Anyone reading Nietzsche, really 'understand' his texts?

[charlie cho]

Like, I read many of his books. I have to admit that I don't really understand what the man is trying to say. But, I do see many underlying themes in his books. I'm embarrassed to say what I have analyzed from his books so much that I have to ask you how you've come to understand his books. I guess, the question should really be if you can even understand him in the first place.

Every sentence seems like it's rich with ideas, but because I can only take one thing at a time, and there are many references Nietzsche makes that I have not encountered in my knowledge of the world, so I struggle to comprehend any sentence of his. It's funny, I know, but it's simply the reality of my life. 

Edited June 1, 2022 by charlie cho

[AtheisticNonduality]

Yes, the issue isn't just the language itself that may require a dictionary: the ideas themselves can be inaccessible or not have frame of reference for that person. His sentences can also be like informational webs you can caught in to be consumed by information spiders, if you so please or also if you're crying not to be bitten. However, most of that content can be explained by the context in which it's written, just taking time to decipher / just logic out what he's communicating. But Nietzsche at times, in cases where the understanding possible may be less clear, could very much be like reading poetry in a foreign language since you can read, feel into, appreciate, enjoy, and partially understand it but not really get its full logical meaning. Either route is fine, but to comprehend his sentences properly, you might have to "fix" something in your understanding. Maybe you need a more expansive vocabulary or maybe you need more life experiences or maybe you just need to read about Nietzsche for more contextual knowledge or maybe you just need to learn to think like him rather than how you would otherwise while reading him!?!?! Who knows?

[DocWatts]

While I haven't read every one of Nietzsche's many books, I feel like I do have a good enough grasp on the essence of his philospical system to chime in.

What's important to keep in mind for Nietzsche's philosophy is the context under which he was writing, which can help make sense of some of his underlying motivations.

Nietzsche was writing at a time when Europe was undergoing dramatic changes thanks to the rapid profusion of Enlightenment values and the spread of Industrialization. 

Much like Doestoyevsky, Nietzsche was concerned with the potentially destabilizing consequences of these changes. In particular, Nietzsche found good reasons to worry about the vacuum of meaning that would emerge as religions became less and less viable as the organizing principle of people's lives (his famous 'God is dead' idiom).

Much of his philosophy is an attempt to deconstruct both the Christian and the emerging universalist Enlightenment morality systems of his day, by teasing out the hidden motivations behind such systems (by undertaking a 'genealogy' of morals)

In this way, it could be said that Nietzsche was actually the first postmodern philosopher. 

His overall goal was to construct a system of value to fill that vacuum, in order to head off both nihilism and hedonism. 

While there's no way to get in to all the specifics in one post, that's some good background knowledge to keep in mind.

Also a word of caution; because of the deliberately amoral nature of Nietzsche's philosophical system, don't accept his arguments uncritically or his claims at face value.

Doing so will probably lead you to being a less compassionate person if you haven't cultivated our own ethics first, something that a lot of people run in to when they're introduced to Nietzsche as teenagers or young adults.

Edited June 1, 2022 by DocWatts

[charlie cho]

@AtheisticNonduality what is the knowledge I have to acquire to understand him?

[B3N]

I am usually a proponent of going straight to the source with philosophy rather than reading second hand interpretations. However, I am finding Nietzsche impenetrable atm so am looking at Kaufmann's book on him. Could be a good place to start for you too OP