Friedrich Nietzsche, Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen [Untimely Meditations]

David Gallagher (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

The genesis of the

Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen

[

Untimely Meditations

] is complicated, and the conception, reception, and publication history difficult to sum up briefly. Nietzsche originally planned 13 essays, but delivered only four claiming that completion of thirteen might have been more prejudicial to his health. The first was written to avenge a public humiliation of Wagner at the hands of the eminent theologian David Friedrich Strauss, best-known for his

Das Leben Jesu

[

The Life of Jesus

,1835-6], for persuading Ludwig II to sack a rival musician. The second meditation is often considered the most philosophically rewarding. The third and fourth meditations are retrospective paeans to Schopenhauer and Wagner respectively, paradoxically written at times when he no longer possessed his…

3068 words

Citation: Gallagher, David. "Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 October 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8568, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8568 Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.