Nietzsche imagery & thought edited by Malcolm Pasley

Nietzsche imagery & thought edited by Malcolm Pasley

The central theme of this collection of essays is the basic tension in Nietzsche, and so in his work, between the urge to weave a satisfying web out of reality and the equally strong compulsion to expose its painful truths. The book aims to stress, not to play down, the embarrassing and fruitful fact that he cannot be neatly pigeonholed either as a literary figure or as a professional philosopher. As a poet-philosopher he moved to and fro across the border between myth and science; the image-spinning and the truth-seeking Nietzsche engaged each other in a vicious cross-fire, while a superior third Nietzsche made this border dispute a main object of his reflections.

The eight distinguished contributors to this volume have been able to span the broad compass of this basic theme. The first essay, by Peter Pütz, is a systematic analysis and provides a base for studies of Nietzsche's conception of truth by Mary Warnock and of his theory of metaphor by J. P. Stern. The following essays examine Nietzsche's "masking' techniques (W. D. Williams), and his use of specific image-groups: the imagery of height and depth (F. D. Luke), the imagery of health and sickness (Malcolm Pasley) and the imagery of the zoo (T. J. Reed); they explore the question of how far Nietzsche's theories and doctrines were controlled, more decisively than he knew and to more damaging effect than he could foresee, by the picture patterns and mythical models which he employed. In a final essay Patrick Bridgwater examines the impact of Nietzsche's work on literature in England.

The book meets a long-felt need for a study in English of both the literary and the philosophical aspects of Nietzsche's work, based on his authentic texts, and will be welcomed by all students of modern European thought and literature.

Details

• Paperback (Good, has a light crease on the front cover) 
  
• Cover illustration: 'Ideal Portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche' by Edvard Munch (Thiel Gallery, Stockholm).
• Condition: Good, no notes/stamps
  
• ISBN: 0416553303 - 9780416553307
• Publisher: Modern Library