Tolle Lege!.

Most of the science or philosophy lectures I read (and listen to) will bring up Nietzsche in some way or another. So, at the best I was getting a spattering of Nietzsche's beliefs in an incoherent way. This lecture series has set me straight and has given me a consistent and coherent look at this very interesting philosopher (who at times could be inconsistent). Most philosophers I find wanting. After this lecture series, I must say I still find Nietzsche intriguing and worth reading more about his philosophy. From this series, it's easy to see that how people can read so many different things into his philosophy. I suspect that's what Nietzsche wanted from his readers. The lecturers (a husband and wife) were very good when they compare and contrast Nietzsche with different philosophies such as those of Kant, Schopenhauer, Existentialism, and Spinoza.

I particularly disliked the book "Closing of the American Mind", by Bloom. My dislike for it hit me at a visceral level at the time I read it earlier this year. At the time, I wasn't sure why I disliked it so much, but, now, after having had listened to this lecture I understand why. Nietzsche at his core is a non-absolutist and thinks our truths are always a matter of perspective and our desire for self-esteem is what drives us. The author of the book, Bloom, thinks the exact opposite. He was using Nietzsche as a surrogate for all that he thought was wrong with America in the 1980s. I don't think Bloom, the author, was right then or is right now. I'd rather live with uncertainty and doubt then 'to pretend to know something I don't know'.

In the end a lecture on a philosopher is only as good as the philosopher under consideration, Nietzsche is definitely worth considering and this lecture is definitely worth listening to. There's enough in these lectures in which the average listener will be able to take something from them and make it his (or her) own and be the wiser for it.