Nietzsche: The Man and His Philosophy

by R.J. Hollingdale

Book Overview

Hollingdale's biography remains the single best account of the life and works for the student or nonspecialist. This classic biography of Nietzsche was first published in the 1960s and was enthusiastically reviewed at the time. Long out of print, it is now reissued with its text updated in the light of recent research. The biography chronicles Nietzsche's intellectual evolution and discusses his friendship and breach with Wagner, his attitude toward...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521640911
• ISBN13: 9780521640916
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for any student of Nietzsche

This book does exactly what its title suggests: it provides an excellent overview of Nietzsche's philosophy and how it relates to the events of Nietzsche's life. It does this so clearly and concisely that Hollingdale's voice and methods are almost as engaging as the subject matter he illuminates. Reading "Nietzsche: The Man and His Philosophy" is like being invited into the study of a first-class Nietzsche scholar for a rigorous and no-nonsense discussion of the master's thought. The book moves gracefully between the details of Nietzsche's day-to-day existence- his childhood, student years, time as a professor, life as an itinerant philosopher, and finally his breakdown and subsequent insanity- and his parallel philosophical output. As a result, the reader leaves Hollingdale's work with a much clearer sense of the general arc of Nietzsche's philosophical development- from a young philology professor under the spell of Wagner and Schopenhauer to a mature, fully-realized thinker whose philosophy represents one of the greatest examples of Western thought's transition to modernity. In addition to providing a detailed account of Nietzsche's personal life, Hollingdale explains Nietzsche's most important thoughts (e.g. the will to power, the eternal recurrence, the revaluation of values, etc.) mostly by quoting Nietzsche himself. This is both illuminating and in stark contrast to many other Nietzsche commentaries (e.g. books by Heidegger, Derrida, Deleuze), which, although important in their own rite, use Nietzsche as a springboard for their authors' own ideas instead of attempting to clarify what Nietzsche actually said. For students who are looking for an exposition of Nietzsche's thought that is based closely on his actual texts, Hollingdale's work is the best one out there. In fact, it should be a prerequisite for reading Derrida's "Spurs," Heidegger's Nietzsche Lectures, or any of the other more speculative "post-structuralist" thinking Nietzsche's critique of western metaphysics inspired. Another standout aspect of Hollingdale's work is his constant engagement with important questions about how Nietzsche has been received and how he is best to be studied today. First, Hollingdale clearly and convincingly shows that appropriations of Nietzsche's work by facists, anti-semites, racists, irrationalists, and other numbskulls are and have been completely unfounded. Second, he makes a convincing case for relegating Nietzsche's Nachlass (unpublished fragments currently available under the title "The Will to Power") to second-tier status and regarding only the published works as definitive of Nietzsche's true philosophy. This is an important point in that it questions entire strands of Nietzsche scholarship (most notably Heidegger's Nietzsche Lectures), which are founded mainly on texts taken from the Nachlass. Whether or not Hollingdale is correct in this assessment of the Nachlass is a complex and debatable question, but he makes an e

A book that does Nietzsche justice

Anyone interested in a lucid,fair,nonsense and distortion-free overview of Nietzsche's writings and life could do no better than to start here.Hollingdale avoids what the usual crowd of Nietzsche biographers and explainers and interpreters stumble over.Here you will not find the deconstructionist nonsense of Gilles Deleuze or the turning of Nietzsche into a contradictor of his own writings a la Heidegger.Perhaps no philosopher in history has had so many bad advocates and screeching and intentionally misleading and misinterpreting critics as Nietzsche.So much fetid,vapid and idiotic writing has enveloped Nietzsche that it threatens to destroy the philosopher altogheter.The future of Nietzsche scholarship needs many more individuals like R.J. Hollingdale if one of the most profound,original and critically important figures of the modern world is to be given proper justice.More importantly the public sorely needs to have the means to better understand why this philosopher is the axis on which all philosophy of the last century turns.Most of what Nietzsche wrote is still terribly misunderstood and reviled for no good reason.Hollingdale is one of the few,but hopefully the beginning of a flood of well thought out,accurate and sober scholars who will help integrate this most fascinating and courageous philosopher into our public discourse and common knowledge.

perfect antedote to presumptuous thinking about nietzsche

this book should prove useful for readers looking for a well-written, intelligent, and accessible introduction to this often very difficult and enigmatic thinker. hollingdale tackles head on many common misconceptions of nietzsche (i.e. that he was a nihilist, an anti-semite, a fascist) through the use of extensive quotes and poignant commentary. we see the development of his thought, from his youthful admiration of wagner and schopenhauer, through to his mature explications of the idea of life as will to power, and the theme of eternal recurrence. for the disciplined student this book proves to be of great value as well, offering insights into the personality of the man himself, through numerous letters and recollections from those who knew him most intimately. this is a great biography, respectful and humane, but also willing to acknowledge nietzsche's shortcomings and possible confusions as to his own state of mind and health.

Still the definitive biography

Hollingdale worked side by side with the dean of all Nietzsche scholars, Walter Kaufmann, for many years. His biography of Nietzsche parallels Kaufmann's groundbreaking study "Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist", a watershed in American Nietzsche scholarship. While Kaufmann's work has been eclipsed (see R. Schacht's "Nietzsche") in terms of philosophical sophistication, Holligdale's biography of Nietzsche remains the very best in detail, breadth, cogency, and intimacy. Its style is unobtrusive and flowing, making it easily accessible to both the everyday reader and the student of the history of ideas. It is indispensible to anyone with even the slightest interest in Nietzsche.

The perfect antidote to MTV.

R.J. Hollingdale's seminal work continues to dazzle in this dumbed down age. Thank goodness it has been made available for a new generation, hungry for such intellectual gems. This work puts in the shadow Nietzche commentators before and since. If you are serious about learning, not only about Nietzche, but about Western thought in general, then this book is a must.