What a Philosopher Is
Becoming Nietzsche
- Contents
- Review Quotes
- Awards

Introduction
Part 1. Young Nietzsche in the Service of Schopenhauer and Wagner
Chapter 1. The Birth of Tragedy: Prometheus the Knowing Maker of Culture
Chapter 2. Backgrounds of Schopenhauer as Educator
Chapter 3. What a Philosopher Is: Schopenhauer as Educator
Chapter 4. What an Artist Is: Richard Wagner in Bayreuth
Part 2. A New Public Nietzsche: Enlightenment Optimist
Chapter 5. Backgrounds of Things Human All Too Human
Chapter 6. The Philosopher as Free-Minded Enlightenment Optimist
Chapter 7. An Enlightenment Optimist’s View of the Future of Morality, Religion, and Art
Chapter 8. An Enlightenment Optimist’s View of the Transformation of Culture
Part 3. Nietzsche Enters His Mature Philosophy
Chapter 9. “Sanctus Januarius”: The First Work of Nietzsche’s Maturity
Chapter 10. The Opening of “Sanctus Januarius”
Chapter 11. The Center of “Sanctus Januarius”
Chapter 12. Backgrounds to the Center of “Sanctus Januarius”
Chapter 13. The Ending of “Sanctus Januarius”
Chapter 14. Backgrounds to the Ending of “Sanctus Januarius”
Conclusion. The Philosophy and Art of Nietzsche’s Maturity
Works Cited
Index
"In his preface to the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche asks that his readers develop a new art of reading—what he will call “rumination”—so that he may be understood. Lampert is undoubtedly one of the best readers Nietzsche has ever had, and in identifying the eternal return as the way out of nihilism he has transcended the type of close textual reading Strauss offers. With What a Philosopher Is, Lampert has started to practice this new art of rumination."
Choice Magazine: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Awards
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Philosophy: General Philosophy | History and Classic Works
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