Transdisciplinary and Comparative Method

A transdisciplinary and comparative approach is, to a large extent, dictated by the subject matter itself when commenting on Nietzsche’s works. It hardly needs pointing out how frequently Nietzsche, as a classicist, drew upon ancient literature and philosophy, how deeply the linguistic style of the Bible influenced him, and what profound traces his engagement with the artistic, religious, and scientific traditions of the modern era left in his writings. This applies not only to German intellectual history but to European intellectual history as a whole. Fixed points in his intellectual orientation and engagement included, for example, French moral philosophy from Montaigne to La Rochefoucauld, the French Enlightenment, and the proponents of a “modern” diagnosis of décadence from Baudelaire to Bourget. He also engaged intensively with Italian, Russian, English, and American literature. Historical analyses ranging from Tocqueville to Jacob Burckhardt served as important reference points for him. Positivism and historicism, as well as 19th-century psychology and physiology, preoccupied him just as deeply as Schopenhauer, Wagner, and Darwin.

Equally multidimensional is the history of Nietzsche’s influence, whom Gottfried Benn in 1950 called “the greatest phenomenon of intellectual history in terms of its impact.” It suffices to recall Thomas Mann, Hofmannsthal, Musil, Benn, Freud, and Heidegger, as well as Nietzsche’s influence on French intellectual life from Gide to Derrida, and furthermore the ideological and political explosive power that Nietzsche—appropriated for specific worldviews—acquired in the 20th century. Since the history of Nietzsche’s reception and influence—with its many ramifications—constitutes a highly complex topic in its own right, one that would require investigation in a separate research project, the Nietzsche Commentary limits itself in this regard to discussions of the specific history of reception of the individual works being commented on.

Function and Concept

The Nietzsche Commentary by Jochen Schmidt, Katharina Grätz, Sebastian Kaufmann, Barbara Neymeyr and Andreas Urs Sommer is sponsored by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and is based at the Department of German Studies (Division of Modern German Literature) at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (external link). Spanning six comprehensive volumes, it will examine Nietzsche’s works within their intellectual and cultural-historical context, thereby laying a new foundation for understanding Nietzsche’s thought and poetry.

The commentary aims to bring together, systematize, and expand upon existing but scattered research findings. Furthermore, it offers interpretive approaches to central aspects. Introductory overview commentaries provide information on the conceptual, structural, and historical contexts—including the genesis and reception history—of the individual works. Lematized commentaries on specific passages elucidate important details of the corresponding text sections. In-depth contextual and source research is essential for this purpose.

The Nietzsche Commentary research project mourns the loss of its founder and long-time director, PROF. DR. JOCHEN SCHMIDT (internal link), who passed away on May 18, 2020, at the age of 81. Not only did he launch the Nietzsche-Kommentar project, lead it until 2014, and actively support it right up until recently, but he also set new standards in international Nietzsche scholarship with his own commentary volumes on *The Birth of Tragedy* and *Dawn*. He was an exceptionally kind supervisor, colleague, doyen, and friend who knew how to motivate and inspire us in countless ways. Jochen Schmidt will remain a great role model for us, both personally and academically.