37 pages • 1 hour read
On The Advantage And Disadvantage Of History For Life
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PrefaceChapter Summaries & Analyses
Preface Summary
Opening with a citation from Goethe that advocates utility, Nietzsche’s essay sets out an intention to discern between historical awareness that aids life and that which abets it. Whilst asserting “certainly we need history” (12), Nietzsche says that his discussion of it will also seek to offer “public instruction and correction about our age” (13). Nietzsche says that his contemporaries in Germany were “justifiably proud” of the country’s strong “historical education” (13). Yet this “historical fever” also threatens “decay.” Nietzsche contextualizes his age and work within the pantheon of great civilizations, referencing the Greeks in this capacity. Finally, he expresses a hope that his work will “have an effect on the age to the advantage […] of a coming age” (13).
Preface Analysis
Providing context for his essay on history, Nietzsche defines his position within the canon: “my profession as a classical philologist” (13). His awareness of himself operating both within and against a tradition and an age thus provides both the form and the content of this essay. In Chapter 4, Nietzsche will argue against the division of these beneath the weight of what he deems an excessive historical education. This historicity impedes the course of meaningful action, a contemporary problem that he intends to both address and redress in this essay.
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By Friedrich Nietzsche
