German-American philosopher at Princeton, translator of Nietzsche and, by Cameron's description, "the dean of Nietzsche interpretation in the United States" for decades. He was Cameron's professor — the spur that sent him to Nietzsche and to his undergraduate thesis on the second untimely meditation, even where Cameron came to disagree with Kaufmann's reading.
Across the dialogues
Cameron's Princeton Nietzsche professor — the spur, if not the last word, behind a lifetime with Nietzsche
Kaufmann — Nietzsche's foremost translator and the author of the influential 1950s monograph — was, for decades, the dean of American Nietzsche interpretation.
"One of the professors at Princeton was Walter Kaufmann, who has done more translation of Nietzsche than anybody else, I believe, and who wrote an influential monograph on Nietzsche in the 1950s, and at least for a few decades, he was sort of the dean of Nietzsche interpretation in the United States."
Studying under Kaufmann spurred Cameron to Nietzsche — and to his undergraduate thesis on the second untimely meditation — even though he never fully accepted Kaufmann's reading.
"I didn't always agree with Kaufmann's take on Nietzsche, but I was certainly spurred to read Nietzsche and to think about him. At Princeton you have to write an undergraduate thesis, and I ended up doing mine on the second untimely meditation of Nietzsche."
Connections
Cameron's Princeton professor — the spur behind his undergraduate thesis on Nietzsche, even where he disagreed with Kaufmann's reading.
"The dean of Nietzsche interpretation in the United States" for decades — the lens through which Cameron first read Nietzsche.