William H.F. Altman

A review of this book by a university professor notes how William H.F. Altman writes an incisive commentary and critique on Nietzsche's political thought and how this book on Nietzsche is the third volume of a trilogy of German political thought. I mention the professor's review since I am approaching Altman's book from quite a different angle -- I am not a scholar nor am I particularly interested in nineteenth century German history or German political thinking.

My interest is philosophy and how what Altman says about Nietzsche can apply to living in the twenty-first century. Altman writes his book in 150 short one-paragraph essays (in the style of Nietzsche himself) and, for the purposes of this review, I will focus on two of the essays as a way of sharing how this book has a great deal to say to the non-scholar and non-historian.

Essay #66: `The way of the slave and the master'. Altman begins this essay by writing, "Nietzsche's greatest insights - certainly those that first brought him critical acclaim - are rooted in the distinction between master and slave, or better, between master morality and slave morality." And toward the end of this essay, embedding a few Nietzsche quotes, Altman writes, "At this stage, Nietzsche sees slave morality as essentially a world-view designed to promote self-deception: "to make easier the existence of the suffering" by embracing values that will render the sufferers capable of "enduring the burdens of existence." Only virtues that are useful in easing these burdens are embraced by the slave: "Slave morality is essentially the morality of utility.""

Let's pause here and see how this slave morality and slave world-view is working in today's world. How many men and women since the time of Nietzsche have literally worked themselves to death? Of course, the work usually is of the most mundane, the most utilitarian kind - work within the world of business. And what undergirds this worldview and value system where one gladly and voluntarily works oneself to death? The Protestant work ethic. And one need not be a Protestant to be enslaved by this work ethic - simply being a part of modern Western society is enough. Ironically, the slaves in the ancient world were the ones worked to death in the fields and the mines. The ancient masters would never think to work themselves to death.

So, although slavery in the conventional sense is outlawed, we now have an entire population yoked to computer, cell-phone and email, working and chatting and entertaining themselves to death. If you balk, seeing this as a harsh evaluation, let me ask: how many people do you know willing to join Nietzsche and Zarathustra in living life from their artistic and spiritual depth? Recall how back in the 1970s Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said the Western world, in his estimation, would never serve as a model for a free society since it was enslaved to commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor. Why commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor? Following Nietzsche's philosophy, these three are exactly the sugarcoated pills the population takes in order to numb itself to endure the burden of existence, the burden of living a most superficial work-a-day slave-like life.

Essay #149: `A psychologist's idleness'. Altman makes a strong case that Nietzsche's eventual breakdown was more of a psychological breakdown than a purely physical one. The author traces the roots of Nietzsche's psychological difficulties back to his childhood upbringing, an upbringing with no father or adult male (Nietzsche's father died when he was 4) and his living with mother, grandmother, two aunts and one sister. We read: "The rigidly pious household dominated by Erdmuthe Nietzsche, sanctified to an expurgated version of his father's memory located in provincial and pedestrian Naumbury in Prussian Saxony was hardly a good environment in which to avoid guilt, shame, and ressentiment."

It doesn't take a psychologist to see a sensitive young Nietzsche being force-fed a diet of sin, guilt and fear of torment in hell by a string of overbearing, hyper-critical, self-righteous women contributed to his psychic collapse later in life. The author concludes his essay by stating, "Perhaps all who wish to make Nietzsche `responsible' for the evils of the twentieth century would do well to remember how liberating it is for all of us to have escaped the domination of those who (like his own religious relatives) humiliatingly held children responsible for simply being "human, all too human."" Yes, indeed. We all should be thankful we no longer, for the most part, live in a society that turns us against our own bodies, our own sexuality, and our own life.

I would encourage anybody interested in Nietzsche and his philosophy to order a copy of Alman's book and give it a careful read. It will prove to be a most rewarding experience.… (mais)

A review of this book by a university professor notes how William H.F. Altman writes an incisive commentary and critique on Nietzsche's political thought and how this book on Nietzsche is the third volume of a trilogy of German political thought. I mention the professor's review since I am approaching Altman's book from quite a different angle -- I am not a scholar nor am I particularly interested in nineteenth century German history or German political thinking.

My interest is philosophy and how what Altman says about Nietzsche can apply to living in the twenty-first century. Altman writes his book in 150 short one-paragraph essays (in the style of Nietzsche himself) and, for the purposes of this review, I will focus on two of the essays as a way of sharing how this book has a great deal to say to the non-scholar and non-historian.

