NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience

NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience
Average customer rating:

I am not surpised

Paradigm Busting

Brilliant. Provocative. Not for the Narrow Minded.

Not what I was hoping

full of garbage and a little bit of good stuff

NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience
Rhawn Joseph , Andrew Newberg , Carol Rausch Albright , Carol Albright Rausch , Michael Persinger , William James , and Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: University Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0971644586

Book Description

Is the Brain Wired for God?
Is There a Scientific Basis for Spirituality & Religious Belief?
Does God Exist?
What is the Physics of God?
Is There Life After Death?
What is the Anti-Christ?

These questions and more are answered by the World's Leading Experts... Andrew Newberg, Michael Persinger, Matthew Alper, Eugene G. d'Aquili, Scott Atran, William James, Michael Winkelman, Carol Rausch Albright, Fraser Watts, and more. Over 600 pages. Nearly 200 illustrations. Thirty Eight Chapters. Thousands of References. And more....

Customer Reviews:

I am not surpised.......2004-06-18

I am not surprised that these "scientists" are still trying to prove the existence of something that just is not there. Give up and just accept the fact that there is no God and the mind is capable of nearly anything to satisfy the percieved need of this elusive subject.

Paradigm Busting.......2003-10-17

This fascinating text opens with a chapter by Nietzsche who proclaims the death of God. Science makes god and religion, irrelevant, for how do we reconcile religious and spiritual belief with the "big bang" the "organic soup" and Darwin's theory of random variations? The death of these latter theories is proclaimed in the three ensuing chapters, which in turn paves the way for a reexamination of the scientific foundations for spiritual and religious belief in the following 30 chapters. We learn there are over 50 major scientific theories which offer conflicting explanations as to the origin and nature of the universe. We are provided in-depth examinations of particle physics, string theory, qauntum mechanics, etc., only to discover a consensus does not exist, and that much of the scientific evidence seems to refute the big bang and any notions as to the age of the universe. The authors tell us there are stars which may be so far away, and which may have died so long ago, their light may have winked out of existence or may never be detected, which makes it impossible to determine the age or extent of the universe. Making estimates on stars that still live tell us little about the age of the universe if we know nothing of those stars which died long ago. We cannot preclude "God" is we know not how the universe came into being. There may in be multiple-universes and dozens of additional diminsions as predicted by string theory, including dimensions which the common people refer to as heaven and hell. The chapters dealing with these subjects are densely scientific. In another chapter, it explained that given the incredible complexity of a single molecule of DNA, the notion it was randomly assembled in an organic soup, is the equivalent of discovering a computer on jupiter and then arguing it was randomly assembled in the methane sea. So how did life orginate? Perhaps it fell to earth, encased in cosmic debris. Perhaps it was designed by "God." The Universe may be swarming with life, and its DNA, which shows signs of "intelligent design" as is reluctantly admitted by many DNA-experts. Darwin's theory explains variability, but cannot explain evolutionary progress. His theory is also incompatible with what we know of genetics. DNA, we learn, is capable of engineering the environment, and its own evolution, through complex genetic mechanisms. Life may not have randomly evolved. The progression leading to modern humans appears to be under precise genetic control, e.g., introns, silent genes, etc., Humans can now manipulate DNA and humans may begin engineering their own evolution, and this is also incompatible with Darwin's theory. Humans may continue to "evolve" and traits that we associate with religion and spirituality, may actually be similar to the pre-language grunting of Neanderthals. These are rudimentary capacities which may yet evolve and become more complex and "God-like." Thus, the groundwork for reexamining and exploring the scientific foundations of religious belief is established and there ensues 30 additional chapters, both pro and con, which examine the scientific basis of god beliefs and spirituality, with chapters on the evolution of religion, mysticism, shamanism, ghosts, demons, possession, the anti-christ, violence, terrorism, and homosexuality and sexuality and religion. There is absolutely nothing "new age" about this text. For the most part, this is a rigorous scientific book, with chapters written by esteemed scientists and scholars who have made significant contributions to this emerging new field of science. When a book triggers high praise and vehement hysterical condemnation, we should recognize it is an important book. This is an important book.

Brilliant. Provocative. Not for the Narrow Minded........2003-10-17

Religion and spirituality have had a bad "rap" and perhaps for good reason. How many crimes have been committed, how many wars, how many murders, all in the name of religion? The answer is actually provided in this book which is edited by pioneering neuroscientist Rhawn Joseph, the man who discovered or first documented neuroplasticity and recovery of function in the primate brain, the hormonal basis of sex differences, the role of early environmental influences on learning, memory, and emotional development, and who is the author of two best selling scholarly text books on the brain. Neurotheology contains over 30 chapters written by over 20 distinguished scientists and authors who offer a wide range of perspectives including the views of those who do not believe in neurotheology. The third edition includes chapters by William James, Nietzsche, Newberg, Persinger, Alper, Winkelman, and so on, in short, all the leading scholars and authors who have contributed to this field. There are nearly 200 eye-popping pictures and photographs and over a 1,000 scientific references. Of course, this book is not for everyone. Those who begin to gag at the very mention of religion or spirituality will hate this book. Those who believe that science and religion should never be mentioned in the same sentence, will also be agag. This book, with scientific chapters on such diverse subjects as the organic soup, the evolution of spirituality, the anti-christ, and so on, has the potential to open many doors, but only for those with open minds.

Not what I was hoping.......2003-10-07

This book is a testament to what machinations the mind can create without a single shred of evidence. I can't beleive that the authors claim this book to be scientific! This book should be called, "NeuroTheology, Pseudoscience, Spirituality and other Ridiculous Theories." Rhawn Joseph blatantly disregards fundamental scientific evidence of darwinism to promote his "intelligent design" theory which is only a small modification of creationism (Instead of god, he has aliens.) Even the articles by scientists such as Newberg, that might have some scientific validity (at least the theories can be tested), are overshadowed by the new-age garbage. Any serious scientist searching for meaning and the understanding of religious experiences should avoid this book. I am apalled that scientists who consider themselves intelligent and reasonable would even associate themselves with this book.

full of garbage and a little bit of good stuff.......2003-07-22

There are full of garbages and a little bit of potentially interesting stuffs that can be scientifically validated/invalidated in this book. Intelligent design creationism elucidated by Rhawn Joseph not only lacks scietific evidence (well he does use the term "evidence", but they are not. They are mere speculations based on scientific evidence), but can be refuted by major scientific evidence (not by speculations). It is an interesting attempt to shift readers' attention from "hard-earned Darwin's evolution theory" to "creation of life by intelligent being (aliens?) theory, by invalidating some minor aspects of evolution theory. But does everyone think "if evolution is invalidated, creationism must be true"? I don't think so (I hope not). For the sake of devil's adovocate, let's assume that creationism does become prevalently popular among non-critical public. Some people with a little bit of critical thinking will eventually claim "show me intelligent beings that created us, and how they did it. Until that happens, I will not decide that this hypothesis is not any closer to the truth than other hypotheses out there." Reasonable?
Chapters by other scientits, both famous and not-so-famous, try to invalidate or validate the "reality" of anomalous experiences such as religious experiences. Evidence and scientific methods for/against those phenomenon are so thin that we can interpret in any possible way. I recommend that you buy and read this book, but read a book called "The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan beforehand or afterwards to decide where you want to place your opinion in this vague area that occupies science and pseudoscience. If you would really like to know solid "scientific" studies of anomalous experiences (e.g. near-death experiences), please take a look at "Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence" by Etzel Cardena (Editor), Steven Jay Lynn (Editor), Stanley C. Krippner (Editor). It might be more worthwhile to read those books first.

