NIETZSCHE Explained: The Antichrist - Introduction (pt. 1)

WATCH: Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk Welcome to part 1 in a planned series on Nietzsche’s work, The Antichrist. In this first video we will briefly introduce the work and go over some necessary context. In following parts, we will do a deep dive analysis. If you want to be notified when these parts are released, please subscribe to the channel and click the Bell button. As always, we begin with the title. The original German, Der Antichrist, actually has two meanings in English. It can literally mean “the Antichrist”, referring to the character in the Bible that is predicted to come to Earth in the end times. But it can also simply mean “Anti-christian”. Nietzsche is obviously being provocative by engaging in this double entendre, which is also why most English translations decide on “The Antichrist” as the title. Although, it must be noted, Nietzsche never uses the term “Antichrist” in the book to refer to the biblical character. He only ever uses the term to mean “Anti-Christian.” The title of this work is also less mysterious than, let’s say, Daybreak, Twilight of the Idols, and of course, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. It’s obvious what Nietzsche will attempt in this work: a sustained critique of the Christian worldview and morality. The Antichrist was actually the first instalment in a planned four-volume work, which Nietzsche could never complete due to his mental collapse. The work was to be entitled: The Will to Power: A Transvaluation of All Values And the four volumes making up the work would be: 1. The Antichrist: an Attempt at a Criticism of Christianity. 2. The Free Spirit: a Criticism of Philosophy as a Nihilistic Movement 3. The Immoralist: a Criticism of Morality, the Most Fatal Form of Ignorance 4. Dionysus: the Philosophy of Eternal Recurrence. As it stands, however, only the first volume, the Antichrist, was released as intended by Nietzsche. There have been attempts to reconstruct Nietzsche’s original vision of this great work but this is controversial. This reconstruction is known as The Will to Power and was heavily edited by Nietzsche’s sister. Because of this, and because Nietzsche never intended these notes for publication in the first place, this reconstruction is not generally considered to be canonical. But back to the Antichrist. This work was written in 1888, which makes this book, together with the autobiography Ecce Homo, Nietzsche’s final publication before his descent into madness. Just like with Twilight of the Idols, this means that the book is of a very radical nature. The late Nietzsche pulls no punches in his philosophical writings. He wants to hit hard and provoke his audience. We will see exactly how as this series continues. Much of what we will cover in this series, will sound familiar to long-time viewers of the channel. We will talk about décadence, the Will to Power, master and slave morality, and other Nietzschean concepts that were covered in other videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices