Friedrich Nietzsche

The purpose of this paper is to consider Nietzsche’s commentaries on hermeneutics in direct relation to philosophical hermeneutics and the concept of the “hermeneutic situation.” The main thesis I will defend in this paper is that Nietzsche’s use of the concept of “life” to attempt a meta-critical reflection on the discipline of classical philology is much better represented by Heidegger, Gadamer, and philosophical hermeneutics than representatives of the standard Lebensphilosophie reading. Although Heidegger and Gadamer do not include Nietzsche within the (...) tradition of philosophical hermeneutics, both motivate the value of a hermeneutic reading of his philosophy by arguing that Nietzsche’s concept of “life” must be understood—not biologically—but in terms of “a more original grasp of knowing in its essential unity with life”. “Life” is for Nietzsche a concept for the effective reality of interpretation, i.e., our “hermeneutic situation.” After first examining some of Nietzsche’s commentaries on interpretation and “life”, I will turn to analyze Heidegger and Gadamer’s readings of Nietzsche and I will suggest that Heidegger and Gadamer recognize in Nietzsche’s concept of “life” an ontological reality that is completely foreign to life philosophy: the reality of the hermeneutic situation. At the conclusion of the paper, I will advance from this suggestion to an additional thesis: that despite their positive evaluations of Nietzsche’s concept of “life”, Heidegger and Gadamer underestimate its value for philosophical hermeneutics insofar as they underestimate the extent to which Nietzsche was aware of its ontological character. Through my analysis of a few of Nietzsche’s commentaries on historical being and the relationship that exists between “life” and “death”, I will suggest that there is a clear ontological dimension to Nietzsche’s reflections on hermeneutics, and that this ontological dimension holds value for contemporary research in philosophical hermeneutics. -/- . (shrink)

Antinaturalistic Strategies in Beyond Good and Evil. Naturalistic interpretations of Nietzsche’s thought ultimately appeal to two arguments. On the one hand, when tracing various human phenomena back to processes sufficiently explicable by the natural sciences, it would appear that Nietzsche was pursuing a de facto naturalization program. On the other hand, in BGE 230, the need for the naturalization of human beings as a whole is often interpreted as an argument de jure. After outlining some basic features of contemporary naturalism (...) and showing its incompatibility with Nietzsche’s philosophy, I argue in this paper that neither the de jure nor the de facto argument can be understood in a naturalistic sense. The task of “translating man back into nature” in BGE 230 is indeed turned against a point of view held by “old metaphysical bird-catchers.” An analysis of the manuscript and a comparison of it with the preface to HH I, in which this figure is used in the opposite sense, suggests rather that Nietzsche conceives of the renaturalization of the human in a deceptive way, that is, as one of those numerous “snares and nets for unwary birds” scattered throughout his works. Widening this view, a similar dynamic arises with respect to the de facto argument. In the concluding section, I highlight how, in On the Prejudices of Philosophers, certain naturalization operations are countered by as many arguments to the contrary. Such sudden shifts in perspective seem to indicate, at least in Beyond Good and Evil, a desire to subvert naturalism from within. (shrink)

Joy of a certain kind has an important affective role in demonstrating the overcoming of nihilism for Nietzsche. In this chapter I explore how one might arrive at a point where they too can give voice to Zarathustra’s proclamation that “all joy wills eternity.” There are consistent references to eternity and infinitude in passages of Nietzsche’s discussing nihilism. This is most obviously borne out in Nietzsche scholarship with reference to discussions of eternal recurrence. But eternal recurrence does not have a (...) monopoly for denoting Nietzsche’s employment of the motifs of eternity and infinitude. Eternal recurrence and its affirmation, I argue, is only a kind of end point for a process of overcoming nihilism. -/- My concern here is the manner in which Nietzsche employs these motifs to track three different stages related to nihilism. The first stage demonstrates an affective response of initial disorientation, which aims to engender a realization by the “marketplace atheists” that humanity must undergo the phenomenon of nihilism. Th e second stage documents an active confrontation with this phenomenon, which in turn offers deeper, more terrifying yet also more positive consequences of this realization, ones proffering new forms of freedom. The third stage is the constructive use to which Nietzsche sets these motifs in the service of life-affirmation, of which eternal recurrence plays an integral part. I examine several important passages using these motifs in Nietzsche’s mature writings, particularly from The Gay Science and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, to claim that they inform a developmental process concerning the realization of nihilism and its overcoming. -/- I conclude by claiming that the motifs of eternity and infinitude’s employment at each of these three stages mirrors the substance of the “Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit” section in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. (shrink)

