Friedrich Nietzsche - A Philosophical Biography (2010) by Julian Young.pdf

F N
APhilosophical Biography
In this beautifully written account, Julian Young provides the prehensive bio-
graphy available today of the life and philosophy of the eenth-century German philos-
opher Friedrich Nietzsche. Young deals with the many puzzles created by the conjunction
of Nietzsche’s personal history and his work: why the son of a Lutheran pastor developed
into the self-styled “Antichrist”; why this archetypical Prussian came to loathe Bismarck’s
Prussia; and why this enemy of feminism preferred pany of feminist women. Set-
ting Nietzsche’s thought in the context of his times – the rise of Prussian militarism, anti-
Semitism, Darwinian science, the “Youth” and emancipationist movements, as well as the
“death of God”– Young emphasizes the decisive influence of Plato and of Richard Wagner
on Nietzsche’s attempt to reform Western culture. He also describes the devastating effect
on Nietzsche’s personality of his unhappy love for Lou Salome´ and attempts to understand
why, at the age of forty-four, he went mad.
This book includes a selection of more than thirty photographs of Nietzsche, his friends,
and his work sites. Seventeen of the philosopher’s positions, which are key to
a deeper understanding of his intellectual project, are available online.
Educated at Cambridge University and the University of Pittsburgh, Julian Young is Kenan
Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest University, Professor of Philosophy at the Uni-
versity of Auckland, and Honorary Research Professor at the University of Tasmania. A
scholar of eenth- and twentieth-century German philosophy, he is the author of nine
books, most recently Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Religion, and has been invited to speak at uni-
versities and conferences throughout the world.
Note
Chapters and sections with headings in italics discuss Nietzsche’s works. The
remainder discuss his life. There are thus three ways of reading this book. One
can read about Nietzsche’s l