FRIEDRICH NIETZCHE was a philosopher born in Prussia in 1844. After
the death of his father, a Lutheran minister, Nietzsche was raised
from the age of five by his mother in a household of women. In 1869
he was appointed Professor of Classical Philology at the University
of Basel, where he taught until 1879 when poor health forced him to
retire. He never recovered from a nervous breakdown in 1889 and
died eleven years later. Known for saying that "god is dead,"
Nietzsche propounded his metaphysical construct of the superiority
of the disciplined individual (superman) living in the present over
traditional values derived from Christianity and its emphasis on
heavenly rewards. His ideas were appropriated by the Fascists, who
turned his theories into social realities that he had never
intended.
WALTER KAUFMANN was a philosopher andpoet, as well as a renowned
translator ofFriedrich Nietzsche. His books include Nietzsche-
Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, From Shakespeare to
Existentialism, and Existentialism- From Dostoevsky to Sartre. He
was a Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, where he
taught after receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1947 until his
death in 1980. He held visiting appointments at many American and
foreign universities, including Columbia, Cornell, Heidelberg,
Jerusalem, and the Australian National University; and his books
have been translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, and
Spanish.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |