Abstract

This dissertation identifies and explicates four distinct senses of justice in the published philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, which appear in the various stages of development of his thought. The first is the metaphysical concept of eternal justice, which is a moral and pessimistic theory of cosmic retribution, and which Nietzsche quickly abandoned. The second sense of justice is intellectual or critical justice, which Nietzsche equates with the will to truth. This allegiance to justice as truth remained a theme throughout Nietzsche's work, and thus sheds light on Nietzsche's problematical position with respect to truth. ;In his middle and later works, Nietzsche considered two more aspects of justice, which were, first, his positive sense of social justice as fairness , and, second, a two-part critique of deviations from the two positive senses of justice . This critique involved both Nietzsche's general deconstruction of morality , and his more specific genealogy of justice . The latter includes Nietzsche's attack on the roles of resentment, revenge, and guilt in most invocations of justice, and is the most famous aspect of his genealogy of justice. ;The latter part of the dissertation moves back from textual exegesis to consider the broader logical and hermeneutical issues involved in assessing Nietzsche's critique of justice and his general political significance. While considering several divergent interpretations, that examination includes my argument that Nietzsche's philosophy can be seen as having more positive political implications than is generally recognized even for a progressive democratic practice. Thus I conclude that, while certain aspects of Nietzsche's position of justice are unduly metaphysical, and other parts are too limited by Nietzsche's own political presuppositions, others are helpful and relevant in an attempt to forge a critical but still positive and responsible theory of justice in contemporary times