ask me about Friedrich Nietzsche

[mbillie1]

Maybe this goes in SMP, but I'd like to avoid getting into a giant sh*tting match with those people and just answer questions and clear up basic misconceptions about Nietzsche and (more specifically) his philosophy. This is obviously inspired/plagiarized by/from the Hitler thread, and I dunno if I can live up to how good that one's been, but I'll do my best. I've read all of his major books and most of his essays and other notes. I've studied him with some relatively reputable scholars of his (M.C. Dillon, who was of fairly high regard in the academic world at least). I know some details of his personal life but not to the nth degree, so I'd prefer to discuss his philosophy / personal beliefs / attitudes towards society, religion, etc etc. Anything he wrote about, you heard someone claim he advocated, etc is fair game. I'll back up any claims I make with quotes if reasonable (eg a broad claim about him may not have one specific quote backing it up, but almost any position I'll attribute to him I can back up fairly quickly with a quote/page number/etc). I think I'm a fairly good source when it comes to Nietzsche's philosophy. If I didn't [censored] off in college I would like to have been teaching him by now.

I dunno if anyone cares, probably not, but I'm here with absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the night and the entirety of tomorrow, so fire away if anyone particularly cares. Ice breakers: "superman" (overman), alleged antisemitism, alleged nihilism/pessimism, ties to Wagner, criticisms of Christianity, etc.

A good Nietzsche quote to start out with that gives maybe a totally different picture than you previously had:

Jesus said to his Jews: "The law was for servants--love God as I love him, as his son! What are morals to us sons of God!

[Anacardo]

Why should I, as a dude who reads stuff and thinks about stuff, be impressed by Nietzsche. What does he bring to the table that makes him worth being one of your primary intellectual influences?

Also, is a new tidal wave of Ask Me threads all but inevitable now?

[daryn]

i hate groupthink [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

see my post in the mod forum for reference

[Anacardo]

See I would, but - yeah how would that happen, daryn. Who am I, Commodus?

OH SNAP HOLY [censored] WHAT IF I'M [censored] COMMODUS? PLOT TWIST IMO!

[mbillie1]

[ QUOTE ]
Why should I, as a dude who reads stuff and thinks about stuff, be impressed by Nietzsche. What does he bring to the table that makes him worth being one of your primary intellectual influences?

[/ QUOTE ]

He has accurate criticisms of basically every philosophical system that predated him. He was the also the first of the breed, without Nietzsche there's not really any coherent existentialism (if there is anyway) and phenomenology is slower to come about. If you don't get anything out of his positive philosophy though, his criticisms and explanations of religion, everyday morality, politics and intellectualism are as relevant as anything you're reading today. Nobody really thought the way he did before him and a lot of what he said (most of what he said, the significant philosophical parts anyway) still stands. The problems of Kant and idealism, "free" vs "unfree" will, hypocrisy in altruistic morality, etc etc etc etc are explained in Nietzsche more clearly and concisely than anywhere else I've found. He's also arguably the most significant philosopher since Descartes (and it's hard to name a more significant one since him) so if you're at all interested in the progression of philosophical thought, it might be worth reading.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, is a new tidal wave of Ask Me threads all but inevitable now?

[/ QUOTE ]

Coming soon: Ask me about pissing off Anacardo and getting him to pretentiously troll my Nietzsche thread

[Anacardo]

Pls nga you can't touch me.

(your av's kinda nerdlinger)

(sry that was uncalled for, pls continue w/ thread)

[mbillie1]

[ QUOTE ]
Pls nga you can't touch me.

(your av's kinda nerdlinger)

(sry that was uncalled for, pls continue w/ thread)

[/ QUOTE ]

...or I could make a career of being blue
I could dress in black and read Camus
smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth
like I was seventeen
that would be a scream...

edit: also my av's a hot chick wasting zombies, yours is a dude with a beard, the cosmos are aligned against you on this one

[Anacardo]

I really like stockings.

Please, baby, let's not fight. More Freidy imo. What do you find so relevant / devastating about his criticisms of altruistic morality?

[Quicksilvre]

Your stomach--is it an eagle's? Does it like lamb's flesh the best?

[Triumph36]

mbillie,

what would you say are Nietzsche's best works? I've read Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spake Zarathustra. Also, how much of Nietzsche is contradictory?

Also, is this quote: 'God was clever when he decided to learn Greek when he wished to write the Bible - and not to learn it better.' the best Nietschze quote ever? I humbly submit that it is - at least the wittiest.