By integrating philological analysis and philosophical interpretation, this volume reviews the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, from his youthful studies and first writings, to the years of maturity and catastrophe. In addition to an exposition of Nietzsche's ideas, the author reviews the positions of his major interpreters: Heidegger, Jaspers, Baeumler, Lwith, Fink, Mller-Lauter. Emphasis is also placed on the influence exerted by Nietzsche, especially on authors such as Thomas Mann, Bloch, Horkheimer, and Adorno. The text is developed around four basic concepts: the notion of Bildung ("training", "education", "culture"), which corresponds to Nietzsche's earlier years, up to the writings on schooling institutions, "The Birth of Tragedy" and the critique of culture in "Untimely Meditations"; the concept of enlightenment, relevant for the central years of Nietzsche's intellectual production (the two volumes of "Human, All Too Human", "The Dawn", "The Gay Science"); the attack on Christianity ("Thus Spake Zarathustra", "The Antichrist"); and the self-interpretation of his final years ("Attempt at Self-Critique", "Ecce Homo"). The volume also offers an exhaustive account of the concept of "will to power" and reviews the events that led to the posthumous publication of Nietzsche's work by Peter Gast and Elisabeth Frster-Nietzsche.

Carlo Gentili teaches Aesthetics at the University of Bologna.