The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library)

Average customer rating:

"We would not let ourselves be burned to death for our opinions: we are not sure enough of them for that."
Aphoristic truths
It's Nietzsche...only portable!!!
amazing
This is it

The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library)

Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)
The Will to Power
Beyond Good and Evil (Penguin Classics)
The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo

ASIN: 0140150625

Customer Reviews:

"We would not let ourselves be burned to death for our opinions: we are not sure enough of them for that.".......2007-10-14

Nietzsche has been interpreted to represent the last word in a line of thought which begins with Socrates, generally referred to as the era of Western classical philosophy. Like enormous bookends, Nietzsche and the object of so much of his thought, Socrates, sit, at the crucial intersections of the flow and development of ideas, and adjudicate, with all that came between and after somehow in the radius of their influence. Nietzsche, father of existentialism, intellectual father of the 20th century.
The battle will always rage (Nietzsche, true to the fire of his Herakleitian habit, would have liked that): which is better, the Penguin Hollingdale anthology, A Nietzsche Reader, or Kaufmann's anthology, the venerable Viking Portable Nietzsche? I'll cop on that one. But, for the prospective buyer, I'll attempt a brief, opinionated comparison.
1) Translation: I was nurtured on the Kaufmann, which I used to carry around with me in my high school days, 40 years ago. Thus, for me, the Kaufmann translation rings truer to my tinny ear and limited knowledge of German. Besides, Kaufman was German. But, as Nietzsche gets down on the Germans at least as much as the English (a fact to which his Nazi misinterpreters liked to turn a blind eye), and, as Hollingdale's translations are accepted in the academic world to be at least as accurate as the revered Kaufman, pas differance there, or one merely of taste.
2) Organization: The Hollingdale is far better organized for quick reference or for the first time reader who wants an easily accessed guide to Nietzsche "from the horse's mouth" (with Nietzsche - this way is best, for so much of Nietzsche's power is in his enormous literary gifts). The creme de la creme of much of Nietzsche's most powerful work is arranged under the key rubrics: Philosophy and Philosophers; Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics; Morality; Art and Aesthetics; Psychological Observations; Religion; Nihilism; Anti-Nihilism; Will to Power; Superman; Eternal Recurrence. The book ends with a truly neat 20 page collection of many of Nietzsche's best aphorisms and summary statements.
The Kaufmann, on the other hand, sprawls, and weaves a tapestry of the man's conceptions, which coalesce finally into a remarkably comprehensive summation of Nietzsche's basic positions. One could say that if the Hollingdale is the digital approach, the Kaufmann is the analog. The Kaufmann, however, has one insurmountable advantage: included are the complete texts of Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, Neitzsche Contra Wagner, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The Kaufmann translation of the latter is widely regarded as the best ever, and the book is an awesome masterpiece, at once hilarious and deep, a classic among classics, which says almost all that Nietzsche wishes you to hear in one loud shot.
3) Construction: Both have useful introductory sections, the Kaufmann is a bit better, including a helpful chronology. Neither has a particularly huge Bibliography, but the Kaufmann has been updated fairly recently by Viking. The Hollingdale is svelte, 285 pages, in the time tested Penguin format, tightly bound, light in the pack. The Kaufmann is chunky, 700 pages, a number of which are falling out of my 1968 edition bought for a pittance at a good, old fashioned, independent used bookstore.
My advice: Take the Hollingdale to school, but take the Kaufmann to that proverbial desert island.

Aphoristic truths.......2007-08-13

When Wagner became a cult, Nietzsche left him. Nietzsche resigned from the university in 1879. He went to Italy and Switzerland and had his breakdown in 1889.

Nietzsche tried to be empirical, to deepen the enlightenment. He felt that Spinoza had been a precursor. Aphorisms spring from the dialectic method of Nietzsche's thinking. The editor advises that ZATHUSTRA is the work of an utterly lonely man. Nietzsche heard about Kierkegaard too late to become acquainted with his work. He felt that Dostoevski was a great boon.

Write in blood, learn by heart, do not be tender--such notions are brought out in ZARATHUSTRA. Men want danger and play. They should fear women when they love. Out of victory and freedom one should long for a child. Man needs to be delivered from revenge. Nietzsche believed his greatest danger was pity. Dante and Spinoza accepted solitude. Writing to his sister, he states he adamantly opposes anti-Semitism.

Wagner has reflected on redemption, Nietzsche contends. Everything about Socrates is exaggeration, buffo. Use of the dialectic arouses mistrust. Morality and religion fall under the heading of imaginary causes. Educators are required because one must be able to see, to speak, to write. This is the goal of a noble culture.

Nietzsche holds that Sainte Beuve knows how to mix praise with poison. In idealizing the main features are brought out. Thomas Carlyle had a craving for a strong faith. Emerson possessed natural and gracious cheerfulness. Schopenhauer, like Goethe, Hegel, and Heine, represents a European event, not just a local one. The fight against purpose in art is always a fight against a moralizing tendency. Complaining comes from weakness. Read Thucydides between the lines.

This philosopher is a lifetime project. Thank goodness for the editorial and translating activities of Walter Kaufmann.

It's Nietzsche...only portable!!!.......2007-08-05

If you're anything like me, and if you're intelligent then you are, you can't get enough of Nietzsche. The only bad part is, I'll be walking around and I'll see some wimp in a christian T-shirt and I'll think of all those great lines from the books, but I can never remember them! I walk up to the kid and be like, "Hey Xtian(that's the cool thing to call christians) did you know that..." and I'll just trail off because I've forgotten. That happens to me all the time. That is, that USED to happen to me. Not anymore thanks to "The Portable Nietzsche." It's some of Nietzsche's greatest works in a condensed power-book! It also included the complete Zarathustra" which I admit is over my head. I like the simple meat and potatoes christian bashing that Nietzsche excels in. I like "The Anti-christ" the best because every page is just him making fun of christians. Well, actually that's how all his books are, that's why he was such a brilliant man. I just think it was so cool how he dedicated his life to attacking christians and I would like to be a person like that too.

PS: I've been trying to practice that menacing look he has on the cover of this book. I call this the Anti-christian gaze and I do it to every Christian I see. I'm getting better.

amazing.......2006-09-18

i cant say anythinng others havent said, if you like nietzsche then this is a must have. contains nietzsches best!

This is it.......2006-09-08

This is where you have to start if you're going to start reading Nietzsche. And you have to read the whole of Walter Kaufmann's introduction, front to back. It's an indispensible gateway into the work of this big, profound, tortured, hilarious, flawed, sensitive and misunderstood genius, and something you must read if you're going to say you really read Nietzsche.

Don't be like the myriad fascist creeps and pompous egomaniacs who latch onto a few of his provocative catch-phrases and controversial declarations to bolster their own sloppy philosophies. Read Nietzsche with a clear head and an open heart and take advantage of the excellent historical and personal contextualization Kaufmann provides. You'll find a lifetime's worth to think about in Nietzsche's work and be glad someone as intelligent and compassionate as Walter Kaufmann made it so easy to access.

Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)

Average customer rating:

Not for the faint of heart, but good reference material
This is what you've been waiting for.
Flashes of Genius
Oh How I Love this Book!!!!
A Near-Flawless Compendium of Nietzsche's Work

Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Nonfiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
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The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library)
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ASIN: 0679783393
Release Date: 2000-11-28

Amazon.com

A better title for this book might be The Indispensable Writings of Nietzsche. Indeed, the six selections contained in Walter Kaufmann's volume are not only critical elements of Nietzsche's oeuvre, they are must-reads for any aspiring student of philosophy. Those coming to Nietzsche for the first time will be pleased to find three of his best-known works--The Birth of Tragedy, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morals--as well as a collection of 75 aphorisms drawn from Nietzsche's celebrated aphoristic work. In addition, there are two lesser known, but important, pieces in The Case of Wagner and Ecce Homo. Kaufmann's lucid and accurate translations have been the gold standard of Nietzsche scholarship since the 1950s, and this volume does not disappoint.

Anyone who has slogged their way through the swamps of German philosophical writing---in Kant or Hegel or Heidegger--will find Nietzsche a refreshing and exhilarating change. The selections are well chosen, and a cover-to-cover read will aptly depict Nietzsche's philosophy. In this volume the reader will find many of Nietzsche's polemical (and frequently misunderstood) ratiocinations on Christianity, Socrates, Germany, and art. Here, too, are his seminal and unforgettable critiques of Western morality ("That lambs dislike great birds of prey does not seem strange: only it gives no ground for reproaching these birds of prey for bearing off little lambs"). For philosophical fireworks, Nietzsche can hardly be matched. His brazen defiance of intellectualism's conventions still rings in contemporary thought because he practiced philosophy with a hammer. --Eric de Place

Book Description

One hundred years after his death, Friedrich Nietzsche remains the most influential philosopher of the modern era. Basic Writings of Nietzsche gathers the complete texts of five of Nietzsche's most important works, from his first book to his last: The Birth of Tragedy; Beyond Good and Evil; On the Genealogy of Morals; The Case of Wagner; and Ecce Homo. Edited and translated by the great Nietzsche scholar Walter Kaufmann, this volume provides a definitive guide to the full range of Nietzsche's thought.

Included also are seventy-five aphorisms, selections from Nietzsche's correspondence, and variants from drafts for Ecce Homo.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the faint of heart, but good reference material.......2007-08-14

I think you have to be highly intelligent or very bored to read Nietzsche, and understand him. It seems you have to live with his books for a long time to really get it. While I love to read, I have taken a few stabs at this one, and I find I don't have the dedication to finish just yet, and will reserve full judgment until I do. In the meantime, I see Nietzsche being quoted in almost everything else I read, so maybe over time I'll pick up enough in passing that I will be spared having to read him first hand. From what I've gathered so far he is tedious, depressing and often insightful. When Nietzsche says "I am not a man, I am dynamite" he means to explode all preconceptions of morals, or the concept of good and evil. He questions everything, while enjoying nothing. I think he was one miserable wretch, but that is his loss and our gain. It could take years to crack his code...don't know how necessary that is, so I choose to keep him around as reference material instead. He is easier to digest that way, on your own terms, in small chunks rather than as an elephant, although you are likely to get indigestion either way.

This is what you've been waiting for. .......2006-12-28

Nietzsche IS the greatest philosopher of modern times, and this anthology is the perfect place to start if you're a student or new to Nietzsche. It's also a great bargain and collects several works together that one would be spending extra money on to get separately. I strongly reccomend this, as the works in here ( especially the Geneology of Morals, and Beyond Good and Evil) are key. I have been highly satisfied with this purchase and I recommen buying this along with Viking's Portable Nietzsche.

Flashes of Genius.......2006-10-22

I picked up this book to get a feel for Nietzsche and have reviewed several commentaries on the other works available on or translated from Nietzsche. For those of you who are not intimately familiar with his work, let me summarize what I've learned:

From a modern point of view, Nietzsche is racist, sexist, anti-religious (including Jews, Christians/Catholics, etc.), and sometimes even anti-German. Given this concise but inflammatory list, you can imagine why very few people get over their critical anger and stop to figure out if there's anything worthwhile left in his work. If you can come to terms with the fact that much of this attitude is a relic of his times (pre WWII Germany) and skim by this material without getting hostile to his body of work as a whole, there is a lot of valuable insight in his works.

To this book specifically, Kaufmann is well regarded as one of the best translators of Nietzsche's work, derived particularly from his fluency in both German and English. As a native German speaker, he understands all the subtle aspects of Nietzsche's artistic writing style. When Kaufmann translates this into English, he remains extremely fluent but is willing to translate the subtexts plainly, to the benefit of readers who might not otherwise understand those subtexts.

To be fair Kaufmann is also criticized (by some) as a mediocre philosopher who showed unrestrained favor to Nietzsche, going so far as to attack Nietzsche's critics both with his reviews and his power in the philosophical community. While this opinion of Kaufmann may or may not be true, this book relies primarily on Kaufmann's translation and not his commentary, making the concern largely moot.

With a fair mind, Nietzsche's writings make a few major philosophical contributions:
-The greatest is certainly his master-slave framework of morality including the philosophical term/concept ressentiment. See wikipedia for an overview.
-Nietzsche offers an interesting commentary on art and decadence which I believe is enlightening though poorly communicated.
-He also makes some characterizations of "the masses," their desires, and their leaders (embodied in priests of the church). Especially when generalized/taken out of its anti-Christian framework, this discussion is an interesting perspective on what "the masses" really want and how their leaders operate. When we replace "the priest" with any modern populist, I found the comments especially relevant even today.
-No doubt there are others, but these have struck me particularly.

In summary, Nietzsche's work contains a number of very powerful ideas, often lost in the soup of controversial and inaccurate comments. If you try to analyze Nietzsche's concepts as complete units, they will come out as dated and consequently of little modern value. If you are willing **and able** to read Nietzsche for his flashes of genius, many of the elements of his work are timeless and should be integrated into your understanding of philosophy and "truth" -- and if you read Nietzsche, you'll realize that this is put in quotes for a very specific reason.

Oh How I Love this Book!!!!.......2006-06-16

The Basic Writings of Nietzsche, ah one of my dear, dear friends, this book contains, in their entirety, The Birth of Tragedy (1872, 1886), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), Genealogy of Morals (1887), The Case of Wagner, and my personal favorite, Ecce Homo, (both 1888). It also contains selected aphorisms from Nietzsche's transitional period (1878-1882), that is aphorisms from the book Human, All-Too Human (1878), its two sequels - Mixed Opinions and Maxims (1879) and The Wanderer and his Shadow (1880), The Dawn, or Daybreak (1881) and, of course, The Gay Science (1882), the book in which Nietzsche first coined his "God is Dead" fraise for which he is so famous (and infamous).

Also, there is priceless commentary by not only the editor of the book, the great Professor Walter Arnold Kaufmann, but modern philosophers such as Martin Heideggar, Albert Camus (probably my favorite philosopher besides Dostoevsky), and Gilles Deleuze.

I would advise the newcomer to Nietzsche not to start with this volume though. The best and most compact edition with selections from all of those books and others (including Thus Spoke Zarathustra) in their entirety is Kaufmann's The Portable Nietzsche. The latter volume also contains Nietzsche's priceless letters he wrote to his friends after he went insane in 1889.

A Near-Flawless Compendium of Nietzsche's Work.......2006-05-23

Nietzsche is really more than a philosopher. His writings blend concise poetry, historical exploration, powerful philosophy and skeptical analysis. All these elements are linked together into vigorous rants, just focused enough to be academic while free-flowing enough to be enjoyable. In a mere 100 pages, he can change the way you think about the history of man, while squeezing in wit along the way. Nietzsche wasn't a perfect writer; he was sometimes too grandiose, with recurrent tones of mysogyny. But I'd nonetheless recommend Nietzsche to almost anyone, and I'd recommend this book as a starting point.

Of the included works, Beyond Good and Evil and it's companion, On the Genealogy of Morals, are the centerpiece. They contain his basic world view. Ecce Homo is another good inclusion; though it's rather cryptic, it represents his parting words. Decoding some of the symbolism may be difficult (and prone to interpretation), but you'll be rewarded with a cemented viewpoint from all angles on who Nietzsche was- and more importantly, what he wasn't.

The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner are somewhat peripheral to the philosophy Nietzsche is known for. But since Nietzsche's writings are varied, inclusion of some of his "side-interest" writing helps new readers form a complete picture. This edition of the book is well translated, and the marginal notes throughout make it relatively accessable to those unfamiliar with German philosophy. Also, Peter Gay immediately takes on the inevitable accusations of racism, shedding light on why average people should allow themselves to enjoy Nietzsche books.

All this book is missing, as an essential primer, is "Thus Spake Zarathustra". Zarathustra has some conceptual crossover with Beyond Good and Evil, but it's simply the perfect starting point for his work- certainly far superior to "The Birth of Tragedy" in that respect. Between this book and Zarathustra, you'd have enough Nietzsche to keep you thinking for a very, very long time.

When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession (Perennial Classics)

Average customer rating:

A Fine Example of a Modern Philosophical Novel
Provocative and thoughtful
Very enjoyable
One of the best novels of ideas that I have ever read
oh, please

When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession (Perennial Classics)
Irvin D. Yalom
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy (Perennial Classics)
Momma and the Meaning of Life: Tales of Psychotherapy
The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients

ASIN: 0060748125
Release Date: 2005-01-04

Book Description

In nineteenth-century Vienna, a drama of love, fate, and will is played out amid the intellectual ferment that defined the era. Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him.

When he agrees to treat Nietzsche with his experimental "talking cure," Breuer never expects that he too will find solace in their sessions. Only through facing his own inner demons can the gifted healer begin to help his patient. In When Nietzsche Wept, Irvin Yalom blends fact and fiction, atmosphere and suspense, to unfold an unforgettable story about the redemptive power of friendship.

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Example of a Modern Philosophical Novel.......2007-07-15

Beautifully written, "When Nietzsche Wept" succeeds both as a novel and as a vehicle for presenting philosophical ideas. The first part of the book focuses primarily on the story itself, one that connects the lives of Freud and Nietzsche with the help of a physician who mentored a young Dr. Freud and treated a neurotic Professor Nietzsche. As this beautifully written tale continued, however, I focused more and more on Yalom's ideas -- the eternal significance of each moment of life, the paradoxical centrality of both fate and free will, and the need for even the most private among us to overcome loneliness.

