Nietzsche

I find that the attempt to assess Nietzsche's value to contemporary jurisprudence is fraught with extreme difficulty. Not only was Nietzsche perhaps the most controversial figure in the history of ideas:' this might have happened to one whose message was simple.But in Nietzsche's case the ideas themselves are highly controversial, paradoxical and even "immoral." Like every great thinker Nietzsche was more provocative to his enemies than to his friends. His enemies took their revenge by burying him under a deluge of refutation and abuse. Apparently Nietzsche was guilty of what might be called the crime of "universal treason." He gave aid and comfort to all warring factions of mankind.

The result is that he who writes about Nietzsche is likely to do nothing but add to the confusion.