The first time that Nietzsche crossed the path of Dostoevsky was in the winter of 1886–87. While in Nice, Nietzsche discovered in a bookshop the volume L’esprit souterrain. Two years later, he defined Dostoevsky as the only psychologist from whom he had anything to learn. The second, metaphorical encounter between Nietzsche and Dostoevsky happened on the verge of nihilism. Nietzsche announced the death of God, whereas Dostoevsky warned against the danger of atheism. This book describes the double encounter between Nietzsche (...) and Dostoevsky. Following the chronological thread offered by Nietzsche’s correspondence, the author provides a detailed analysis of Nietzsche’s engagement with Dostoevsky from the very beginning of his discovery to the last days before his mental breakdown. The second part of this book aims to dismiss the wide-spread and stereotypical reading according to which Dostoevsky foretold and criticized in his major novels some of Nietzsche’s most dangerous and nihilistic theories. In order to reject such reading, the author focuses on the following moral di-lemma: If God does not exist, is everything permitted? (shrink)

Cet article a pour but de développer la critique qu’Amartya Sen adresse à la théorie du conflit de Samuel P. Huntington. Plus spécifiquement, je me propose d’appuyer l’idée de Sen, selon laquelle l’identité est toujours plurielle et dynamique, sur la conception de ‘généalogie’ élaborée par Friedrich Nietzsche et, postérieurement, développée par Michel Foucault. Dans un second temps, je reprendrai l’affirmation de Sen, selon laquelle une vision ‘solitariste’ de l’identité humaine s’avère potentiellement dangereuse. Cela permettra de montrer qu’une approche non monolithique (...) à la question de l’identité favorise l’apaisement des tensions sociales et des conflits culturels déterminés, entre autres, par la crise migratoire récente. (shrink)

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to claim Nietzsche’s place within the philosophical tradition of projectivism. Indeed, as will be shown, although Nietzsche is almost unanimously ignored by scholars working on projectivism, during the whole development of his philosophical thought, he holds a position which can be reasonably defined as “projectivist”. -/- Resumo: Este artigo tem por objetivo reivindicar o lugar da filosofia nietzschiana na tradição filosófica do projetivismo. Com efeito, como mostrarei, mesmo se Nietzsche é quase unanimemente ignorado (...) nas obras dos especialistas nessa tradição, ele mantém, ao longo de seu desenvolvimento filosófico, uma posição que se pode com razão definir como “projetivista”. (shrink)

Nietzsche’s view of suicide is a topic which in the last years has been the focus of works such as Julian Young’s and Paul S. Loeb’s. Within this context, this paper seeks to add new elements to the discussion. To this purpose, Nietzsche’s attitude to suicide will be explored from two different points of view. The first part of the paper focuses on the distinction between voluntary (free) and involuntary (natural) death. Nietzsche’s appraisal of both will be scrutinized. In particular, (...) through the comparison with the Classical and, especially, Stoic philosophy and through the critique of the religious (particularly Christian) conception of death, it will be shown, among other things, that Nietzsche defends the rationality of suicide, presents a view of voluntary death as emptied of morality and fights against the Christian denaturalization of suicide. In the second part of the paper, suicide will be considered from a philosophical-existentialist viewpoint, that is, as a possible consequence of the meaninglessness of human existence. The problem is to judge whether life is or is not worth living in a world devoid of meaning and purpose. Nietzsche’s attitude to suicide will be analyzed in a chronological way (early, middle and late Nietzsche). Special attention will be given to the role played by art. The relevant conclusion is that, although in different ways, Nietzsche gives an affirmative answer to the question whether life is worth living in a world devoid of meaning and purpose. (shrink)

This book aims to address in a novel way some of the fundamental philosophical questions concerning suicide. Focusing on four major authors of Western philosophy - Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein - their arguments in favour or against suicide are explained, contextualized, examined and critically assessed. Taken together, these four perspectives provide an illuminating overview of the philosophical arguments that can be used for or against one’s right to commit suicide. Intended both for specialists and those interested in understanding the (...) many complexities underlying the philosophical debate on suicide, this book combines philosophical depth with exemplary clarity. (shrink)