Prior to reading this book, I had read nearly everything that Nietzsche wrote, and yet "When Nietzsche Wept" helped me appreciate the great philosopher even more. While much of what Yalom says about Nietzsche is obviously fictional, the fiction is realistic (for the most part), and Yalom's Nietzsche truly comes alive.

My hat goes off to Yalom for figuring out a way to write an entertaining and enlightening story that builds on his own professional experience as a practicing psychiatrist. Reading this book, you can't help but appreciate how various strands of the author's life came together to produce a compelling work of literature.

Provocative and thoughtful.......2007-06-30

this is the first novel of yalom's that i have read, and, like his field works, it does not disappoint. this book is appealing in so many ways. first, it's a great fictional read for those of us who read so many professional psychological resources. that is, it's a book that serves as an escape from textbook sort of study but stays enough in the field to maintain your attention and interest. it also encourages you to consider various personal and professional aspects. just reading about two of the greats in a hypothetical yet not too unrealistic setting is enjoyable. the book also provides an interesting--albeit somewhat exaggerated in some instances--metaphor for the therapy relationship. as a therapist, it is a reminder of how much we learn about ourselves both personally and professionally from the work we do and the people with whom we work. yalom's existentialism is certainly in the book, which is always a treat, but he also incorporates other schools of psychological thought and perspective. the book is very thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating with some interesting twists. this is a great book for a book club or other discussion, namely because it invites so many different interpretations and perspectives. my only regret is that freud's character was not more developed. that, however, could be a book unto itself.

Very enjoyable.......2007-04-07

I have recommended this book to numerous people and everyone has loved it. If you like playing with conflicting ideas and thinking about what is important in life, this is recommended.

One of the best novels of ideas that I have ever read.......2007-04-01

When Nietzsche Wept is particularly moving and insightful novel of ideas. It will appeal to anyone interested in asking themselves questions about freedom, responsibility, and change in the format of a lively story, carefully imagined.

oh, please.......2007-02-20

As a practicing psychotherapist I was appalled by this book. The characters were one dimensional, the "therapy" demonstrated was simplistic, narcissitic and arrogant, and the writing just wasn't that good.

Nietzsche: Volumes One and Two: Volumes One and Two (Nietzsche, Vols. I & II)

Average customer rating:

brilliant pedagogy!
The Foundations of Fascism
Nietzsche Becomes a Heideggerian, too!
Mesmerizing and Meditative; The Mind of Heidegger
Long-winded

Nietzsche: Volumes One and Two: Volumes One and Two (Nietzsche, Vols. I & II)
Martin Heidegger
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Nietzsche: Vols. 3 and 4 (Vol. 3: The Will to Power as Knowledge and as Metaphysics; Vol. 4: Nihilism)
The Will to Power
Introduction to Metaphysics (Yale Nota Bene)
On the Way to Language
What Is Called Thinking?

ASIN: 0060638419

Book Description

A landmark discussion between two great thinkers, vital to an understanding of twentieth-century philosophy and intellectual history.

Customer Reviews:

brilliant pedagogy!.......2007-06-14

Unlike traditional accounts of Nietzsche, of which there are many, and which dryly appropriate certain ideas to N. that are then delineated in linear, logical terms, Heidegger unfolds Nietzsche's thinking within its own domain. Heidegger thinks through and beyond Nietzsche in this work; as interpreters, we are called upon to enter the world as N. saw it, to think N.'s most abysmal thought deeply for ourselves.

Heidegger, in his unfolding of N.'s work, enters the questioning in his Heideggerian way (to me, H. truly inaugurated a new of "thinking")--which means: do not expect definitions of explicit explanations of terms and concepts. (do not expect concepts!). Rather, his lectures take us through N.'s ideas of "will to power" as "art" (Vol. 1), and "the eternal recurrence of the same" (Vol. 2) as a voyage through original (in the sense of 'origin', a place of creation) thinking--a voyage that sweeps us into the domain of Being itself, and of its configurations, domains, and manifestations.

(to those who say this is not N., this is Heidegger, in terms of ideas of the work: the fact that H. comes through so deeply in the work only speaks to his brilliant pedagogy. A teacher is precisely one who shows us the path by embodying the matter at hand in its full force. It does not mean he misunderstands N. Rather, it means he appropriates N. for himself, "incorporating" him into his own thinking. It is precisely this that students are taught to embody for themselves. Hence, this is not a flaw of Heidegger--that he "makes everything a prelude to himself", but rather, the very reason he helps us understand so deeply. Let us not forget this is a series of lecture courses...)

One day something will have to be written on Heidegger as pedagogue. Brilliant!!

The Foundations of Fascism.......2006-03-09

I have given the Nietzsche series by Heidegger 5-stars because of its absolutely central historical position in the philosophical development of fascism.

All attempts by professors with vested & sensationalist research interests to declare Nietzsche and/or Heidegger to have been "misappropriated" by fascism are futil. The works of Prof. Richard Wolin (available here at Amazon), have clearly demonstrated this once and for all time.

You say that the last statement is merely the expression of an opinion? Do you follow Nietzsche's dictum that "there are no facts, only opinions"? Here is a simple, Aristotalian (logos apophantikos) litmus test: Should we really take seriously anyone who asserts that Nietzsche's dictum is a valid description of the nhilistic condition of the world? Because that would violate the dictum itself, which asserts that it is impossible to have an Aristotalian corrspondance theory of truth. In that case, why even bother to read Nietzsche, or Heidegger, who want to be taken very seriously, after all, in their *assertions* that "assertion", as a mode of description, is itself impossible.

More grievous than the loss of Western metaphysics in this line of anti-reason, is their proposed replacement of it by a vague "Master of Truth" paradigm, for which they cabel together a false pre-Socratic geneology. See the works of Beatrice Han (also at Amazon), who takes the great neo-Heideggerian Foucault to task for not being Nietzschean enough in this regard. For the "Master of Truth", the Uberman, is nothing more than a Napolean (for Nietzsche), or a Hitler (for Heidegger).

Yes, the roots of fascism are still strong in the Postmodern movement which thrives on the works of the "iron triangle" of Nietzsche-Hiedegger-Foucalt.

What? How can the *Left* be the new harbinger of fascism, you ask? Again, see the works of Prof. Richard Wolin here on Amazon. Or, see Pink Floyd's "The Wall", in which a *Left-wing* rock poet descends into nhilism and is transformed into a Nazi before your eyes. The main character is named "Pink" after all, as in "socialist", as in Committee for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

And for more serious proof of the precariousness of our age, look no further than the UN Conference Against Racism at Durbin, South Africa. Under the rubric "Against Racism", every Postmodern-inspired NGO with a political agenda (the politics of identity) rose to a frothing crescendo of anti-Semitism not heard since the collapse of the Weimer Republic. There was Mary Robinson, so shaken by her inability to staunch the hemmoraging of philosophical error before her eyes, that she stood at the final dinner and shouted, "Tonight I am a Jew". But that is syllogistically a false statement (demonstrating again the simply bedrock-valid nature of logos apophantikos). She is Irish. And she is the paragon of what Gertrude Stein would surely call "A Lost Generation".

Nietzsche Becomes a Heideggerian, too! .......2005-02-28

I hate to appear cynical, but in this book, isn't Heidegger doing what he has done with every other facet of Western philosophy - namely, making it a prelude to himself?

It is by no means certain that Nietzsche 'believed in' the heavy philosophizing Heidegger specialised in. Some of Nietzsche's writings even disavow 'philosophy' - period. Nietzsche's own writings make it clear that he changed his mind a lot, and therefore, anyone endeavouring to make a consistent reading - of an inconsistent philosophy, has either to ignore
large parts of someone else's thinking - or make stuff up - to fill in the gaps. Perhaps this explains why some readers find Heidegger's study of Nietzsche clarifying.Heidegger has filled in the blanks and patched planks over tricky precipices.

For a man who had trouble relating to reality - for most of
his active life, elated one week, deep in depression the next,
Heidegger erects a remarkably impressive image of solidity
and consistency over Nietzsche's thought. Of course, we all enjoy reading 'Zarathustra.' But it's art - not reality. Nietzsche visualised those lovely ideas - but couldn't live them out.It wasn't 'lebensphilosophie' or 'erlebniss' -
but fantasy substitute. Heidegger would have you believe otherwise. Read any of Nietzsche's biographers (except the slavish idolatrers) - and that becomes evident enough. Alas, Heidegger has said nothing about the psychology of the real Nietzsche. Nietzsche condemned 'pity' as the trait of weak men. But the very thing which triggered his final collapse, was the
sight of a horse being beaten mercilessly. Perhaps that was the real Nietzsche - not the one who ran from his sense of pity. This series of volumes is profoundly meaningful if you happen to share Nietzsche's and Heidegger's pessimistic verdict about 2,500 years of (mistaken) Western philosophy. If you don't,
it might be considered one big yawn. I recommend Kaufmann's
studies as a counter-balance.

Mesmerizing and Meditative; The Mind of Heidegger.......2003-12-07

.
If you like Nietzsche, don't ignore Heidegger's monumental achievement.

Walter Kaufmann's Nietzche, psychologist and philosopher and on Heidegger in Kaufmann's, Discovering The Mind, Vol II, criticizes Heidegger to a great degree. In much of Kaufmann's objections to Heidegger's analogy of Nietzsche include his attempt to explain man's "essential ontology" into what really amounts to anthropomorphism. Also the fact that Heidegger uses texts of Nietzsche from obscure manuscripts over his published works. This, along with Kaufmann's personal encounters with Heidegger, in which Heidegger claimed to have unpublished writings incapable of adequate translation and explanation in his possession, esoteric information, an obvious manifestation of a prideful and arrogant personality.

Now I will agree with the majority of Kaufmann's arguments against Heidegger, including the fact that the man was an active Nazi, a party member and an active advocate of a totalitarian atmosphere imposed at the University he taught at. And it must be noted; there is no anti-semtic writing here, there is only deep and profound analytic treatment of Nietzsche.

Despite all of Kaufmann's valid criticisms and objectifications, I find Heidegger's Nietzsche, both mesmerizing, thought provoking and soul stirring. One needs to recognize this book is Heidegger, not Nietzche and Heidegger is a deep analytical thinker, whereas, Nietzche was both philosophical and poetic and top it all off, psychological. It takes a man like Heidegger to give it the philosophical, analytical style. Perhaps it is bias and to a degree "scandalous," as Kaufmann so brazenly claims, but to ignore these volumes would be foolish. For me, Heidegger's work is monumental and inspirational. If one reads Heidegger with discernment and awareness, then the four volumes of Nietzche are most beneficial and most certainly worth the read, not to pass in one's study of Nietzsche.

In particular the study of the "Will to Power as Art," where the truth is an error since art is the becoming and truth is always the become that is becoming in self positing, in artistic creativity of thought, the affixation on an apparition. And Heidegger's analytical explanation of Nietzsche's "Eternal Return" are far worth this read.

Also in line with this, is the explanation of Kaufmann in Nietzsche's Will To Power; not being self-preservation of Spinoza, nor pleasure principle of Freud, but of power, the power of the self-positing and creative center, not the power that dictates over others, which has been administered by totalitarian and authoritarian governments.

In addition to Kaufmann and Heidegger, Also excellent books:
Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Rudiger Safranski
Nietzsche : The Man and his Philosophy - R. J. Hollingdale
Nietzsche: by Karl Jaspers

Long-winded.......2003-04-24

Heidegger is a man who knows how to fill up a full class period with lots of talk. It would be possible to condense this book, the transcripts of two lecture courses given in 1936 and 1938, into a book 1/4 the length of the current tome. First of all, the time spent on Nietzsche's Nachlass is not particularly fruitful. What Nietzsche has to say regarding the eternal recurrence and the will-to-power can be found, and in the mature form, in BGE and Zarathustra. The lectures are interesting in some respects, for instance the chapter on Nietzsche and positivism is interesting and worth consulting in connection with "Plato's Doctrine of Truth." The reading of Kant's Third Critique is unique as a demonstration of Heidegger's approval of Kant, specifically the treatment of the beautiful.

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The Will to Power book is better than Prozac and Zoloft
Nachlass
another top 10 books ever
Outdated Edition
A Terrifying, Powerful, Seductive, and DANGEROUS Book

The Will to Power
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Beyond Good and Evil (Penguin Classics)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for None and All
The Anti-Christ
Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)
The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

ASIN: 0394704371
Release Date: 1968-08-12

Book Description

Represents a selection from Nietzche's notebooks to find out what he wrote on nihilism, art, morality, religion, and the theory of knowledge, among others.

Customer Reviews:

The Will to Power book is better than Prozac and Zoloft.......2007-03-21

This book is a better anti-depressant and energizer than any antidepressant in the market. This book will give you more physical and mental strength than any visit to your therapist, any prozac and zoloft. I say this because i suffer from depression and low self esteem, and any time i read this book, it makes me want to lift weights and do something great. So if you feel low, and want to overcome your low self esteem, try to read this book. This book is so great that i have read it 9 times already :-)

Nachlass.......2007-02-17

Nietzsche did not publish this book, it is a collection of scribbled notebook pages thrown together, some of which were taken from the garbage at his room at Sils Maria, so read it as such. It is not the final development of his philosophy, and many of the ideas in here are abandoned by Nietzsche. This is not the unfinished book he was planning, this at best is a supliment to ideas found in his other books. If you are studing Nietzsche, this is not a place to begin. This is the place to end. One must know what Nietzsche published to be able to recognize what aphorisms in this book he abandoned and did not use, and what aphorisms he modified and published in other books.

On the other hand, if you are not studying Nietzsche, and just want to read a thought provoking work of art, this is great.

another top 10 books ever.......2006-09-23

this book got ol fred in a lot o trouble.it was the "da vinci code" of his time or vice versa.its hardcore philosophy to most but i had no trouble with it.the 2 key phrases that stirred up all the stink were "god is dead" for obvious reasons.and"the world is a will to power and nothing besides and you are a will to power and nothing besides".its a great book.many people who were into philosophy read this like even down to the pop scene with jim morrison and paula cole.[everyone always says "who"?].she did the hit song "i dont want to wait".

Outdated Edition.......2006-07-14

Though the translation from the 1960s is very fine, this text is based on German source texts that are widely regarded now as corrupt and wildly misleadingly edited. Far better to read the more recent collection drawn from the same material:

Nietzsche: Writings from the Late Notebooks (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) by Friedrich Nietzsche, Rüdiger Bittner, Karl Ameriks, and Desmond M. Clarke (Paperback - Feb 20, 2003)

A Terrifying, Powerful, Seductive, and DANGEROUS Book.......2006-03-27

"The Will to Power" is a terrifying and powerful book from a brilliant mind, F. Nietszche. In the wrong hands this book could be very dangerous, and in fact, when it found its way into the hands of a young Adolf Hitler it did become very dangerous. As I was reading this book I felt like I was reading the blueprint for the National Socialist Party. I am fully aware that Nietszche would have abhorred many elements of Nazism (anti-semitism, nationalism), but the underlying themes of his philosophy can easily be found in the life and ideas of Hitler. The idea of Art as the highest value, as the profoundest expression of the soul, the emphasis on aesthetics, on health, the complete disregard of morality in pursuit of goals, contempt for the weak, etc. What makes this book so terrifying is the thought that one man's pen, one man's creation, could cause so much utter destruction and chaos. If Nietszche knew what the end result of his philosophical creations would be (the annihiliation of 50 million people), what would he think? Would he regret writing it? All in all, this book is a phenomenal read, fantastic ideas and critiques, with the usual beautiful expressions Nietszche employs. This and Thus Spake Zarathustra are my two favorite Nietszche books, and I would recommend The Will to Power as a good starting book for Nietszche readers. It made the ideas in his other books, such as in Zaruthstra, much more clearer.

Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future

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A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power
Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future
A Systematic Follow-Up to Zarathustra
Enjoyable
Needs a second reading... or second writing

Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for None and All
The Will to Power
The Anti-Christ
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo
The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library)

ASIN: 0679724656
Release Date: 1989-12-17

Book Description

Represents Nietzsche's attempt to sum up his philosophy. In nine parts the book is designed to give the reader a comprehensive idea of Nietzche's thought and style. With an inclusive index of subjects and persons.

