The Birth of Tragedy & The Genealogy of Morals Paperback – May 7, 1956

If you like easy reading... Forget this book. Its a book for dipping into... But dip lightly at your own peril. This is deep stuff. The first book is for those interested in the deeper psychology of the greek tragedy. It is fascinating. I had the advantage of studying this gem in university and so I had plenty of opportunities to discuss the book with others who had read it too. That helps a lot. Read a page and close the book and think, think think. Nietzsche is, above all, a great challenge to the intellect. Remember that. As for the second book, the challenge that Nietzsche poses to the established sense of morality is breathtaking. I will tell you one thing though; this is warrior philosophy. This is for the radical individualist. This is for the free thinker. You must remember that being truly alone means you are abandoned on a long and winding path. It is a rocky path that is strewn with the obstacles that the herd left there, filled with the traps of the mediocre. It is a path easily strayed from. If you are indeed one of these rare individuals, this book will provide you with energy. It is the energy of YOUR THOUGHTS reflected back at you in eloquent prose and solid logic. If you are a free thinking individualist... nietzsche is for you. He makes you work on every page though. I wouldn't recommend this as your first Nietzsche read however. "Beyond good and evil" is a slightly easier starting point. If you already have an idea of what old boy Friedrich is babbling about, then give this gift to the world a go. He never lets you down.

The decision to publish the Birth of Tragedy and the Genealogy of Morals in one volume was a perspicacious one. In the Birth of Tragedy the young Nietzsche combines powerful insights into Attic tragedy with hints of the philosophy he will bequeath to the world. In the Genealogy of Morals the increasingly megalomaniac Nietzsche expresses this philosophy more fully while still hinting at its origins in the study of Athenian culture. Let me explain in more detail.The Birth of Tragedy argues that the ancient tragedians understood, in a sense akin to the Buddha, the tragic reality of human life. Individuals bubbling up and dissolving from the underlying monistic universe—their only solace the Apollonian arts which enables them to endure this cold grasp of reality. Art is a deception—the enemy of the Socratic/Platonic/Aristotelian progress of truth and reason.The full repercussions of this are not hidden. Modern science itself is acknowledged to have a Socratic origin and is thus rejected as a remedy for the human predicament. Only with the embrace of a mythic/artistic view can modern man achieve his full potential.These ideas come into full flower in the Genealogy of Morals where the same essential outlook is maintained. Now, however, the reaction to this predicament is a surpassing of human morality. The heroic man is he who leads, dominates and shows no regard for the mass of lower men trying to alleviate their inner turmoil through some kind of religion or ascetic practice.I cannot conclude this review without noting that, for all his insights, these ideas have had largely a baneful effect on modern civilization. Post-Darwin but before evolutionary psychology became a science, Nietzsche’s philosophic anthropology is disastrous for one’s health—as indicated in his own ultimate demise.Surely, fallible yet correctable reason is what has enabled life expectancy, standards of living and freedom to increase throughout much of the world. While myths may still have a place in those areas of human experience that lie beyond the power of reason, the return to a mythic/tragic view of life is not only infeasible but a recipe for madness.Nietzsche—great author, great thinker but disastrous guide. Read with one’s skeptical mind well prepared for grandiose and attractive claims that lead to nothing but the real possibility of personal catastrophe.

This was required reading for one of political science classes. Great book! Just keep in mind you need to expect a book on the theory of politics to have some controversial ideas.

Epic poetry is Apollonian. Lyric poetry, though, is music in images. Schlegal argued that the chorus was a sort of ideal spectator. The Dionysiac resembles Hamlet.The Dionysiac Greek desires truth, nature, simplicity. Metaphor is not rhetoric but representative image. Each being, human and divine, suffers for its individuality. Prometheus, Oedipus are masks of Dionysius before Euripides.Music caused myth to flower. Greek tragedy died by suicide, an insoluble conflict. In Euripides tragedy perished through conflict of the Dionysian spirit with the Socratic. Socrates is the great exemplar of the theoretical man.Where does music stand in relation to image and concept Nietzsche asks. Image and concept are heightened by appropriate music. Music lets us understand the annihilation of the individual. Tragic art arose out of music. There is a close affinity of myth to music.These works are the bookends of Nietzsche's career in philosophy. In the latter it is asserted that we have no right to isolated thoughts, that thoughts need to grow out of values. Origins of good and bad are to be found in the paths of nobility and distance.What does the etymology of terms for good tell us? Warrior and priestly castes have different presuppositions for valuation. When a nobleman feels resentment it does not poison him. Feelings of guilt and personal obligation commence in debtor-creditor relationships. Punishment has many utilitarian purposes. An artist is permanently separated from ordinary morality.

At times brilliant, at others incomplete. Golffing sometimes comes up with brilliant formulations, but all too often his text skips over or omits details that should be included.