This paper aims to develop the antagonism between Kant’s and Nietzsche’s views of suicide by focusing particularly on the relation between moralityand life. Whereas Kant establishes a primacy of morality over life and puts forward one main moral argument against the permissibility of suicide, Nietzsche reverses this hierarchical relation and gives to life a primacy over morality. The first two sections will be thus devoted to a critical examination of both positions, while in the third and last section the attention (...) will be focused on the consequences deriving from such approaches. The paper will be concluded by proposing two essential conditions which in the author’s view should be met in order to begin working on a tenable Nietzschean defence of suicide. (shrink)

Nietzsche’s metaethics is a topic which, especially in the last decade, has gained ever increasing attention among Anglo-American Nietzsche-scholars. Conversely, this topic has been almost ignored by continental philosophers. This paper aims to give a general overview of the ongoing discussion, focusing on several problems originating from the attempt to give a coherent and non-contradictory picture of both Nietzsche’s negative and positive metaethical position. Attention will be first directed to Nietzsche’s moral perspectivism (1) and then to his alleged proto-error theory (...) (2). Subsequently, the focus will be on Nietzsche’s moral projectivism and the question of whether this position necessarily requires a non-cognitivist view of moral discourse (3). Finally, the last section will be devoted to a discussion of how to reconcile Nietzsche’s negative metaethics with his positive metaethics (4). (shrink)

This volume presents a collection of papers on Nietzsche written by Volker Gerhardt over the past twenty-five years. The trait d’union among them is the idea that, more than a hundred years after Nietzsche’s death, the sparks of his thought—the Funken of Gerhardt’s title—can still ignite fires in contemporary readers, even to the extent that for no other nineteenth-century thinker is the definition of “arsonist” more appropriate. The range of subjects that Gerhardt tackles is wide: from the relations among the (...) body, the self, and the “I” in Zarathustra’s speech, “On the Despisers of the Body” to Nietzsche’s perspectivism, immoralism, and moral individualism; and from Nietzsche’s and Kant’s conceptions .. (shrink)

RESUMENEn las siguientes páginas se intentará recorrer los pasos a través de los cuales Nietzsche entró en contacto con la obra dostoievskiana y delinear las posiciones principales de la crítica acerca de la problemática, muy discutida, de qué obras de Dostoievski fueron leídas por Nietzsche. Para ello, nos basaremos en el análisis de las obras, de los fragmentos póstumos y de las cartas del último periodo de la vida consciente de Nietzsche.PALABRAS CLAVESNIETZSCHE, DOSTOIEVSKI, DESCUBRIMIENTOABSTRACTIn the following pages we attempt to (...) reconstruct Nietzsche’s discovery of Dostoevsky’s work. Afterwards we will focus on critical studies in order to specify how the philosopher got to know the Russian author’s novels and specifically which books he may have read. We will base our investigation on Nietzsche’s work, notes and letters.KEYWORDSNIETZSCHE, DOSTOEVSKY, DISCOVERY. (shrink)

This volume collects eight essays on Nietzsche and Dostoevsky written by scholars from different humanities fields. What unites them is the idea that, after more than a century, the writings of Nietzsche and Dostoevsky and the relations between them still represent a major challenge for contemporary readers. The range of subjects that the authors tackle is wide, from crime, truth, art, and nihilism to pessimism, tragedy, and the unconscious. The result is a stimulating collection of essays that explore some of (...) the similarities, as well as the radical differences, between two of the greatest minds of the nineteenth century.The first essay is written in a literary style by Geoff Waite and Francesca Cernia Slovin, who... (shrink)

In ambito accademico anglo-americano, ma non solo, Richard Joyce è ormai noto per i suoi lavori su metaetica, etica evoluzionistica e psicologia morale. Le due pubblicazioni che hanno consacrato Joyce come figura emergente di questi ambiti di ricerca sono The Myth of Morality (Cambridge University Press, 2001) e The Evolution of Morality (Mit Press, 2006). Se nel primo libro Joyce difende la teoria dell’errore e il finzionalismo morale, nel secondo egli fornisce una genealogia della morale su...

