Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most influential thinkers of the past 150 years and On the Genealogy of Morality (1887) is his most important work on ethics and politics. A polemical contribution to moral and political theory, it offers a critique of moral values and traces the historical evolution of concepts such as guilt, conscience, responsibility, law and justice. This is a revised and updated edition of one of the most successful volumes to appear in Cambridge Texts in the (...) History of Political Thought. Keith Ansell-Pearson has modified his introduction to Nietzsche's classic text, and Carol Diethe has incorporated a number of changes to the translation itself, reflecting the considerable advances in our understanding of Nietzsche in the twelve years since this edition first appeared. In this new guise the Cambridge Texts edition of Nietzsche's Genealogy should continue to enjoy widespread adoption, at both undergraduate and graduate level. (shrink)

Nietzsche called The Gay Science "the most personal of all my books." It was here that he first proclaimed the death of God -- to which a large part of the book is devoted -- and his doctrine of the eternal recurrence. Walter Kaufmann's commentary, with its many quotations from previously untranslated letters, brings to life Nietzsche as a human being and illuminates his philosophy. The book contains some of Nietzsche's most sustained discussions of art and morality, knowledge and truth, (...) the intellectual conscience and the origin of logic. Most of the book was written just before Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the last part five years later, after Beyond Good and Evil. We encounter Zarathustra in these pages as well as many of Nietzsche's most interesting philosophical ideas and the largest collection of his own poetry that he himself ever published. Walter Kaufmann's English versions of Nietzsche represent one of the major translation enterprises of our time. He is the first philosopher to have translated Nietzsche's major works, and never before has a single translator given us so much of Nietzsche. (shrink)

His introduction offers a comprehensive chapter-by-chapter survey of the work, and there are also explanatory notes.

