Lexington Books Nietzsche and Classical Greek Philosophy: Beautiful and Diseased

Product Description Nietzsche and Classical Greek Philosophy: Beautiful and Diseased explains Friedrich Nietzsche's ambivalence toward Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Daw-Nay N. R. Evans Jr. argues that Nietzsche's relationship to his classical Greek predecessors is more subtle and systematic than previously believed. He contends that Nietzsche's seemingly personal attacks on his philosophical rivals hide philosophically sophisticated disputes that deserve greater attention. Evans demonstrates how Nietzsche's encounters with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle reveal the philosophical influence they exercised on Nietzsche's thought and the philosophical problems that he sought to address through those encounters. Having illustrated Nietzsche's ambivalence Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, Evans draws on Nietzsche's admiration for Heraclitus as a counterpoint to Plato to suggest that the classical Greek philosophers are just as important to Nietzsche's thought as their pre-Socratic precursors. This book will appeal to those interested in continental philosophy, ancient philosophy, and German studies. Review In his original and thought-provoking study, Daw-Nay Evans takes on a crucial area of Nietzsche studies, namely, Nietzsche's relationship to classical Greek philosophy and offers the reader an illuminating examination of human reason, freedom, and passions. Evans provides a generous and hermeneutically sophisticated reading not only of Nietzsche, but also of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Heraclitus. Anyone seeking to understand Nietzsche's debt to the ancients should read this book.--Elizabeth Millan, Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University Daw-Nay Evans breaks exciting new ground in the enormously fruitful earth of Nietzsche's classicism. His arguments are precise, creative and new; his writing is splendid; in the spirit of Nietzsche, he is willing to take risks. I recommend this book with the greatest enthusiasm to both the Nietzsche scholar and the general reader.--Clancy Martin, University of Missouri About the Author Daw-Nay N. R. Evans Jr. is assistant professor of philosophy and African American studies at Lake Forest College.