El artículo se propone indagar en el influjo que la cultura griega tiene sobre el pensador alemán, en particular destacando la importancia que adquiere la filosofía anterior a la aparición del idealismo platónico. Primero, se exploran algunos factores que el joven Nietzsche obtiene en las incursiones de sus particulares investigaciones filológicas, en un proceso de transformación espiritual que lo conduce con resolución hacia el ámbito de la filosofía. Luego, se destaca la aplicación de estos hallazgos como coordenadas de referencia para (...) la aproximación que realiza de los presocráticos, en la línea de inspiración creativa utilizándolos como acicate para la superación y modelos para el desarrollo de una auténtica filosofía como forma de vida. Finalmente, se establecen los elementos del bagaje griego que asimila y procesa el Nietzsche maduro para el envite de su propia propuesta sediciosa, luego sintetizada como «filosofía de Dioniso». (shrink)

La 4e de couverture indique : « En écrivant ce livre, j'ai essayé de réaliser simultanément deux ambitions : celle de comprendre les raisons qui ont pu faire de Gottfried Keller un des écrivains que Wittgenstein admirait le plus, et celle de préciser ce que j'ai écrit sur les relations que ce philosophe a entretenues avec la religion. Ces deux objectifs convergent car peu de questions sont aussi présentes et aussi centrales dans l'oeuvre du romancier que celle de la religion. (...) De plus, l'espèce de "révélation" que Wittgenstein a eue lorsqu'il est entré en contact avec le texte de la version tolstoïenne de l'Evangile semble avoir marqué de façon profonde sa relation avec le christianisme. Même le 7ractatus comporte des fo-mules qui ont parfois une ressemblance assez frappante avec ce que Wittgenstein avait pu lire dans l'Abrégé de l'Evangile. Pour lui, "le penseur religieux honnête est comme un danseur de corde. Il marche, en apparence, presque uniquement sur l'air. Son sol est le plus étroit qui se puisse concevoir. Et pourtant on peut réellement marcher sur lui". Ce livre est certainement l'un des plus personnels de Jacques Bouveresse. Ce qui est en jeu, ce n'est pas le jugement à porter sur les dogmes, les croyances, etc., mais le regard à porter sur la foi elle-même comme attitude face à la vie. Après Peut-on ne pas croire et Que faut-il faire de la religion, ce livre est le dernier volet d'une trilogie sur la philosophie de la religion.. ». (shrink)

André Comte-Sponville livre ici vingt-six études d’histoire de la philosophie, portant principalement sur les traditions tragique et matérialiste, depuis l’Ecclésiaste jusqu’à Marcel Conche, en passant par Montaigne, Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, Spinoza, La Mettrie, Jean-Marie Guyau, Nietzsche et Alain. La préface propose une longue analyse de la notion de tragique. L’auteur y prend au sérieux ce que la littérature et la vie nous apprennent : que le tragique a à voir avec le malheur, mais réel plutôt que possible (par différence avec (...) le «suspense») et nécessaire plutôt que contingent (par différence avec le drame). Loin d’être l’affirmation joyeuse de tout, comme le voulait Nietzsche, le tragique est plutôt la prise en compte inconsolée de ce qu’il y a de catastrophique dans la condition humaine : la mort, la solitude, l’insatisfaction – trois formes de la finitude, qui ne sont tragiques que par la conscience, en l’homme, d’un infini au moins pensable. La conclusion, elle aussi fort développée, montre que le matérialisme, s’il est rigoureux, se doit d’être une pensée tragique, c’est-à-dire aporétique, déceptive, inconsolée. Et qu’une sagesse qui se sait insuffisante et insatisfaite (une sagesse tragique) vaut mieux, de ce point de vue, que la suffisance d’une sagesse prétendument satisfaite. Cela amène à prendre quelque distance avec Epicure, Spinoza, Nietzsche et Marx. Et à se trouver plus proche de Lucrèce, de Montaigne ou du dernier Althusser. (shrink)

