Friedrich Nietzsche
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This is not about "shrugging off racism and sexism", but rather about examining his thought as a whole. His writings do offer a very unsavory view of women and jews, if you take them at face value. But, what you believe he meant might not be what he did indeed mean when he wrote it. His praising of Jews does not fit very well with his criticizing of the jewish origins of christianism, except if you look at it differently, and realize that his use of "jewish" does not refer to Jews, but to a certain type of thought typical of Judaism. You can find many such examples all through his writings. One musn't jump to conclusions.
It is quite possible, and very likely, that he was misogynic (how much, though, I leave it to someone else to decide), but this does not condemn his thought. Otherwise, you might as well throw out Plato, the United States' founding fathers, etc., all of whom owned slaves. In their days, though, slavery was not frowned upon as it is today. Morals change, and there is no universal and eternal set of morals, but an ever-changing and adapting view of the world, as Nietzsche himself exposed.
Nietzsche's beliefs did not legitimize racism and/or sexism, as you believe. It is each person's right to believe as he/she wishes, and though he may base these opinions on thinkers, artists, (sigh) movie stars, etc., in the end, he/she is the only one responsible for these beliefs and the actions he/she takes in accordance with these. Not the thinkers, artists, etc. he may have consulted. Responsibility rests solely on the individual.
>>By Manucléiton (Monday, 10 Jan 2005 05:37)
Nietzsche is too equivocally easthetic for dialectic pescription..his works will cease when axiom becomes the premier priority of the day..for all the poetry, its proximity is rather far from promminent science
>>By LINZ OF ASTRA (Tuesday, 11 Jan 2005 12:33)
nietzsche have made the western thoughts up-side down. i think his poetic strenght is what made the old-based ideas( zarathustra and persian mystics...more vivid and flamboyant. what really attrackts me in his works esp Zarathustra is the poeticness and beauty of aestheics...anything else is mere ideologies.
>>By the haunted (Sunday, 1 Oct 2006 00:46)
i feel rather bad about some of my earlier comments on nietzsche.
although what i wrote is almost definitely true. . .i shouldn't discredit one's work because of their personal beliefs.
after further study of his philosophical writings, i've come to realize that nietzsche was quite brilliant. . .and his work is most definitely exciting.
or, maybe i'm just easily excitable. . .
i owe my new, more accepting attitude toward artists to bad brains. they're a bunch of homophobic rastafarians. . .but they made some amazing music. so. . .there you go. . .
>>By drowninginflame (Thursday, 31 Jul 2008 09:23)
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