One of the themes in my Philosophy of Politics courses (Part 1, Part 2) is the vast gulf between the Continental and Anglo-American traditions over the desirability of war and peace. Relevant to that discussion are these quotations from Nietzsche on war: Why war is necessary: “War essential. It is vain rhapsodizing and sentimentality to […]
Friedrich Nietzsche on the necessity of war Read More »
Nietzsche comments wryly on contemporary religious morality: “One believes one must disapprove of Cesare Borgia; that is simply laughable. The church has excommunicated German emperors on account of their vices: as if a monk or priest had any right to join in a discussion about what a Frederick II may demand of himself. A Don
Romantic advice to women — Nietzsche version Read More »
In 1869, young Friedrich Nietzsche became a professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. The university’s professors of philosophy told their students not to take Nietzsche’s courses, arguing that he was not really a philosopher and a lightweight. As one scholar relates the tale: “For a time, Nietzsche, then professor of
Original thinkers’ contemporaries: Nietzsche edition Read More »
Wisdom about the challenge of learning from a great genius and then finding one’s own path. Here is Zarathustra: “Now I go alone, my disciples, You too, go now, alone. Thus I want it. Go away from me and resist Zarathustra! And even better: be ashamed of him! Perhaps he deceived you. The man of
Geniuses and their followers Read More »
[This is Section 29 of Stephen R.C. Hicks’s Nietzsche and the Nazis.] 29. On contemporary Germans: the world’s hope or contemptible? While the Nazis put the German-Aryan racial type first, Nietzsche is almost never complimentary about his fellow Germans. In Nietzsche’s view, Germany has slipped into flabbiness and whininess. Germany once was something to be
Nietzsche on his contemporary Germans Read More »
My “Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand” was published in The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies. Here is the abstract for my 43-page study: “Philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Ayn Rand are often identified as strong critics of altruism and arch advocates of egoism. In this essay, Stephen Hicks argues that Nietzsche and Rand have much in
Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand Read More »
From The Gay Science (1.3): “What distinguishes the common nature is that it unflinchingly keeps sight of its advantage, and that this thought of purpose and advantage is even stronger than its strongest drives; not to allow these drives to lead it astray to perform inexpeditious acts — that is its wisdom and self-esteem. In
Creative geniuses as selfish — Nietzsche version Read More »
Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1887 Genealogy of Morals is an essentialized and more systematic presentation of themes from his 1886 Beyond Good and Evil. Here is my digest of the main line of argument of Genealogy‘s first essay: 1. Evolution and psycho-biology: Humans are an evolved bundle of inbuilt drives that assert themselves.2. The most basic drive
22 points from Nietzsche’s *Genealogy of Morals* Read More »