The Making of Friedrich Nietzsche
The Quest for Identity, 1844–1869

Radically reconceives Friedrich Nietzsche's early life, offering an alternative approach and new insights into the early development of Nietzsche's philosophy.

Daniel Blue (Author)

9781316500958, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 January 2019

352 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.53 kg

'Blue's book is meticulously researched and carefully footnoted, but also engaging and readable.' Andrew Huddleston, The Times Literary Supplement

How did Nietzsche the philosopher come into being? The Nietzsche known today did not develop 'naturally', through the gradual maturation of some inborn character. Instead, from an early age he engaged in a self-conscious campaign to follow his own guidance, thereby cultivating the critical capacities and personal vision which figure in his books. As a result, his published works are steeped in values that he discovered long before he mobilised their results. Indeed, one could argue that the first work which he authored was not a book at all, but his own persona. Based on scholarship previously available only in German, this book examines Nietzsche's unstable childhood, his determination to advance through self-formation, and the ways in which his environment, notably the Prussian education system, alternately influenced and impeded his efforts to find his own way. It will be essential reading for all who are interested in Nietzsche.

Texts and citations
Introduction
1. The legacy
2. Half an orphan
3. The discovery of writing
4. The discovery of self
5. Soul-building: the theory
6. The turn to naturalism
7. The underworld of Pforta
8. The lottery
9. Soul-building: the practice
10. The fourth cycle
11. 'The end of the first act'
12. An education in mistrust
13. 'Become what you are'
14. The gift horse
Afterword: the autobiographer
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Philosophy & theory of education [JNA], History of ideas [JFCX], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP], Literature & literary studies [D]