In der Schrift "Jenseits von Gut und Böse" erreicht Nietzsches philosophische Entlarvung des Nihilismus der überkommenen Werte ihre höchste und reifste Gestalt; als ›Vorspiel der Philosophie der Zukunft‹ konzipiert, inspiriert sie Nietzsche zu einer Neubewertung seiner frühen Schrift über "Die Geburt der Tragödie aus den Geiste der Musik", nun mit dem Vorwort: ›Versuch einer Selbstkritik‹._1885 faßte Friedrich Nietzsche den Entschluß, eine Neue Ausgabe seiner Schriften erscheinen zu lassen, die »das Eigene und Unvergleichliche in diesen Werken« herausstellen sollte. Diesem Konzept folgt (...) auch die von Claus-Artur Scheier neu herausgegebene Ausgabe der philosophischen Werke in sechs in Bänden.BAND 1 Jenseits von Gut und Böse Die Geburt der Tragödie X, 414 SeitenBAND 2 Menschliches, Allzumenschliches 1 VI, 358 SeitenBAND 3 Menschliches, Allzumenschliches 2 VI, 330 SeitenBAND 4 Morgenröthe VI, 330 SeitenBAND 5 Die fröhliche Wissenschaft / Wir Furchtlosen VI, 338 SeitenBAND 6 Zur Genealogie der Moral Götzen-Dämmerung VI, 314 SeitenDiese erste Ausgabe der philosophischen Werke Friedrich Nietzsches in der »Philosophischen Bibliothek« folgt dem 1885 von Nietzsche selbst gefaßten und begründeten Konzept einer Neuen Ausgabe seiner im eigentlichen Sinne »philosophischen« Schriften und bietet den Text nach den Originalausgaben von 1886/1887, ergänzt um die 1889 erschienene Götzen-Dämmerung.Eine »vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand« nach dem Vorbild Goethes hat Friedrich Nietzsche nicht vorlegen können, denn am Ende war er nicht mehr Herr seiner Sinne. Doch gibt das wirklich Grund zur Klage? Oder anders gefragt: Hätte Nietzsche eine solche Ausgabe, die einfach alles versammelt, was er geschrieben hat, überhaupt gewollt und gutgeheißen? Die Frage muß offen bleiben. Doch es gibt gewiß Gründe, Nietzsche nicht mit jenen gleichzustellen, denen es auf diese Weise nur darum zu tun war, ihren Nachruhm zu sichern und nach eigenen Vorstellungen zu steuern. Denn es gibt sie ja, die von Nietzsche selbst gewollte und kritisch kommentierte Ausgabe ganz eigener Art: nämlich die durch Jenseits von Gut und Böse und die Genealogie der Moral eingerahmte Neue Ausgabe von 1886/87, die die vor dem Zarathustra veröffentlichten, mit neuen Vorreden versehenen philosophischen Schriften enthält, von denen der Autor selber sagte: »Sie werden bemerken, daß Menschliches, Allzumenschliches, die Morgenröte, die fröhliche Wissenschaft einer Vorrede ermangeln: es hatte gute Gründe, daß ich damals, als diese Werke entstanden, mir ein Stillschweigen auferlegte – ich stand noch zu nahe, noch zu sehr ›drin‹ und wußte kaum, was mit mir geschehen war. Jetzt, wo ich selber am besten und genauesten sagen kann, was das Eigene und Unvergleichliche in diesen Werken ist und inwiefern sie eine für Deutschland neue Literatur inaugurieren, würde ich mich zu solchen zurückblickenden und nachträglichen Vorreden gerne entschließen. Meine Schriften stellen eine fortlaufende Entwicklung dar, welche nicht nur mein persönliches Erlebnis und Schicksal sein wird: – ich bin nur der Erste, eine heraufkommende Generation wird das, was ich erlebt habe, von sich aus verstehn und eine feine Zunge für meine Bücher haben. Die Vorreden könnten das Notwendige im Gange einer solchen Entwicklung deutlich machen.« Mit der 1990 unter dem Titel ›Friedrich Nietzsche: Ecce auctor‹ vorgelegten Edition der Vorreden von 1886 hatte Claus-Artur Scheier zum ersten Mal darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß Nietzsche die für die Neue Ausgabe seiner im eigentlichen Sinne »philosophischen« Schriften verfaßten Vorreden als in sich geschlossenen, genealogisch angelegten Versuch einer selbstkritischen Neubewertung und Einordnung seines Werkes ansah: »Von der Vorrede zur Geburt der Tragödie bis zur Vorrede des letztgenannten Buchs [der ›Genealogie der Moral‹] – das gibt eine Art ›Entwicklungsgeschichte‹«. Jetzt sah sich Nietzsche im Zenit seiner Schaffenskraft, und die Neue Ausgabe sollte den Mitte 1885 gefaßten Plan vorantreiben, »eine große Schul-Tätigkeit als Philosoph auszuüben […]. Die Bücher heraus aus diesem Winkel!!! Es sind meine Angelhaken; wenn sie mir keine Menschen fangen, so haben sie keinen Sinn!«. (shrink)

The four short works in Untimely Meditations were published by Nietzsche between 1873 and 1876.They deal with such broad topics as the relationship between popular and genuine culture, strategies for cultural reform, the task of philosophy, the nature of education, and the relationship between art, science and life. They also include Nietzsche's earliest statement of his own understanding of human selfhood as a process of endlessly 'becoming who one is'. As Daniel Breazeale shows in his introduction to this new edition (...) of R. J. Hollingdale's translation of the essays, these four early texts are key documents for understanding the development of Nietzsche's thought and clearly anticipate many of the themes of his later writings. Nietzsche himself always cherished his Untimely Meditations and believed that they provide valuable evidence of his 'becoming and self-overcoming' and constitute a 'public pledge' concerning his own distinctive task as a philosopher. (shrink)

Written in 1888, while Nietzsche was at the height of his brilliance, these two polemics blaze with provocative, inflammatory rhetoric. Nietzsche's "grand declaration of war," Twilight of the Idol s examines what we worship and why. Intended by the author as a general introduction to his philosophy, it assails "idols" of Western philosophy and culture (Socratic rationality and Christian morality among them) and sets the scene for The Antichrist . In addition to its full-scale attack on Christianity and Jesus Christ, (...) The Antichrist denounces organized religion as a whole. Students of philosophy, history, and German literature will find both works essential reading. (shrink)

