He certainly like hyperbole—and I don’t defend his writings on women. I’m not sure if hyperbole and “play the asshole” have the same meaning or implication.
Nietzsche’s theory of the overman / superman is viewed with hostility because a bowdlerized form was used to support Nazi ideology—giving Nietzsche’s philosophy a negative reputation in the English speaking philosophy community. I think that Nietzsche would have be horrified by the Nazis because he was more of a proto-existentialist.
Nietzsche refused to attend his sister’s wedding on the grounds that she was marrying an anti-semite, and admitted in one of his letters that the thought of his sister having sex with that man made him physically ill.
I think Nietzsche liked teasing people he considered to be his inferiors, and he did it by saying things that were easy to misinterpret. I think that’s at least in the neighborhood of playing the asshole.
Walter Kaufmann’s book on Nietzsche says that Nietzsche liked Jews better than Germans. My impression of Nietzsche was that he was trying to get at the roots of individual judgement and thriving (which I suppose in in the neighborhood of existentialism if you ignore the thriving part), and would have been revolted by Nazi collectivism.
I always understood Nietzsche’s references to Jews to be purely metaphorical. Their main purpose in the narrative is to convince the Romans to accept Jesus. That does not sound like any Jews that actually existed.
(I justify ignoring the debate in early Christianity over whether they were Jews by leaping ahead to their conclusion that they weren’t.)
Thus, I’m not sure whether Nietzsche’s writings give any useful evidence over whether he preferred Jews or Germans.
[Nietzsche] was trying to get at the roots of individual judgement and thriving.
He certainly like hyperbole—and I don’t defend his writings on women. I’m not sure if hyperbole and “play the asshole” have the same meaning or implication.
Nietzsche’s theory of the overman / superman is viewed with hostility because a bowdlerized form was used to support Nazi ideology—giving Nietzsche’s philosophy a negative reputation in the English speaking philosophy community. I think that Nietzsche would have be horrified by the Nazis because he was more of a proto-existentialist.
Nietzsche refused to attend his sister’s wedding on the grounds that she was marrying an anti-semite, and admitted in one of his letters that the thought of his sister having sex with that man made him physically ill.
I think Nietzsche liked teasing people he considered to be his inferiors, and he did it by saying things that were easy to misinterpret. I think that’s at least in the neighborhood of playing the asshole.
Walter Kaufmann’s book on Nietzsche says that Nietzsche liked Jews better than Germans. My impression of Nietzsche was that he was trying to get at the roots of individual judgement and thriving (which I suppose in in the neighborhood of existentialism if you ignore the thriving part), and would have been revolted by Nazi collectivism.
I always understood Nietzsche’s references to Jews to be purely metaphorical. Their main purpose in the narrative is to convince the Romans to accept Jesus. That does not sound like any Jews that actually existed.
(I justify ignoring the debate in early Christianity over whether they were Jews by leaping ahead to their conclusion that they weren’t.)
Thus, I’m not sure whether Nietzsche’s writings give any useful evidence over whether he preferred Jews or Germans.
That’s a really good short paraphrase.