Customer Reviews:

A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power.......2007-05-01

This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities.
Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of a "will to power" is central to his philosophical beliefs, and a recurring theme in his book "Beyond Good and Evil." When Nietzsche was a budding philosopher, he admired and was influenced by the writings of another philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. However, Schopenhauer, like most scientists and philosophers of his day, attributed the "will to live" as the highest motivational life force in nature. Nietzsche observed that the "will to live" was not life affirming enough and that humankind needed a higher power. Therefore, Nietzsche theorized that living beings were not just motivated by a survival instinct to live. He understood that beings had a higher need, which he called the "will to power." One can easily interpret Nietzsche's "will to power" as a method by which people strive to grow and nurture their creative energies, and interact with the world. Nietzsche thinks that "will to power" was coupled with humankind's innate nature and passion to create. Nietzsche thinks that this "will to power" was the true driving force of humankind. "A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power, self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results" (Nietzsche Aphorism 13). The "will to power" causes humans to dominate and impose their will on others. Thus for Nietzsche, humankind's "will to power" meant that life and will is the exploitation of others, and it has been since the beginning of time, immemorial (Nietzsche Aphorism 258). In fact, Nietzsche believed that one could take his concept of the "will to power" one-step further, and use it to explain the motivations of whole societies, and nation states, as well as the individual (Nietzsche aphorism 257, 259).

Nietzsche tends to be very passionate and absolutist in his aphorisms. He wrote so much that one could find plenty of instances in his works where he has contradicted himself. Nietzsche's concept of "will to power" is a philosophic thought, which led to many interpretations. To assume that Nietzsche thought that the primary instincts of the human being came down to violence and little else, amounts to a gross underestimation of Nietzsche's views of humankind. However, most of his writings on the concept of a "will to power," if interpreted as being violent, have to be understood more in vain with what he saw as the constant struggle of overcoming one's individual weaknesses (Nietzsche aphorism 22, 260). Nietzsche envisioned his "will to power" more along the lines of applying one's will in self-overcoming. Nietzsche's writings about violence are usually meant as violence against giving in to the herd or slave morality. The herd, as Nietzsche names it, is the vast majority of humans who throughout history have obeyed and followed the status quo. The herd has stymied human development with their slave morality (Nietzsche aphorism 198, 199). The slave morality invented the dichotomy of good and evil. "Moral judgments and condemnations constitute the favorite revenge of the spiritually limited against those less limited" (Nietzsche aphorism 219). The herd morality causes people to sublimate their creative drive. Thus, Nietzsche is imploring the few noble humans--the few geniuses to struggle against following the herd morality. Nietzsche wants the noble people to invent their own morality and values to live their lives by, and to fulfill their own "will to power" and not indulge in an effort to attract others to their values (Nietzsche aphorism 199, 201, 260).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, and psychology.

Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future.......2007-03-11

If you are in high school or college, you must read this. Friedrich Nietzsche is / was a man of deep thoughts, odd thoughts and yet they are as fitting today as they were them..... READ THIS, you will understand history of some things much better.

A Systematic Follow-Up to Zarathustra.......2007-02-16

If you were a little confused or put off by the poetic/fictional delivery in Zarathustra, this is the book for you. It sets out to say practically the same thing, but in a more literal sense.
To understand Nietzsche, I suggest starting with this and Zarathustra.

Enjoyable.......2007-01-12

Nietzsche looks at life and characterizes it without blinking. Not that his philosophy is particularily USEFUL; essentially, you have to come up with your own. He has no answers, poses no real questions, and simply posits that the man of the future will make his own answers to the questions that he finds.

Some parts of this are actually funny, such as his characterizations of the nations. Nobody comes off completely flattered, but the English get it worst!

My favorite part is probably the thoughtfully collected section of aphorisms. Nietzsche was a master of these, knew it, and served them up like some sumptuous dessert in the middle of a formal meal.

Needs a second reading... or second writing.......2006-12-26

I read this piece of work about 6 years ago. Maybe I rushed the process and read it like a novel - its not. 'Beyond...' is the summary of a trouble minded genius in what should be considered his most accessible form; unfortunately "accessible Nietzsche" may still be too much for 99.99 percent of the world.

Nietzsche is often adopted by young nihilistic men to help them find an explanation of the crazy world around them. To be honest I believe John Locke would be a better first step in to philosophy and a good counter to some of Nietzsche's ideas. In fact he shows signs of objectivism (a-la Ayn Rand) with statements such as "As long as you still experience the stars as something 'above you' you lack the eye of knowledge." Maybe this is out of context but I'm sure Ayn would have said the same thing. Funny, Ayn would probably hate such a comparison as she despised Fred's dogmatic or formulaic views of how man should be. For this Fred is equally a hypocrite for his criticism of the Catholic Church.

What I consider to be a fault of the English edition is the translator and his preface, he writes as though he is a member of some sort of Nietzsche Cult. Should a translator really tell the reader that what he is reading is "brilliant, unforgettable?" [p xv] I would honestly love to hear from an objective German on this point.

All said, Nietzsche IS required reading for anyone who sees value in developing some sort of intelligence... for that I guess I should do a second reading ;)

The Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ: or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (Penguin Classics)

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amazing...
bastardized, trite, dogmatic, vulgar thinking relieved ocassionaly by a flash of wit
Nietzsche is NOT the antichrist!
Assault Upon All That Is Conventional
On the Brink

The Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ: or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (Penguin Classics)
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for None and All
The Will to Power
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo
The Future of an Illusion

ASIN: 0140445145

Customer Reviews:

amazing... .......2007-05-07

This book was sooo interesting, I couldn't put it down. Despite being Christian or not, (I being in the latter category), it really shines new light on how you see the Christian faith, or any faith in general.

bastardized, trite, dogmatic, vulgar thinking relieved ocassionaly by a flash of wit.......2006-10-22

So much for the most "lucid" of German prose writers, doesn't anyone think it peculiar his style resembles that of a conspiracy theorist warning us of the perils of the illumati and the freemasons. It is dogmatic to the point of shrill, and surprisingly lacking in real self-confidence. (perhaps he using his rhetoric as a way to convince himself of things not even he can believe.) It is full of vulgar unnatural and irational opinions meant mainly to shock lacking true conviction in the end. There is a constant confusion of thought and feeling, a endless muddying of the waters of interesting thought by a kind of upside down stoicism that could only be the product of a thorougly dacadent romanticism. There is also a kind of disturbing right wing athuritarianism,that is obviously the product of (M. Andre Gide's words )Nietschze's insane jealousy of Christ. He distorts history into a recreation of his own amusing and rather twisted pysche. His rants against christianity, while amusing, are often a attack on liberal christianity, which Nietschze being the ultra right winger he is patently despises. They confirm always a midn that worships strength as a confession of weakness.

Nietzsche is NOT the antichrist!.......2006-08-21

Nietzsche is not fed up with christianity, he is fed up with christians, and the people who distort christianity. Nietzsche is not the antichrist, he is simply the Messenger in a greek tragedy. We are the antichrist.

"In reality there has been ofnly one christian, and he died on the cross. The Evangel died on the cross. what was called 'Evangel' from that moment on was already the oposite of what he had lived"

antichrist 39

Five stars for Nietzsche, three for the lack of notes. Also, there are many times when Nietzsche writes in french or latin and there is no note or translation.

ps I'm older than twelve.

Assault Upon All That Is Conventional.......2006-06-20

To read, and to review, Fredrich Nietzsche who is one of the pre-eminent philosophers of the modern era is not a task to be taken lightly. A critique of his work is probably beyond the purview of one sitting or one writer.
Here, Penguin Classics combines two of his better-known works, Twilight Of The Idols and The Anti-Christ, into one tome. Both works were, perhaps ironically, written at the twilight of the German philosophers life. He would descend into personal chaos a year after finishing the latter title and end up insane. The coming of the conflict would not have been a surprise given the polemic, frustrated and bitter nature of his work here. Bearing that, Nietzsche also musters enough humour amidst his onslaught of logic to cast a bitter smile upon his subjects.
While The Twilight Of The Idol (his unkind take on Wagner's Twilight Of The Gods) is a panoramic and wide-reaching synopsis of his misanthropy and clash with conventional history, The Anti-Christ turns his pen into a more focused attack against Christianity. Taking accepted thinking and the mainstream as his prey, the German philosopher spares no fire when bearing down on Greek philosophy, Englishmen, Germans and the Jews, among others. Christianity might be his main source of contempt, and certainly his keen interpretation of that dogma is torrid and furious, but Nietzsche's mildly tolerant views on Buddhism, the Romans and Islamic Moors, in contrast, must have juxtaposed his condemnation even further and driven his contemporaries and eventual enemies just as much into furor.
Despite several notable contradictions and conflicting arguments the books and Nietzsche are both a fascinating revelation of the world mythos and an unrelenting denigration of individual thought patterns.

On the Brink.......2006-01-01

The two works contained in this volume were the last two works that Friedrich Nietzsche was to complete in his lifetime. Shorly after finishing them, he went insane, and in reading The Anti-Christ, in particular, one senses that he is very much at the end of his rope.

