Hiking with Nietzsche is a tale of two philosophical journeys in the Swiss Alps: one made by
John Kaag as an introspective teenager the other seventeen years later in radically different
circumstances - as a husband and father with his wife and small child in tow. Kaag travels
to the peaks above Sils Maria where Nietzsche routinely summered and where he wrote his
mysterious landmark work Thus Spoke Zarathustra . Both trips are made in search of the wisdom
at the core of Nietzsche's philosophy yet they bring Kaag to radically different revelations
about the human condition. Entertaining intimate and thought-provoking Hiking with Nietzsche
explores not only Nietzsche's ideals but how his philosophy relates to us in the 21st century.
It is about defeating complacency balancing sanity and madness and coming to grips with the
unobtainable. As Kaag hikes into the high places alone or with his family but always with
Nietzsche he finds that the process of climbing and the inevitable missteps give one the
chance in Nietzsche's words to 'become who you are'. Even when we think it too late to change
this most controversial of thinkers can inspire the rediscovery of meaning.
