Is Neitzche Hard?

[ThePinsir]

One of my best friends, a guy with a philosophy degree, recently told me I should read Neitzche. He says I'll love his work.

A few days ago, my girfriend, also with a philosophy degree, said I should read Neitzche. She says I'll probably love his work.

I just found a couple Neitzche books for free on Kindlle. I'll probably read them when I'm done with my current book...but I'm worried. Can you get the full meaning of his works without a teacher? I'm worried that the meaning will fly right over my head, I'll waste my time, and I'll miss the important things. Can you read Neitzche without constantly having to check Spark Notes?

Am I over-reacting, and it's actually all really straightforward?

[MindForgedManacle]

Hm. I'm not going to say Nietzsche is easy because some parts do get a little deep (I'm thinking about his "Thus Spake Zarathustra" here), but I don't think all his works are hard at all times.

[bennyboy]

That's kind of a personal question. Better ask him directly. But don't bother sending him an e-mail, 'cuz you've spelled his name wrongly.

I wouldn't worry about getting the "full meaning." This is philosophy. Read it and think about it for yourself. You could probably take about 10 different philosophy classes and get a hundred new insights/perspectives on it, yet not one of them will be more valuable than the time you spent actually thinking about human nature.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Depends on what Paul Rée wears to bed at night.

Boru

[Rampant.A.I.]

Hm. I'm not going to say Nietzsche is easy because some parts do get a little deep (I'm thinking about his "Thus Spake Zarathustra" here), but I don't think all his works are hard at all times.

Thus Spake is overly poetical and intentionally obscure.

The rest of his work is conversational and accessible, in my opinion. He's not overly floral and dense like Kant, and he's not cement-dense material like Hegel.

Nietzsche is one of the few I still read for pleasure, and I remember it being easy to read the first time. Kant took me years to be able to pick up and read without rolling my eyes the entire time.

[Cato]

I highly recommend H.L. Mencken's The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

[ThePinsir]

I highly recommend H.L. Mencken's The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out

[archangle]

read it.
think about it.
move on.

Philosophy is good for mind bending exercises and writing practice. It helps you look at things differently and helps you communicate better when you are trying to communicate a complicated (mostly BS) idea to other people

[sven]

One of my best friends, a guy with a philosophy degree, recently told me I should read Neitzche. He says I'll love his work.

A few days ago, my girfriend, also with a philosophy degree, said I should read Neitzche. She says I'll probably love his work.

I just found a couple Neitzche books for free on Kindlle. I'll probably read them when I'm done with my current book...but I'm worried. Can you get the full meaning of his works without a teacher? I'm worried that the meaning will fly right over my head, I'll waste my time, and I'll miss the important things. Can you read Neitzche without constantly having to check Spark Notes?

Am I over-reacting, and it's actually all really straightforward?

It depends on how you read him. In some ways you could read Thus Spoke Zarathustra just like any other story. I happen to think that Nietzsche was a misogynistic looser who liked to talk the talk, but failed to walk the walk. With guys like him it is often more revealing to look at the man himself rather than the things he wrote. If you are an anti-theist I suppose you could get a lot out of reading him, however. Nietzsche seems to have had a huge bone to pick with religion and god; he wrote a lot of catchy stuff about that.

EDIT:

LOL from Wikipedia:

'Lou Andreas-Salomé (born Louise von Salomé or Luíza Gustavovna Salomé, Russian: Луиза Густавовна Саломе; 12 February 1861 – 5 February 1937) was a Russian-born psychoanalyst and author. Her diverse intellectual interests led to friendships with a broad array of distinguished western thinkers, including Nietzsche, Freud, and Rilke. She was also a major cunt, which is why she turned down Nietzsche, the greatest man who ever lived.'

Not my edit of that article!

[Sinbad]

I read 'The Antichrist' a couple of years ago. Im not the worlds most literary person, but i found it fairly easy to understand - and i got the impression Nietzsche was just a teensy weensy bit pissed at christianity!
I would definately recommend reading this.