In my first semester as a teaching assistant for a large introductory philosophy course, I had to run discussion sessions for small groups of students. To be honest, since the lectures given by the professor I was assisting were basically irrelevant to the course readings, it turned out that I had to explain those readings to the students. This was really being thrown in at the deep end, since I hadn’t even read most of the material on the syllabus myself. It was twelve years ago now, and I don’t remember what I said, except that I am pretty sure I butchered all the subtleties in Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals.

My life would have been easier (and my students would have been taught better) if I’d had What Nietzsche Really Said to read. One of the difficulties in getting a clear understanding of Nietzsche is that he is one of the few philosophers that one might have heard about before taking a philosophy course, and what one hears is mostly wrong. Solomon and Higgins devote their first chapter to dispelling or clarifying thirty rumors about Nietzsche. Is it true that: Nietzsche was crazy; Nietzsche had syphilis; Nietzsche was a fascist; Nietzsche condoned cruelty? The authors assess the evidence and clear up the misconceptions. Especially confusing for a literal-minded reader like myself is Nietzsche’s style: does he really mean everything he says, or is he being ironic much of the time? Solomon and Higgins help by setting out Nietzsche’s central themes and emphasizing his playfulness, his seriousness, he perspectivism, his enthusiasms, his heroes and villains, and explaining his favorite images and metaphors. The book attempts to make simplifications and explicitly aims to make the obscure clear. Some reviewers condemn this as being simplistic; I applaud it as providing a very helpful guide for those who are struggling with a bizarre and confusing collection of ideas.

What Nietzsche Really Said certainly assumes that reading Nietzsche is worth the effort, and it points out that Nietzsche has been one of the most influential philosophers for the twentieth century. The authors try to explain the role in Nietzsche’s work of his ad hominem arguments against most of his intellectual opponents (e.g., Socrates was ugly), although I am still unclear if there’s any reason to pay them any attention. The question that the book leaves unanswered for me, even after clearing up all the misconceptions about Nietzsche, is whether the philosopher had anything approximating to a plausible argument for his views. I’m inclined to think that he didn’t.

That’s not to say that Nietzsche isn’t worth reading. His critique of the icons of Western civilization still carries a wonderful fascination, and his undermining the assumptions of other systems of thought tends to linger (or fester) in one’s mind for years. One of the measures of Nietzsche’s importance is precisely his writings have inspired subsequent philosophers to ponder and argue over his themes. Written with clarity and elegance, What Nietzsche Really Said is an excellent introduction for those who want some help with Nietzsche’s mesmerizing and frustrating texts.

Categories: Philosophical, General