Re: whats on the shelf

["James Alexander Cunningham" <0203734C@student.gla.ac.uk>]

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I am frankly gobsmacked. Mitchell wants to totally dismiss THE single volume history of philosophy on the grounds that one chapter totalling not more than 6000 words (approximately 1.4 per cent of the entire work.) is erroneous. I know next to nothing about Nietzsche (and should one of you wish take it upon themselves to educate me, please don't bother) but I am aware that his work suffered from a great deal of misreading in the first half of the last century, and it is only relatively recently that his works have become a respectable subject for study. This is not altogether the fault of the scholars. When one considers the largely undetected perversion of his work by Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, and his adoption as a totem for fascism, it is hardly surprising that his work should be misread. It is also hardly surprising that Russell's work should reflect the status quo of intellectual opinion at the time. I would certainly not expect anyone to propose a radical re-reading of any text in a short essay in a reference work intended for a general audience. Take the chapter on Nietzsche with a pinch of salt, by all means, or take a razor blade to it if you feel that strongly. However, if you wish to excise the History of Western Philosophy from the canon on the basis of thirteen pages then you are at best very, very foolish.    




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