The Republic of Genius

Taylor analyzes Nietzsche's thoughts on the state, culture and education. While his influence remains controversial, there is little disputeregarding the enormous influence and continuing relevance of FrederichNietzsche. To the popular mind, Nietzsche is best-known as theiconoclastic philosopher of'nihilism' who proclaimed "God is dead",and erected the "Superman" as the meaning and goal of life. Nietzscheis also commonly identified as the thinker who went "beyond good andevil" in the name of a "transvaluation of all values", culminating inan affirmation of the "will to power" and "eternal recurrence". Suchassociations are predictable insofar as the vast majority of what hasbeen written about Nietzsche revolves around these doctrines, which aregenerally taken to constitute the essence of his thought. Yettwo-thirds of Nietzsche's finished works contain no direct referencesto these doctrines. Rejecting the prevalent view that Nietzsche's earlywritings are significantonly in relation to his 'mature' philosophy,Quentin Taylor has written the first full-length study of Nietzsche'searly philosophy. Drawing on a diffuse body of writings, Dr Tayloradeptly reconstructs the principal tenets of Nietzsche's early thoughtwith an emphasis on its positive and constructive dimensions. As such,this study fills a sizeable gap in the literature on Nietzsche andrepresents a seminal contribution to a more balanced and accurateunderstanding of his philosophy.DR QUENTIN P. TAYLOR is an independent scholar who received his Ph.D in political science from the University of Missouri. He has also written extensively on Plato, Machiavelli, and The FederalistPapers.