Nietzsche: A Selected Annotated Bibliography

Nietzsche’s Moral Philosophy

Despite his denunciations of traditional morality, Nietzsche is no hedonist or libertine.  This self-described immoralist is an advocate of a high and severe morality.  As Nietzsche wrote to Paul Ree in 1882, “She told me herself that she had no morality-and I thought she had, like myself, a more severe morality than anybody.”  

Berkowitz, Peter.  Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist.  (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995).  JFE 95-8728

For Berkowitz, Nietzsche is primarily an ethical thinker concerned with what is the best life and the creation of a severe, aristocratic ethic.  This is contrary to the views of many current scholars, including Derrida and Deleuze, who stress Nietzsche’s theory of interpretation and language. 

Leiter, Brian.  Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Nietzsche on Morality.  (New York: Routledge, 2002).  JFD 03-9088

This is considered by many to be the best full-length account of the Genealogy of Morals. Leiter first offers a naturalistic interpretation of Nietzsche’s approach to morality followed by a detailed commentary of the text.