Nietzsche

I found this book to be an excellent overview and commentary on Nietzsche's thinking, ranking only behind Kaufmann's book on Nietzsche. Anyone wanting to gain insight into the real Nietzsche will not go wrong by starting with Kaufmann and Schacht, who I take to be the two most reliable guides to Nietzsche's thinking.

Richard Schacht's "Nietzsche" represents the next generation of Nietzsche interpretation after Walter Kaufmann's groundbreaking study, "Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist." Schacht's book is far more philosophically sophisticated than was Kaufmann's. In it, Nietzsche gives surprising answers and new insights into the classical problems of philosophy (the theory of knowledge, metaphysics, value, morality, aesthetics, etc.). The book seems geared for a reader with some background in western philosophy, but not necessarily a background in Nietzsche. I have two criticisms: first, that Schacht's use of Nietzsche unpublished notebooks is unjustifiable and in many cases uncharitable. We should use the words Nietzsche himself decided to publish in determining his final views. The second criticism is that when Nietzsche is interpreted as an academic philosopher--as Schacht interprets him--we "lose the woods for the trees", so to speak, and are inclined to forget the Nietzsche that reminded us of our nihilistic predicament after the death of God, and that its remedy is in action, not words. Overall this book is essential for anyone interested in knowing how Nietzsche's mind came to bear on the classical problems of western philosophy.