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Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming: Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche

Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming
Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Front Matter
    1. Table Of Contents
    2. Title and Authors
    3. Copyright and License
    4. Dedication
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter One - Liberalism and Eurocentrism
    1. Notes on Jean Jacques Rousseau
    2. The Social Contract (excerpts)
    3. Notes on Eurocentrism
    4. Lecture: Liberalism and Eurocentrism, Jean Jacques Rousseau
    5. Main Elements of Liberalism
    6. Liberalism and Eurocentrism Exercises
    7. Shirley Temple A Kid 'in' Africa: An Illustrated Summary and Critique
    8. Readings and Resources
    9. Notes on Angela Davis
  5. Chapter Two - Early Liberal Feminism Contrasted with Black Feminism
    1. Notes on Olympe de Gouges
    2. The Declaration of the Rights of Women
    3. Lecture: Early Liberal Feminism, Olympe De Gouges
    4. Olympe de Gouges Exercises
    5. Main Contributions De Gouges
    6. Readings and Resources
  6. Chapter Three - Communism, Karl Marx
    1. Notes on Karl Marx
    2. The Communist Manifesto
    3. Lecture: Communism, Karl Marx, Part 1
    4. Lecture: Communism, Karl Marx - Part 2
    5. Basic Definitions of Marxian Concepts
    6. Main Elements of Marxism
    7. Marx Exercises
    8. Readings and Resources
  7. Chapter Four - Anarcho-Communism, Pyotr Kropotkin
    1. Notes on Kropotkin
    2. The Conquest of Bread
    3. Lecture: Anarcho-Communism, Pyotr Kropotkin
    4. "The Conquest of Bread" Exercises
    5. Main Elements of Anarcho-Communism
    6. Readings and Resources
  8. Chapter Five - Death of the Western God
    1. Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche
    2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra (excerpt)
    3. Lecture: Death of the Western God, Friedrich Nietzsche
    4. Basic Definitions of Nietzsche's Main Concepts
    5. Nietzsche Exercises
    6. Readings and Resources
  9. Chapter Six - Black Self-Determination and Self-Defense
    1. Notes on Malcolm X
    2. The Ballot or the Bullet Speech
    3. Lecture: Black Self-Determination and Self-Defense, Malcolm X
    4. The 10-Point Program of the Black Panther Party
    5. Malcolm X Exercises
    6. The Ten Point Program and Platform of the Black Student Unions
    7. Readings and Resources
  10. Chapter Seven - Love and Executions
    1. Notes on The Cuban Revolution
    2. Notes on Che Guevara
    3. Lecture: Love and Guns, Che Guevara
    4. Love and Guns (Che Guevara) Exercises
    5. Readings and Resources
    6. Che Guevara Basic Definitions of Main Concepts
  11. Chapter Eight - Feminism is for Everybody
    1. Notes on bell hooks
    2. Lecture: Feminism is for Everybody, bell hooks
    3. Trayvon Martin news video
    4. bell hooks Exercises
    5. bell hooks Takeaway
    6. Readings and Resources
  12. Chapter Nine - Cultures, Queerness, and Ethnicity
    1. Notes on Gloria Anzaldúa
    2. Lecture: Cultures, Queerness, and Ethnicity, Gloria Anzaldúa
    3. La Conciencia de la Mestiza Exercises
    4. Gloria Anzaldua Takeaways
    5. Readings and Resources
  13. Chapter Ten - Postmodern, Postcolonial Revolution
    1. Notes on the Zapatistas
    2. Lecture: Postmodern, Postcolonial Revolution, The Zapatistas
    3. The Zapatistas Exercise
    4. Zapatistas Takeaways
    5. Readings and Resources
  14. Chapter Eleven: Final Exercises
    1. Final Exercise #1: "The diverse"
    2. Final Exercise #2: "Somos Una Gente: Sisterhood and Brotherhood"
    3. Final Exercise #3: Contrasting Power Structures
    4. Final Exercise #4: "Symbolism: Communicating Outside the Box"
    5. Final Exercise #5: "Marxism, Feminism, and Black Liberation"
    6. Final Exercise #6: "Creating and Becoming"
    7. Final Exercise #7: "Feminisms"
    8. Final Exercise #8: "Born in Chains: 'Freedom' in Liberalism and Marxism"
    9. Final Exercise #9: "Changing the History of Change"
    10. Final Exercise #10: "Future Feminisms"
    11. Final Exercise #11: "Self-Defense, Automony, and Revolution"
  15. Angela Davis Notes

Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche (Prussian Philosopher 1844-1900)

A black-and-white photograph of Nietzsche lounging on a sofa. His hand is in the air as if he is in the midst of saying something.
A portrait of Nietzsche
  • Encouraging Words from an Influential Philosopher:

    • Michel Foucault said of Nietzsche: “The only valid tribute to thought such as Nietzsche’s is precisely to use it, to deform it, to make it groan and protest.”

    Highlights of Nietzsche

    • Greek and Roman philologist
    • Department Chair at age of 24 of Classical Philology at the University of Basel
    • Anti-feminist
    • Mental Collapse at age 48
    • Died at age 56, probably of brain cancer
    • Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche re-works his writings and unpublished notes to make them appear as anti-semitic and nationalist

    Early Life

    • Born in Prussia in 1844. Friedrich’s father is a Lutheran Pastor and former teacher, while his mother is a homemaker. His father dies when he is 5 years old.
    • Attended prestigious schools, was interested in religious and classical studies
    • Studied theology and philosophy at the University of Bonn. Denounces his faith and abandons
      theological studies after one semester
    • He focuses on his study of philosophy after abandoning theology

    Theoretical Influences

    • Greek philosophers
    • Immanuel Kant
    • John Stuart Mill
    • Arthur Schopenhauer
    • Baruch Spinoza
    • Richard Wagner (later distances himself due to Wagner’s Christianity, “German Culture,” and anti-semitism)
    A black-and-white profile view of a winged man that serves as a religious icon to the first Iranian religion, Zoroastrianism.
    Faravahar by Furfur

    Later Life

    • With failing health, he continues to work independently, funded by his pension and friends
    • Some claim syphilis was cause of ill health but modern scholarship suggests brain cancer and other illnesses
    • This so called “Nazi” requested his citizenship (Prussian) be removed. He remained stateless until his death and claimed he was of Polish noble birth (“Slav”)

    The Tightrope Walker

    Thumbnail for the embedded element "UNBOXED: Nietzsche & the Tightrope Walker"

    A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/radicalsocialtheory/?p=146

    Critique of Modernity

    • Inexorable spread of decadence
    • Flaccid reign of the last man (opposite of the Overman)
    • Twilight of the idols
    • Modernity has made man unmotivated and uncreative. The will to nothing looms in the horizon (as opposed to the will to power)

    Overman (Uberman)

    • Willing to risk it all to enhance humanity
    • The “last man” desires comfort, incapable of creating anything
    • Overman creates their own set of values with happiness and pleasure now, with a purpose for humanity

    Against Herd Values of Christianity

    • Will to power to creatively influence the thought of others over generations
    • Their existence and power live on after their death

    Main Concepts

    • God is Dead
    • Perspectivism
    • Will to Power
    • Slave-Master
    • Body

Nietzsche Video Lecture

Media Attributions

  • Nietzsche Olde 08 © Hans Olde is licensed under a Public Domain license
  • Faravahar © Furfur is licensed under a Public Domain license

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Thus Spoke Zarathustra (excerpt)
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Copyright © 2020 by Graciela Monteagudo. Radical Social Theory: An Appraisal, A Critique, and an Overcoming by Graciela Monteagudo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
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