Science, culture, and free spirits

"In this enlightening study, Jonathan R. Cohen identifies Human, All-Too-Human (1878) as the book in which Nietzsche "becomes who he is." On the one hand, Nietzsche here breaks his early allegiance to Arthur Schopenhauer and Richard Wagner by offering acute criticisms that often are diametric reversals of his earlier writings. On the other, he establishes the overall framework of his later philosophy as the puncturing and overcoming of metaphysical barriers to the development of free spirits who will be the avant-garde of culture." "Cohen explains Nietzsche's diametric turnabout from his earlier philosophy, analyzes the argumentative tactics by which Nietzsche deploys science to undercut traditional metaphysics, describes the character type and development of the free spirits, and explores the division of labor scheme that Nietzsche prescribes for cultural progress. Cohen's investigation not only illuminates the primary themes of Human, All-Too-Human but also, by offering chapters on Nietzsche's early philosophy of culture and on the later development of the nexus of science, culture, and free spirits, locates it as the crucial watershed of Nietzsche's philosophical development."--Jacket.