtuse concepts, but I think Nietzsche really defies easy summarizing. Because he can be very indirect(but also one of the most literary and poetic of philosophers), you really have to kind of immerse yourself in his worldview to come out with a coherent set of ideas. That kind of immersion is impossible with this kind of "philosophical biography". Thanks for reading.

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