There are two ways of reading this book. I fear that many read it primarily as an attack on Christianity (which it certainly is), but it is also far more than that. If one takes Nietzsche's tirades against Christianity (in both its Protestant and Roman Catholic variants) seriously, one is left with a sort of bad version of Feuerbach: highly reactionary, occasionally humorous, and without the potential for changing minds. In short, Nietzsche's attacks are really quite banal and devoid of creativity - not to mention that he did them better in his younger days before his madness began to set in.

The second way of reading this book is the way that both shows Nietzsche's insight and the frightening ways in which his insight would be picked up by the Nazis, in particular: "When one gives up Christian belief one thereby deprives oneself of the *right* to Christian morality" (Twilight, 80). Nietzsche sought to replace Christian morality with Dionysian morality, which celebrated destruction as much as it celebrated creation, which looked toward what he termed, in an earlier work, "the overman" who was humanity risen above itself.

If one wants to understand Nietzsche, one must not read him as the anti-prophet (indeed, the anti-Christ) of God's death, but of the anti-prophet of life after the death of God, which is also the death of all that this God anchored. It is an irony that the self-styled anti-Christ who "philosophized with a hammer" so as to "sound out idols" would spend the last 10 years of his life clinically insane while the world outside would just begin to discover him. The question that must be asked is whether or not the location of the concentration camp Buchenwald directly across the valley from the Nietsche archive in Weimar is a continuance of this irony or its natural consummation.

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Too much thee, thou, doeth for my taste
the Realm of Existentialism
Censored Nietzsche
German Literature at it's Best
Radical and Brilliant

Thus Spake Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: El Paso Norte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Good & Evil | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Beyond Good and Evil (Penguin Classics)
The Anti-Christ
Basic Writings of Nietzsche (Modern Library Classics)
The Will to Power
The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

ASIN: 1934255068

Book Description

Thus Spake Zarathustra is certainly Nietzsche's most controversial and probably his most important work. The concepts that "God is Dead" and "Eternal Recurrence" with their attendant ramifications are major features of this work. Highly original and inventive, Thus Spake Zarathustra defies simple categorization. Part literature, part philosophy, it parodies both, in its stylistic resemblance to the New Testament and Pre-Socratic Greek writings.

Through a fictionalized version the character Zarathustra, the legendary founder of Zoroasterianism, Nietzsche propounds a new and different version of moral philosophy. During the course of the story presented in this loosely structured narrative, Nietzsche develops and presents a contrary view of mankind: as lying somewhere between the apes and the ultimate Superman, or Ubermensch. Ranging from unsupported assumptions to rigorous argument - from exposition to dialog to poetry - Thus Spake Zarathustra is a surprising, engaging and thought provoking look at the condition of mankind.

Nietzsche himself considered this to be his most important work. His tragic end, in a state of complete mental breakdown, precluded any possibility that it would be superseded and raised a question of the association between madness and genius.

Download Description

I used to have a copy of the Portable Nietzche from Penguin or whoever. Most of part three from Zarathustra was gone, replaced by a repeated big chunk from part II, then went straight to part IV. You won't have that problem.

Customer Reviews:

Too much thee, thou, doeth for my taste.......2007-09-12

Ah, heck. Call me uncouth or whatever, but reading these 150 year old philosophy works can often be taxing on a today-man like myself. Honestly, I wasn't ready for the thee, thou... Anyway, sorry I tarnisheth a worketh such as thiseth. My bad. Otherwise, love Nietzsche so far. I've only read two books of his, and I guess I'm surprised by how far ahead of his time he was on religious matters. Philosophy with a hammer, indeed.

the Realm of Existentialism.......2007-06-18

God is dead?
Do You really care? ...

"But he "had" to die: he saw with eyes that saw everything; he saw man's depths and ultimate grounds, all his concealed disgrace and ugliness. His pity knew no shame: he crawled into my dirtiest nooks. This most curious, over obtrusive, over pitying one had to die. He always saw me: on such a witness I wanted to have revenge or not live myself. The god who saw everything, even man---this god had to die! Man cannot bear it that such a witness should live. Thus spoke the Ugliest man."

After reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra several times, I've decided it is not reviewable and, perhaps, not meant to be reviewed, as it will be something different to each individual mind -- like God, the color blue, or the taste of a fine wine.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is absolutely one of the most informative, easy to read, humorous, internationally-debated, philosophical - theological, psychological writings to date -- and still, not many have a clue as to what Nietzsche has brought to the table, or even why. Indeed, this is better than Da Vinci Code (sorry Mr. Brown). It is a book for None and All, to be sure. I dub Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra the 8th Wonder of the World.

"I walk among this people and keep my eyes open: they do not forgive me that I do not envy their virtues. They bite at me because I say to them: small people need small virtues --- and because I find it hard to accept that small people are needed.

I am like a rooster in a strange yard, where the hens also bite at him; but I am not angry with the hens on that account. I am polite to them as with all small annoyances; to be prickly to what is small strikes me as wisdom for hedgehogs."

Highly Recommended! --Katharena Eiermann, 2007, the Realm of Existentialism -- Presidential Hopeful

Censored Nietzsche.......2007-06-14

Nietzshe's sister, who edited this version, distorted his ideas. Also, the translation is in a quasi-biblical style which may not be suitable for the style of the book.

German Literature at it's Best.......2007-06-14

I don't like Nietzsche. His theories are inhumane, and his insights psychotic. But anyone who reads the man's work knows that even after translation (by the prestigious RJ Hollingdale), Nietzsche's ability to write beautiful prose is an indisputable fact. One must often wonder where his ideas would be today if he had been a mediocre story teller?

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is, in my humble opinion, the place where anyone who wants to read Nietzsche should start. The ideas are deliniated clearly and the fashion in which they are strew is fully comprehendable. Or, if you prefer, try Beyond Good and Evil.