Nietzsche and the Long Flight of the “Good European”. The question of “the good European,” as Nietzsche conceives it, refers to a complex process of cultural transformation that starts from the critical relationship toward the European Christian heritage. The three volumes discussed in this review single out three different aspects of this cultural process: a “new Enlightenment,” which refers to the gradual liberation from the European tradition “in search of good Europeans” (Crescenzi / Gentili / Venturelli 2017), the early twentieth-century (...) debate around “European identity” (Crescenzi / Gentili / Venturelli 2018), in which the good European takes on a precise role, and contemporary Europe and the current relevance of the good European (Brusotti / McNeal / Schubert / Siemens 2020). This review discusses and reflects critically on these three volumes, examining how they contribute to contemporary debates about Nietzsche and the question of a European culture. (shrink)

Deleuze, em Francis Bacon – Lógica da sensação, destaca três elementos pictóricos como características fundamentais das pinturas de Bacon: a estrutura material, a figura e o contorno que isola a figura. Esses elementos revelam que o tema do pintor é o sofrimento do homem moderno, sozinho em seu quarto. Sofrimento entendido como o tormento interior de um corpo imerso no caos, em um universo sem sentido. O artista exprime o “corpo vivido” em meio ao desmoronamento da ordem das coisas. A (...) sequela mais evidente desse ambiente insólito é a “extrema solidão da Figura”. Esse mundo retratado por Bacon, está atrelado à filosofia nietzschiana que descreve o mundo como “dionisíaco”, isto é, sem finalidade e sem propósito. Para Nietzsche, a “morte de Deus” evidencia o nada existencial e a supressão do sentido das coisas. O resultado mais imediato da constatação da “morte de Deus” é a solidão. Todavia, tanto para o artista, quanto para o filósofo, a solidão é ambígua: ou pode ser fonte de niilismo, de necessidade de fuga ou fonte de afirmação. Nesse trabalho, pretendemos confrontar as obras de Bacon, descritas por Deleuze, com a filosofia nietzschiana, destacando a significação que ambos atribuem à solidão como consequência da constatação do mundo-caos. (shrink)

Investiga-se o conceito de força, tal como aparece em Nietzsche e na psicanálise. Objetiva-se esclarecer e potencializar seu uso clínico. A pesquisa se justifica porque se trata de conceber o processo clínico como explicitação da força pulsional, uma vez que a tipologia das forças proposta por Nietzsche e a precisão analítica, de caráter ético e clínico, convergem inteiramente. Uma ética nietzschiana da força ativa (o amor fati) torna-se providencial para se pensar a retomada do conceito de força na psicanálise. Objeções (...) levantadas à noção de força serão oportunas para, inversamente, justificar seu uso: equivalente à noção de real, a de força não se beneficia do deslocamento que a primeira sofre e opera. Que o real possa ser tratado pela negatividade, mas não a força, problematiza o uso das duas noções: a força jamais definir-se-á pelo impossível ou pelo vazio, e sim por atos de resistência ou sublimações. Conclui-se que ao nível dessa potência avaliadora, seletiva, não condicionada pela atualidade, perfilam-se os temas nietzschianos do intempestivo e da transvaloração dos valores. O tempo por vir das forças ativas depende de seu exercício. Esses temas essenciais à filosofia nietzschiana implicam, portanto, a consideração da força e de suas vicissitudes. O mesmo vale para a psicanálise e a noção irrevogável de pulsão. É verdade que, inversamente, a força se esclarece pela transvaloração dos valores que o intempestivo deflagra. A pulsão também só é conhecida mediante seu exercício, ou seja, enquanto ela mesma opera sua decifração pragmática. Ela requer, para tanto, uma perspectiva ética e clínica aliada às suas avaliações imanentes, extramorais. É a razão para que a análise se ocupe do sonho e de sua memória ativa, interpeladora, desde um tempo por vir. (shrink)

A partir do momento em que a recordação dos fatos deixa de estar vinculada a elementos internos a estes para se associar a signos externos, o esquecimento passa a se instalar. Eis o nascimento da escrita. Com isso, as técnicas de memória são ameaçadas. Nietzsche vê nesta ameaça à mnemotécnica um ganho significativo, pois permite um alívio e higienização mental de toda aquela carga moral que não permite esquecer. Ao perseguirmos este objetivo de desobstruir a mente das suas técnicas de (...) memorização, Nietzsche inaugura uma forma de escrita não centrada no conteúdo, e sim na estilística. Em que medida o expediente estilístico nietzschiano é capaz de superar a mnemotécnica? (shrink)

The greatest minds of every generation advise on relationships, identity, life events, art and aesthetics, and politics. Everyday questions are answered from a number of philosophical points of view.

