Ecce Homo

Written by Friedrich Nietzsche

Narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano and The Orb

• “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
• “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” ...
• “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
• “I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”

Nietzsche

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's autobiography, Ecce Homo, was the last prose work that he wrote before his illness in 1889. Coming at the end of an extraordinarily productive year in which he had produced The Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist, Nietzsche shuns any pretense at modesty with chapter titles include “Why I am so Wise”, “Why I am so Clever” and “Why I Write Such Excellent Books”. His translator Anthony M. Ludovici states, Ecce Homo “is not only a coping-stone worthy of the wonderful creations of that year, but also a fitting conclusion to his whole life, in the form of a grand summing up of his character as a man, his purpose as a reformer, and his achievement as a thinker.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic and philologist whose work has exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Icon Audio Arts
• Release date: Nov 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798887675909

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was an acclaimed German philosopher who rose to prominence during the late nineteenth century. His work provides a thorough examination of societal norms often rooted in religion and politics. As a cultural critic, Nietzsche is affiliated with nihilism and individualism with a primary focus on personal development. His most notable books include The Birth of Tragedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. and Beyond Good and Evil. Nietzsche is frequently credited with contemporary teachings of psychology and sociology.

Reviews for Ecce Homo

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is Nietzsche's autobiography, in as far as it is an autobiography. In fact, he describes it in the introduction as being very different from other autobiographies, and this much is certainly true. It was written shortly before he went mad, and is as florid as any of his works, even more so than "Thus Spake Zarathustra". It does describe his life, as one would expect from an autobiography, but Nietzsche has undertaken this with more of an artistic intent than an historical one, and many of the details have either been embellished or just made up. He acknowledges this, in a way, and justifies it as being unimportant. As well as the typical autobiographical contents, he also reviews more or less all of his works, giving opinions on them, providing historical context, and saying how they should be understood.If I hadn't read any Nietzsche before, and this was my introduction to him, then I probably wouldn't have formed a very favourable opinion of him, either as a character, a philosopher, or a writer. Chapter titles such as: "Why I Am So Clever" and "Why I Write Such Good Books", are not likely to impress a reader yet to be convinced of the genius of the author, and on top of this, Ecce Homo is not itself a particularly good book.One of the main themes of the book is “amor fati”, which means a love of fate, particularly one's own fate. Nietzsche uses this phrase when describing how during his life, he has come to accept all events, and not want anything to have been different from how it actually was.Like in Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche presents himself here as a Dionysus, and actually describes himself using this word in at least one place. This is partly the basis of his amorality of sorts, his concept of being “Beyond Good and Evil”. The state of bodily good health is linked to his Dionysus concept, and yet there also seem to be contradictions: he warns the reader off alcohol - what could be less Dionysian? He also shows contempt for coffee, and says he only likes tea in the morning, and it that it must be very strong. It is the little details such as these preferences of his that form the saner parts of the book; much of it suffers from the wild hyperbole that will be familiar to readers of his other late works.No doubt Nietzsche thought that he was writing profound things, when penning this book, but for me, and most readers I would have thought, more of his thoughts can be understood in his earlier works. For this reason I would not recommend this book as an introduction to Nietzsche, and would be doubtful if any proper appreciation of this book could be made without having read at least a handful of his other works.There is a thin line between genius and madness; this work is nearer the latter.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Zeer zelfbewust, arrogant, hooghartig; Goede introductie tot zijn denken, een beetje schreeuwerig, maar toch goed te volgen

[madepercy-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nietzsche's autobiography is bewildering. The title, Ecce Homo, means "Behold the Man" in Latin, and is ascribed to Pontius Pilate when he presented Jesus to the mob. The title is clever in that Nietzsche, in concluding, is "Dionysus versus Christ" (p. 143). But this seems to me to be misleading when the subtitle (which is absent from this Dover version), reads "How One Becomes What One Is". Without the subtitle, one might justify an off-handed rejection of Ecce Homo as little more than vanity given too much regard by posterity. Indeed, I wonder had Nietzsche written this today, would he have ever been known? At times I felt that Nietzsche was of a privileged class and was able to publish at will, but this is not entirely the case. Nietzsche's father, a Lutheran pastor, had worked for the state and, following his premature death, this qualified Nietzsche for a scholarship. Hardly peak bourgeoisie, yet Nietzsche was a polymath; surely symptomatic of genius. If the subtitle is considered during the reading, then "how Nietzsche became Nietzsche" is less troubling to the modern mind. At the same time, Nietzsche goes out of his way to tell us that the effeminate, decaying, degenerative way perpetuated by Christianity is a denial of nature, of the body, of the present - so why would he be all meek and modest? Hence my bewilderment. Believe "neither in 'ill-luck' nor 'guilt'" - this is the opposite of a decadent (it is Nietzsche) (p. 13). "Unselfishness" and "neighbourly love" are conditions of the decadent, these are signs of weakness; pity is not a virtue (p. 18). Nietzsche tells us how he has never felt bad about himself, no guilt, no self-flagellation. The basic argument is that Christianity has poisoned us against ourselves - not faith, not God per se, but the religion of Christianity. Undoing this decadence is therefore essential. But atheists find no solace, either: Socrates is no role model. Nietzsche hints at Heraclitus as one of the few who understood (at least through the Stoics) (p. 73). This is interesting in that Heraclitus had a particular view of God and the gods that one steeped in the atheistic view of Nietzsche will struggle to comprehend. The most important words from Ecce Homo outline Nietzsche's philosophy for living: amor fati (p. 54):My formula for greatness in man is amor fati: the fact that a man wishes nothing to be different, either in front of him or behind him, or for all eternity. Not only must the necessary be borne, and on no account concealed,- all idealism is falsehood in the face of necessity,- but it must also be loved... Nietzsche writes disapprovingly of equal rights, particularly for women (p. 65), yet, at the same time, in addition to his view of the "opiate of the masses", betrays a Marxian loathing for the decadence of the "false economy" of "the division of labour" (p. 76). He goes on to address the problem of our current times: the "large number of young men... all in... [a] state of distress" because of the false "calling" to vocations that are unnatural and lead to a "feeling of emptiness and hunger" (p. 87). With so much going on, it is unlikely that a reading of Nietzsche's work in its entirety is enough to comprehend his insights from the rabbit hole of the human soul. But if I have taken away just one thing from Ecce Homo, it is a deeper understanding of the concept of amor fati. Its opposite can be seen in those who reject the body (interesting that Nietzsche says he can "smell" the decadents), where the golden arrow of consumption masks much of the truth (that many could not face if it were revealed, but can happily consume while it is well-masked), and I take it that Nietzsche meant both the corporeal and spiritual aspects of the analogy. But I will let Nietzsche have the last word:...that which is necessary does not offend me. Amor fati is the core of my nature.