Béla Tarr's last feature film The Turin Horse (2011) begins with a prologue that narrates Friedrich Nietzsche's mental breakdown in Turin in 1889, which was allegedly prompted by his witnessing a cab driver brutally whipping his horse. Nietzsche's name is not mentioned again in the film, and the viewer is left wondering what connection, if any, exists between the Nietzsche story and the film's narrative. Scholars often refer to one or another aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy when analysing Tarr's film. Yet, (...) to date, no comprehensive study has been devoted to exploring the connection between The Turin Horse and Nietzsche's philosophy. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature. The first section examines the connection between the prologue and the film. In the second section, attention is given to the most evident connection between Tarr's film and Nietzsche's philosophy, namely the use of circularity and repetition in The Turin Horse and Nietzsche's idea of the eternal recurrence of the same. The third section interprets the neighbour's monologue in light of Nietzsche's death of God. Finally, the fourth section is devoted to nihilism. (shrink)

This paper aims to discuss the coherence and consistency of the Stoic and the Nietzschean “art of dying at the right time”. Throughout this paper, we will use this expression to refer to the Stoics’ and Nietzsche’s treatment both of involuntary and voluntary death, inasmuch as both seem to be strongly connected to and grounded on the notion of timeliness. Taking this notion as a guiding thread, we will emphasize the several similarities that link their approach to suicide. Indeed, as (...) will be shown, it is plausible to assume that Nietzsche’s understanding of voluntary death is particularly influenced by the Stoic tradition. At the same time, we will point out the relevant differences that make these two approaches differ. In dealing with the Stoic and the Nietzschean attitude towards suicide, the underlying question will be whether the legitimization and defense of voluntary death is compatible—and if so, to which extent—with their teachings, in particular, with their notions of happiness and affirmation of life, on the one hand, and their ideals of living in accordance with nature and amor fati, on the other. (shrink)

ITA: Quello del “buon europeo” è in Nietzsche un tema significativo, che si presenta originariamente connesso alle riflessioni di Nietzsche sulla cultura europea, arricchendosi col tempo di una portata filosofica che si lega agli obiettivi del suo pensiero maturo. Scopo del presente articolo è di mostrare la genesi e l’evoluzione di tale concetto, a partire dalle sue prime occorrenze in Umano, troppo umano I fino al suo compiuto sviluppo negli scritti del 1885-87. Tale studio permetterà di evidenziare il particolare valore (...) che Nietzsche attribuisce ai “buoni europei”, in quanto promotori dello sviluppo spirituale conseguente alla compiuta liberazione della morale cristiana. ENG: The “good European” is a rich and important topic in Nietzsche. It is first related to Nietzsche’s early reflections on European culture, and during the 1880’s it gains philosophical value, being strictly connected with the purposes of Nietzsche’s mature thought. The aim of this paper is to track the genesis and development of the notion of “good European”, from Human, all too Human I to Nietzsche’s writings from the years 1885-1887. That investigation shall particularly show the meaning and value that Nietzsche attributes to the good Europeans; as for him, they are in fact the leaders of the spiritual development that follows the overcoming of Christian morality. (shrink)

Theories and ideas have consequences, like actions do. As a rule, we hold people responsible for their actions. In a similar way, we should reasonably hold intellectuals responsible for their theories and ideas. Among the aims of this paper is to consider whether the fact that Nietzsche’s thought was distorted and manipulated by Fascist and Nazi ideologues is a sufficient condition for releasing Nietzsche from all responsibility for the crimes that were partly justified through the appeal to his philosophy.

