Time for Nietzsche . . . Again

It’s that time of the semester—the time when I start teaching Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil to my Hum 1 students—and I start doubting my choice of texts. They find it difficult. They panic, despair, and become angry. I begin to wonder if it’s worth it.

From a pedagogical point of view I know I have a strong case. The course is supposed to introduce students to the Humanities, including philosophy, and I’m using Plato and Nietzsche as my choice for the two most influential philosophers of our tradition. Though my analytical-philosopher friends will be horrified, I think it’s the right choice. Both Nietzsche and Plato ask questions and teach us how to ask questions. Learning to read Nietzsche is to learn to look—really look—at the arguments, one might say, “pretences,” that compete for our hearts and minds.

Plus, I also feel like it’s worthwhile to expose my students to what is, arguably, the most dazzling mind they will ever encounter. So few of them are readers, and even the readers rarely read anything that pushes them so far as a book by Nietzsche.

My students may hate it, but I love it. I love (re-)reading his books. I know of no other philosopher with so much life, nerve, sympathy, and optimism. So . . . despite the worried, grumpy, even angry faces I will encounter tomorrow, I’ll be smiling.