Fear and Trembling - Søren Kierkegaard

Reasoning

I remember reading last year in that Soren Kierkegaard is often considered similar to Nietzsche, and so I thought he might be a strong place to look next, especially after reading this article, where his wording under the subtitle 'Of Observing Scripture' he uses the phrase "we Christians", which supports the general information I found online about him being a Christian. I chose this book particularly because it's a discussion of the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice Isaac to God in the Bible, which means that it's inevitably going to have some sort of philosophical discussion of Christianity with it.

What I Gained

I really enjoyed reading this book, more so than any of the others previously, although I do intend to read Thus Spoke Zarathustra again from a far more knowledgable perspective given Nietzsche's pride for it in Ecce Homo. Other than the enjoyment I gained, I found there to be a few declarations and definitions in this book from a Christian point of view, such as: 

1. Spirituality and morality isn't always clear cut in the world and isn't always something that you're able to follow.
2. Something that is ethical is universal, and therefor is always applicable.
3. All duty is ultimately duty to God.

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

At this point I want to find a second source of Christianity that backs up Nietzsche's arguments to make for a more convincing argument of my own.

The Turin Horse - Béla Tarr

Reasoning

After reading Lee Spinks' book on Nietzsche and seeing how he compared the eternal recurrence to Groundhog Day, I found that my reading of the eternal recurrence was much more pessimistic than the idea is portrayed in Groundhog Day. I thought having something to compare it to might be useful.

What I Gained

The film seems to be based on the premise that the eternal recurrence is already upon us in the sense that all our days are the same but we just don't realise it, this is suggested by key things in the film by the recurring mannerisms of the characters such as the shots in the morning, the singular potato as a meal, and the ghostly starring out of the windows. It's brought up a couple of questions and thoughts: 

1. If, as the film suggests, Nietzsche's final sane words were "Mother, I am stupid", does that suggest he was questioning his own work? In which case was he going against the teaching of the Ubermensch?
2. If the eternal recurrence is already upon us, does it matter if we embrace it or not because we can no longer change it anyway?

The full film can be found here, although the opening scene (below) sets the tone well:

Next Steps

This was a somewhat random and unexpected turn after someone suggested it to me, so I'm still looking for Christian viewpoints on ethics and morality.

The Wisdom of Life & On the Suffering of the World - Arthur Schopenhauer

Reasoning

I wanted to read some of Schopenhauer's work to try and pick out some similarities between him and Nietzsche. I think it's important to see what Nietzsche's thoughts were developed from Schopenhauer's given his emphasis on creation of individual values.

I chose to read these two books in particular because they touched on the subjects of suffering, happiness, creativity and religion, topics which are appropriate given my subject and my previous readings of Nietzsche, without being too long that they could lead me of topic.

What I Gained

It's clear that Schopenhauer's thoughts formed a basis for Nietzsche to build his thoughts on, specifically that: 

1. All people will react differently to the same scenario, even if they're in the same surroundings. This is because you can only ever react to your own feelings. This idea of following your own instincts and thoughts could have lead to the idea of the overman.
2. Having natural talents and not pursuing them because you've been overcome by external forces to do something else will lead you to be unhappy. This idea of being overpowered by an external will could have lead to the idea of the will to power.
3. Doing evil things is an affirmation of the will to live by the person who does them. This could also have lead to the will to power.
4. The idea that something could be transformed by art from something that existed temporarily into something to exist "time and time again". This could have lead to the idea of the eternal recurrence.
5. On top of all these things, Schopenhauer wrote about how people are looked down on for wanting money above everything else, saying that money is the only true good thing in the world because it can be used to satisfy and need. Whilst the common phrase 'money can't buy you happiness' questions this, it is a strong point to back the consumeristic market the First Things Manifesto tries to subdue.

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

I'm satisfied with the amount of reading I've done on Schopenhauer, and now want to look at other philosophers who could have had useful standpoints on either religion or consumerism. It would be particularly useful if they were Christians, as this adds relevance to their thoughts in relation to my project.

Human, All Too Human - Friedrich Nietzsche

Penguin Classics Edition Book Cover

Reasoning

I wanted to see if there was any noticable differences between this book and the others I've read, as this was written 4 years before the Gay Science. Having seen the difference between The Antichrist and the other books I've read so far, I feel like I may find things in Human, All Too Human that I missed in the other books.

I read an online copy of this book rather than a physical copy, as I'd decided to read it quite suddenly, and didn't want to wait for the book to arrive in the post. This is the copy I read.

What I Gained

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of differences between Human, All Too Human and other books, I found it covered the same topics, but often in a less cryptic way, which is to be expected given Nietzsche had at least 4 years more thought go into the other books. I did however find a few passages which supplement previous quotes I've found well, and so it's been useful for this reason.

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

There were numerous references to Schopenhauer in this book, a philosopher who clearly influenced Nietzsche, so I want to read some of his work to see how he was influenced.

The Antichrist - Friedrich Nietzsche

Reasoning

I wanted to see if there was a change of tone or approach in this book from the previous ones given the name and the fact that Nietzsche was seemingly writing for himself rather than a specific audience at this point.

What I Gained

This book is noticeably more personal, and doesn't really elaborate in much depth on the will to power, overman, or the eternal recurrence: 

1. A lot of Nietzsche's criticisms in this book are repeated over and over again, it almost seems like he's being aggressive towards Christianity.
2. Many of his criticisms are aimed directly at priests rather than the religion itself, calling them lunatics amongst other things.
3. Some aphorisms contained lines that were anti-nationalist, potentially put in purposely where they otherwise mightn't have been to deter claims that his philosophy that the book promotes through it's distain for Christianity isn't in fact a Nationalist one.

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

Having read the books by Nietzsche I had initially earmarked, I'm going to also read Human, All Too Human, as noticing the difference between the Antichrist and his other books, I wanted to see if there was anything noticably different between Human, All Too Human and The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Beyond Good and Evil that might be useful or important.

Ecce Homo - Friedrich Nietzsche

Reasoning

I read this book to see if any of Nietzsche's thoughts on his books matched or contrasted greatly with my own, as in either of the two cases there is room to research more, particularly in the latter.

What I Gained

I found some interesting things, how useful any of them are remains to be seen: 

1. Nietzsche was incredibly proud of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, as is clear from some of the quotes I selected from the chapter. I found this odd because I found Thus Spoke Zarathustra very easy to read, and didn't sense any element of pride in it, although maybe this was down to the fact that he wrote it from Zarathustra's perspective rather than in first person.
2. He implies that from Beyond Good and Evil onwards, he wasn't necessarily writing for an audience, rather for himself, which makes me intrigued into reading the Antichrist, given it was written after this point.
3. It seems that Nietzsche's main reason for writing the Gay Science was to build a platform for Thus Spoke Zarathustra to stand on.
4. He predicted that he'd be associated with "the recollection of something frightful - of a crisis like no other before on earth", which turned out to be true due to the Nazis misrepresentation of his work.  

Potentially useful quotes:

Next Steps

I want to read the Antichrist because of it's provocative name and the fact it was written after Nietzsche wrote "From now on all my writings are fish-hooks: perhaps I understand fishing as well as anyone? … If nothing got caught I am not to blame. There were no fish…"