Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

This issue gathers the fruits of the efforts of our entire editorial team, and includes highlights of work in comparative philosophy, presentations from recent meetings of the North American Nietzsche Society, extensive dialogue between scholars working in related areas of Nietzsche studies, and reviews of current scholarship.

The first section collects several papers revised from presentations given at the 19^th Meeting of the Friedrich Nietzsche Society in 2013 at University College, Cork, Ireland. The theme of the event was “Thus Spoke Zarathustra: Gateway to the Oeuvre (and Opening to the East).” The society’s president, Herman Siemens, reports, “This was an experimental conference in two respects. It is the first time we have held a conference with a work, rather than a specific theme, as its topic, and with Graham Parkes’s guidance and expertise we were able to combine it with a rapidly growing field of interest in Nietzsche-scholarship and Western philosophy more broadly—the comparative study of Western and Eastern philosophical traditions.” The papers published here were selected for publication following an extensive review process by the conference organizers followed by blind peer review by the journal.

Presented at the FNS conference but not published here, was a paper by Brett Davis to which Graham Parkes responded. The substance of that exchange included exploration of their differing views of Nietzsche’s concepts of self, agency, and willing, particularly in relation to Buddhist philosophy. Parkes and Davis continue this exchange in a series of letters published here in the Discussion section.

For more information about the papers from recent meetings of the North American Nietzsche Society, see NANS editor Jessica Berry’s introduction preceding that section.

Finally, I wish to inform readers of changes in the editorial staff for the organization and development of our book reviews section. Since 2012, Simon Robertson has ably led our review team, resulting in growth in quantity and quality of books reviewed. Simon is retiring from his position with JNS in order to focus on his own research. We wish him well and extend a hearty welcome to Matthew Meyer, who joins the effort with Tom Bailey.