Friedrich Nietzsche, Fighter for Freedom
GA 5
Part I - Preface
[ 1 ] When I became acquainted with the works of Friedrich Nietzsche six years ago, ideas had already formed within me which were similar to his. Independently, and from completely different directions, I came to concepts which were in harmony with those Nietzsche expressed in his writings: Zarathustra, Jenseits von Gut and Böse, Beyond Good and Evil, Genealogie der Moral, Genealogy of Morals, and Götzendämmerung, Twilight of Idols. In my little book which appeared in 1886, Erkenntnistheorie der Goetheschen Weltanschauung, The Theory of Knowledge in Goethe's World Conception, this same way of implicit thinking is expressed as one finds in the works of Nietzsche mentioned above.
[ 2 ] This is why I feel myself impelled to draw a picture of Nietzsche's life of reflection and feeling. I believe that such a picture will be most like Nietzsche when it is created according to his last writings. This I have done. The earlier writings of Nietzsche show him as a searcher. He presents himself to us as a restless striver toward the heights. In his last writings we see him when he has reached the summit, and at a height commensurate with his very own spiritual quality. In most of the writings which have appeared about Nietzsche up to now, this development is represented as if in the various periods of his writing he had more or less contradictory opinions. I have tried to show that there is no question of a change of opinion in Nietzsche, but rather of a movement upward, of a development of a personality in a manner fitting to it, which had not yet found a form of expression in accord with his innate points of view in those first works.
[ 3 ] The final goal of Nietzsche's creativity is the description of the “superman.” I considered my chief task in this writing to be the characterization of this type. My characterization of the superman is exactly the opposite of the caricature developed in the currently popular book about Nietzsche by Frau Lou Andreas Salomé. One cannot put into the world anything more contrary to Nietzsche's spirit than the mystical monster she has made out of the superman. My book shows that in Nietzsche's ideas nowhere is the least trace of mysticism to be found. I did not allow myself to be drawn into the refutation of Frau Salomé's opinion that Nietzsche's thoughts in Menschliches, All-zumenschliches, Human, All Too Human, were influenced by the works of Paul Rée, the editor of Psychological Observations, and The Origin of Moral Feelings, etc. Such an average brain as that of Paul Rée could make no important impression on Nietzsche. Even now I would not touch upon these things at all if the book of Frau Salomé had not contributed so much toward the spreading of downright disagreeable judgments about Nietzsche. Fritz Koegel, the excellent publisher of Nietzsche's works, bestowed upon this bungled piece of work its deserved treatment in the Magazine for Literature.
[ 4 ] I cannot conclude this short preface without giving hearty thanks to Nietzsche's sister, Frau Foerster-Nietzsche, for the many friendly deeds I experienced from her during the period in which this book developed. I owe to her the hours spent in the Nietzsche Archives, and the mood out of which the following thoughts were written.
Vorrede zur ersten Auflage
[ 1 ] Als ich vor sechs Jahren die Werke Friedrich Nietzsches kennen lernte, waren in mir bereits Ideen ausgebildet, die den seinigen ähnlich sind. Unabhängig von ihm und auf anderen Wegen als er, bin ich zu Anschauungen gekommen, die im Einklang stehen mit dem, was Nietzsche in seinen Schriften: «Zarathustra», «Jenseits von Gut und Böse», «Genealogie der Moral» und «Götzen-Dämmerung» ausgesprochen hat. Schon in meinem 1886 erschienenen kleinen Buche «Erkenntnistheorie der Goetheschen Weltanschauung» kommt dieselbe Gesinnung zum Ausdruck wie in den genannten Werken Nietzsches.
[ 2 ] Dies ist der Grund, warum ich mich gedrängt fühlte, ein Bild von dem Vorstellungs- und Empfindungsleben Nietzsches zu zeichnen. Ich glaube, dass ein solches Bild Nietzsche am ähnlichsten dann wird, wenn man es seinen erwähnten letzten Schriften gemäß schafft. So habe ich es getan. Die früheren Schriften Nietzsches zeigen uns ihn als Suchenden. Er stellt sich uns in ihnen dar als rastlos aufwärts Strebender. In seinen letzten Schriften sehen wir ihn auf dem Gipfel angelangt, der eine seiner ureigenen Geistesart angemessene Höhe hat. In den meisten der bis jetzt über Nietzsche erschienenen Schriften wird dessen Entwicklung so dargestellt, als ob er in den verschiedenen Zeiten seiner Schriftstellerlaufbahn voneinander mehr oder weniger abweichende Meinungen gehabt hätte. Ich habe zu zeigen versucht, dass von einem Meinungswechsel bei Nietzsche nicht die Rede sein kann, sondern nur von einer Aufwärts-Bewegung, von der naturgemäßen Entwicklung einer Persönlichkeit, die noch nicht die ihren Anschauungen entsprechende Ausdrucksform gefunden hatte, als sie ihre ersten Schriften schrieb.
[ 3 ] Das Endziel von Nietzsches Wirken ist die Zeichnung des Typus «Übermensch». Diesen Typus zu charakterisieren, habe ich als eine der Hauptaufgaben meiner Schrift betrachtet. Mein Bild des Übermenschen ist genau das Gegenteil des Zerrbildes geworden, das in dem augenblicklich verbreitetsten Buche über Nietzsche von Frau Lou Andreas-Salomé entworfen ist. Man kann nichts dem Nietzscheschen Geiste mehr Zuwiderlaufendes in die Welt setzen, als das mystische Ungetüm, das Frau Salomé aus dem Übermenschen gemacht hat. Mein Buch zeigt, dass in Nietzsches Ideen nirgends auch nur die geringste Spur von Mystik anzutreffen ist. Auf die Widerlegung der Ansicht von Frau Salomé, dass Nietzsches Gedanken in «Menschliches, Allzumenschliches» von den Ausführungen Paul Rées, des Verfassers der «Psychologischen Beobachtungen» und des «Ursprungs der moralischen Empfindungen» und so weiter, beeinflusst seien, habe ich mich nicht eingelassen. Ein so mittelmäßiger Kopf wie Paul Rée konnte auf Nietzsche keinen bedeutenden Eindruck machen. Ich würde diese Dinge auch hier nicht berühren, wenn nicht das Buch von Frau Salomé so viel beigetragen hätte, geradezu widerwärtige Ansichten über Nietzsche zu verbreiten. Fritz Koegel, der ausgezeichnete Herausgeber von Nietzsches Werken, hat im «Magazin für Literatur» diesem Machwerke die gebührende Abfertigung angedeihen lassen.
[ 4 ] Ich kann diese kurze Vorrede nicht beschließen, ohne Frau Förster-Nietzsche, der Schwester Nietzsches, herzlichst zu danken für die vielen Freundlichkeiten, die ich von ihr während der Zeit erfahren habe, in der meine Schrift entstanden ist. Den im «Nietzsche-Archiv» in Naumburg verlebten Stunden verdanke ich die Stimmung, aus der heraus die folgenden Gedanken geschrieben sind.
Foreword to the first edition
[ 1 ] When I became acquainted with Friedrich Nietzsche's works six years ago, ideas similar to his were already formed in me. Independently of him and on different paths from him, I arrived at views that are in harmony with what Nietzsche expressed in his writings: Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Genealogy of Morals and Twilight of the Idols. Even in my little book Erkenntnistheorie der Goetheschen Weltanschauung, published in 1886, the same attitude is expressed as in Nietzsche's works mentioned above.
[ 2 ] This is the reason why I felt compelled to draw a picture of Nietzsche's imaginative and emotional life. I believe that such a picture becomes most similar to Nietzsche when it is created according to his last writings mentioned above. This is what I have done. Nietzsche's earlier writings show him as a seeker. In them, he presents himself to us as a restless upward striver. In his last writings, we see him as having reached the summit, which has a height appropriate to his very own way of thinking. In most of the writings on Nietzsche that have appeared so far, his development is presented as if he had had more or less divergent opinions at different times in his writing career. I have tried to show that there can be no question of a change of opinion in Nietzsche, but only of an upward movement, of the natural development of a personality that had not yet found the form of expression corresponding to its views when it wrote its first writings.
[ 3 ] The ultimate goal of Nietzsche's work is the creation of the “superman” type. I have considered characterizing this type to be one of the main tasks of my writing. My image of the superman has become exactly the opposite of the distorted image that is sketched out in the currently most popular book on Nietzsche by Mrs. Lou Andreas-Salomé. Nothing more contrary to the Nietzschean spirit can be put into the world than the mystical monster that Ms. Salomé has made of the superman. My book shows that nowhere in Nietzsche's ideas is there even the slightest trace of mysticism. I did not enter into the refutation of Mrs. Salomé's view that Nietzsche's thoughts in Menschliches, Allzumenschliches were influenced by the remarks of Paul Rées, the author of the Psychological Observations and the Origin of Moral Sentiments and so on. Such a mediocre mind as Paul Rée could not have made a significant impression on Nietzsche. I would not touch on these things here either if Mrs. Salomé's book had not done so much to spread downright repugnant views of Nietzsche. Fritz Koegel, the excellent editor of Nietzsche's works, has given this work of art the treatment it deserves in the Magazin für Literatur.
[ 4 ] I cannot conclude this short preface without thanking Mrs. Förster-Nietzsche, Nietzsche's sister, most sincerely for the many kindnesses I received from her during the time in which my work was written. I owe the mood from which the following thoughts are written to the hours spent in the “Nietzsche Archive” in Naumburg.