Lecture 1 – Understanding Nietzsche | Philo 1000 with Science Fiction Author D. Colin Palmer

This is Lecture 1 in the Philo 1000 series, part of an ongoing Introduction to Philosophy project with science fiction author D. Colin Palmer. The long-term goal of this series is simple and ambitious: to build a serious, fully independent alternative to the overpriced, overly ideological university system. No tuition, no indoctrination—just real intellectual training for people who actually want to think.

In this opening lecture, we take a deep dive into Friedrich Nietzsche: his life, his illnesses, his break with the academic world, his complicated relationship with Richard Wagner, his mental collapse, and the posthumous distortions of his work. From there, the lecture walks through Nietzsche’s core ideas in clear language—“God is dead,” nihilism, the genealogy of morals, herd morality, will to power, perspectivism, eternal recurrence, and the Übermensch—and explains how to use them as tools for self-examination, not as edgy slogans.

You will also hear concrete advice on how to read Nietzsche as an independent student outside the university system:

Which texts to start with (and which to save for later)

How to handle his aphoristic style without getting lost

How to keep a Nietzsche notebook and turn reading into real training

How to balance his harshness with your own mental health and your own moral judgment

How to benefit from Nietzsche without misusing him as a license for cynicism or cruelty

This lecture is designed for people who want more than a degree. It is for individuals who want to build a mind—to sharpen their perception of culture, question the genealogy of their own values, and step out of herd thinking. Nietzsche is not presented here as a guru to obey, but as a dangerous, necessary teacher whose thought you must ultimately outgrow, carrying forward only what has been tested and earned.

If you are building your own personal curriculum in philosophy and want a structured, serious starting point, this Philo 1000 – Lecture 1 is where we begin.

Subscribe for upcoming lectures in the Philo 1000 series, as well as additional courses in philosophy, psychology, political thought, and more—presented in long-form, lecture style, free to the public.