Klassiker Auslegen 57

The importance of GS for understanding Nietzsche's philosophy cannot be overestimated. While it can be disputed whether or not modern Nietzsche scholarship started with the revaluation of GS—as the editors claim with Giorgio Colli—the work forms an important link between the early and late writings of Nietzsche and especially Z. Klassiker Auslegen—Interpreting Classics—is a series dedicated to interpreting important works of philosophy as a whole through chapters successively discussing the individual chapters of the work. The book at hand consists of two introductions—one for the volume, another one discussing the genesis of the edition of GS—and eight chapters covering each of the preface, the “Prelude in Rhymes,” the five main chapters, and the “Songs of Prince-Free-as-a-Bird.” The volume closes with a parable by Richard Schacht, already published in Making Sense of Nietzsche (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995). The chapters are written in German, with the exception of Schacht's parable and his chapter discussing the third book. The quality of content and the methodological approaches of the authors differ widely in this volume, as roughly half of the authors come from a background of literary theory rather than philosophy. I will focus on extracting the basic structure of the respective chapters and pointing out particularly problematic or fruitful ideas.In the introduction, the editors, Christian Benne and Jutta Georg, discuss the significance of interpreting GS as a whole. They point out that the work has widely been reduced to isolated concepts in the wake of Z and that a strong focus has been laid on the later-added fifth book. GS is introduced as Nietzsche's first confident work, as the philosopher “Nietzsche” stages himself throughout the book and reflects on himself as a philosopher. While this has some plausibility—the idea of a performative philosophy through the adoption of fictional perspectives is especially fruitful—the authors use passages taken almost exclusively from the fifth book to support a claim that is made for GS as a whole.In the next chapter, Sebastian Kaufmann retraces the editorial genesis of GS in three steps, mainly using Nietzsche's letters to reconstruct the process. He first highlights Nietzsche's development of thought, from planning a second part of D toward ultimately deciding to publish GS as an independent book. He then describes the process of publishing the “first” GS, before elaborating in greater detail on the genesis of the second edition and the late fifth book. The chapter is a nice addition to the overall collection, yet to be treated as a historical reconstruction rather than anything to do with the contents of GS.Jutta Georg discusses the preface in light of Nietzsche's concept of “predating” his early writings. The connection Georg wants to uncover lies between the late prefaces and Wagner's genre of “Vorspiel,” emphasizing that Nietzsche orchestrates a rather Mediterranean overture to establish distance from the composer. This part of the chapter uses many conditional terms as well as psychological and biographical assumptions. In the following passages, she interprets the preface in connection with stylistic “instrumentation” and Mediterranean “Leitmotifs,” in some cases, quite liberally.Christian Benne explores the content and form of the “Prelude in German Rhymes” to GS. He underlines the importance of interpreting the passage as both the first expression of Nietzsche's “art of the preface” and as an independent work of philosophy. Benne begins the chapter with an interesting discussion of the prelude's genre combined with an elaboration of the numerous historical and literary references employed by Nietzsche, especially concerning Goethe and Wagner. He then goes into great analytical depth with some of the verses. The chapter is of great value because Nietzsche studies has yet to take an in-depth look at the passages as a conceptual whole. Benne offers this perspective and follows the development of concepts, which is especially fruitful for the topics of dietetics, movement, and skepticism. Concerning the scientific perspective, Benne manages to find a great combination between literary analysis and philosophical interpretation and offers an insightful perspective on an often overlooked part of GS.In Claus Zittel's discussion of the first book, he promises a discussion of the concept “gay science” as a problem, a passion, and a program. To point out the problematic aspects, he accentuates the first aphorism and the expression “great painbringer” from GS 12—as well as a misrepresentation of “consciousness” from GS 11—to emphasize the tragic dimension of possible knowledge. Instead of following the numerically mentioned passages from the first book, he uses a posthumous fragment to understand “science” as a “factual seeing,” leading to a “cosmic” perspective in the quoted passage. To formulate a program of this “gay science,” he focuses on GS 7, addressed toward the “industrious,” to extract a program of critical culture studies through an analysis of passions. Even though the chapter deliberately reduces Nietzsche to a solely critical approach, it still offers an original view on important aspects of the first book, especially Nietzsche's—in Zittel's understanding “destructive”—discussion of the functional and physiological origins of perspectives.In her discussion of the second book in the essay “The ‘Good Will to Appearance,’” Vivetta Vivarelli offers extensive insight into different influences on Nietzsche's understanding of the artist, truth, and appearance. She moves through the themes of the second book by discussing the influences of Wagner, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Goethe, and the young Nietzsche, thus weaving a net of cross-references to present a fresh perspective on these concepts. As this multitude of influences suggests, the topics at the beginning of the chapter are discussed in loose connection with the second book rather than in combination with different writings by Nietzsche and in relation to the aforementioned persona. The chapter is worth