Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist by Walter A. Kaufmann (PDF)

Description

This classic is the benchmark against which all modern books about Nietzsche are measured. When Walter Kaufmann wrote it in the immediate aftermath of World War II, most scholars outside Germany viewed Nietzsche as part madman, part proto-Nazi, and almost wholly unphilosophical. Kaufmann rehabilitated Nietzsche nearly single-handedly, presenting his works as one of the great achievements of Western philosophy. Responding to the powerful myths and countermyths that had sprung up around Nietzsche, Kaufmann offered a patient, evenhanded account of his life and works, and of the uses and abuses to which subsequent generations had put his ideas. Without ignoring or downplaying the ugliness of many of Nietzsche’s proclamations, he set them in the context of his work as a whole and of the counterexamples yielded by a responsible reading of his books. More positively, he presented Nietzsche’s ideas about power as one of the great accomplishments of modern philosophy, arguing that his conception of the “will to power” was not a crude apology for ruthless self-assertion but must be linked to Nietzsche’s equally profound ideas about sublimation. He also presented Nietzsche as a pioneer of modern psychology and argued that a key to understanding his overall philosophy is to see it as a reaction against Christianity. Many scholars in the past half century have taken issue with some of Kaufmann’s interpretations, but the book ranks as one of the most influential accounts ever written of any major Western thinker.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Mr. Kaufmann has produced what may be called the definitive study of Nietzsche’s life and thought-an informed, scholarly, and lustrous work.” ― The New Yorker

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I have, and have come to love, Kaufmann’s translations of Nietzsche in the Modern Library and Viking Portable editions (both highly recommended). His translations are extremely lucid, and his commentaries are very helpful. I came to this book with high expectations, and I was a bit disappointed.The problem is that Kaufmann has really done his job too well. The book was originally written in a time when most of the English speaking world had an impression of Nietzsche as a proto-Nazi, a myth which Kaufmann nearly single handedly dispelled. It also served as a counterweight to the unreliable translations of Nietzsche into English. Since the first edition, Kaufmann has translated almost all of Nietzsche’s oeuvre. All the problems this volume was meant to fix have since been fixed.This book would still be a good purchase for some, those who need a gentle introduction to Nietzsche, those who are interested in Kaufmann as a philosopher, and Nietzsche competeists who want a thorough history of the Nietzsche legend. There is also a thorough treatment of The Untimely Meditations, which could prove useful read against the availible translation because Kaufmann never got around to translating those.Kaufmann’s favorite of Nietzsche’s works is Ecce Homo. In his Nietzsche, Kaufmann echoes a lot ideas from that book. For those with some experience with Nietzsche, who are willing to put in a little more work reading into Nietzsche’s prose, spend some time with that instead. Translated by Kaufmann. After all, if the point is Nietzsche, just read Nietzsche.

⭐I purchased my present copy of this book in 1974 and left it on the dashboard of my car on a hot day….it unglued. Getting sick of this volume all taped up….I even used duct tape, I took a chance buying this new copy, not expecting a whole lot. The copy I received could have been sold as “new-from-store-shelf”! I am so pleased! It was also packaged well and got to me FAST! 5 stars +!

⭐Read Nietzsche in German when i was a teenager in my German equivalent college prep classes in Germany, loved him as a philosopher but didn’t make much sense then, because we then never were told the background on who accumulated and arranged his published works, but i have to say reading Mr. KAUFMANN’S Nietzsche has shad light on this and makes me appreciate him even more. Like most great writers and artists, only after their death are they really on their way to fame. I love how Kaufmann shows how the meddling of family and or greed driven individuals can distort and blemish ones works and good name. Thank you Mr. Kaufmann for making me fall in love with the real Nietzsche

⭐If you want to understand Nietzsche, ignore dunderheads like Deleuze and read Kaufmann instead. Thomas Mann’s judgment of more than half-a-century ago still holds: this is the best book on the subject to date.Rhetorical question: how can anyone who doesn’t read German fluently claim to understand the subtleties of Nietzsche’s books? And please notice: that’s his “books”, not his “texts”, as our soi-disant French Nietzsche “experts” would put it. (Yes, I know Heidegger’s ridiculous interpretation of N. exists, but so do his other equally absurd books.)But avoid Deleuze and his copains. Ils sont plein du merde!

⭐So far so good. Kaufmann wrote THE book about Nietzsche, the book you MUST read. And, this is it. Just a quarter of the way in, I have answers to some big questions, like the question of his disease and insanity. While Kaufmann tells the biography, and it isn’t a particularly happy one, no surprise, he concentrates on the ideas, which I think is only fair. It is the ideas that live on. Nietzsche saw some things clearly and we are living in the darkness he understood all too well.

⭐Nietzsche stands among the truly great in history. It is fair to say that this biography, by Walter Kaufmann, is the most thorough and enlightening biography I’ve read. You truly believe you know both the man and the mind of this individual. I’ve read it twice and will surely read it again.

⭐This “used” book was actually in near-perfect condition, and sold for a very low price. Kaufmann’s study saves Nietzsche from the ugly Nazi misrepresentation that still plagues this vigorous and brilliant philosopher. A top-notch seller and a great academic book. Thank you!

