Hiking with Nietzsche

May 7, 2018
Kaag (American Philosophy: A Love Story) mixes personal reflection and interpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought in this meditative work, framed by two trips to the philosopher’s home in Sils-Maria, Switzerland: once, when Kaag was a 19-year-old college student, and then, years later, when he returns as a philosophy professor with wife and child. The work reflects on adulthood and on squaring the notion of the Übermensch with the realities of adult life. Kaag’s reading of Nietzsche is tempered with humanity and compassion. Acknowledging that the writer’s ideas are controversial, he writes that “even those who disprove them cannot disprove the person behind the scenes,” emphasizing the deeply personal source of Nietzschean philosophy. Also thought provoking is this final explication of Nietzsche’s maxim, “Become who you are”: “Selfhood is made in the active, ongoing process.... The enduring nature of being human is to turn into something else, which should not be confused with going somewhere else.” Kaag has crafted a stirring account of a personal encounter with a great mind. Agent: Markus Hoffmann, Regal Hoffman & Assoc.

June 15, 2018
A philosopher's journey into the life, writings, and mountains of Nietzsche--and ultimately into himself.Nietzsche makes for a challenging hiking companion, not least for nonfiction writers, who risk having their own stories and prose overshadowed by comparison. Or, to follow this book's central metaphor, it is a challenge, once you set off with him, not to let Nietzsche carry the load. Kaag (Philosophy/Univ. of Massachusetts Lowell; American Philosophy: A Love Story, 2016, etc.) succeeds on this account through his courage to approach Nietzsche, and philosophy in general, from a personal--and not just intellectual--perspective. This allows Nietzsche to play a supportive role in Kaag's project of becoming. The author follows Nietzsche, for whom the "point of historical study was to enrich the present moment of experience." The philosopher trekked the mountains "to tread on the edge of the void." Kaag's present consists of a return trip to Sils Maria, Switzerland, where he had spent an intense period in his youth hiking, fasting, and reading Nietzsche, this time with his wife and young daughter. At the time, it wasn't clear exactly what he was hoping to find the second time around, but as he wandered the Alps and continued to read Nietzsche--he provides helpful summaries and analyses--he approached a significant psychic breaking point. The connection between philosophy and the author's life is not as seamless as it is in American Philosophy, but this is due in part to a difficulty of his subject. More than any other philosopher, Nietzsche asks not to be read as much as confronted. His writing is a challenge to us to become our true selves. That Kaag meets this challenge by determining his own ideals is all the proof needed to confirm that he chose the right companion for his journey.A meditative work full of self-understanding that will resonate with anyone who has ever been drawn toward the void.

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August 1, 2018

This latest from Kaag (philosophy, Univ. of Massachusetts, Lowell; American Philosophy: A Love Story) is part philosophy memoir, part overview of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. The book covers hikes Kaag took in Europe that retraced some of ietzsche's possible walks, first when Kaag was alone as a young philosophy student and later as a husband and father accompanied by his wife and young daughter. These later journeys allow him to rediscover Nietzsche's life and ideas from a different perspective and place in his own life while also explaining the development and growth of the philosopher. The last chapter, titled "Becoming Who You Are," is fantastic in the way it weaves Nietzsche's philosophy with what Kaag experienced on his walks as an adult. VERDICT A wonderful introduction to Nietzsche set against the unique backdrop of the landscape and cities he experienced. The tone and writing style make it accessible to general readers, while the content will reward those familiar with Nietzsche as well.--Scott Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI

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