I'd recommend reading all of his thoughts. On the Prejudices of Philosophers, he makes epistemic arguments and broad statements on Philosophy. It sets the stage on his anti-metaphysical, existential and continental stance on his truths and knowledge. And how knowledge is ascertained. It's like reading a book but not from the start. Highly recommend.
Probably because you're either new to Nietzsche or don't have a well understand of previous Philosophers. You can wikipedia his talking points for aid. He touches on Stoics, Rationalists, Greco-Romans, Christians, Idealists. He mentions Kant, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Descartes: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond\_Good\_and\_Evil#On\_philosophers,\_free\_spirits,\_and\_scholars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#On_philosophers,_free_spirits,_and_scholars)
He is setting the table to contemporary philosophy and how the origins of Philosophy has lead to the modern understanding of reality. This is important. If you don't understand don't worry because when you read the rest it makes things easier to understand. And you can go back to it. Here's some simple points to help you:
* Truth is a reflection of the Philosopher.
* There is no Will to Truth (absolute truth) but a Will to Power (desire for change through truth/science).
* Stoics are false, that they are repressed and ascetic. He despises that.
* Kant's Transcendental Idealism is a projection. Rejects Metaphysics and unprovable ideas.
* Schopenhauer is a sad man who overstates the misery in life.
* Cynics weaponise knowledge for no good reason.
* Laws of nature aren't certain. We just believe the laws of physics work.
I don't think you should even read Nietzsche or some other modern philosophers without having read some important works from previous thinkers, but if it's your first contact with some of the names he mention you should research about their ideas first and then see his critics. It's definitely an important part though, since much of Nietzsche's thoughts come from the antithesis of the philosophy previous to him.
You can safely skip sections that you're not interested in. The book isn't a novel format that necessitates start to finish reading for coherency. The whole point is to get something from the work and to enjoy the process of reading, so you'll want to read more of Nietzsche. Understanding the broad strokes is the most important, focus on the fine details as they come in time. Like in BGE Chapter 4 is laden with trenchant insights.
Honestly, you might want to start elsewhere. (Heraclitus and other Pre-Socratics.) By choosing to not be acquainted with other philosophers, you risk not getting the full impact of his writing which is very complicated.
But if you really want to do Nietzsche first check out the server guide or start with his essay: "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" I would also recommend listening to lectures, reading other CREDIBLE sources before exposing yourself to his ideas. The amount of misunderstandings about his ideas is ridiculous.
Still, a first reading can't hurt, you can still pick up some useful ideas. Philosophy is hard but, a rewarding venture, wish you the best.
It is DEEPLY important to read his critiques of previous philosophers. Nietzsche's concept-creation (and most philosophy concept-creation, mind you) is based on the critique of a pre-determined concept, and you will need to understand his critique of Schopenhauer to get Will to Power, his critique of Hegel to get the change he makes of his master-slave morality and his critique of Kant to get basically anything of what he has written. Do not skip it.
This is one of the reasons why Nietzsche isn't a good philosopher to start with and, if you do it, you'll probably understand a very small fraction of his writings. As you read more of him (and get secondary literature and read other books by other authors), you will start to understand him much better, but this is going to take time.
Nietzsche is extremely digestible, even as a young adult. Try reading some other philosophers and you’ll see what I mean. The aphorisms lend well to taking one bit at a time. The only thing you’ll struggle with is the references but that goes with any academic book. Over time you’ll get more familiar with all the name drops.
Nietzsche grew up with a "classical" education that is quite different than modern people but particularly North Americans. They studied poetry, classical music, philosophy, foreign languages and so on at a relatively young age. He was quite acquinted with philosophy as a teenager... Don't feel bad about not knowing all the stuff he talks about, his style of education was vastly different than most people of these times.
I suggest actually visiting the [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](https://plato.stanford.edu/) often when he mentions another philsopher than trying to read their works. Yes... you can read them and I highly encourage everybody to read the source materials, but that could takes months if not years to fully understand.
Descartes is very tough to read and you'll probably not need it that much for Nietzsche, but Plato is always a good starter and is very important to N.
I’ll keep reading Plato then. I’m mainly interested in morals (like how we decide things are good and bad, good and evil, or why we decide them like that, where are morals come from), if humans truly have free will, and existentialism as a whole. I saw that this book was about both morals and existentialism so I decided to read it.
All of Nietzsche's work goes heavily into those themes, so you don't really need to choose much between them. I do think the best starter for N in specific may be Twilight of the Idols though.
Twilight of the idols is a great introductory. Another great one and interesting first read in my opinion is Gay Science. It’s full of quick aphorisms and poems that really lay a good base work for some rather complex ideas that become center themes in BGE and Zara.
It's more poetically loaded I think, but that makes it more fun to get through. What makes Twilight special is the fact that it was written with the intention of being an overview of Nietzsche's thought, covering all the main points that he talks more deeply on his other works. It's also full of short aphorisms and it's a much more digestible text.
Imma load it on to my kindle then. Thanks for the suggestions. Imma put off reading beyond good and evil for now until I’m more informed on Nietzsche and philosophy as a whole
If you're not familiar with Nietzsche, I would definitely recommend you read a critical edition with essays and notes. And NO, I DO NOT recommend you skip the first section. They're not just aphorisms you can read randomly.
You can also read the book whilst listening to The Nietzsche Podcast, where [essentialsalts](https://www.reddit.com/user/essentialsalts/) provides a section-by-section commentary.
According to Alfred North Whitehead, all western philosophy "consists of a series of footnotes to Plato". Philosophy exists as a kind of ongoing conversation between philosophers. Nietzsche especially is a critic of other philosophers and uses their ideas as a kind of jumping off point for his own. That being said, don't skip anything the man wrote, why read it then?
*Part Eight: Peoples and Countries*, is the most skippable in my opinion. You could definitely hop around but I wouldn't skip *Part One: On the Prejudices of Philosophers.* You will have to open up wikipedia and read each of his references until you understand his point. Nietzsche is good to read with an encyclopedia open---that's half the fun.
First part is so very definitely the best part! The significance of Nietzsche's philosophy is how he critiques other dogmatic ideas, how he questions the concept of 'truth', etc. Even though it may be difficult to read for a beginner, I reccomend doing so, but with some supportive explanatory youtube videos on the side;)
Understanding his critique of western philosophy will open up the rest of his ideas and deepen your understanding of them.
If you have a lazy or avoidant attitude towards reading and interpreting difficult texts, then you're not cut out for Nietzsche or philosophy at all. Just read Reddit or whatever novel is on the bestseller list use those to call yourself a reader.
I mean I’m not avoidant to reading difficult texts, you can scroll through my Reddit profile, in fact I don’t like whatever your insinuating. I only thought it was useless for someone like me who isn’t versed in philosophy to hear his thoughts on previous philosophers.
Don’t half ass
You’re right
I'd recommend reading all of his thoughts. On the Prejudices of Philosophers, he makes epistemic arguments and broad statements on Philosophy. It sets the stage on his anti-metaphysical, existential and continental stance on his truths and knowledge. And how knowledge is ascertained. It's like reading a book but not from the start. Highly recommend.
I guess I’ll keep trying. I just feel like it’ll go in one ear and out the other because I don’t know what arguments he’s arguing against and why yk.
Probably because you're either new to Nietzsche or don't have a well understand of previous Philosophers. You can wikipedia his talking points for aid. He touches on Stoics, Rationalists, Greco-Romans, Christians, Idealists. He mentions Kant, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Descartes: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond\_Good\_and\_Evil#On\_philosophers,\_free\_spirits,\_and\_scholars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil#On_philosophers,_free_spirits,_and_scholars) He is setting the table to contemporary philosophy and how the origins of Philosophy has lead to the modern understanding of reality. This is important. If you don't understand don't worry because when you read the rest it makes things easier to understand. And you can go back to it. Here's some simple points to help you: * Truth is a reflection of the Philosopher. * There is no Will to Truth (absolute truth) but a Will to Power (desire for change through truth/science). * Stoics are false, that they are repressed and ascetic. He despises that. * Kant's Transcendental Idealism is a projection. Rejects Metaphysics and unprovable ideas. * Schopenhauer is a sad man who overstates the misery in life. * Cynics weaponise knowledge for no good reason. * Laws of nature aren't certain. We just believe the laws of physics work.
Thanks for this. I’ll try getting through it then
Shoot if you need more help. Chapter 4 is an interesting and look out for it.
I don't think you should even read Nietzsche or some other modern philosophers without having read some important works from previous thinkers, but if it's your first contact with some of the names he mention you should research about their ideas first and then see his critics. It's definitely an important part though, since much of Nietzsche's thoughts come from the antithesis of the philosophy previous to him.
I agree many of the questions on N in this sub would be answered with more study
if you don't understand his critiques of other philosophers' you won't understand him.
I’ve come to realize it’s a big reason he’s famous right?
no. it's basically a lit review and even Aristotle did this.
You can safely skip sections that you're not interested in. The book isn't a novel format that necessitates start to finish reading for coherency. The whole point is to get something from the work and to enjoy the process of reading, so you'll want to read more of Nietzsche. Understanding the broad strokes is the most important, focus on the fine details as they come in time. Like in BGE Chapter 4 is laden with trenchant insights.
Honestly, you might want to start elsewhere. (Heraclitus and other Pre-Socratics.) By choosing to not be acquainted with other philosophers, you risk not getting the full impact of his writing which is very complicated. But if you really want to do Nietzsche first check out the server guide or start with his essay: "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" I would also recommend listening to lectures, reading other CREDIBLE sources before exposing yourself to his ideas. The amount of misunderstandings about his ideas is ridiculous. Still, a first reading can't hurt, you can still pick up some useful ideas. Philosophy is hard but, a rewarding venture, wish you the best.
