The Use and Abuse of History

In this essay, the philosopher presents a complex, many-faceted argument that cautions against an uncritical devotion to the study of history and excessive devotion to any country's past greatness.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, philologist, and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. His explorations of the motives underlying Western philosophy, religion, and morality have exercised a profound effect on generations of writers, theologians, philosophers, and psychologists. Many of Nietzsche's most influential works are available in Dover Thrift editions.