Description
Book SynopsisArgues that Nietzsche tried to create a specific literary character in his writings and discusses the paradoxes of his work.
Trade ReviewThis is the best and most important book on Nietzsche in English. Alexander Nehamas argues at a level of sophistication and provides a density of content which are very rare in this field. -- Michael Tanner * Times Literary Supplement *
This new study is fascinating for its portrayal of Nietzsche’s thought as ‘literary’ in a twofold sense: first, Nehamas argues that Nietzsche viewed the world as if it were a literary text; second, he claims that Nietzsche’s goal as an author was to create a specific literary character… The case is argued forcefully (and even with a touch of drama)… The writing is rich and allusive in a manner that is unusual in contemporary works of philosophy. It is a valuable contribution to our understanding of Nietzsche, one that adds substance to the often facile citing of Nietzsche in contemporary literary studies. -- Stephen N. Dunning * Poetics Today *
Anyone at all interested in Nietzsche will certainly want to read [this book]… Nehamas has applied his own theory of interpretation, and he has postulated an integrated, coherent ‘Nietzsche’ to whom no future reader of Nietzsche can remain indifferent. -- David Hoy * London Review of Books *
Marvelous… Nehamas has written perhaps the best book yet on Nietzsche’s philosophy. -- Robert C. Solomon * Philadelphia Inquirer *
Nehamas evolves a wonderfully subtle and ingenious interpretation… [He has] produced something weighty, complex, distinctive—in its way, a work of art. -- George Scialabba * Village Voice Literary Supplement *
Philosophers and anyone interested in philosophy ought…to welcome Alexander Nehamas’s elegant and challenging interpretation of this most ‘writerly of philosophers’ …This unusually engaging book demands our attention. -- Karsten Harries * New York Times Book Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I. The World 1. The Most Multifarious Art of Style 2. Untruth as a Condition of Life 3. A Thing Is the Sum of Its Effects 4. Nature against Something That Is Also Nature Part II. The Self 5. This Life--Your Eternal Life 6. How One Becomes What One Is 7. Beyond Good and Evil A Note on Texts and Translations Notes Index
