Hey /lit. I'm pretty new to philosophy, having just read Bryan Magee's The Story of Philosophy and the Greeks.. but I'm interested in reading and understanding Nietzsche. What else do you guys think I should read before reading Nietzsche so that I actually understand him? Thanks in advance for any help.
All the Greeks, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer
>>7511519
Do you think that it's necessary to go through all the works of these guys or would only a select few works be necessary?
>>7511521
Just understand their ideas.
>>7511521
Thoroughness is beneficial if you want understand Nietzsche hermeneutically.
>>7511536
Ok sounds good, thanks.
>>7511521
Wikipedia summaries and their pages on Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy should be enough.
Nietzsche is best read with an understanding of the western tradition under your belt, but you can get something out of Nietzsche having not read any philosophy at all. He's honestly a great place to start because if nothing else you'll get his feels. The great thing about Nietzsche though is every time you read someone else you'll be able to return with a fresh take.
>>7511509
It's not necessary to read à lot of books to understand Nietzsche. But you must have an overview of the western philosophy especially the greeks (the presocratics and plato).
How much of the Greeks did you read?
Stanford Encyclopaedia is your friend, but if you want to be ready for freddy, then you ought to at least read some shoppy
>>7511509
Try and definitely read the Greeks if you can, and maybe do so while reading N.'s early writings on them (Birth of Tragedy, Philosophy in the Tragic Age, his lecture notes on the Pre-Socratics). You can largely skip Kant and Hegel, though with Schopenhauer, you'd either want to read The World as Will and Representation yourself, or read a thorough summary of it.
For the Greeks, don't underestimate Plato; while a lot of Nietzscheans are persuaded by N.'s own writings that he hates Plato, he actually takes a lot from him, with respect to exoteric writing (look at the short Seventh Letter's passages on writing, as well as the end of the Phaedrus), but he also outright gets ideas from the Sophist and Statesman. Maybe read Aristotle's Rhetoric carefully too, since N. uses quite a few rhetorical sleights to makes certain points (has anyone noticed how he doesn't criticize Plato in Beyond Good and Evil for being *wrong*? Why is his criticism of Plato's "invention" of spirit and the good as such amount to criticizing it for being dangerous instead of false?).
Maybe also read the preface to the "Dawn" (just look up Nietzsche and "slow reading), and you'll have one of N.'s own hints for how to read him.
