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GUIDE TO LIVING Horst Hutter: Shaping the Future: Nietzsche's New Regime of the Soul and Its Ascetic Practices (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006. Pp. xvii, 222. $80.00, $26.95 paper)
DOI: 10.1017/S0034670507000368
Horst Hutter's interpretation of Nietzsche's writings takes its cue from the work of Pierre Hadot and the claim that, in the ancient world, philosophy was seen as having two possible roles. One was the search for truth; the other was as a guide to living. seen from the latter vantage point, philosophical doctrines could assist individuals striving for self-improvement. This understanding of philosophy is Hutter's focus throughout this book: indeed, philosophy conducted in the service of self-perfection soon becomes synonymous with ancient philosophy itself. Two other features of ancient philosophy underlined by Hutter are the fact that it was typically practiced in schools and that it had political implications. As a consequence of ancient philosophy being practiced in schools and being directed toward selfperfection, dialogue took precedence over writing as the mode of philosophical expression. With regard to politics, ancient schools of philosophy either aimed to reform the political structures of society or withdrew from politics and society altogether. However, even those schools of philosophy that recommended withdrawal from mainstream society had, according to Hutter, a political message.
Hutter suggests that this way of thinking about ancient philosophy sheds light on Nietzsche's thought. As everyone who knows anything about Nietzsche appreciates, he was trained in ancient philosophy (and, more generally, ancient culture). Hutter argues that Nietzsche continues the ancient style of philosophy in three important respects. First, Nietzsche values philosophy not primarily for its propositional content or truth value but for its ability...