Both Buber and Arendt attacked the beastly shoulders of a misapplied messianism as it emerged in modern Germany. Nor is the political thinking of Hannah Arendt easily removed from criticism of the philosophies (and -phers) that informed her. A crucial aspect of Kaufmann's work consisted in disentangling Nietzsche from this morass of proto-Nazi foment engulfing him, an environment Nietzsche himself had been fully aware of as highly toxic, and the nightmarish aspects of which must now be admitted to have played a part in his mental breakdown of January 1889.Ī discussion of the influence of Martin Buber is not easily limited to the philosophical anthropology he espoused. In post-war America, Walter Kaufmann led the effort of liberation necessary to emancipate Nietzsche from this outrage, and could be said to have chaired a metaphorical committee of de-Nazification which examined how the awful collaboration began through the efforts of Nietzsche's brother-in-law Bernard, his sister Elizabeth, and their hero, Richard Wagner. Half a century later, Nietzsche's vision materialized temporarily at Princeton University in the shape of Walter Kaufmann, a brilliant bi-lingual German-born Jew, able to explain how the invasions worked by the Nazis also included an intellectual dimension, for they had annexed not only neighbouring countries, but also previous thinkers, forcing them into collaboration with their insidious plans. In a new foreword, Stanley Corngold vividly describes the intellectual and biographical milieu of Kaufmann’s provocative book.In Ecce Homo, Nietzsche in prophetic mode envisioned a day in which chairs in philosophy would be endowed in Universities devoted to the interpretation of his work. The resulting exploration of the faiths of a nonbeliever in a secular age is as fresh and challenging as when it was first published. Beginning with an autobiographical prologue that traces his evolution from religious believer to "heretic," the book touches on theology, organized religion, morality, suffering, and death-all examined from the perspective of a "quest for honesty." Kaufmann also subjects philosophy's faith in truth, reason, and absolute morality to the same heretical treatment. Although he considered himself a heretic, he was not immune to the wellsprings and impulses from which religion originates, declaring it among the most vital and radical expressions of the human mind. A first-rate philosopher in his own right, Kaufmann here provides the fullest account of his views on religion.
Originally published in 1959, The Faith of a Heretic is the most personal statement of the beliefs of Nietzsche biographer and translator Walter Kaufmann.
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