logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2021
10 m

Twilight of the Idols | Friedrich Nietzs...

ETERNALISED
About this episode

Twilight of the Idols or How to Philosophise with a Hammer is one of Nietzsche’s last books, written in 1888.   

As Nietzsche was starting to become recognised, he felt that he needed a short text that would serve as an introduction to his thought.   In a letter, he wrote: “This style is my philosophy in a nutshell – radically up to criminal…”  

The book offers a lightning tour of his whole philosophy, preparing the way for The Anti-Christ, a final assault on institutional Christianity, which would be the first part of his Revaluation of All Values. Which, unfortunately, he could not complete, due to his mental breakdown in 1889. 

Donate a coffee

Support on Patreon



Up next
Sep 24
The Psychology of The Restless Wanderer
The archetype of the Wanderer appears as a figure of profound loneliness, who drifts through life without a fixed home or direction, restless in the search for purpose and belonging. He has far-sickness, a deep longing for distant places and the hope of eventually finding a place ... Show More
52m 59s
Jul 28
The Fool Dances with Death
While Death may appear at times terrifying and at other times playful, those he summons almost always tremble with fear. All except one: the Fool. He joins the dance with a smile, laughing at the absurdity of it all. To him, the world is a theatre, and all men and women merely ac ... Show More
50m 49s
Jun 2025
The Psychology of Sin
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” These profound words by St. Paul express the struggle between the desire to do good and the inability to carry it out, due to the power of sin within human nature. The misalignment between o ... Show More
50m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
Taking Nietzsche seriously
Sean Illing talks with political science professor Matt McManus about the political thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher with a complicated legacy, despite his crossover into popular culture. They discuss how Nietzsche's work has been interpreted — ... Show More
1h 5m
Jun 2021
1: How the True World Finally Became a Fable
Welcome to The Nietzsche Podcast! In this first episode, we introduce Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), through the passage, "How the True World Finally Became a Fable", from his book, The Twilight of Idols. In this passage, Nietzsche sketches the history of a particular error in ... Show More
58m 3s
Aug 2022
Birth of Tragedy #1: Attempt At Self-Criticism/Preface to Wagner
In the name of Lord Dionysus, it with great joy and solemnity that we commence this, the first of our Nietzschean bookclubs. This series will see me undertake an in-depth analysis, moving section-by-section, through Nietzsche’s first book: The Birth of Tragedy. In the first episo ... Show More
2h 25m
May 2024
94: Nietzsche Reviews His Own Books
The second part of a two-parter we began near the beginning of this season. The completion of our analysis of Ecce Homo. In this episode, we consider Nietzsche's reviews of his own books, and argue that it presents a creative narrative of Nietzsche's life: Nietzsche as a tragic f ... Show More
1h 19m
Mar 2022
29: Too Good For This World (I: The Saint)
Back in season one, we teased the idea of Nietzsche looking for some way to elevate mankind beyond the natural world. While Nietzsche is celebrated for his uncompromising critique of Christian values and otherworldly metaphysics, the advantage of these ideas was that they showed ... Show More
1h 14m
Apr 2024
Untimely Reflections #28: Stephen Hicks - Is Nietzsche a Postmodernist?
Stephen Hicks is a Canadian-American philosopher, and the author of numerous books, including Understanding Postmodernism, and Nietzsche & the Nazis. As Professor Hicks is a critic of postmodernism, I decided to ask him about Nietzsche's connection to postmodern thought. Is Nietz ... Show More
1 h
Apr 2023
Aristocratic Radicalism: Nietzsche and the Politics of Reaction
Professor Matt McManus returns to Rev Left to talk about his newest book, a collection of essays from various authors that he put together and edited titled "Nietzsche and the Politics of Reaction: Essays on Liberalism, Socialism, and Aristocratic Radicalism".   Together they dis ... Show More
1h 18m
Mar 2021
Nietzsche on Morality
Friedrich Nietzsche’s masterpiece The Genealogy of Morality (1887) sets out to explain where ideas of good and evil come from and why they have left human beings worse off. He traces their origins in what he calls the slave revolt in morality. David examines the ways Nietzsche’s ... Show More
46m 57s
Oct 2021
Friedrich Nietzsche‘s ”Beyond Good and Evil” (Part 1/2)
In this episode, I present the first half of Friedrich Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil." If you want to support me, you can do that with these links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theoryandphilosophy paypal.me/theoryphilosophy Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philosop ... Show More
46m 25s
Oct 2021
Friedrich Nietzsche‘s ”Beyond Good and Evil” (Part 2/2)
In this episode, I present the second half of Friedrich Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil." If you want to support me, you can do that with these links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theoryandphilosophy paypal.me/theoryphilosophy Twitter: @DavidGuignion IG: @theory_and_philoso ... Show More
39 m