Go with the Cambridge version
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Our college accidentally bought this Penguin version of BGE, and as a student of languages I can tell you that the translation quality is very poor. Some passages seem to lose their meaning entirely for lack of a feeling for the overall text on the part of the translator. Eventually I gave up on the Penguin copy and went for the Cambridge version - the difference was immense. Definitely go for the Cambridge copy if you want to read BGE, or any Philosophical text for that matter.
In terms of the text itself, BGE is one of the most important books ever written, but don't take it too seriously. (If this sounds contradictory, welcome to Nietzschean philosophy...)
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Great moustache Fred but not sure about the philosophy
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I picked up this book with some interest - after all who has not heard of this great thinker? But it was not so easy to concentrate and understand these seemingly meaningful philosophies of life, my mind drifted away from the plot many times. Nevertheless there are some great one liners ie. "To write the bible God had to learn Greek, it is a pity he did not learn it better"!!! Ha ha. I use that quite often myself now and it does sound impressive if I add 'As Nietzsche once said.....' Useful too if you want to get rid of unwanted attention by anyone even slightly unsure of their intellectual abilities at cocktail parties. Worth a whirl for your bookshelf.
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Best place to start with Nietzsche
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Many start with the better-known "Thus spoke Zarathoustra" but this book is a clearer and more accessible exposition of Nietzsche's mature philosophy. The book is organized under chapter headings dealing with the main areas Nietzsche was concerned with : philosophy and philosophers, religion, art, the genealogy of morals etc. as well as various brilliant aphorisms. Above all, do not believe the bitter reviews of those who were probably looking for a manual of traditional or religious morality - Nietzsche's aim was precisely to attack these and replace them with something better. But beyond his polemical aspect, Nietzsche is an ESSENTIAL philosopher for our self-understanding because he reintroduced the body into the western philosophical tradition, thus reversing the idealistic tradition which started with Plato. Thus he is of the highest importance whether or not one agrees with all of his conclusions. This is the best and clearest introduction to his thought.
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A DISSERTATION ... IN APHORISMS AND CITATIONS
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After his "Zarathustra" and "Ecce Homo" this MASTERPIECE is very probably the most read book that is signed with the unique pen of Friedrich NIETZSCHE. We can define the ESSENCE of this work as a radical form of criticism towards modernity. With the well known fury of this master - and his so particular style, "HIS" way of writing and thinking - he opposes and attacks "modern" science, politics and arts, without even the slightest bit of mercy. However "HIS TIME", people of that period were so proud (even still today) of that modernity. CONCEPTS like "scientific objectivity", "sympathy" and "ethic responsability" are minutely dissected here and "downsized" to their REAL ORIGIN: THE WILL FOR POWER. It was in fact Nietzsche's intention, even his deepest wish that the book would be read as a programmatical discourse with which he tried to reach his spiritual "relatives", the "free" spirits, PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE, who saw Nietzsche as "one of them", or rather: wanted to see him as their spiritual leader and guide.
This quite "special book" is built, constructed in 296 paragraphs (some only a few lines some several pages) and can be seen as the PENDANT of his "ZARATHUSTRA", which he had accomplished the year before and in which the author made his first attempt to resume his way of philosophical reasoning and thinking. As "Thus spake Zarathustra" excells in symbolism and literary presentation, his "Beyond Good And Evil" is famous thanks to the numerous concise aphorisms than can extremely well be cited, quoted again and again, above all with an extraordinary ease. THIS IS LITERATURE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND RANKING, very well readable for all human beings (sic!!!). What is more: this wonderful, magnificent book STAYS being read and re-read all over again. Very much so because of THE SPLENDID APHORISMS AND QUOTATIONS. IT IS AN UNEQUALLED, UNFORGETTABLE WORK IN ITS GENRE. A GREAT AND TRUE PLEASURE TO READ ... FOR EVERYBODY.
RECOMMENDED MASTERPIECE TO ALL OF YOU: TO BE READ HOWEVER WITHOUT CHEAP PREJUDICES.
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Life-changing
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As a philosophy student it was compulsory for me to read this book, and soon after starting I realised why the subject is such a joy for me. Beyond Good and Evil is compulsive, written throughout in the acerbic prose and (necessarily) non-linear structure that characterises Nietzsche's writing. Whether or not you agree with his strong, controversial assertions, you will certainly question the foundations of your knowledge throughout. A general knowledge of philosophy is certainly helpful before reading, as the author references, invariably polemically, a good many of the philosophical canon throughout. However, the aphoristic nature of the text also allows for readers perhaps struggling with the text to skip parts without losing too much - Nietzsche's key themes are fairly evident throughout. A staggeringly iconoclastic work essential for anybody interested in philosophy, ethics or 20th century social history in general - Nietzsche's work would go on to have profound influence on Freud, Derrida and Sartre, to name just three prominent followers in the continental tradition. Unreservedly recommended.
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