It is commonplace among Nietzsche scholars to think that Nietzsche maintains a sceptical attitude towards the possibility of self-knowledge. This attitude, which is patent in the late works, could be traced back at least to the period of Human, All Too Human, if not to the unpublished essay On Truth and Lying in a Non-Moral Sense (1973). As much as this picture may be correct, it is incomplete. To see why this is so, one needs to distinguish between different notions (...) of the self and different methodologies. These distinctions will prove to be helpful to examine Nietzsche’s stance towards self-knowledge in Human, All Too Human as well as the pivotal role that genealogy plays in achieving it. (shrink)

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo mostrar o contexto filosófico e literário no qual evolui o seguinte problema: quais são as consequências da morte de Deus para a moral? Para responder a esta questão, focarei minha atenção sobre um período específico do pensamento ocidental, a saber, o que vai de Feuerbach (ou, da publicação da Crítica da razão pura de Kant em 1781) a Sartre e Camus, passando particularmente por Dostoievski e Nietzsche. Mais especificamente, analisarei a relação existente entre a (...) morte de Deus e a gratuidade. (shrink)

RESUMENEn las siguientes páginas se intentará recorrer los pasos a través de los cuales Nietzsche entró en contacto con la obra dostoievskiana y delinear las posiciones principales de la crítica acerca de la problemática, muy discutida, de qué obras de Dostoievski fueron leídas por Nietzsche. Para ello, nos basaremos en el análisis de las obras, de los fragmentos póstumos y de las cartas del último periodo de la vida consciente de Nietzsche.PALABRAS CLAVESNIETZSCHE, DOSTOIEVSKI, DESCUBRIMIENTOABSTRACTIn the following pages we attempt to (...) reconstruct Nietzsche’s discovery of Dostoevsky’s work. Afterwards we will focus on critical studies in order to specify how the philosopher got to know the Russian author’s novels and specifically which books he may have read. We will base our investigation on Nietzsche’s work, notes and letters.KEYWORDSNIETZSCHE, DOSTOEVSKY, DISCOVERY. (shrink)

Contrary to what a superficial reading of Nietzsche might suggest, Nietzsche’s perspectivism is only apparently limited to the theoretical sphere. In fact, Nietzsche also relates perspectivism with his analysis of values and, more in general, with his critique of morality. The aim of the present paper is to present an overview of what might be called Nietzsche’s “moral perspectivism”. In order to answer the question about what kind of practical philosophy derives from Nietzsche’s perspectivism, we shall focus the attention on (...) two views which are erroneously believed to follow from it: radical individualism and strong relativism. (shrink)

The paper explores the issue of moral relativism in Nietzsche, and tries to argue that Nietzsche's attitude towards moral values does not support a radical relativism according to which since (i) every moral interpretation is relative to a judging perspective, and (ii) an absolute viewpoint is lacking, then (iii) every moral interpretation seems to be as true, valid or justified as the others. On the contrary, Nietzsche's perspectivism leaves space for a rank order among values, whose establishment is considered by (...) Nietzsche as the future task of the philosopher. (shrink)

Nietzsche’s timeliness is patent in the renewed enthusiasm with which scholars in both the continental and analytic traditions have approached his works in recent years. Along with other topics, attention has been particularly directed towards two important issues: Nietzsche’s analysis, critique, and genealogy of culture, and his stance on subjectivity. In this introductory study we shall provide a brief outline of both these topics. As will be shown, they play a pivotal role in Nietzsche’s thought, and the link that connects (...) them is stronger than one would imagine. (shrink)

The aim of this introductory paper is twofold. First, we seek to illustrate which are the difficulties into which one runs when one attempts to give a precise definition of what bioart is. Our hypothesis is that every attempt at such definition runs into a paradox. Indeed, if on the one hand, every definition seems inevitably reductionist, unjustly omitting one or more elements, on the other hand, defining and constraining the study area is a necessary preliminary step to understand the (...) artistic phenomenon known as bioart. In the second part of our paper, attention will be focused on the ethical issues that bioart confront us with. These issues are all the more relevant, given the fact that bioartists often make use of biotechnologies to manipulate living organisms for artistic purposes. (shrink)

Pessoa scholars have given little attention to self-knowledge. The aim of this chapter is to remedy this lack by focusing on how self-knowledge is considered in Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet. The thesis maintained is that Soares’ attitude bears striking similarities with that of Friedrich Nietzsche. Indeed, as will be shown, although prima facie sceptical towards the possibility of self-knowledge, both Nietzsche and Soares believe in the possibility to achieve knowledge of the self by following indirect paths.