⭐Extraordinary book!!! I really love this book. It really clarified Nietzsche’s philosophy and ideas. For someone really trying to study and understand Nietzsche , this is absolutely the book for you. I think they should’ve entitled this book “Understanding Nietzsche”. Walter Kaufmann talks about Nietzsche in crystal clarity!!! Enough said!!

⭐Walter Kaufmann’s exposition of Nietzsche’s thought is so precise, all-encompassing, and equitable that one almost cannot study Nietzsche without reading it.The book is superbly structured. Kaufmann manages to follow the development of Nietzsche’s philosophy perfectly, from the beginning of Nietzsche’s activity to its very end. One by one Kaufmann demolishes all the myths, misinterpretations, and perversions conjured around Nietzsche’s philosophy. Kaufmann truly does justice to the great German thinker. He manages to highlight Nietzsche’s key philosophical conceptions, and shows how they all fit together and form one unitary stream of thought.Kaufmann points out himself that Nietzsche is probably the easiest German philosopher to read, but the hardest to understand. And it is here that Kaufmann’s great literary skill, and all-encompassing and highly lucid analysis come in, not only to do justice to Nietzsche’s thought, but to present it in a captivating and beautiful piece of philosophical work in itself.If one is interested in understanding Nietzsche’s thought, and understanding it well this is the book to read and a masterpiece in itself.

⭐Used, worn, but glad to have the copy.

⭐Kaufmann’s book concerns Nietzsche, both his life and his thought. The discussion of Nietzsche’s thought, though, takes up the majority of the book. Nietzsche’s life is discussed in a single chapter, covering his birth, academic career, insanity and death, as well as his sister’s dubious care of his estate. This biographical chapter is well written and clear, and is not much concerned with the details of Nietzsche’s philosophy.In the remainder of the book, Kaufmann systematically expounds the works and main patterns of thought of Nietzsche. For the most part, I found that these chapters were surprisingly readable for a technical philosophy text. Nietzsche’s famous dictum “God is dead” is introduced and its meaning clarified, and Nietzche’s ideas of good and bad based on Darwinistic theory is discussed. The history of the ideas of “will to power” and “eternal recurrence” and their implications are discussed.Some chapters are very unclear, in particular the discussions about “sublimation” – Nietzche’s name for the process of self-overcoming – and Nietzche’s conception of “spirit”. To a large degree, the difficultly with these parts of the book is that words and concepts are being thrown around whose meaning at best are very unclear, at worst not sensible at all.Furthermore, some of Nietzche’s ideas are downright silly. While Kaufmann explicitly notes in his introduction that he does not necessarily agree with Nietzche’s thought, he does not spend much time criticising it, either. For example, the idea that all human behaviour is motivated by power either requires a hopelessly simplistic conception of humankind or a radical redifinition of the word “power”. In all honesty, Nietzsche seems to be quite indifferent to whether his ideas about mankind at all fits actual observations of human behaviour. And as regards the doctrine of eternal recurrence – that events must repeat themselves infinitely – Nietzche’s own arguments are easily refuted, and there appears to be scant reason to take this idea seriously.All in all, Kaufmann’s book is a solid exposition of Nietzsche’s thought, although unclear at times. And while Kaufmann cannot be held responsible for Nietzche’s ideas occassionally being rather unrealistic, reading simplistic and far-fetched ideas without good arguments still makes for a frustrating experience. Thus, this ultimately detracts somewhat from the overall reading experience.

⭐「初心者」というのはざっくりと「ニーチェを全く読んだことがない人」という意味で、つまり自分自身だったりするのですが、私は昔々にニーチェの格言集を読んで「うひょー、カッコイイー」と感激し、次に「ツァラトストラ」に手を出して数十ページでヨダレを垂らしてグーグー寝た人間です(当然「ツァラトストラ」を読了することはなかった)。「読み易い伝記」を求めて本書に手を出しましたが、甘かった。これは大変に重厚な本でした。70年代に出版された本らしいですね。当時巷間にあった様々なニーチェ論に反論を返すような記述がいくつも見られますが、私には残念ながら議論の中味が見えません。当時のニーチェはナチス絡みでまだまだ不遇な立場にあった哲学者だったのでしょうか。カウフマン教授がニーチェの名誉回復(？)の為に火を噴いている様子が朧ながら伺え、行間から伝わるその情熱が大きな魅力になっています。しかし「永劫回帰」やら咀嚼解釈されてもいまいち分からない。そこらへんはワタクシの頭の問題かセンスの問題でせう。後半、ニーチェのソクラテスへの敬愛の念を検証・力説する長い記述などありますが、本書を読んでからずっと後になって、「ニーチェはソクラテスを憎んでいた」というのが哲学界の定説であるらしいことを知りました。なるほど、かような部分にも百花繚乱の見解が可能だというあたり、面白いというか面妖というか。という訳で、私のようなド素人の方はご注意下さい。ニーチェの代表作を何冊かは読んだ、というくらいのレベルの方にお薦め致します。ただしド素人にも最後まで読ませる｢気｣の力のある本ですし、「機会と気力があったら改めてニーチェに挑戦してみようかな」と思わせてくれる一冊でした。In Nietzsche’s bibliography it’s one of the most standard books to advise.It’s well written and it has some really interesting ideas.

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