As I said elsewhere, one thing I admire about Nietzsche’s philosophy is that he exhorts us to strive to “overcome” what is “human, all too human,” to rise above mediocrity, to defy conformity, and to re-examine all that we consider “true” and irrefutable. What I also admire is the relevance, even vatic quality, of much of what he says. As I pointed out in previous posts, Nietzsche’s theories—particularly when it comes to power—are just as incredibly insightful today as they were a century ago.

As I said in my previous post, I feel a deep need to write something in response to all the Nietzsche I’ve been reading lately, yet it is impossible to write something resembling a book review (not that I’m very good at writing book reviews) that would somehow encapsulate his ideas in a few paragraphs or pages. There are too many ideas, too many new and truly thought-provoking concepts that come up in his work that I think the only way I can “exorcise” them is by now and again writing about some idea that’s been dogging me—and there certainly have been a lot of them lately. But I also want to be careful not to claim any kind of authoritative interpretation here. I’m obviously a dilletante when it comes to Nietzsche; this is just my way of “working out” a lot of what I’ve been reading.