Untimely Meditations

by Friedrich Nietzsche

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The four short works in Untimely Meditations were published by Nietzsche between 1873 and 1876.They deal with such broad topics as the relationship between popular and genuine culture, strategies for cultural reform, the task of philosophy, the nature of education, and the relationship between art, science and life. They also include Nietzsche's earliest statement of his own understanding of human selfhood as a process of endlessly 'becoming who one is'. As Daniel Breazeale shows in his show more introduction to this new edition of R. J. Hollingdale's translation of the essays, these four early texts are key documents for understanding the development of Nietzsche's thought and clearly anticipate many of the themes of his later writings. Nietzsche himself always cherished his Untimely Meditations and believed that they provide valuable evidence of his 'becoming and self-overcoming' and constitute a 'public pledge' concerning his own distinctive task as a philosopher. show less

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5 reviews
Full disclosure i skimmed the end of the boring wagner one
Cultuur, geschiedenis, filosofie en muziek, die vier grote thema's grijpt Nietzsche in Oneigentijdse beschouwingen (1873-1876) successievelijk aan om zichzelf een podium als cultuurfilosoof te verschaffen.
In het eerste polemische stuk wordt het in Nietzsches ogen schrijnende gebrek aan cultuur in Duitsland in de persoon van de destijds bekende, knusse zondagstheoloog David Friedrich Strauss aan de kaak gesteld.
'Over nut en nadeel van de geschiedenis voor het leven' is een inmiddels klassiek essay over geschiedenis, cultuur, traditie en canonvorming. Aan de hand van een kritiek op de historiserende geest van de negentiende eeuw ontwikkelt Nietzsche verschillende opvattingen over hoe wij op een creatieve manier met de geschiedenis kunnen show more omgaan.
In 'Schopenhauer als opvoeder' en 'Richard Wagner in Bayreuth' dient Nietzsches ogenschijnlijke lofzang op zijn twee grote voorbeelden als dekmantel om zijn eigen missie als toekomstduider en cultuurvernieuwer in de steigers te zetten.

Recensie(s)

In de jaren 1873-1876 schreef Nietzsche onder de titel 'Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen' vier van de twaalf essays die hij oorspronkelijk gepland had. In fel verzet tegen een ingeslapen burgermanscultuur, en in even fel verlangen naar het genie dat nieuwe wegen wijst, vernietigt hij met de ene hand, en verheerlijkt hij met de andere. De eerste twee beschouwingen, resp. over de theoloog David Friedrich Strauss en over nut en nadeel van de geschiedenis, zijn vernietigend; in de beide andere verheerlijkt hij zijn helden: Schopenhauer en Wagner, al was zijn verering voor Wagner op dat moment al op zijn retour. De werken van Nietzsche hebben in de loop in der tijd zwaar te lijden gehad van ingrepen van tekstbezorgers; pas sinds de kritische uitgave van Colli en Montinari uit 1988 hebben we een betrouwbare grondtekst. Vandaar dat in de tien delen van de Nietzsche-bibliotheek van de Arbeiderspers, waar dit er een van is, de eerdere vertalingen van Hawinkels en Graftdijk deskundig zijn herzien. Dit deel bevat een kort nawoord en beknopt notenapparaat.
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1,381+ Works 78,275 Members
The son of a Lutheran pastor, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born in 1844 in Roecken, Prussia, and studied classical philology at the Universities of Bonn and Leipzig. While at Leipzig he read the works of Schopenhauer, which greatly impressed him. He also became a disciple of the composer Richard Wagner. At the very early age of 25, Nietzsche show more was appointed professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Nietzsche served in the medical corps of the Prussian army. While treating soldiers he contracted diphtheria and dysentery; he was never physically healthy afterward. Nietzsche's first book, The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music (1872), was a radical reinterpretation of Greek art and culture from a Schopenhaurian and Wagnerian standpoint. By 1874 Nietzsche had to retire from his university post for reasons of health. He was diagnosed at this time with a serious nervous disorder. He lived the next 15 years on his small university pension, dividing his time between Italy and Switzerland and writing constantly. He is best known for the works he produced after 1880, especially The Gay Science (1882), Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883-85), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), The Antichrist (1888), and Twilight of the Idols (1888). In January 1889, Nietzsche suffered a sudden mental collapse; he lived the last 10 years of his life in a condition of insanity. After his death, his sister published many of his papers under the title The Will to Power. Nietzsche was a radical questioner who often wrote polemically with deliberate obscurity, intending to perplex, shock, and offend his readers. He attacked the entire metaphysical tradition in Western philosophy, especially Christianity and Christian morality, which he thought had reached its final and most decadent form in modern scientific humanism, with its ideals of liberalism and democracy. It has become increasingly clear that his writings are among the deepest and most prescient sources we have for acquiring a philosophical understanding of the roots of 20th-century culture. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Some Editions

Baioni, Giuliano (Introduction)
Giametta, Sossio (Translator)
Gray, Richard T. (Translator)
Montinari, Mazzino (Translator)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Untimely Meditations
Original title
Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen
Alternate titles
Unfashionable Observations; Thoughts Out of Season; Unmodern Observations; Considérations Inactuelles; Untimely Considerations
Original publication date
1873-1876
Original language
German

Classifications

Genres
Philosophy, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
DDC/MDS
193Philosophy & psychologyModern western philosophyPhilosophy of Germany and Austria
LCC
B3313 .U52 .E5Philosophy, Psychology and ReligionPhilosophy (General)By periodModernBy region or country
BISAC

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