Letter: Mad? Maybe Nietzsche just cared for horses
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In discussing Leslie Chamberlain's Nietzsche in Turin, Ian Thomson touches on the famous incident of Nietzsche rushing into the street to embrace a cart-horse ("Ice-cream with the Anti-Christ", Review, 15 December). While some see this as a sign of his mental illness, many others see it as the profoundly sane act of a man disturbed that the horse was being beaten. Thomson cites Milan Kundera's interpretation of the incident as a commentary on Descartes' belief that animals do not possess souls. It might be more useful to see Nietzsche's action as that of a person capable of great empathy.
Nicholas Packwood
Lancaster University
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments