Nietzsche
 

Aloha all,

Although it pains me to admit watching it after season 2 (and in all fairness i didn't watch season 5), the whole concept of the Nietszhean race in Andromeda has me very interested in the works of nietzsche. I have a vague idea about his writings and concepts, but no idea where to start in learning about them.

As such, i would be greatly appreciative of anyone who could give me a point to start at with his works (i.e. which books to read and in what order), or even a mini-breakdown of his ideas.

Many thanks :)

Andromeda? Is that the one with Kevin Sorbo?

If you're looking for a general sense of Nietzche, I'd just start at the beginning and read on through:
List of works by Friedrich Nietzsche - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it just a general interest, or are you looking for a particular idea?

yeah--there are a number of ways to approach nietzsche, so that information would help.

i don't personally find the ubermenschen thing interesting, though---so i'll probably direct you in other ways. you can do with that as you like, of course.

I've always thought the Gay Science (sometimes called Joyful Wisdom these days) is a good place to get a good idea of Nietzsche's ideas from. It's probably his most general work, and I think it's one of his easier books as well.

i would go "truth and falsity in the non-moral sense" and "history of an error" from twilight of the idols first. that way you have the basic moves and the project all at once. the gay science is a good place to start---so's the stuff about wagner, really. birth of tragedy...see, it's a problem, where to go...

Thanks to all.

For ideas, i have a quote in my head (correct or otherwise) of 'humanity is something to be improved'. The notions of the flaws in humanity and how to correct/improve them are hugely interesting to me (being a psychologist by training).

Edit: Yeh, Andromeda was the one with Kevin Sorbo, sorta turned into Hurcules in space after season 2 and thus sucked.

A good introduction to Nietzsche, and also existentialism, is Irrational Man, you can find it at any book store
I have The Portable Nietzsche translated by Walter Kaufmann. I think the translations are very high class
Of course, Nietzsche is a poet above all, so reading Introductions into his works wont really give you the feel for him
but they help inthe beginning

Enjoy your investigation!

Kudos for wanting to expand your knowledge! People don't get credit for that enough.

I would suggest the "Introduction to Nietzsche" or "Nietzsche for beginners." The information is pretty straightforward, and they are cartoon illustrated, which I enjoy. For some reason, to me, cartoons make anything easily understandable. They give a great intro to him and his philosophy, and after reading them, you can then figure out if you want to read more and what you want to read.

thus spoke zarathustra.

The Neetch
 

I'd start with the first part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra (the later parts are harder, and maybe a bit less fun). The aphorisms (little sayings or proverbs) from Beyond Good And Evil rock. When you want to read something longer, go with Genealogy of Morals.

I would love to read more Nietzsche. I haven't really read him at all except for excerpts in a college course.. but I want to read "The Genealogy of Morals" i think that's what it's called..

To better understand Nietzsche, it might help to read some Kant, and maybe some Schopenhauer. This will help contextualize where Nietzsche was coming from and where he was going. He looked at them as the foundation of moral/Christian philosophy of which he criticized.

This would be ambitious reading, of course, but it certainly will broaden your views on morality today. And it's not like I'm suggesting reading all of it in the original German. ;)

Thinking about these things only reminds me of all the things I want to read.

How frustrating.

but kant was so boring! and, he spent his entire life in one city. there's some context there for where he was coming from... i found his writing dry and whiny. :-D it really annoyed me, actually. and i was splitting hairs trying to understand him.

i'd rather segueway into other existentialist writers like sarte and camus.. but that's just me. :)

If you're reading philosophy for brilliant and engaging prose, you're going to be disappointed time and again! ;)

The thing with Kant is that what he wrote is widely accepted as a foundation for contemporary metaphysics and morality. Mind you, Critique of Pure Reason wasn't well received even in his own time. I haven't read it, but I do know the basic tenets of the work.

If you familiarize yourself with Kant's teachings, whether you read him directly or not, you will better understand what Nietzsche and existentialists are getting at.

If you don't know the target of the critique, you won't have an easy time getting your head around the critique itself.

I think the challenge here is that we're attracted to writings that are deconstructions and criticisms moreso than we are to writings that establish a comprehensive understanding of metaphysics at its core. This is why it's difficult to read Kant. I don't think anyone finds him an easy read, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make the effort to understand what he's saying.

Kant
 

Yeah, Baracka is right; Kant is a bottleneck. To seriously understand anything since him, you have to read him. I think a "serious" understanding, though, can largely be left to the academics like... well, me.

Spinoza is almost as much of a help for reading Nietzsche as Kant and Schopenhauer are.

If you're looking for some fun contemporary philosophy, read Alain Badiou's "Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil." His writing style is pretty enjoyable.

Baracka Oguru?