The New Nietzsche: Contemporary Styles of Interpretation

by David B. Allison (Editor)

The New Nietzsche offers an important sampling of the rereadings of Friedrich Nietzche's work that have contributed greatly to the development of contemporary European philosophy.The fifteen essays, written by such eminent scholars as Derrida, Heidegger, Deleuze, Klossowski, and Blanchot, focus on the Nietzschean concepts of the Will to Power, the Overman, and the Eternal Return, discuss Nietzsche's style, and deal with the religious implications of his ideas. Taken together they provide an indispensable foil to the interpretations available in most current American writing.Contents: "Nietzsche and Metaphysical Language," Michel Haar; "The Will to Power," Alphonso Lingis; "Who is Nietzsches Zarathustra?" Martin Heidegger; "Active and Reactive," Gilles Deleuze; "Nietzsche's Experience of the Eternal Return," Pierre Klossowski; "The Limits of Experience: Nihilism," Maurice Blanchot; "Nietzsche's Conception of Chaos," Jean Granier; "Nomad Thought," Gilles Deleuze; "Nietzsche: Life as Metaphor," Eric Blondel; "The Question of Style," Jacques Derrida; "Perspectivism and Interpretation," Jean Granier; "Metaphor, Symbol, Metamorphosis," Sarah Kofman; "Beatitude in Nietzsche," Henri Birault; "Eternal Recurrence and Kingdom of God," Thomas J. J. Altizer; "Dionysus versus the Crucified," Paul Valadier.David B. Allison is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review:

December 2010

A Note on the Impact of this Important Book and the Milieux in which it First Appeared

Today, after the rise of postmodernism and the never-ending expansion of theory in the academy, it sometimes seems as if there are innumerable interpretations of Nietzsche. But it was not always thus. Generally speaking, way back in the sixties and early seventies, those of us who read Nietzsche seriously were influenced by only a handful of interpreters (the 'Nietzsche Interpretation Industry' as we know it today had yet to rise); mostly, the staid existentialism of Karl Jaspers ("Nietzsche: An Introduction to the Understanding of His Philosophical Activity"), the sobriety of Walter Kaufmann ("Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist"), or the analytically minded work ("Nietzsche As Philosopher") of Arthur Danto. For us, this anthology carried the force of revelation! Today, postmodernism may almost seem old-fashioned, if not yet quaint; but back then Deleuze, Derrida, Klossowski and Kofman were quite new to most of us - and, to be completely honest, most of us barely had any knowledge of Heidegger himself!

Oh yes, of Heidegger's view of Nietzsche there was certainly no end to intimations and rumors; but remember, his epoch-making lectures on Nietzsche had yet to appear in English. Heidegger's "Nietzsche" first appeared (again, in English) as four hardcover volumes that were published separately, if memory serves, throughout the early 1980's. The paperback anthology that we are here reviewing first appeared in 1977. Indeed, I believe that even Heidegger's seminal essay, "The word of Nietzsche: 'God is dead'", only first appeared (in translation) that very same year, in the collection of Heidegger's essays titled "The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays".

Now, all these essays in this Nietzsche anthology before us can, to greater or lesser degree, be considered part of the post-Heidegger Nietzsche response. That is to say, they are postmodern. But it would not be correct to say that this book is merely dated. Three contributors appear here who, I believe, still have not had any book translated into English: Jean Granier, Henri Birault, and Paul Valadier. Of these last, I found Jean Granier especially interesting, and if you haven't seen his work I would recommend this collection for his two essays alone.

Looking back, there are only two authors who I am surprised to find missing from this superb collection. The first is Georges Bataille. Like Heidegger, his work was formative to many of the contributors to this volume. His book on Nietzsche ("Sur Nietzsche, volunte de chance") first appeared in the forties. I think it would have been useful if an excerpt from it had appeared in this volume. (Of course, Bataille's book now appears in English as "On Nietzsche".) The other surprising omission is the two great Nietzsche essays ('Nietzsche, Freud, Marx' and 'Nietzsche, Genealogy, History') of Michel Foucault. This strong collection of essays that we are here reviewing would've been improved by the inclusion of either of these essays by Foucault. Fortunately, both of these essays have been collected in the anthology, "Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954- 1984". The first essay contains his famous ruminations on these three 'Masters of Suspicion', while the second nicely demonstrates the difference between Nietzsche and Foucault's understanding of genealogy. The difference, I believe, boils down to the difference between psychology and history...

Now, since we are looking at the reception of this book back in the seventies, there are several important authors whose books were available, but, to my embarrassment, I had yet to encounter any of them at that time. More knowledgeable readers would have already read them. Of these, I would venture that the most important are Karl Löwith and Joan Stambaugh. Löwith's book, "From Hegel to Nietzsche", had appeared in English in the sixties and it gives us a first-rate discussion of the transformations philosophy endured in the nineteenth century. Joan Stambaugh's briiliant book, "Nietzsche's Thought of the Eternal Return", appeared here in the early seventies but, disgaracefully, I only became aware of it in the new millenium. Both of these authors were also very aware of Heidegger.

The table of contents for the 1977 first edition of this book (which I have in front of me) is as follows:

Preface, ix;
Introduction, xi;

Part I. Main Themes, 1;

Nietzsche and Metaphysical Language, Michel Haar, 5;
The Will to Power, Alphonso Lingis, 37;
Who is Nietzsche's Zarathustra?, Martin Heidegger, 64;
Active and Reactive, Gilles Deleuze, 80;
Nietzsche's Experience of the Eternal Return, Pierre Klossowski, 107;
The Limits of Experience: Nihilism, Maurice Blanchot, 121;

Part II. Oblique Entry, 129;

Neitzsche's Conception of Chaos, Jean Granier, 135;
Nomad Thought, Gilles Deleuze, 142;
Nietzsche: Life as Metaphor, Eric Blondel, 150;
The Question of Style, Jacques Derrida, 176;
Perspectivism and Interpretation, Jean Granier, 190;
Metaphor, Symbol, Metamorphosis, Sarah Kofman, 201;

Part III. Transfiguration, 215;

Beatitude in Nietzsche, Henri Birault, 219;
Eternal Recurrence and Kingdom of God, Thomas J.J. Altizer, 232;
Dionysus versus the Crucified, Paul Valadier, 247;

Select Bibliography, 263;
Notes on Contributors, 265;
Index, 267;

Of course, some of these authors have become quite famous, or, if you prefer, notorious, over the subsequent decades. Heidegger, Deleuze, and Derrida all went on to become virtual 'rock stars' even in the Anglo-American philosophical world. I believe that of the above translated essays, only the ones by Heidegger and Derrida had appeared earlier in English translation. Other contributors who were especially important to me were Klossowski, Kofman and Blondel. Perhaps a few words on them will be in order because everyone and her brother has read Heidegger, Deleuze, and Derrida.

Klossowski's contribution was excerpted from his book, "Nietzsche et le Cercle Vicieux", 1969. Much later this book was translated as, "Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle". The essay in this anthology before us is intelligent; he presents a very coherent and compelling understanding of Eternal Return.
"What is at first sight the most crushing pronouncement -namely, the endless recommencement of the same acts, the same sufferings- henceforth appears as redemption itself, as soon as the soul knows that it has already lived through other selves and experiences and thus is destined to live through even more. Those other selves and experiences will henceforth deepen and enrich the only life that it knows here and now. What has prepared this present life and what now prepares it in turn for still others remains itself totally unsuspected by consciousness. (p. 117.)"
Heraclitus said that you cannot step into the same river twice. Nietzsche, as here interpreted by Klossowski, seemingly claims that you cannot even (perhaps more clearly, 'should not') really remain yourself from one step to the next! However, it was the 6th chapter ('The Vicious Circle as a Selective Doctrine') of his book that I found to be most profound. "As Nietzsche's thought unfolded, it abandoned the strictly speculative realm in order to adopt, if not simulate, the preliminary elements of a conspiracy", we read in the Introduction to Klossowski's book. This 'esoteric' conspiracy is compellingly alluded to, even adhered to, but also avoided in the amazing sixth chapter. I strongly recommend reading the book after reading the essay.

Another contributor to the famous collection of essays called the `New Nietzsche' was Eric Blondel. The essay in this anthology is a translation of, "Nietzsche, la vie et la métaphore". Later, Blondel would write a book "Nietzsche: le corps et la culture" that also would find its way into English. The essay in our anthology, as well as the book, is very good. One might describe his position as a 'semi-postmodern' discussion of the intersection of body and culture in the texts of Nietzsche that is quite informative. What I especially liked about his book was that he not only sets himself against `systemizers' who wish to find in (or give to) Nietzsche a Logos (like, I suppose, Heidegger) but also those interpretations, like those of (I think) Derrida and perhaps even Kofman, where "under the pretext of `textuality' the text found itself desubstantialized or rather deprived of substance. (p. 9 "Nietzsche: the Body and Culture".)" Instead of words, images and metaphors merely referring to themselves, endlessly over and over again (the typical postmodern gesture!), Blondel argues that, "in Nietzsche images are interpretations of something, metaphors of the body. (op. cit., p. 10)" ...Imagine that; Nietzsche is actually speaking of something! Who knew!?! I have always found Blondel's combination of psychological and cultural analysis with philosophical interpretation superb. After the essay in this collection, also have a look at his book. He deserves to be read more often.

Now to the last of the three contributors that I wanted to here mention, Sarah Kofman. She has another important postmodern understanding of Nietzsche. (On a side note I have been looking for a copy of the translation of her well-regarded 'Explosion' -a commentary on Nietzsche's "Ecce Homo"- for several years and I am still looking for it.) Among the contributors to this important collection her work ('Nietzsche and Metaphor') on Nietzsche has been unfairly neglected by most readers in the Anglo-Saxon world. It seems that here she is much better known for her work on feminism and psychoanalysis and also the Holocaust. Often thought of as a `Derridean' because of an abiding interest in metaphor and interpretation, she is really too original to fully deserve either the designation or the accusation of discipleship. Also, be sure to check out the appendix of her book which is a study of Jean Granier's Nietzsche. The final sentence of this study needs to be turned over carefully: "Everything Sacred is introduced by man, and Nietzsche's philosophy is no humanism." For Kofman, "Nietzsche is indeed an atheist".

And with that, I would like to turn to the very 'touchy' subject of Nietzsche's (ahem) 'mysticism'. That, broadly speaking, is the subject of the third section ('Transfiguration') of our anthology. Now, Nietzsche of course and quite obviously has repudiated the monotheists and their Creator-God. But is it correct to place Nietzsche among our contemporary 'New Atheists'? One really does wonder about the accuracy, and indeed, the sanity, of placing an author who could triumphantly shout of himself,
"I, the last disciple of the philosopher Dionysus - I, the teacher of the eternal recurrence",
towards the end of 'The Twilight of the Idols, or state that
"My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it--all idealism is mendaciousness in the face of what is necessary--but love it" (in Ecce Homo, section 10),
among the likes of Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens.

Of course, none of our contributors here argue that Nietzsche is a 'believer'. However, they find, in their different ways, that religious sentiments (in some sense) live on in Nietzsche's doctrines of amor fati, Dionysus, and Eternal Recurrence. These are intended by Nietzsche to be beyond any secular understanding. In this vein, after reading the three final contributions to our anthology, one might turn to Bataille ("Theory of Religion") and also Stambaugh ("The Other Nietzsche") for some more insight into the 'other Nietzsche' and his uses.

I have reviewed this book using my old Dell Publishing 1977 edition. But I have examined the latest edition in the store and I believe the only change is that the Bibliography has been expanded and updated. These essays whetted my appetite, back in the seventies, for a Nietzsche wholly unlike the academic Nietzsche that one usually encountered in the academic literature of the time. Today one wonders if all these postmodern tendencies have become but another orthodoxy waiting to be overthrown. Five stars for a brilliant collection of essays that shook Nietzsche Interpretation to the foundations back in the seventies.

But where is the next 'New Nietzsche'?

[Marco Marchesini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fundamental collection of essay for those approaching Nietzsche for the first time, but for the veterans as well.

This collection offers various and poignant points of view that does not fix the possible interpretations, but opens to a number of perspectives. Various important authors give their own contribution like Heidegger, Deleuze and Derrida.

However, it would have benefited from an analytical perspective coming from the anglophone world as well, in order to constitute a whole and more comprehensive work in the "nietzsche-studien" field.

[Paul B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are already good reviews of this book for anyone who is considering reading it, so I won't add to that. Seen from the vantage point of 2021, the essays could help someone gain access to Nietzsche's thought, though I would probably recommend reading both Heidegger and Walter Kaufman for that. (If you are wondering who the "old" Nietzsche was, it was Kaufman's reading, which is still interesting in its own right, and takes Nietzsche to be working more identifiably in the tradition of Western philosophy that the authors in Allison's collection. Already by 1960, no serious scholar still thought Nietzsche was the philosopher of Nazism.) What Allison's book did was to bring this school of European philosophers' revived interest in Nietzsche to readers of English, especially in the United States. It is most interesting, then, as an artifact of early postmodernism in America. Allison, who died in 2016, made excellent choices for translation. He was also a charismatic figure, whose personality helped stimulate readership.

[Tom Lobban]

The New Nietzsche was first published in 1977. The essays found herein represent the "rereadings of Friedrich Nietzsche's work that have contributed greatly to the development of contemporary [as of 1977] European philosophy".

The first (of three) parts considers individual themes that are key to Nietzsche's thought, such as The Will to Power, Zarathustra, The Eternal Return, Nihilism. The second section concerns itself with style, in line with Nietzsche's view that the conceptual content of his thought is bound to the means of its expression. The third section investigates the relation between Nietzsche's thought and mysticism/ religion. This last section constitutes something of an addendum to the first two which it serves to illuminate.

With the first section serving to pick up on key Nietzschean themes, it is Part Two, entitled “Oblique Entry”, that represents the meat of this book, concerning itself with the Nietzschean text, specifically at the level of style and perspective. The importance of this section is suggested by the book's subtitle: “Contemporary Styles of Interpretation”. This necessitates a reconsideration of the first section as individual interpretations of Nietzsche's work.

Jean Granier's short second essay, “Perspectivism and Interpretation”, is particularly illuminative in this regard. Granier investigates the apparant antinomy between Nietzsche's assertions that truth is on the one hand necessarily interpretative – that to know is necessarily to introduce sense into the world, thus knowledge is to be seen as an appropriation of reality – but, on the other hand, that a strict philology is required for authentic knowledge. This antinomy has implications for reading the essays found in this book and it could be seen as representing the general tenors of the first two sections of the book - on the one hand, the first section represents Nietzsche's thought as having an inherent meaning that a responsible philology should seek to uncover. The second section, however, opens up the interpretive character of Nietzsche's work. However, this would be to oversimply things somewhat. The essays in the first section necessarily represent individual interpretations of Nietzschean themes, rather than strict readings of Nietzsche's intentions. On the other hand, the stylistic or interpretive thesis is something that Nietzsche himself stated as explicitly as he did anything, and so an interpretive reading of Nietzsche's work could be seen to be faithful to Nietzsche's explicit intentions. It is in this area – that of a responsible philology, as opposed to either extreme of an overly strict or a totally free one – that much of the play inherent in Nietzsche's work is opened up.

A monographical essay may be parasitical in its relation to its subject matter, that is, it draws its power from the subject in question, leaving the subject bloodless. However, this is not the case with any of the essays in this book; in fact, on the contrary, the Nietzschean corpus receives a veritable lease of life, with the majority of essays providing refreshing engagements.

"The Nietzschean Corpus", that is, the philosopical body of work that constitutes Nietzsche's writings. This is worth expanding upon in two senses: as a philosophical body and as a philosophical body. Firstly, it is notable that these writings focus on Nietzche's work qua philosophy as opposed to a mere psychological exteriorization to be viewed in relation to Nietzsche's biography, as is often the case in works on Nietzsche. Secondly, it is notable that these essays tend to reference broadly across Nietzsche's works as a whole. It is made clear throughout this collection, whether looking at an essay that considers the chronological development of Nietzsche's thought, an investigation into a single aspect of Nietzsche's thought (e.g., The Eternal Recurrence) that Nietzsche's work profits from the consideration of his entire corpus. To take Michael Haar's Nietzsche and Metaphysical Language, the first essay in the volume, for example, the first seven references are to: On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense; Twilight of the Idols; Nietzsche's 1888 letter to Carl Fuchs; Beyond Good and Evil; The Genealogy of Morals; The Will to Power; and The Innocence of Becoming. In fact, it is the case that most essays tend to reference across a range of Nietzsche's works, both early and late, rather than focusing on single works or a small number of works from a select period.

Off the top of my head, some select essays in this volume are: Michael Haar - Nietzsche and Metaphysical Language; Alphonso Lingis - The Will To Power; Gilles Deleuze - Nomad Thought; Jean Granier - Perspectivism and Interpretation.

[Jared Perovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

The New Nietzsche (1977) is edited by David B. Allison, who in 1996 co-founded New Nietzsche Studies, a peer-reviewed journal by scholars in contemporary continental philosophy. In The New Nietzsche, David B. Allison assembles a concentrated dose of the 1960s, -50s, and 70s philosophers, crystallized in the form of selected essays.

At a cursory glance, the chapter selections reflect the growing influence of the 1960’s “French” style of Nietzsche. The most famous French Nietzschean of the epoch, Michel Foucault, has a conspicuous absence because his most avowed work of Nietzschean genealogy, Discipline and Punish was not translated into English until 1977, the publishing year of The New Nietzsche. Instead of Foucault, his closest influences have center stage. In The New Nietzsche, Allison includes chapters from Pierre Klossowki, Maurice Blanchot, and Gilles Deleuze. Another chapter from Jacques Derrida attests that The New Nietzsche is deconstructive, including a chapter by Martin Heidegger, and concluding with the avant-garde theology of Thomas J.J. Altizer.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

i didn't like reading commentary on nietzsche till this book.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the hell out of this book.