The book offers new interpretations of Nietzsche's thinking -- considering especially his ideas regarding power, values, nature, contrariety, sexuality and sexual politics -- that could offer new and provocative approaches toward dealing with the...

The book offers new interpretations of Nietzsche's thinking -- considering especially his ideas regarding power, values, nature, contrariety, sexuality and sexual politics -- that could offer new and provocative approaches toward dealing with the rising menace of war. His breadth and depth of interests and his scholarly background make Nietzsche uniquely qualified to comment.

The author quotes from many of Nietzsche's own writings and introduces selected earlier writers whom she believes would have influenced his own thinking on the subject of war, from Thomas Aquinas to Bachofen. Particularly as philosopher, psychologist, philologist and historian, Nietzsche's own words provide the immediate and best access to his thoughts. A thinker of Nietzsche's stature might contribute to the anguished debates rending society even today.

In the 21st century there appears to be an inverse relationship between the extremely rapid increase of the visible catastrophic effects of the powers of wars and the impotence of people to comprehend the depth and breadth of this complex phenomenon. The urgency is immediate — the need for possible benefits to be derived from an unconventional, innovative approach. What is demanded are new, perhaps previously unasked, probably threatening questions. Any or all of these questions ultimately...

In the 21st century there appears to be an inverse relationship between the extremely rapid increase of the visible catastrophic effects of the powers of wars and the impotence of people to comprehend the depth and breadth of this complex phenomenon. The urgency is immediate — the need for possible benefits to be derived from an unconventional, innovative approach. What is demanded are new, perhaps previously unasked, probably threatening questions. Any or all of these questions ultimately are centered on, begin or end with, those regarding concern of who. Other than the recognized theorists, who else may have had thoughts, or words, about war? We should surely consider the ancient myth-makers or mythologists; classical Greek or Roman poets, historians, and dramatists; theologians of any era; modern novelists, essayists, or poets; modern scientists. Who has spoken or written words about war? And what have been the perspectives and interpretations of these men?

In preparing this work, the author has drawn on the writings of thinkers from the pre-Socratics to the current President of Harvard University, Drew G. Faust. Works consulted include:

Nietzsche's Writings
The Antichrist (PN), in The Portable Nietzsche, selected and translated, with an introduction, prefaces, and notes, by Walter Kaufmann (The Viking Press, Inc., 1968)
Beyond Good and Evil (BGE), translated and with an introduction by Marianne Cowan (Gateway Editions, Ltd., 1955)
Ecce Homo (EH), translated, with an introduction and notes, by R. J. Hollingdale, (Penguin Books, 1979)
The Gay Science (GS), Translated, with Commentary by Walter Kaufmann (Vintage Books Edition, Random House, Inc., 1974)
Human, All Too Human (HA), translated by Marion Faber, with Stephen Lehmann, introduction and notes by Marion Faber (The University of Nebraska Press, 1984)
The Portable Nietzsche (PN), selected and translated, with an introduction, prefaces, and notes, by Walter Kaufmann (The Viking Press, Inc., 1968)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Z), translated and with a Preface by Walter Kaufmann (The Viking Press, Inc., Compass Books Edition, 1966)
Twilight of the Idols (PN), in The Portable Nietzsche, Selected and Translated, with an Introduction, Prefaces, and Notes, by Walter Kaufmann (The Viking Press, Inc., 1968)
The Will to Power (WP), translated by Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale, edited, with commentary, by Walter Kaufmann (Vintage Books Edition, 1968, Random House, Inc.)

Related Works
Approaches to Ethics (AE), Representative Selections from Classical Times to the Present, edited by W. T. Jones, Frederick Sontag, Morton O. Beckner, Robert J. Fogelin (McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1977)
Envy (E), A Theory of Social Behavior, by Helmut Schoeck, translated from the German by Michael Glenny and Betty Ross (Helmut Schoeck, A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1966)
Great Political Thinkers (GPT), Plato to the Present, by William Ebenstein (Fourth Edition, The Dryden Press, Inc., 1969)
Hesiod (H), translated by Richard Lattimore (The University of Michigan, 1959)
History of Ideas on Woman (IW), A Source Book, by Rosemary Agonito (Rosemary Agonito, Perigee Books, G. P. PutnamÂ’s Sons, New York, 1977)
Myth, Religion, & Mother Right (MR), Selected Writings of J. J. Bachofen, translated from the German by Ralph Manheim, with a preface by George Boas and an introduction by Joseph Campbell (Princeton University Press, 1967, First Princeton/Bollingen Paperback Printing, 1973)
Nietzsche (N), by R. J. Hollingdale (first published in 1973, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.)
Nietzsche, Philosopher of the Perilous Perhaps, by Rebekah Peery (Algora Publishing, New York, 2008.)
What is Called Thinking? (CT), by Martin Heidegger, English translation (Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., First Harper Torchbook edition, 1972)
Leviathan (L), by Thomas Hobbes, edited by Michael Oakeshott, with an introduction by Richard S. Peters (Simon & Schuster, 1962, First Touchstone Edition 1997)
Leviathan (LE), by Thomas Hobbes, edited with an introduction by C. B. Macpherson (Penguin Books, 1981)
Sex and Power in History (SP), by Amaury de Riencourt (Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1974)