Walter Kaufmann: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic Paperback – November 3, 2020

The book is not only a critical overview of Walter Kaufman’s many works; it is also a comprehensive meditation on Kaufman, a unique literary and philosophical mind. The book by itself could function as a semester course on Kaufman, and there are references throughout to the many thinkers and artists who influenced him.Nietzsche stands out as the one philosopher central to Kaufman’s intellectual development, with Goethe a close second for his overall life and work. And similar to Nietzsche, Kaufman is critical of Christianity [who isn’t these days, even those of us raised in the faith?]. As time moves on, people, especially in the West, rely less and less on distinguishing Christian vs. Un-Christian to categorize writers and thinkers – this reflects on the times Kaufman lived in.Was K. original in the world of philosophy? Not sure yet he is a terrific synthesizer of existentialism, and its relevance and impact on Western culture. The book’s sub-title can be misleading: Philosopher, Humanist, Heretic. The first two Yes. Not clear heretic fits Kaufman, seems too strong – maybe “free-thinker” or “nonconformist” or “life-long searcher” would work for him.Based on my understanding of the text, K. seemed overly concerned about self-perfection, referring to major cultural icons who met his definition, viz, Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, etc., which in my view only that these noted icons made breakthroughs in the culture, and in some cases in human understanding – perfection seems too abstruse a concept. As discussed in the text, Kaufman’s four cardinal virtues were humbition, love, courage, honesty; humbition being a conjunction of humility & ambition.The reader is advised to keep a dictionary nearby if they have not updated their vocabulary recently. I was introduced to many new words – nearly two dozen!The author sprinkles humor where appropriate:p. 205 – on “fair minded Chinese readers… to take (Susan) Sontag’s attack on K’s Religion with a grain of MSG (i.e. monosodium glutamate);p. 512 – first para., “The conjunction of Werner Erhard, Kaufman, and Horace is jolting.” LOL!In the end, this book achieves its goal while also leaving this reader with renewed interest in the mind behind the man, and with more questions to ponder. [The format was the physical book and not Kindle edition].

In this masterful book, one encounters the towering intellect, fearless thinking and unbelievable output of Kaufmann. As guide, Corngold has a rare combination of a friendly tone and disciplined scholarship. Reading a chapter every day or two felt like an intellectual cleanse.

This masterful meditationhas a brilliant critical lens tinged with empathic insight. It will be the gold standard for books about Walter Kaufmann, whose exquisite works are not nearly as appreciated as they should be, for many moons to come.

I’ve read three Kaufmann books and almost all of Nietzsche books - and this book makes zero sense to me. I am on chapter one and every sentence requires you to read it three times. I suspect this is written for an audience of like half a dozen old, white philosophers, scholars, and critics. It’s not a biography of Walter Kaufman (so far). It’s an overwritten book report on every book Kaufman wrote. It assumes the reader is well-informed about Kaufmann and lots of the little controversies and in-fighting between Kaufmann and other Nietzsche scholars. It’s like coming into a room halfway through an argument. Which is too bad because Kaufmann seems really interesting and I would love to know what made him so intellectually curious, but when the book on a Nietzsche scholar is harder to grasp than Nietzsche’s own books, there’s a problem. Maybe that problem is my lack of intelligence, but I read like five books a week, so and I still found this a chore.Example:I look at a random page and here are someof the words tossed into a sentence.DesideratumLargoAndanteAperçuIs that necessary?

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