Saturday, February 5, 2011

what have you read by Nietzsche?

I am a bit embarrassed to say, nothing yet.

I picked up a copy of Neitzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" when idle waiting at Barnes and Noble. When I say picked up, I did not buy it, but enjoyed reading the "scholarly" foreward while standing there. I learned a few things I hadn't come across before.

By the way, from what I can tell this work is a VERY scandalous account of Zarathustra. It borders on libel (spoken, slander), but since few Western people seem to care I suppose he got away with it. However, I take issue, becuase although I know next to nothing about Zoroaster (Zarathura) I am offended on principle with the blantant disregard for historical facts. Zoroastrianism (and present day Parsi)from what I understand features good and evil quite explicitly, and the consequences they manifest. However, the historical figure is mangled into a podium from which Neitzsche launched his ideas. I don't discredit the author, but I question his methods.

I have been aware of Nietzsche and his centrality to philosophy for a long time, but I have never felt a pressing need to study his works. I'm just not that into his style of thinking. Same with Immanuel Kant.

I did not realize that the term 'nihilist' originates (at least in some form) with Neitszche. The philosophy of Neitzsche's brand might be called "we're all doomed and nothing really matters."

Speaking of Kant, I have gotten the feeling Neizsche and Kant would really butt heads.
From my cursory understanding, Kant rejected all mysticism and founded his thinking on human understanding, while Neitzche rejected absolutism and founded his thinking of the human emotional experience. Neither of the men, as I understand it, liked organized religion very much of at all, and had other areas of agreement, such as the lack of good and evil as traditionally supposed.

In my personal opinion, Kant was a moron. There is so much that we as humans will never and can never grasp. Maybe I am misunderstanding Kant. I am open to listening to his defenders. At least Nietzche wasn't that, he was just ... bleak.

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