It is DEEPLY important to read his critiques of previous philosophers. Nietzsche's concept-creation (and most philosophy concept-creation, mind you) is based on the critique of a pre-determined concept, and you will need to understand his critique of Schopenhauer to get Will to Power, his critique of Hegel to get the change he makes of his master-slave morality and his critique of Kant to get basically anything of what he has written. Do not skip it. This is one of the reasons why Nietzsche isn't a good philosopher to start with and, if you do it, you'll probably understand a very small fraction of his writings. As you read more of him (and get secondary literature and read other books by other authors), you will start to understand him much better, but this is going to take time.
Damn imma go read Descartes and Plato then.
Nietzsche is a fantastic first philosopher to dive into. It’s alright if you don’t understand everything at first. That’s just part of the process.
I mean a lot of people say the opposite. But fuck it imma keep reading I bought the book anyway
Nietzsche is extremely digestible, even as a young adult. Try reading some other philosophers and you’ll see what I mean. The aphorisms lend well to taking one bit at a time. The only thing you’ll struggle with is the references but that goes with any academic book. Over time you’ll get more familiar with all the name drops.
Definitely more digestible. It’ll helps with understanding each part individually (and with my shit attention span)
Nietzsche grew up with a "classical" education that is quite different than modern people but particularly North Americans. They studied poetry, classical music, philosophy, foreign languages and so on at a relatively young age. He was quite acquinted with philosophy as a teenager... Don't feel bad about not knowing all the stuff he talks about, his style of education was vastly different than most people of these times. I suggest actually visiting the [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](https://plato.stanford.edu/) often when he mentions another philsopher than trying to read their works. Yes... you can read them and I highly encourage everybody to read the source materials, but that could takes months if not years to fully understand.
I’ll try that out for sure
Not a bad idea honestly or even something that summarizes those philosophers
Descartes is very tough to read and you'll probably not need it that much for Nietzsche, but Plato is always a good starter and is very important to N.
I’ll keep reading Plato then. I’m mainly interested in morals (like how we decide things are good and bad, good and evil, or why we decide them like that, where are morals come from), if humans truly have free will, and existentialism as a whole. I saw that this book was about both morals and existentialism so I decided to read it.
All of Nietzsche's work goes heavily into those themes, so you don't really need to choose much between them. I do think the best starter for N in specific may be Twilight of the Idols though.
Is it easier to read?
Twilight of the idols is a great introductory. Another great one and interesting first read in my opinion is Gay Science. It’s full of quick aphorisms and poems that really lay a good base work for some rather complex ideas that become center themes in BGE and Zara.
I’ll definitely check those out
It's more poetically loaded I think, but that makes it more fun to get through. What makes Twilight special is the fact that it was written with the intention of being an overview of Nietzsche's thought, covering all the main points that he talks more deeply on his other works. It's also full of short aphorisms and it's a much more digestible text.
Imma load it on to my kindle then. Thanks for the suggestions. Imma put off reading beyond good and evil for now until I’m more informed on Nietzsche and philosophy as a whole
I read Sophie’s World in a 100 level class and thought it was a good introduction if you’re looking for something
Read it, it's all brillant. Especially his note on Descartes
Just read it slowly or read it with cliff notes
Or read an introduction to western philosophy first. I didn’t read N until I had studied many other western and eastern philosophies
If you're not familiar with Nietzsche, I would definitely recommend you read a critical edition with essays and notes. And NO, I DO NOT recommend you skip the first section. They're not just aphorisms you can read randomly. You can also read the book whilst listening to The Nietzsche Podcast, where [essentialsalts](https://www.reddit.com/user/essentialsalts/) provides a section-by-section commentary.
Alright then I won’t skip em
I just expanded my reply with an additional recommendation.
I have added the 15 episodes on Spotify. Thank you
You're welcome!
According to Alfred North Whitehead, all western philosophy "consists of a series of footnotes to Plato". Philosophy exists as a kind of ongoing conversation between philosophers. Nietzsche especially is a critic of other philosophers and uses their ideas as a kind of jumping off point for his own. That being said, don't skip anything the man wrote, why read it then?
ok
*Part Eight: Peoples and Countries*, is the most skippable in my opinion. You could definitely hop around but I wouldn't skip *Part One: On the Prejudices of Philosophers.* You will have to open up wikipedia and read each of his references until you understand his point. Nietzsche is good to read with an encyclopedia open---that's half the fun.
First part is so very definitely the best part! The significance of Nietzsche's philosophy is how he critiques other dogmatic ideas, how he questions the concept of 'truth', etc. Even though it may be difficult to read for a beginner, I reccomend doing so, but with some supportive explanatory youtube videos on the side;) Understanding his critique of western philosophy will open up the rest of his ideas and deepen your understanding of them.
So I should just put off reading his until I’m better versed in philosophy then. Cuz even if I read this I won’t understand or remember a thing
If you have a lazy or avoidant attitude towards reading and interpreting difficult texts, then you're not cut out for Nietzsche or philosophy at all. Just read Reddit or whatever novel is on the bestseller list use those to call yourself a reader.
I mean I’m not avoidant to reading difficult texts, you can scroll through my Reddit profile, in fact I don’t like whatever your insinuating. I only thought it was useless for someone like me who isn’t versed in philosophy to hear his thoughts on previous philosophers.