This remarkable collection of almost 1,400 aphorisms was originally published in three instalments. The first (now Volume I) appeared in 1878, just before Nietzsche abandoned academic life, with a first supplement entitled The Assorted Opinions and Maxims following in 1879, and a second entitled The Wanderer and his Shadow a year later. In 1886 Nietzsche republished them together in a two-volume edition, with new prefaces to each volume. Both volumes are presented here in R. J. Hollingdale's distinguished translation (originally published (...) in the series Cambridge Texts in German Philosophy) with a new introduction by Richard Schacht. In this wide-ranging work Nietzsche first employed his celebrated aphoristic style, so perfectly suited to his iconoclastic, penetrating and multi-faceted thought. Many themes of his later work make their initial appearance here, expressed with unforgettable liveliness and subtlety. Human, All Too Human well deserves its subtitle 'A Book for Free Spirits', and its original dedication to Voltaire, whose project of radical enlightenment here found a new champion. (shrink)

“Supposing that truth is a women-what then?” This is the very first sentence in Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil . Not very often are philosophers so disarmingly explicit in their intention to discomfort the reader. In fact, one might say that the natural state of Nietzsche’s reader is one of perplexity. Yet it is in the process of overcoming the perplexity that one realizes how rewarding to have one’s ideas challenged. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche critiques the mediocre in (...) modernity and challenges the reader to accept their state of becoming and accept improvisation and creativity of the process. Nietzsche’s book is carefully designed to disorient the reader, to systematically provoke and tease her to the point of stealing away her certainties. It is challenging yet rewarding to overcome the perplexities of Nietzsche’s teachings. (shrink)

For much of his adult life, Nietzsche wrote notes on philosophical subjects in small notebooks that he carried around with him. After his breakdown and subsequent death, his sister supervised the publication of some of these notes under the title The Will to Power, and that collection, which is textually inaccurate and substantively misleading, has dominated the English-speaking discussion of Nietzsche's later thought. The present volume offers, for the first time, accurate translations of a selection of writings from Nietzsche's late (...) notebooks, dating from his last productive years between 1885 and 1889. Many of them have never before been published in English. They are translated by Kate Sturge from reliable texts in the Colli-Montinari edition, and they are edited by Rüdiger Bittner, whose introduction places them in the context of Nietzsche's philosophy as a whole. (shrink)

Ecce Homo is an autobiography like no other. Nietzsche passes under review all his previous books and reaches a final reckoning with his many enemies. Ecce Homo is the summation of an extraordinary philosophical career.

This English translation—the first since 1909—restores Human, All Too Human to its proper central position in the Nietzsche canon. First published in 1878, the book marks the philosophical coming of age of Friedrich Nietzsche. In it he rejects the romanticism of his early work, influenced by Wagner and Schopenhauer, and looks to enlightened reason and science. The "Free Spirit" enters, untrammeled by all accepted conventions, a precursor of Zarathustra. The result is 638 stunning aphorisms about everything under and above the (...) sun. (shrink)

Nietzsche wrote The Gay Science, which he later described as 'perhaps my most personal book', when he was at the height of his intellectual powers, and the reader will find in it an extensive and sophisticated treatment of the philosophical themes and views which were most central to Nietzsche's own thought and which have been most influential on later thinkers. These include the death of God, the problem of nihilism, the role of truth, falsity and the will-to-truth in human life, (...) the doctrine of the eternal recurrence, and the question of the proper attitude to adopt toward human suffering and toward human achievement. This volume presents the work in a new translation by Josefine Nauckhoff, with an introduction by Bernard Williams that elucidates the work's main themes and discusses their continuing philosophical importance. (shrink)

In The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche expounds on the origins of Greek tragedy and its relevance to the German culture of its time. He declares it to be the expression of a culture which has achieved a delicate but powerful balance between Dionysian insight into the chaos and suffering which underlies all existence and the discipline and clarity of rational Apollonian form. In order to promote a return to these values, Nietzsche critiques the complacent rationalism of late nineteenth-century German culture (...) and makes an impassioned plea for the regenerative potential of the music of Wagner. A wide ranging discussion of the nature of art, science, and religion, The Birth of Tragedy's argument raises important questions about the problematic nature of cultural origins which are still valid today. (shrink)

Classic, influential study of Greek tragedy.

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." This is the book in which Nietzsche put forth his boldest declaration. It is also his most personal. Essential reading for students of philosophy, history, and literature, it features some of Nietzsche's most important discussions of art, morality, knowledge, and, ultimately, truth.

`Anyone who wants to gain a quick idea of how before me everything was topsy-turvy should make a start with this work. That which is called idol on the title-page is quite simply that which was called truth hitherto. Twilight of the Idols - in plain words: the old truth is coming to an end...' Nietzsche intended Twilight of the Idols to serve as a short introduction to his philosophy, and as a result it is the most synoptic of all (...) his books. Continuing in the spirit of its immediate predecessors On The Genealogy of Morals and The Wagner Case, it is a masterpiece of polemic, targeting not only `eternal idols' like Socratic rationality and Christian morality but also their contemporary counterparts, as Nietzsche the `untimely man' goes roaming in the gloaming of nineteenth-century European culture. He allies philosophy with psychology and physiology, relentlessly diagnozing the symptoms of decadence, and his stylistic virtuosity is such that the sheer delight he takes in his 'demonic' mischief-making communicates itself on every page. A brilliant new translation, this edition provides detailed commentary on a highly condensed and allusive work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. (shrink)

One hundred years after his death, Friedrich Nietzsche remains the most influential philosopher of the modern era. Basic Writings of Nietzsche gathers the complete texts of five of Nietzsche's most important works, from his first book to his last: The Birth of Tragedy; Beyond Good and Evil; On the Genealogy of Morals; The Case of Wagner; and Ecce Homo. Edited and translated by the great Nietzsche scholar Walter Kaufmann, this volume provides a definitive guide to the full range of Nietzsche's (...) thought. Included also are seventy-five aphorisms, selections from Nietzsche's correspondence, and variants from drafts for Ecce Homo. (shrink)

Skillful, sophisticated translations of two of Nietzsche's essential works about the conflict between the moral and aesthetic approaches to life, the impact of Christianity on human values, the meaning of science, the contrast between the Apollonian and Dionysian spirits, and other themes central to his thinking.

"The three works in this collection, all dating from Nietzsche's last lucid months, show him at his most stimulating and controversial: the portentous ...

Written in 1888, a few weeks before his descent into madness, the book sub-titled 'How To Become What You Are' passes under review all Nietzsche's previous ...

The Nietzsche Reader brings together in one volume substantial selections from the entire body of Nietzsche’s writings, together with illuminating commentary on Nietzsche’s life and importance, and introductions to his major works and philosophical ideas. • Includes selections from all the major texts, including The Birth of Tragedy, The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Anti-Christ, and Ecce Homo • Offers new translations of key pieces from Nietzsche’s unpublished “Lenzer Heide” notebook • Provides a wealth of (...) pedagogical features, such as editorial sections on Nietzsche’s life and importance, an opening introduction to his philosophical ideas, introductions to each major section, and a comprehensive guide to further reading. (shrink)

Published posthumously in 1908, Ecce Homo was written in 1888 and completed just a few weeks before Nietzsche’s complete mental collapse. Its outrageously egotistical review of the philosopher’s life and works—featuring chapters called Why I Am So Wise and Why I Write Such Good Books—are redeemed from mere arrogance by masterful language and ever-relevant ideas. In addition to settling scores with his many personal and philosophical enemies, Nietzsche emphasizes the importance of questioning traditional morality, establishing autonomy, and making a commitment (...) to creativity. Essential reading for students of philosophy, this unique memoir is crucial to an understanding of Nietzsche’s other works. (shrink)

A 19th-century literary masterpiece, tremendously influential in the arts and in philosophy, uses the Persian religious leader Zarathustra to voice the author’s views, including the introduction of the controversial doctrine of the Ubermensch, or "superman," a term later perverted by Nazi propagandists. A passionate, quasi-biblical style is employed to inspire readers to become more than they have been and to transcend the limitations of conventional morality. A provocative work that remains a fixture of college reading lists.

