Twilight of the Idols and the Antichrist

Written in 1888, while Nietzsche was at the height of his brilliance, these two polemics blaze with provocative, inflammatory rhetoric. Nietzsche's "grand declaration of war," Twilight of the Idols examines what we worship and why. Intended by the author as a general introduction to his philosophy, it assails "idols" of Western philosophy and culture (Socratic rationality and Christian morality among them) and sets the scene for The Antichrist. In addition to its full-scale attack on Christianity and Jesus Christ, The Antichrist denounces organized religion as a whole. Students of philosophy, history, and German literature will find both works essential reading.