I’ve read some of Kauffman’s stuff. The notion of N as a proto-Nazi is a complete slander. He hated German Nationalism and was not anti-semitic. Leftists hate N with a passion. He was no mealy mouthed liberal. His oft quoted “God is Dead” line was describing a situation he saw taking place in the Europe of his day. Religion didn’t have the sort of sway that it once had.
I never claimed that Nietzsche was a Nazi or proto-Nazi. That's a trope for lesser minds. And a strawman from you.
Sure, Nietzsche was a philologist - one of his greatest works was Beyond Good and Evil where his philological background came into play in this interpretation of those words. But you must also remember that Nietzsche also called for the transvaluation of all values in an attempt to liberate the concepts of good and evil from what he believed were the unnecessary and foolish constraints of moral and religious thought. I recall that Nietzsche was inordinately fond of the term 'religious naiserie' - a bit of a giveaway with respect to his attitude towards traditional morality.
But there's no dispute that Nietzsche's ideas were co-opted and wrongly interpreted by the National Socialists to serve their own ends.
I stand by my original claims with respect to Nietzsche's insight that, with the waning of the Christian virtues of mercy and restraint, something would fill that vacuum. That something, according to Nietzsche, was the will to power. History has proven him - and me - correct.