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[ladyelaine]

Why does everyone who knows anything about philosophy (including Stanford) insist that Nietzsche wasn't anti-Semitic? Yes, I know his sister/editor was a raging Jew-hater, but there's only so many ways you can untwist these passages, and none of 'em turn his views shiny or happy

Comments

[nous_athanatos]

Nietzsche denounced anti-semitism and split with an editor/publisher because of the editor's anti-semitism. This is not to say that Nietzsche did not hold prejudicial views about Jews, only that he publicly rejected the more anti-semitic tenor of his age and place.

[ladyelaine]

Did editors work differently then, that he couldn't have undone whatever changes said editor made to the manuscript? It's pretty damn harsh as is.

[nous_athanatos]

Not what I was saying. Nietzsche's writing is his own, warts and all. However, by the standards of that time and society he was not extraordinary in holding those opinions and, (specifically within his historical context) anti-semitism was both more virulent and different from the views that Nietzsche expressed in his writing. The anti-semites of his time, (which included his editor and his brother-in-law) wanted to purify Germany of the non-aryan elements. Nietzsche publicly denounced this attitude. So when scholars deny Nietzsche's anti-semitism they are historicizing their claims specific to that context rather than arguing that Nietzsche wasn't prejudiced against Jews.

[ladyelaine]

So the anti-Semitism of the time was "kill 'em all," rather than just the run-of-the-mill racism. Gotcha.

How 'bout that man-crush on the Germanic "blond beast"? Seriously, I'm having a hard time not busting a gut laughing whenever that comes up.