Product Description

Since his death in 1889 Nietzsche hs become one of the world's most influential and popular philosophers. Recent years have seen a passionate revival of interest, which is now at an all time high and attracting many readers broadly across disciplines and beyond academe. In this book Lawrence Hatab provides an accessible and provocative exploration of one of the best-known and still most puzzling aspects of Nietzsche's thought: the doctrine of eternal return, the claim that life endlessly repeats itself identically in every detail. The book will offer a readable treatment of most of the core topics in Nietzsche's philosophy, all discussed in the light of the consummating effect of eternal recurrence. Hatab is a leading interpreter of Nietzsche's philosophy, and probably one of the best-qualified scholars in the world to write this book. His 1976 dissertation, later published by University Press of America and now out of print, was on this very topic and so in a very real sense you could say he has been working on the subject now for more than 30 years. Although Nietzsche himself called the doctrine of eternal recurrence his most fundamental idea, very little has been written on it and Hatab's book makes an important and much needed contribution to the scholarship on Nietzsche. Given Hatab's reputation and the paucity of scholarship on eternal return, this book will be necessary reading for any serious scholar of Nietzsche's work. Hatab, who describes himself as a "recovering academic who has been jargon-free for six years", writes in a clear and readable style; the book will be open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in Nietzsche's thought. Because of Nietzsche's persistent public popularity, we should also expect some interest by general readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1088650 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Review
"'[Nietzsche's Life Sentence] should find a large audience among students and scholars interested in Nietzsche's works.' - Alan Schrift, Grinnell College, USA; '[Hatab] possesses a unique talent for introducing non specialists to difficult philosophical issues while honouring the lived sense of urgency from which these issues originally emerged. This philosophical style is extremely well-suited to a treatment of the idea of eternal recurrence, which Nietzsche fully intended to affect his readers at an intuitive and emotional level.' - Dan Conway, Penn State University"

From the Back Cover
In this book, Lawrence Hatab provides an accessible and provocative exploration of one of the best-known and still most puzzling aspects of Nietzsche's thought: eternal recurrence, the claim that life endlessly repeats itself identically in every detail. Hatab argues that eternal recurrence can and should be read literally, in just the way Nietzsche described it in the texts. The book offers a readable treatment of most of the core topics in Nietzsche's philosophy, all discussed in the light of the consummating effect of eternal recurrence. Although Nietzsche called eternal recurrence his most fundamental idea, most interpreters have found it problematic or needful of redescription in other terms. For this reason, Hatab's book is an important and challenging contribution to Nietzsche scholarship.

About the Author
Lawrence J. Hatab is Louis I. Jaffe Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Old Dominion University. He is well known for his work in continental philosophy, and is a leading interpreter of Nietzsche. His best-known book is A Nietzschean Defence of Democracy (1995).

Customer Reviews

A 'real' insight into Nietzche
As an admirer of the of Nietzche's work, and having read many reviews on his writings and thouhght, I found Hatab's understanding of Nietzche both illuminating, grounding and agreeable. It brings to light the ideas of Nietzche and the dependency of these ideas upon a real and earth bound life; ideas that many critics totally misunderstand and thus misuse.
The book itself is well laid out and accesible, and for any student, or layperson, studying Nietzche, 'Nietzche's Life Sentence' gives a clear and informative view of Nietzche's basic ideas. For example, Nietzche's criticism of 'teleology explanations of existence', [whether religious, political or scientific]and how they relate to the 'Death of God' and 'Shadow of God', are made easilly accesible. And Nietzche's so called, and normally misunderstood, relitivism, [as being just being a 'free for all anything goes' notion], are explained here by Hatab with great clarity. While more established critics of so called 'Nietzcheism' might be supprised at what,as Hatab explains, Nietzche really thought about religion and nihilism.
A few sections in the book, and some of the language, could seem quite complex for anyone new to philosophy, but these complexities do make sense with time, further reading, and thus understanding, of the issues involved.
And as for the centeral issue, 'Eternal Recurrence', Hatab here again is convincing in explaining that this notion is not purely a moral stop check to replace the moral stop checks of both religious and political societies; it's importance is more concrete and lived than purely abstract and imagined.
Many schollars of Nietzche just think they understand what Nietzche was about, where as Hatab, in this book, shows he really does understand. Whether your interest in Nietzche is for or against, read 'Nietzches Life Sentence' for yourself, to know what he really meant. You may be supprised.