Books by Paul Ree

Contains the translations of "The Origin of the Moral Sensations" and "Psychological Observations", the two most important works by the German philosopher Paul Re that present Re's moral philosophy, which influenced the ideas of his close friend Friedrich Nietzsche considerably.

Paul Ree (1849-1901), an interdisciplinary traveller and admirer of the French moralistes, but also of Schopenhauer and Darwin, was for a time one of the closest friends of Lou Andreas-Salome and Friedrich Nietzsche. With his publications, Ree wanted to convert moral philosophy into moral science.This edition presents his books Psychologische Beobachtungen (Psychological Observations) (1875), Der Ursprung der moralischen Empfindungen ( The Origin of Moral Sensations) (1877), Die Entstehung des Gewissens (The Genesis of Conscience) (1885) and Die Illusion der Willensfreiheit (The Illusion of Free Will) (1885). Together with a sketch of Ree's biography and the history of his works, which makes hitherto unknown documents accessible (such as the official record of Ree's fatal fall), Treiber reveals numerous sources for Ree's texts. In addition, he reproduces available contemporary reactions to the publications.