Nietzsche and Buddhism : How One Becomes What One Is

Explores the “Janus-faced” response to newly discovered and translated Indian poetry and Vedic philosophy in nineteenth-century German thought, with a particular focus on how Nietzsche’s philosophy of the future was transformed against the backdrop of Buddhist ontology and is best understood as early transcultural thought.

The claim that Nietzsche was aware of Buddhist, Vedic, or Eastern thought more generally is uncontroversial. However, any stronger claims about the sphere of influence remain niche in Nietzsche studies. Any non-Western flavors in Nietzsche’s writings are most often considered ornamental and wholly unnecessary in the quest to interpret what Nietzsche means. To the contrary, in Nietzsche and Buddhism: How One Becomes What One Is, Sarah Jacob argues that Nietzsche’s work is further illuminated when seen as an endeavor that seriously engages with Buddhist ontology, and that Nietzsche’s philosophy marks a paradigm shift in “Western” thought because of this encounter. Though the second half of this book offers a thorough comparative analysis between Nietzsche and Buddhism, its validity rests upon the often understated importance of Indian thought for German intellectuals prior to and during Nietzsche’s life. Indeed, the author argues that Nietzsche’s “philosophy of the future” should be recognized as a transcultural contribution to the history of ideas, one that has import for the perplexed global zeitgeist in the twenty-first century.