Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism

by Bruce Detwiler

There is no thinker more relevant to the thought of the last century than Friedrich Nietzsche; nor any more troubling. In this book, Detwiler offers a balanced yet unstinting examination of the political dimension of Nietzsche's thought. He addresses Nietzsche's profoundly illiberal and aristocratic ideas without apology, but does not denigrate the magnitude of this important philosopher's overall intellectual achievement.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction

252 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1990

Reviews

[Chris Chiou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it should be obvious that Nietzsche is a philosopher of the radical Right (albeit one with little relation to Hitler's national socialism,) not at all without a political tone in his writings, decades of propagandistic misinterpretations and reductionist readings have produced a pop culture monstrosity. For all I know, this is the first book that revealed the only 'holistically correct' political Nietzsche in our era; the academic understanding of Nietzsche improved massively after Detwiler's work. Despite some shortcomings, this work's contribution to political and philosophical literature is simply massive.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was extremely troubled by this but it greatly enhanced my understanding of Nietzsche's late writings, even if did so in a way that illuminated to me aspects of his philosophy I would have preferred remain unexpressed.

[M. Vtornikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The definitive book on N's political philosophy