[Bill S.]

Originally Posted by greenberetTFS

I have to disagree with you on Nietzsche being consider great works..... I did an in depth paper on him a long while ago and my conclusion was that he was a madman...... I'm sure you know he died in an insane asylum in 1900. Hitler used his works to promote his superman concept on the german race in the mid 30's..

I did not mean to give the impression that I considered the collective works of Nietzsche "great". Allow me to clarify with the following:

From my original post

...Nietzsche's concept of "The Übermensch" is something I think anyone who is a member of this forum would relate to (overcoming oneself, etc.).

I wish I could push through the lot of Nietzsche without getting caught up in one of the million great works out there. I think there is a lot of good stuff buried in that translated German text.

I did not say that the works of Nietzsche are great. I meant to covey that there are millions of great works out there that usually distract me from making any real progress with Nietzsche. All I meant to say about Nietzsche is that I thought (or hoped, really) that there might be some "good stuff" in that text. This was based mostly on his concept of The Übermensch (not in the way the nazis misinterpreted it), in that one can overcome himself to make great progress. I find that similar to what one must do to get selected (as many of us have read on this forum - in one way or another).
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Additionally

1.)
Nietzsche undoubtedly showed symptoms of insanity. However, they manifested themselves instantly. His writings up to that point, such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra (what I based my hope of there being other "good stuff" on) were not influenced by his symptoms. Most believe that his insanity was not caused by his philosophy. Some claim that his mental breakdown was due to syphilis, which he may have contracted while serving in the military. Also, at least one study has suggested that brain cancer led to his symptoms and ultimately killed him and still others have suggested he suffered from frontotemporal dementia.

2.)
Hitler may have thought that what he was doing in the 30's was on par with the beliefs of Nietzsche, however, I believe that is untrue for 2 reasons. The first is that is sister perverted his most radical ideas. Michael Kalish writes:

What Nietzsche-biographer Walter Kaufmann calls the "legend of Nietzsche" was constructed mostly by Nietzsche's sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, through two interventions: by censoring and editing Nietzsche's work to further her own anti-Semitic interest and to reconcile Nietzsche's work with Richard Wagner's (who was a radical, racist, anti-semite, nationalist). Second, in order to finance the Nietzsche archive Elisabeth exploited Nietzsche's prophetic and radical philosophy to appeal to her preferred political party (the Nazis). After Nietzsche's insanity in 1889, the rising tide of anti-Semitism in Germany soon drowned the Weimar Nietzsche Archive in a sea of swastikas.

The second is that Nietzsche himself wrote, "It is a matter of honor to me to be absolutely clean and unequivocal regarding anti-Semitism, namely opposed, as I am in my writings… I have been persecuted in recent times with letters and Anti-Semitic Correspondence sheets; my disgust with this party … is as outspoken as possible, but the relation to Förster, as well as the after-effect of my former anti-Semitic publisher Schmeitzner, always bring the adherents of this disagreeable party back to the idea that I must after all belong to them…"

So...

- I do not think the collective works of Nietzsche are great
- He may have been a madman, but most believe his insanity did not influence his work
- Hitler may cite Nietzsche as a reference to justify his own crazy-ass theories, but he did so incorrectly, thanks to Elisabeth Nietzsch

HOWEVER.... My knowledge of this subject matter is undoubtedly less than yours. Being as such, I would love to hear your opinion about the 2 points I brought up that really have nothing to do with me thinking (or not thinking) Nietzsche's works are great.

Thank you for your reply and I am sorry for being so lengthy in mine, I just wanted to make myself clear. I am not a supporter of ideas of a madman, or of the nazis. Or midgets