
Nietzsche – The Dionysian Impulse (2009) - diodorus
http://harpers.org/blog/2009/07/nietzsche-the-dionysian-impulse/
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ececconi
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche has been the most influential
single text I’ve read in my life. Over the years, with each reread, it’s
changed the way I look at the world. Before I read this book, I took the
definitions for the words good and evil as givens and for granted.

It’s a book that I read, or read about, every time that I’m not convinced with
my current beliefs. Out of every book Nietzsche wrote, this is the text that
best sums up what I think he thought about in his spare time throughout his
entire life in a physically detached but still coherent manner.

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theVirginian
The Gay Science is another great Nietzsche book. Pick up The Birth of Tragedy
if you get a chance though, Nietzche's early views on history and science are
also worth reading and considering.

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zackb
Totally agree. Beyond Good and Evil is my favorite.

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brakmic
The Gay Science (pdf): [http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Gay-
Science-...](http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Gay-Science-by-
Friedrich-Nietzsche.pdf)

Direct Search: [http://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-
pub-7001470329354026:d3...](http://cse.google.com/cse?cx=partner-
pub-7001470329354026:d3rb24-tcvx&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=nietzsche&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=nietzsche&gsc.page=1)

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rfrey
Nietzsche should be studied alongside Plato. I can't remember the quote, but
Nietzsche emphasized that the strength of a person could be judged by the
strength of the enemies he choses, and Nietzsche definitely chooses Plato as
his arch-nemesis.

Some people - like me - even think that Beyond Good and Evil is a direct reply
to The Republic. Many amazing and sometimes disturbing lines of thought emerge
if BG&E is read as if it were part of the dialogue with Socrates.

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hellbanner
What are these disturbing lines of thought?

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zenogais
I've always loved this and many of the other insights and distinctions
introduced by Nietzsche. While "The Birth of Tragedy" is a bit of a turgid
read, the works following it are much sharper.

I'd honestly recommend his entire corpus as it's pretty much a goldmine of
insights given that you take the time to read and understand the aphorisms.
Nietzsche's prose style is undeniably powerful and beautiful, even after
translation.

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ececconi
I totally agree. If you want my favorite passages I hand selected to a
majority of his corpus, the link below is what I put together my senior year
in college.

[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B3SGtiP-
YkUMZauBdN9Dkx0caB...](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B3SGtiP-
YkUMZauBdN9Dkx0caBz40MXDirhoyl8Ag0Y)

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no_wave
As Nietzsche became more and more isolated, socially and intellectually, he
had less to say about the Dionysian impulse.

What he's describing is more clearly observed and understood by Jonathan Haidt
in The Righteous Mind, when Haidt discusses the hive switch.

