Nietzsche discussion

[Abethedemon]

His stuff is all very specific.
I guess you could say he's a...

Spoiler: horrible pun

Neitzch philosopher.

 

[xXRonPaul_42020Xx]

Unfortunately, Nietzsche's fatal flaw as a philosopher, although it isn't his flaw, is that people have seen it as a justification for being monstrous, and ironically, usually people of exactly the sort he critiqued, who do not recognize their own face in a mirror.

Nietzsche impressively managed to predict his fanclub before it even existed:

http://4umi.com/nietzsche/zarathustra/51

Also Nietzsche's true flaw is that most of his fanbase(and haters while were at it) havent actually read him.

 

[DoctorJimmyRay]

One of my favorite facets of Nietzsche and his collective works is the dynamic between Nietzsche himself, Kaufmann, and the translators that are now finally blooming after the "Kaufmann freeze". Kaufmann had his own flaws in interpreting the main body of work, but I rather think he hit the nail on the head when it came to separating Nietzsche from all of the various groups that attempt to categorize or claim him.

I particularly love the objections over how Kaufmann "weakened" and "Liberalized" Nietzsche. I confess that I'm still comparing the various English translations available, but one thing that remains constant among Nietzsche translators, and general reviewers alike for that matter, is that their criticisms of Kaufmann's work tend to quite accurately predict the person's prejudices (and how and to what extent their understanding of Nietzsche is based on their own preconceptions and biases).

Anyone read any of the somewhat newer Stanford translations yet? I particularly enjoyed their translation of Human, All Too Human. Hollingdale has his moments, but his English just feels like its too clunky. It's as if he managed to get closer to the meaning of the original German while losing all of the character of Nietzsche's writing.

Sorry for the sperg post, I just love Nietzsche. During my "intellectual awakening" when I was younger, Nietzsche was my second writer that I really got into. Camus took my philosophy virginity (Nietzsche took my black cherry )

 

[BurningPewter]

Tried to read translations of his books a few times but got lost. The one thing that stood out to me as sad was when he said something like, people will always exploit each other, unless they form a group to exploit other groups.

 

[Hummingbird]

Unfortunately, Nietzsche's fatal flaw as a philosopher, although it isn't his flaw, is that people have seen it as a justification for being monstrous, and ironically, usually people of exactly the sort he critiqued, who do not recognize their own face in a mirror.

Then those people inspire other generations of douchebags. I agree, his work is fascinating even if there are so many people who take it the wrong way.

 

[Abethedemon]

I do like Nietzche, because he has an interesting conception of morality and asceticism, but good god is he misinterpreted by all of his fans.

 

[Cheap Sandals]

I really like Nietzsche. I think most people forget that a lot of what he wrote was satire, or sarcastic, or tongue-in-cheek. I find his work quite funny, to be honest, because what he says is so extreme to shock the reader into considering the importance of self-determination.

I think trouble comes when one tries to use his work as a blueprint for making oneself the ubermensch instead of understanding that such a blueprint is impossible to follow or make, and every ubermensch must be self-created.

edit: I've been led to believe that one of the reasons we misunderstand Nietzsche so much in English is because apparently some important nuances just don't translate well from German into English. I would believe it. Combine fuzzy translations with teenaged angst and you get some emotional basketcases. The Tao Te Ching really fucked with my head as an emotional teen.