reading, as the cross-references prove to be helpful for a deeper understanding of the themes under discussion.With his interpretation of the third book in the essay “Nietzsche Naturalizing,” Richard Schacht contributes the sole English chapter to the collection. He describes the third book as the beginning of Nietzsche's “de-deification” of nature and the subsequent project of its revaluation through “naturalization.” This project—according to Schacht—forms the main program in Nietzsche's later writings. The discussion is structured by the different concepts that are “naturalized” within the book. Schacht first discusses the “death of God” and his remaining shadow before elaborating on the naturalization of knowledge, science, morals, and religion. Schacht illuminates Nietzsche's alternative narratives of these concepts' origins as a method of opening up mundane interpretations, thus shifting the burden of proof onto those who propound metaphysical explanations. The chapter offers a great combination of a structured reading and a contextualization of the book within Nietzsche's understanding of philosophy, especially in respect to the “sequel,” Z.Patrick Wotling presents a very concise and coherent interpretation of the fourth book as the book of affirmation, following the nihilistic passages concerning the “death of God” in the third book. According to Wotling, the fourth book is structured by what he considers to be different facets of the newly introduced concept of amor fati. While the reading is very leitmotif-centered, these different facets serve as a beautiful hermeneutic framework. He considers the book to be divided according to five different themes. After the basic concept of affirmation is introduced (GS 276–79), Nietzsche describes the prerequisites a philosopher of amor fati should possess—namely bravery and a future perspective (GS 280–94). In a third part, an argument is made for the inclusion of negation as a means of creation (GS 295–307), while the fourth part elaborates on the dangers for the new kind of philosophers (GS 308–23). The final section discusses the new philosopher as untimely with respect to his individualization of morality (GS 324–42). As with every reading that employs a hermeneutical framework, the fourth book is presented as more coherent than other scholars would acknowledge. Still, Wotling opens up a multifaceted interpretation of the important concept of amor fati.Werner Stegmaier delivers—as he himself puts it—a “crude reduction” of his reading of the fifth book. Since his comprehensive study from 2012—which is a must-read for scholars of GS—has already been reviewed in the Journal of Nietzsche Studies (Werner Stegmaier, Nietzsches Befreiung der Philosophie. Kontextuelle Interpretation des V. Buchs der Fröhlichen Wissenschaft [Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012], reviewed by Carlo Gentili, Journal of Nietzsche Studies 45.1 [2014]), I will briefly sum up the structure of the chapter. After a short contextualization of the book and a discussion of whether or not the late preface introduces the fifth book as well, he elaborates his methodological approach to reading Nietzsche's aphoristic writings. He follows with both a thematic and a compositional structuring of the book before exploring some of the aphorisms and topics of the work in greater detail, with emphasis on Nietzsche's “liberation of philosophical thought.” The chapter is well worth the read, yet it should be considered an introduction to Stegmaier's extensive interpretation.Heinrich Detering presents a poetological analysis of the “Songs of Prince-Free-as-a-Bird,” while delivering a thematic interpretation in which the Songs develop from the theme of German cold and dedication to truth toward a Mediterranean warmth and gaiety. For a deeper understanding—so claims Detering—the reader needs to understand the different “language-games [Sprachspiele]” within the cycle of Songs. He discusses three of those “games” in greater detail. First, he illustrates the complex play with authorship within the cycle, which includes not only the (non-)identification with Prince-Free-as-a-Bird, but also the different characters speaking in some of the songs—such as the shepherd or the fool. He then discusses the implications of the genre “Songs,” as chosen by Nietzsche to label the cycle. As a third “game,” Detering argues that the coherence and development of the themes within the cycle mirror the progress of the five books of GS itself. The chapter—like the chapter by Benne—has a good balance between close readings, literary theory, and philosophical interpretation and manages to interpret nicely the cycle as part of GS.Many of the volumes from the Interpreting Classics series derive from prior conferences and discussions of individual chapters, providing for a coherent reading. This volume for GS by Benne and Georg does not derive from such a conference, and this has both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, the volume should not be considered a coherent interpretation as a whole, since it is formed of isolated interpretations with different methodological and thematic perspectives. Repetitions and tensions between the chapters are left without comment, and there is no natural development of argument throughout the full text.On the positive side, this isolation allows the authors to carve out a coherent reading for their respective passages without having to meet a common ground of interpretation. Thus, most of the chapters do not reduce the book's sections to well-known aspects of Nietzsche's “greater teachings,” nor are the passages read as deficient precursors of later concepts. While the volume should not be expected to deliver a synoptic interpretation of GS, it delivers readings of each of its sections as a coherent whole and thus illustrates the distinctiveness and the particular emphases of the respective passages. This holds true for the five books as well as the cycles of poems. The volume is well worth reading, especially for scholars interested in the distinct characteristics of a particular section of GS

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