(1) I’m glad you chose Andrew Huddlestone’s reading of Nietzsche’s perfectionism. I think it’s better than most.
(2) Many people in the EA community believe that barely anyone takes Nietzsche seriously. This is wrong. For example...
(2a) The first words of Reasons & Persons are a quote from Nietzsche, and there are Nietzsche quotes at several key moments. Parfit thinks of Nietzsche as an epistemic peer, a moral philosopher on par with Kant. In On What Matters Book II, Parfit writes:
Nietzsche was a brilliant thinker, who made many claims that are original, important, and true. We should ask whether our disagreements with Nietzsche give us reasons to doubt our own views.
Parfit was in regular conversation with Bernard Williams for several decades. Williams shares many views with Nietzsche and Parfit was deeply troubled by their disagreement.
(2b) Nick Bostrom is a big fan. His recent paper, Basecamp for Mount Ethics (PDF, audio), sketches view of metaethics that Nietzsche would broadly endorse.
(5) My two favourite books on Nietzsche’s metaethics, metaphilosophy and normative ethics are Nietzsche, Psychology & First Philosophy by Robert Pippin and Nietzsche’s Values by John Richardson. You could also try Nietzsche’s Morality by Brian Leiter or “Nietzsche: Perfectionist” by Thomas Hurka.
(6) Elsewhere, Andrew Huddlestone persuasively trashes Derek Parfit’s attempt to read Nietzsche in a way that fits with Parfit’s attempt to sketch a vision of normative convergence.
Thanks for writing this.
Some quick comments:
(1) I’m glad you chose Andrew Huddlestone’s reading of Nietzsche’s perfectionism. I think it’s better than most.
(2) Many people in the EA community believe that barely anyone takes Nietzsche seriously. This is wrong. For example...
(2a) The first words of Reasons & Persons are a quote from Nietzsche, and there are Nietzsche quotes at several key moments. Parfit thinks of Nietzsche as an epistemic peer, a moral philosopher on par with Kant. In On What Matters Book II, Parfit writes:
Parfit was in regular conversation with Bernard Williams for several decades. Williams shares many views with Nietzsche and Parfit was deeply troubled by their disagreement.
(2b) Nick Bostrom is a big fan. His recent paper, Basecamp for Mount Ethics (PDF, audio), sketches view of metaethics that Nietzsche would broadly endorse.
(3) Stephen West (Philosophise This!) has a fantastic 20 minute lecture on Nietzsche’s vision of a meaningful life.
(4) Some great Nietzsche episodes on Philosophy Bites: Christopher Janaway, Aaron Ridley and Brian Leiter. All of these are available on The Valmy.
(5) My two favourite books on Nietzsche’s metaethics, metaphilosophy and normative ethics are Nietzsche, Psychology & First Philosophy by Robert Pippin and Nietzsche’s Values by John Richardson. You could also try Nietzsche’s Morality by Brian Leiter or “Nietzsche: Perfectionist” by Thomas Hurka.
(6) Elsewhere, Andrew Huddlestone persuasively trashes Derek Parfit’s attempt to read Nietzsche in a way that fits with Parfit’s attempt to sketch a vision of normative convergence.