The Will to Power

Context is Key

By Friedrich Nietzsche
Translated By Walter Kaufmann & R.J. Hollingdale
German, 1901
Philosopher’s Notebooks 

Brief Table of Contents

1.  European Nihilism
2.  Critique of Religion
3.  Critique of Morality
4.  Critique of Philosophy
5.  Will to Power as Knowledge
6.  Will to Power In Nature
7.  Will to Power & of Values
8.  Will to Power as Art
9.  Order of Rank
10. Commentary on the Facsimiles 



Cuisine & Delicacies
Ranked as: Roast Chicken Dinner
This is a collection of Nietzsche’s notebooks from 1883 to 1888.  Don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s a light read.  Nietzsche packed his ideas into the the densest paragraphs of wisdom that he could muster.  Many of these snippets read like an organized outline that would be used as the framework for his other philosophical works.  Kaufmann painstakingly organized them into a thematic order so they’re in a logical order based on the development of Nietzsche’s ideas and thematically as a whole.

Why Visit Here

The Will to Power was never intended for publication since they were Nietzsche’s own private notebooks.  Because of how organized Kaufmann arranged them, they are highly readable and can give a fantastic introduction to Nietzsche’s thoughts.  Reading Will to Power before Nietzsche’s other works could provide a great foundation of understanding before moving up to the completed works.

Destination Summary

From the listed subject in the above Table of Contents, you can see the various topics that Nietzsche discusses in this book.  It reads almost like a very intelligent person’s personal diary because of the dates attached to each entry.  Will to Power does contain 4 main sections that Kaufmann calls Books.  These books seem organized to correspond to the arguments made in the final works of Nietzsche.

Travel Advisory

In the introduction, Kaufmann says Nietzsche is a philosopher who’s often taken out of context and this led to him being misunderstood or marked with distain by misassociation.  Nietzsche is a very bold thinker who could challenge the most open minded person.  Her certainly doesn’t beat around the bushes with niceties.  Therefore, many of his ideas, even when read in context could be regarded as antagonistic to some sensibilities.  By reading him with an open mind, many of his ideas could challenge preconceived notions about how to be in society.  After reading this, some of his ideas, I’ll certainly adopt and others I won’t.  Nietzsche is just a very bold philosopher.

Packing List
✓ Notebook & Pencil for many inspirations
✓ Your favourite book by Dostoevsky
✓ A Safe to securely house religious texts in

Recommended Resources
Alternate Books
✓ Faust Part 1 & 2 By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1808) - Nietzsche seems to admire Goethe as a great example of an exemplary man.
✓ The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli (1532) - Nietzsche discusses the concept of power at length, some of his ideas could compliment The Prince and others clash a great deal.  It could be interesting to compare which is which.
✓ Brother Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoevsky (Year) - Dostoyevsky’s views on religion must be comparable to Nietzsche’s where there is extensive corruption within organized religion.