ITALIAN: Contrariamente a quanto possa suggerire una lettura superficiale, il prospettivismo di Nietzsche è limitato alla sfera teoretica solo in apparenza. Nietzsche, infatti, collega questa nozione alla propria analisi dei valori e, più in generale, alla critica della morale. Scopo del presente articolo è di presentare una disamina di quello che possiamo chiamare il "prospettivismo morale" di Nietzsche. Col preciso scopo di rispondere alla domanda relativa a quale tipo di filosofia pratica derivi dalle riflessioni di Nietzsche sul prospettivismo, concentreremo la (...) nostra attenzione su due posizioni che erroneamente si crede possano seguire da esse: l'individualismo radicale e il relativismo forte. -/- ENGLISH: Contrary to what a superficial reading of Nietzsche might suggest, Nietzsche’s perspectivism is only apparently limited to the theoretical sphere. In fact, Nietzsche also relates perspectivism with his analysis of values and, more in general, with his critique of morality. The aim of the present paper is to present an overview of what might be called Nietzsche’s “moral perspectivism”. In order to answer the question about what kind of practical philosophy derives from Nietzsche’s perspectivism, we shall focus the attention on two views which are erroneously believed to follow from it: radical individualism and strong relativism. (shrink)

Nihilism seems to be per definition linked to violence. Indeed, if the nihilist is a person who acknowledges no moral or religious authority, then what does stop him from committing any kind of crime? Dostoevsky precisely called attention to this danger: if there is no God and no immortality of the soul, then everything is permitted, even anthropophagy. Nietzsche, too, emphasised, although in different terms, the consequences deriving from the death of God and the collapse of Judeo-Christian morality. This context (...) shaped the way in which philosophers, writers and artists thought about violence, in its different manifestations, during the 20th century. The goal of this interdisciplinary volume is to explore the various modern and contemporary configurations of the link between violence and nihilism as understood by philosophers and artists. (shrink)

È un incontro tardivo ma fatale, quello con l’Esprit souterrain di Dostoevskij da parte di Nietzsche nell’inverno nizzardo del 1886-87, assimilabile a quello giovanile del 1865 col Mondo come volontà e rappresentazione di Schopenhauer, o a quello del 1879 con Il rosso e il nero di Stendhal. La fascinazione immediata e istintiva di Nietzsche per Dostoevskij, rileva Stellino, è mossa da un’elettiva affinità psicologica che porta i due Autori a scandagliare le profondità oscure dell’animo umano...

Resenha do livro de Paolo Stellino e Olivier Tinland, Nietzsche et le relativisme. Bruxelles: Éditions Ousia, 2019. 298 p.

In his late work Nietzsche professed profound admiration for Dostoevsky, calling him “the only psychologist [...] from whom I had something to learn”. He also said, characteristically complicating matters, “I am grateful to him in a remarkable way, however much he goes against my deepest instincts”. There is, however, another well-established way of connecting the two authors, due to the Symbolist writer and critic Dmitri Merezhkovsky, which regards Dostoevsky as preemptively refuting Nietzsche’s teachings through his portrayal of the nihilistic protagonists (...) of his great novels. Paolo Stellino takes up both these ways of connecting the two authors... (shrink)

The matter of truth in Nietzsche’s thought is one of the most studied and debated topics in recent scholarship. It is a topic of great interest and has generated much scholarship, but rarely does such work offer anything new. The book, Teorie e pratiche della verità in Nietzsche, edited by Pietro Gori and Paolo Stellino, is an exception to this trend, as it offers important and original contributions to this area of study.The text—which is the result of a (...) workshop by the same name held in Valencia in May 2011— develops an original approach on two different levels. On the one hand, the authors acknowledge in the preface not only the importance of the search for truth in Nietzsche’s philosophy, but also the... (shrink)

