ASU - Nietzsche

Dr. H____ was the ASU Philosophy department expert on Emmanual Kant but had somehow managed to avoid the study of Friedrich Nietzsche until the semester he took on the responsibility of teaching a class on that most popular of German philosophers. I took this class and it was among the most interesting experiences of my college years. The chronology of recent German philosophy begins with Leibnitz then runs to Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Schelling with a counter movement consisting of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Nietzsche is a favorite of undergraduates and dilettantes partly because his writings are full of compelling ideas but mostly because his writing style is exciting and clever and modern. What it says about the state of Philosophy that a man with an advanced case of syphilis is the most readable modern Philosopher I prefer not to think about.

Dr. H____ came to Nietzsche with the enthusiasm of his more usual undergraduate fans combined with the education and understanding of a scholar who specialized in the ideological ground from which Nietzsche grew. Nietzsche was a revelation to Dr. H_____ and he taught him like a man who has just found religion. He would ritually remove his wrist watch and jacket, roll up his sleeves, and lecture while pacing back and forth across the front of the small classroom, actually touching the walls with his finger tips before turning around. He started at the beginning with The Birth of Tragedy and then worked through the body of Nietzsche's work often skipping the more popular books to get at the meatier ones. It was exhilarating to watch. There was just one problem. Nietzsche is a reaction against Kant in a philosophical tennis match that began (perhaps) with Sextus Empiricus in Roman times and lead to Hume volleying to Kant who lobbed back what he thought was a winner that Nietzsche was now returning with an overhead slam. This was dangerous ground for the professor whose reputation rested on Kant.

One day he just taught. He left his watch on and his sleeves buttoned. He would still pace a little but he was here in class and no longer lost in what he was teaching. He had made his decision to remain the Kant man.