This volume is the first of two to provide a new edition of Human, All Too Human, the earliest of Nietzsche's works in which his philosophical concerns and methodologies can be glimpsed. Published in 1878, it marked both a stylistic and an intellectual shift away from Nietzsche's own youthful affiliation with Romantic excesses of German thought and culture. It presents the precursors of the ideas that would later become Nietzsche's theories on genealogy and of the U;bermensch. This new translation presents (...) Nietzsche's text in the straightforward, direct prose of the original. It is the first English edition to include the significant variants and revisions of the original published text, and the first to provide cross-references to the forthcoming volume of Nietzsche's notebook material from the same period. It includes explanatory notes and a translator's afterword detailing the history of the work. (shrink)

Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most scathing and powerful critiques of philosophy, religion, science, politics and ethics ever written. In it, Nietzsche presents a set of problems, criticisms and philosophical challenges that continue both to inspire and to trouble contemporary thought. In addition, he offers his most subtle, detailed and sophisticated account of the virtues, ideas, and practices which will characterize philosophy and philosophers of the future. With his relentlessly energetic style and tirelessly probing manner, Nietzsche embodies (...) the type of thought he wants to foster, while defining its historical role and determining its agenda. This edition offers a new and readable translation, by Judith Norman, of one of the most influential texts in the history of philosophy, together with an introduction by Rolf-Peter Horstmann that sets it in its historical and philosophical context. (shrink)

Note on the texts -- Note on the translation -- October 1867 - April 1868 : on Schopenhauer -- Notebook 1, autumn 1869 -- Notebook 2, winter 1869/1870 - spring 1870 -- Notebook 3, winter 1869/1870 - spring 1870 -- Notebook 5, September 1870 - January 1871 -- Notebook 6, end of 1870 -- Notebook 7, end of 1870 - April 1871 -- Notebook 9, 1871 -- Notebook 10, beginning of 1871 -- Notebook 11, February 1871 -- Notebook 12, spring (...) 1871 -- Notebook 16, summer 1871 - spring 1872 -- Notebook 19, summer 1872 - beginning of 1873 -- Notebook 23, winter 1872/1873 -- Notebook 28, spring-autumn 1873 -- Notebook 29, summer-autumn 1873 -- Notebook 30, autumn 1873 - winter 1873/1874 -- Notebook 31, autumn 1873 - winter 1873/1874 -- Notebook 32, beginning of 1874 - spring 1874 -- Notebook 34, spring-summer 1874 -- Notebook 37, end of 1874 -- Notebook 3, March 1875 -- Notebook 5, spring-summer 1875 -- Notebook 6, summer? 1875 -- Notebook 17, summer 1876 -- Notebook 19, October-December 1876 -- Notebook 21, end of 1876 - summer 1877 -- Notebook 23, end of 1876 - summer 1877 -- Notebook 27, spring-summer 1878 -- Notebook 28, spring-summer 1878 -- Notebook 29, summer 1878 -- Notebook 30, summer 1878 -- Notebook 33, autumn 1878 -- Notebook 40, June-July 1879 -- Notebook 41, July 1879 -- Notebook 42, July-August 1879 -- Notebook 47, September-November 1879 -- On the pathos of truth -- On truth and lie in an extra-moral sense. (shrink)

Daybreak marks the arrival of Nietzsche's 'mature' philosophy and is indispensable for an understanding of his critique of morality and 'revaluation of all values'. This volume presents the distinguished translation by R. J. Hollingdale, with a new introduction that argues for a dramatic change in Nietzsche's views from Human, All Too Human to Daybreak, and shows how this change, in turn, presages the main themes of Nietzsche's later and better-known works such as On the Genealogy of Morality. The main themes (...) of Daybreak are located in their intellectual and philosophical contexts: in Nietzsche's training as a classical philologist and his fascination with the Sophists and Thucydides; in the moral philosophies of Kant and Schopenhauer, which are the central foci of Nietzsche's critique of morality; and in the German Materialist movement of the 1850s and after, which shaped Nietzsche's conception of persons. The edition is completed by a chronology, notes and a guide to further reading. (shrink)