Nietzsche’s 'Ecce Homo' and the Revaluation of All Values: Dionysian Versus Christian Values

Description

Challenging the standard interpretation of Nietzsche's last published work, Ecce Homo, as frivolous autobiography, Thomas H. Brobjer provides an original and detailed analysis of Ecce Homo as fundamental to Nietzsche's unfinished masterwork on the revaluation of all values. Arguing that Ecce Homo laid the foundations for his planned four-volume work on values, Brobjer draws together the intentions and motivations behind Nietzsche's late work to create a new narrative on it. He situates this period in the desire to undermine the system of Christian values that Nietzsche believed were unchecked as the standard moral gauge for his time. To engage in this project, Brobjer shows that it was essential for Nietzsche to explore the self and life-denying qualities of a Christian system of values within a broader framework of ideas about morality, altruism, egotism, pessimism, humility and pride. By fully outlining the context of Ecce Homo, Brobjer provides a complete corrective to its reception as a self-referential and eccentric text of little philosophical significance, enabling a new understanding within the history of philosophy and Nietzsche's oeuvre. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1: The Revaluation of All Values as the Purpose of Ecce Homo 1.1 Introduction: The Revaluation of All Values as the Purpose of Ecce Homo 1.2 Ecce Homo as Misunderstood and Misread 1.3 How Has Such a Misreading Been Possible? 1.4 Is Ecce Homo an Autobiography? 1.5 The Nature and Status of the Ecce Homo Manuscripts and the Final Text 1.6 Ecce Homo and Nietzsche’s Mental Health Chapter 2: The Presence of the Revaluation of All Values in Other Later Books and Letters 2.1 Nietzsche’s “Task” and His Move into a New Phase of Life 2.2 Early Thoughts on the Hauptwerk 2.3 The Presence of the Projected Hauptwerk in Nietzsche’s Published Books 2.4 Signs of the Planned Hauptwerk in Nietzsche’s Letters Chapter 3: Reading Ecce Homo as Preparatory to Nietzsche’s Revaluation of All Values 3.1 Introduction: General Consequences and Observations 3.2 Title and Subtitle 3.3 Foreword and Prologue 3.4 The First Two Chapters: Why Nietzsche Was So Wise and So Sagacious 3.5 Why Nietzsche Wrote Such Books 3.6 Nietzsche’s Contorted Reviews of His Books Chapter 4: The Last Chapter, “Why I Am a Destiny,” as Preparatory to the Revaluation of All Values 4.1 Introduction: History and Structure of the Chapter 4.2 The Content of the Last Chapter 4.3 The Relation of the Last Chapter to the Planned Four-Volume Umwerthung aller Werthe 4.4 Does Ecce Homo, Especially the Last Chapter, Point Toward Future Publications? Chapter 5: The Roles of Zarathustra and Dionysos in Nietzsche’s Ecce Homo and Late Texts 5.1 Introduction: The Late Nietzsche’s Two Most Important Symbols 5.2 Zarathustra as Symbol 5.3 Zarathustra in Ecce Homo 5.4 Dionysos as Symbol 5.5 Dionysos in Ecce Homo 5.6 The Meeting of Zarathustra and Dionysos 5.7 Conclusion Chapter 6: What Can We Learn about the Revaluation of All Values from Ecce Homo and Late Texts? 6.1 Introduction 6.2 General Characterization of the Revaluation in Ecce Homo and Other Late Texts 6.3 Examples of “Counter-Movements,” Periods, and Persons 6.4 Finding Life-Affirmative Values in History 6.5 Further Sources for Information about Nietzsche’s Revaluation 6.6 Concrete Revalued or Healthy Values 6.7 The Revalued Values as Related to Ancient Values 6.8 Concluding Remarks Appendix: Outline, Summary, and Chronology of Ecce Homo Notes Bibliography of Nietzsche Literature Index