A significant body of research concludes that stable beliefs of perceived consumer effectiveness lead to sustainable consumption choices. Consumers who believe that their decisions can significantly affect environmental and social issues are more likely to behave sustainably. Little is known, however, about how perceived consumer effectiveness can be increased. We find that feelings of guilt and pride, activated by a single consumption episode, can regulate sustainable consumption by affecting consumers’ general perception of effectiveness. This paper demonstrates the impact that guilt (...) and pride have on perceived consumer effectiveness and shows how this effect rests on the ability of these emotions to influence perceptions of agency. After experiencing guilt or pride, consumers see themselves as the cause of relevant sustainability outcomes. The process of causal attribution associated with these emotions influences consumers’ use of neutralization techniques. Through the reduction in consumers’ ability to neutralize their sense of personal responsibility, guilt and pride positively influence perceived consumer effectiveness. The inability to rationalize-away their personal responsibility, persuades consumers that they affect sustainability outcomes through their decisions. The research advances our understanding of sustainable consumption and identifies a new avenue for the regulation of individual consumer behavior that has significant implications for the development of sustainable marketing initiatives. (shrink)

A growing body of literature documents the important role played by moral outrage or moral anger in stakeholders’ reactions to cases of corporate social irresponsibility. Existing research focuses more on the consequences of moral outrage than a systematic analysis of how appraisals of irresponsible corporate behavior can lead to this emotional experience. In this paper, we develop and test, in two field studies, an extended model of moral outrage that identifies the cognitions that lead to, and are associated with, this (...) emotional experience. This research contributes to the existing literature on reactions to corporate social irresponsibility by explaining how observers’ evaluation of irresponsible corporate behavior leads to reactions of moral anger. The paper also helps clarify the difference between moral outrage and other types of anger and offers useful insights for managers who have to confront public outrage following cases of irresponsible corporate behavior. Finally, the analysis of the causes of stakeholders’ anger at irresponsible corporations opens important avenues for future research that are presented in the paper. (shrink)

European Journal of Philosophy, Volume 29, Issue 4, Page 937-947, December 2021.

That words express a conceptual content is uncontroversial. This does not entail that their content should break down neatly into a grammatical part, relevant for language and to be analyzed in linguistic terms, and a conceptual part, relevant for cognition and to be analyzed in psychological terms. Various types of empirical evidence are reviewed, showing that the conceptual content of words cannot be isolated from their linguistic properties, because it is affected and shaped by them. The view of words as (...) labels or containers for a non-linguistic conceptual content stems from a naive disregard of the complex and structured nature of lexical knowledge. On the contrary, knowledge of language is shown not just to organize and categorize conceptual content in a way not reducible to non-linguistic cognition, but also to affect its scope, as the range of verbalized concepts is both limited by abstract templates and expanded by productive word formation. This suggests that lexical knowledge is a distinctively linguistic dimension of conceptualization, and that words do not so much label or package concepts, as provide an inner form for conceptual knowledge. (shrink)

Current research has documented how cases of irresponsible corporate behavior generate negative reactions from consumers and other stakeholders. Existing research, however, has not examined empirically whether the characteristics of the victims of corporate malfeasance contribute to shaping individual reactions. This study examines, through four experimental surveys, the role played by the national identity of the people affected on consumers’ intentions to spread negative word of mouth. It is shown that national identity influences individual reactions indirectly; mediated by perceived similarity and (...) sympathy. Consumers perceive foreign victims as different from the self and this reduces the sympathy experienced towards them. Sympathy is an emotion that shapes consumer reactions and regulates WOM. The study identifies two moderating processes of this effect. Individuals who score high on collective narcissism are most likely to be strongly biased against foreign victims. In-group bias is also moderated by the perceived severity of the crisis. When a case is perceived as very serious, perceived similarity plays a less important role in generating sympathy because consumers focus on the perceived suffering of the victims. Hence, in-group bias is stronger in cases perceived as having minor consequences. The paper contributes to the literature on corporate social irresponsibility and offers implications for both scholars and managers. (shrink)

In this paper we investigate splitting algebras in varieties of logics, with special consideration for varieties of BL-algebras and similar structures. In the case of the variety of all BL-algebras a complete characterization of the splitting algebras is obtained.

In this paper we investigate splitting algebras in varieties of logics, with special consideration for varieties of BL-algebras and similar structures. In the case of the variety of all BL-algebras a complete characterization of the splitting algebras is obtained.