Essay #66: `The way of the slave and the master'. Altman begins this essay by writing, "Nietzsche's greatest insights - certainly those that first brought him critical acclaim - are rooted in the distinction between master and slave, or better, between master morality and slave morality." And toward the end of this essay, embedding a few Nietzsche quotes, Altman writes, "At this stage, Nietzsche sees slave morality as essentially a world-view designed to promote self-deception: "to make easier the existence of the suffering" by embracing values that will render the sufferers capable of "enduring the burdens of existence." Only virtues that are useful in easing these burdens are embraced by the slave: "Slave morality is essentially the morality of utility.""

Let's pause here and see how this slave morality and slave world-view is working in today's world. How many men and women since the time of Nietzsche have literally worked themselves to death? Of course, the work usually is of the most mundane, the most utilitarian kind - work within the world of business. And what undergirds this worldview and value system where one gladly and voluntarily works oneself to death? The Protestant work ethic. And one need not be a Protestant to be enslaved by this work ethic - simply being a part of modern Western society is enough. Ironically, the slaves in the ancient world were the ones worked to death in the fields and the mines. The ancient masters would never think to work themselves to death.

So, although slavery in the conventional sense is outlawed, we now have an entire population yoked to computer, cell-phone and email, working and chatting and entertaining themselves to death. If you balk, seeing this as a harsh evaluation, let me ask: how many people do you know willing to join Nietzsche and Zarathustra in living life from their artistic and spiritual depth? Recall how back in the 1970s Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said the Western world, in his estimation, would never serve as a model for a free society since it was enslaved to commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor. Why commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor? Following Nietzsche's philosophy, these three are exactly the sugarcoated pills the population takes in order to numb itself to endure the burden of existence, the burden of living a most superficial work-a-day slave-like life.

Essay #149: `A psychologist's idleness'. Altman makes a strong case that Nietzsche's eventual breakdown was more of a psychological breakdown than a purely physical one. The author traces the roots of Nietzsche's psychological difficulties back to his childhood upbringing, an upbringing with no father or adult male (Nietzsche's father died when he was 4) and his living with mother, grandmother, two aunts and one sister. We read: "The rigidly pious household dominated by Erdmuthe Nietzsche, sanctified to an expurgated version of his father's memory located in provincial and pedestrian Naumbury in Prussian Saxony was hardly a good environment in which to avoid guilt, shame, and ressentiment."

It doesn't take a psychologist to see a sensitive young Nietzsche being force-fed a diet of sin, guilt and fear of torment in hell by a string of overbearing, hyper-critical, self-righteous women contributed to his psychic collapse later in life. The author concludes his essay by stating, "Perhaps all who wish to make Nietzsche `responsible' for the evils of the twentieth century would do well to remember how liberating it is for all of us to have escaped the domination of those who (like his own religious relatives) humiliatingly held children responsible for simply being "human, all too human."" Yes, indeed. We all should be thankful we no longer, for the most part, live in a society that turns us against our own bodies, our own sexuality, and our own life.

I would encourage anybody interested in Nietzsche and his philosophy to order a copy of Alman's book and give it a careful read. It will prove to be a most rewarding experience.… (mais)

In this imaginative and refined commentary on Nietzsche's political thought, Altman provides an incisive critique of the achievement of Nietzsche, as well as his limitations. The work is the third volume of a trilogy on German political thought, following earlier studies by the author of Heidegger and Leo Strauss. Utilizing Nietzsche's own aphoristic style as evinced in his Daybreak, the main arguments of the text are presented in the course of five chapters ("books") composed of 155 essays, and 63 pages of notes, and other ancillary writings. The first chapter critiques Nietzsche as the classicist who looked to the past, but equally to the future, to evaluate the crisis of liberal institutions in his own time and place. Chapter Two even more explicitly demonstrates Nietzsche's connection to the political world of the Second Reich. Nietzsche's criticism of Plato, and his rather limited appreciation of Aristotle, are presented in Chapter 3. Nietzsche's defense of aristocratic elitism, and his assimilation and use of Platonic themes, especially dualism, are assessed convincingly by the author as well. The two final chapters place Nietzsche within the historical context of the Second Reich, providing insightful reflections on Nietzsche's influence during World War I.

H. Lee Cheek, Jr., Ph.D.
University of North Georgia
www.drleecheek.com… (mais)