Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Criticism and interpretation; Philosophy
The four essays contained in the two volumes of "Thoughts out of
Season" and "We Philologists" were the first of an intended series
of pamphlets to be called _"Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen"_[1] but the
series was never finished. However, the Nietzschean philosophical
ideas had unquestionably begun to take definite form. Already there
had been attempts at idealistic and moralistic valuations. There had
also been a considerable amount of that preliminary analysis which was
to form a foundation for the destructive and constructive thoughts of
later years. In these essays Nietzsche had already begun to strike his
bearings, and while they cannot be taken as a part of his philosophical
scheme, they nevertheless form an excellent introduction for those
students who care to go behind the final expression of his ideas and
behold them in embryo.
"Human, All-Too-Human," following two years later, came as a distinct
surprise even to Nietzsche's most intimate friends: Wagner especially
was horrified at the heresies contained in it. There had not been
sufficient indications in his earlier writings for one to predict so
devastating an arraignment of modern life as was contained in this
work. It was a departure, not only in thought but also in manner, from
all else he had written. The conventional essay form had been set aside
for an aphoristic style. Here we find a series of paragraphs varying in
length from a few lines to a page or more, each dealing with a separate
and syllogistically detached idea. The epigram, which was to play
such an important part in all of Nietzsche's writings, is also found
in abundance. The form in which these two volumes are cast gives the
effect of a man felling a giant tree with a thousand blows of an axe,
as distinguished from the method of the man who saws it down gradually
and continuously.
Despite its muscular and incisive qualities, the manner of this work
is calm. As a whole it is an excellent example of those writings which
Nietzsche himself has called Apollonian. At times one even feels a
tentativeness in its utterances not unlike that which attaches to
the steps a man takes in a region he knows to be full of quicksands.
In this regard it is interesting to note how a certain insecurity at
the beginning of the work, which manifests itself in ultra-obscure
passages, later gives way to a clarity and humour indicative of almost
wanton temerity. In this book Nietzsche passes from the academician
to the iconoclast. He bridges the chasm from the doctor of philology
to the independent thinker. It is the record of the psychological
transition of his mind; and this record is evident in both his outlook
and his habits of expression.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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