Bruce Detwiler
Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism.
University of Chicago Press, 1990. Author-inscribed first edition. 0226143546  x/242 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 6" x 9", is bound in quarter black cloth and pale green paper-covered boards, with stamped silver lettering to spine. Book is in fine condition, with firm binding, clean and bright interior. Dust jacket displays very light shelfwear. 
Author's inscription appears on front flyleaf and reads: "To Ted, / A token of / my appreciation. / -Bruce Detwiler."
"There is no thinker more relevant to the thought of the last century than Friedrich Nietzsche; nor any more troubling. In "Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism," Brce Detwiler offers a balanced yet unstinting examination of the political dimension of Nietzsche's thought. He addresses Nietzsche's profoundly illiberal and aristocratic ideas without apology, but does not denigrate the magnitude of this important philosopher's overall achievement.
Detwiler argues that Nietzsche's political significance is twofold. Nietzsche deliberately undermined the fundamental assumptions of the West's  most prominent political traditions and also contributed his own original, albeit highly disturbing, political vision that arose out of his commitment to "the enhancement of man" and the promotion of true culture. The death of God was seen by Nietzsche bot as an unparalleled catastrophe and as an unparalleled opportunity. It marked the dissolution of the horizon of meanings in which every culture finds a source of guiding aspirations, aspirations that demand more of life than mere comfort, but it also served as an opportunity that opened the way to the Dionysian artist-philosopher.
Detwiler believes that most critics have failed to appreciate how Nietzsche affirms artistry inherent in all philosophical endeavor, and that they have also failed to appreciate the societal importance of that artistry. Nietzsche declares that the hallmark of the genuine philosopher lies not in the ability to discover new truths, but in the creation of new values. Moreover, the will to power of the artist-philosopher drives him not only to create new horizons in thought, but more importantly to set for himself the artistic goals of a higher humanity.
Arguing that Nietzsche's vision posits an aristocratic social and political order governed by a ruling caste of artist philosophers, Detwiler explains why Nietzsche's work paradoxically appeals both to the left and the far right. Yet Detwiler shows that Nietzsche's strategies for undermining existing hierarchies, a major source of appeal for the lef, leads ultimately to a social and political order that has curious affinities with fascism."