RSM

Radical and Brilliant.......2007-05-31

Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains one of the most powerful and cryptic tomes in the history western thought. Is this a work of philosophy or poetry? Due to the immense power of Nietzsche's writing, it remains highly readable, even for those who are not usually comfortable reading philosophy. In the prologue, Nietzsche describes Zarathustra's isolation in the mountains and his intention to descend so that he can teach mankind. Zarathustra proclaims that God is dead and the overman, the sort of man who has overcome his own nature. Zarathustra proclaims: "The time has come for man to set himself a goal. The time has come for man to plant the seed of his highest hope" (17). Nietzsche is passing his philosophical project onto Zarathustra as an author might pass his personal impressions onto a fictional character. Zarathustra is a new symbol of wisdom in the modern era; he teaches that man is now burdened with the task of creating a meaning for himself. In Zarathustra's speeches, he speaks of the "three metamorphoses of the spirit" (25), which include how the spirit becomes a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion a child. For Nietzsche, even the lion of freedom is not sufficient; the child who can create represents the possibility of an overman. Zarathustra says: "The child is innocence and forgetting, a new beginning, a game, a self-propelled wheel, a first movement, a sacred `Yes.' For the game of creation, my brothers, a sacred `Yes' is needed: the spirit now wills his own will, and he who had been lost to the world now conquers his own world" (27). Zarathustra teaches man that God is the result of an act of creation, that man is capable of willing new gods and goals. He says: "this god whom I created was man-made and madness, like all Gods!" (33). Zarathustra might be called the God of the Body as he claims that it was originally the sick and decaying who hated the body and nature and subsequently created heaven. Zarathustra provides and alternative: "Listen rather, my brothers, to the voice of the healthy body: that is a more honest and purer voice. More honestly and purely speaks the healthy body that is perfect and perpendicular: and it speaks of the meaning of the earth" (33). Zarathustra warns man of the power of `Good and Evil,' of preachers of virtues and the soul. However, for all of man's creative efforts in conjuring systems of value, man still is left without a clear goal. Zarathustra concludes the first book by insisting that he will only return when his listeners have denied him, for he desires to cultivate an independence of thought.
In the second book, Zarathustra returns and begins to speak about creation and pitying. In the second section (Upon the Blessed Isles), he argues that "God is a conjecture; but I desire that your conjectures should not reach beyond your creative will. Could you create a god? Then do not speak to me of any gods. But you could well create the overman [...] of the overman you could recreate yourselves: and let this be your best creation" (86). For Zarathustra, creation is the solution to redeem man from his suffering. Additionally, man's will to power is a potentially liberating capacity. In the fifth section, Zarathustra critically examines different conceptions of traditional virtue. He says: "you are too pure for the filth of the words: revenge, punishment, reward, retribution" (94). After much vivisection and refutation, Zarathustra moves into a discussion of the possible meaning of existence for man in the section On the Tarantulas. Here, he makes a proposal: "For that man be delivered from revenge, that is for me the bridge to the highest hope, and a rainbow after long storms" (99). Zarathustra warns man to mistrust all who have a powerful inclination to seek revenge and enact punishment.In book three, Zarathustra continues his prophetic teachings to mankind, though he insists that he is "Godless" (170). He reflects about the absence of having a true audience; one gets the impression that Zarathustra is echoing Nietzsche's loneliness as a largely unrecognized philosopher and writer. He continues with a transvaluation of all values wherein Zarathustra declares the `three best cursed things,' which are: "sex, the lust to rule, [and] selfishness" (188). He condemns Christianity's disapproval of these things, arguing that sex represents a happiness of the body, the lust to rule is a variant of the will to power, and selfishness is a mode of self enjoyment. Zarathustra is concerned that the dominant institutions of our time have conditioned human beings to hate and fear themselves. Additionally, he teaches man about man's ultimate purpose, which he describes in the third section of `The Old and New Tablets,' where he writes: "There it was too that I picked up the word `overman' by the way, and that man is something that must be overcome-that man is a bridge and no end" (198). For Zarathustra, a going under is a crossing over, a transition. In this way, mankind is taught to confront his own mortality.
In `The Convalescent,' Zarathustra rests for seven days after a collapse in his cave. He is upset with the animals for watching him in pain, for pain and cruelty (whether it is directed inward or outward) is the greatest flaw of man. It is here that Zarathustra gives his most profound teaching: "Alas, man recurs eternally! The small man recurs eternally!' Zarathustra has established his reason for being: to teach the eternal recurrence of the same. All events and beings of the universe have existed an infinite number of times and will continue to repeat eternally. Zarathustra claims: "I myself belong to the causes of the eternal recurrence. I come again, with this sun, with this earth, with this eagle, with this serpent-not to a new life or a better life or a similar life: I come back eternally to this same, selfsame life, in what is greatest as in what is smallest, to teach again the eternal recurrence of all the things" (221). It is because of the eternal recurrence of the same that mankind should affirm life and will subsequently overcome nihilism. Zarathustra expresses a desire that mankind embrace himself as such, and to be willing to act as a bridge for something greater. He declares: "You are mere bridges: may men higher than you stride over you. You signify steps: therefore do not be angry with him who climbs over you to his height" (283). According to Zarathustra, it is only since God has died that mankind can be resurrected. In `On the Higher Man,' Zarathustra announces the life of the overman, an indication of a higher being able to climb over man. Zarathustra announces: "O my brothers, what I can love in man is that he is an overture and a going under [...] Overcome these masters of today, O my brothers-these small people, they are the overman's greatest danger" (287). Human beings must, in accordance with their nature, be willing to go down in order to go across. They are the bridge to something higher. The thought of eternal return contains many facets and implications. One the one hand, the notion of eternity without the trajectory of a goal and without a definitive close could be viewed as the essence of nihilism or pessimism. However, this is not a complete thought of eternal recurrence. Yet if the thinker understands the relation between nihilism and the eternal recurrence of the same, he can fully affirm life.

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Nietzsche: cruel, heartless, disdainful, contemptuous...?
Some Content but Mostly Irrelevant
How NOT to read Nietzsche
An excellent account.
The best book on Nietzsche

Nietzsche: Life as Literature
Alexander Nehamas
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674624262

Customer Reviews:

Nietzsche: cruel, heartless, disdainful, contemptuous...?.......2005-01-04

Can anyone who concludes a scholarly work about Nietzsche by dismissing him as a "miserable little man" really be trusted to give a balanced assessment of the great philosopher? No, Alexander Nehamas can't.

To him, Nietzsche was "[c]ruel and heartless, neither protective nor respectful of the sensibilities of others." The pathetic curmudgeon was "[d]isdainful and contemptuous of the values and lives of most people....[and] has offended and hurt many and will doubtless continue to do so in the future." (Speaking of contempt, in a 1998 interview Nehamas struck another low blow against Nietzsche by deriding him as a "philosopher of adolescence.") In the last, schoolmarmish pages of this book, he continues to chide Nietzsche for his "cruelty, his attacks on many of our ideas and values, on our habits and sensibilities."

To whom is Nehamas referring when he pompously invokes this royal "our"? Did Nietzsche really hold all of his readers' ideas, values, habits, and sensibilities in contempt...or just those of certain readers like Nehamas and other sissified academic leftists of his ilk, whom he despised in his own day as careerists or worse?

Poor Prof. Nehamas. He apparently expects Nietzsche to have maintained a tone of measured politesse while single-handedly changing the course of moral philosophy and profoundly affecting the aesthetic milieu of the 20th century and beyond. I guess it wasn't easy for Nietzsche to remain sensitive to everyone's feelings when he was philosophizing with a hammer.

Nietzsche would no doubt be gratified that such whining--clear evidence of slave morality--comes from no less an eminence than the Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton. This in itself proves Nietzsche's prescience. He would point out that, for him, launching "attacks" on herd animals like Prof. Nehamas was both a cardinal pursuit and an exquisite pleasure. More than a century after his death, Nietzsche still has the power to upset the more weak-stomached of the scholarly horde.

Unless you're a Nietzsche-hater, avoid this unsympathetic, condescending tome!

Some Content but Mostly Irrelevant.......2003-07-09

This is one of the most well known hatchet jobs done on Nietzsche over the last two decades in hopes of selling the idea that Nietzsche is a postmodernist -- that is, a person who buys into the notion that the world is a text, or that text is everything, or that there is nothing outside the text, or some other grotesque expansion of the power of words. But Nietzsche is not one of those types. Indeed, 'there is nothing outside the text' is one of those pieces of philosophical insanity that can only be compared to other such pieces: like Parmenides belief that nothing moves, or Barkeley's belief that there is no such thing as matter, or Palto's belief that things do not have their properties, or Kant's belief that because we have categories we cannot know, and so on.
Nehamas and postmodernism are outgrowths of German Idealism. Nietzsche rejected that school. Almost everything he fought he called 'idealism' at one point or another in hiw career. He thought of German philosophy as a flight from reality, and a coward's philosophy designed to make a big show and distract everyone from how paltry and small minded one's German soul really was. The very notion of life as literature is self-contradictory. But, of course, like all postmodern theorists, Nehamas is un-selfcritical. His rectitude is all that matters. Like all postmodernists, he demands that we sacrifice our knowledge in order to accept an absurdity. His absurdity: that a pretend Nietzsche is of the same value as the real Nietzsche -- that imaginary and real are equal.

How NOT to read Nietzsche.......2003-01-09

Strongly influenced by an analytical interpretation of Nietzsche from Danto's Nietzsche as Philosopher Nehamas does more harm to Nietzsche than good. Nehamas's own "creative" interpretation of Nietzsche is utterly irresponsible. Interpreting Nietzsche analytical only makes Nietzsche's moral properties run amok. Nehamas interprets Nietzsche like most Christians interpret the Bible: He takes away a few things he can use, dirties and confounds the remainder and reviles the whole. Nietzsche asserts, rather than believes, that "untruth" is indeed a condition of life. But he does not assert any kind of "theory of truth," as Nehamas would have us to believe. Nietzsche's moral philosophy is Descartian - doubting to believe to discover one's own perspective of truth - not a dogmatic religious truth! His intent is rather, to give us his perspective to help us discover truth in ourselves, not in Nietzsche, himself.

An excellent account........2002-05-23

This is probably the best account of Nietzsche as philosopher for those thoroughly familiar with his body of work, especially those written after 1880. Without such familiarity one could not appreciate the balanced, graceful and I think 'right' way in which Nehamas resolves some of the apparent contradictions of that work. It is a profound and beautiful book and one which does justice to the profoundity and beauty of its subject.

The best book on Nietzsche.......2001-12-03

While Michael Tanner's criticism of this book in his Nietzsche is valid (Nehamas does quote way too much from The Will to Power), it is by far the only book on Nietzsche that I own that actually suggests how to use Nietzsche's philosophy in life. Who cares that the world is the will to power is a fact? This book suggests that perspectivism, will to power and surviving the thought of eternal recurrence are ways of thinking in which we can enhance our lives.

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