Die Ästhetische Revolution in Deutschland' widerlegt das Klischeebild von Deutschland als Land von romantischen aber weltfremden Dichtern und Denkern. In Deutschland findet um 1750 eine ästhetische Revolution statt, an deren Anfang J. J. Winckelmann steht. In der romantischen Bewegung (Schiller, Hölderlin, Kleist) bahnt sich diese ästhetische Revolution, die Heine als einer der ersten kritisiert, einen Weg. Seit Heine ist die Kritik an der ästhetischen Revolution nicht mehr verstummt. Die ästhetische Revolution, die sich gegen die Rationalisierung und Mechanisierung der Welt kehrt, (...) findet in Nietzsches Denken ihren Höhepunkt. In den 20er Jahren wird die ästhetische Revolution zu einer konservativen Revolution, die scheitern muss (George, Spengler, Th. Mann, Benn). Dass gerade nach 1945 die ästhetische Perspektive notwendig ist, zeigen Beckmann und M. Walser. (shrink)

Quand point l'année nouvelle, chacun se soumet au cérémonial des voeux, interminables et impersonnels (la sacro-sainte triade santé-bonheur-réussite!), auquel se greffe la tragi-comédie des grandes résolutions dans une cascade déprimante de ne plus dont rien ou presque ne subsiste quelques jours après. S'y ajoutent les rituels et les folklores qui, sous toutes les latitudes et dans toutes les cultures humaines, leur font écho. Chacun s'y prête à chaque fois (cette répétition donne le vertige) avec un enthousiasme qui décroît en général (...) au fil des ans. Et si, à l'heure d'entrebâiller la porte de Janvier, qui restera close un an encore, il devenait urgent et même vital de lever les yeux du compte à rebours universel pour passer du trompe-l'oeil de la carte de voeux et de la vraie-fausse résolution au rendez-vous enfin pris avec soi-même? Et si dire oui, faire oui à la manière nietzschéenne, c'était simple comme le Nouvel An? Telle est l'invitation philosophique que ce livre, écrit dans une langue volontairement accessible au plus grand nombre sans rien céder sur le fond de la pensée, adresse à toutes celles et à tous ceux qui souhaitent ne pas laisser filer indéfiniment, année après année, l'occasion de devenir ce qu'ils sont. (shrink)

This article addresses Barth’s dialectical notion of experience in the 1920s. I argue that the theoretical problem raised by recent studies on Barth’s notion of experience after his break with liberalism (i.e. the apparent inconsistency between Barth’s move towards an increasingly neo-Kantian understanding of experience and his emphasis on the existential and psychological dimensions of experience) can be solved by the hypothesis of a Nietzschean influence on Barth’s epistemology in the 1920s. I defend not only the historical plausibility but also (...) the conceptual fecundity of such a hypothesis, which casts a new light on Barth’s relation to philosophy and the notion of experience, and lays the basis for a consistent Barthian theology of experience. (shrink)

Volume 14 of The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche presents the very first translation into English of the philosopher's unpublished notebooks from the period in which he began working on what he considered his best known and most important work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The article draws attention to a certain multi-layered parallel between Nietzsche and Badiou’s theory of the event, which the author argues Badiou evaded by a kind of strategic relocation. The article does not focus so much on (and certainly not against) Badiou’s philosophy, but attempts to assess the possible implications of this relocation for Badiou’s interpretation of Nietzsche. In the first part of the article, the key concepts of Badiou’s account of Nietzsche are introduced, such as “archi-politics”, “antiphilosophy”, and the (...) “event Nietzsche”. Later, it is shown that, despite some fundamental differences, there is a strong resemblance between some key concepts of Badiou’s theory of the event, especially those related to the notion of “intervention”, and some concepts found in Nietzsche. Finally, the paper focuses on the problem of the “death of God”, which is somehow absent in Badiou’s interpretation, even though the term itself resonates strongly in various aspects of Badiou’s philosophy. (shrink)

Où trouver la force de continuer à vivre quand des épreuves terribles privent de l'énergie ou du désir nécessaires pour perpétuer une existence devenue en apparence absurde? Les récits de résilience sont nombreux. Mais il aura fallu attendre Nietzsche pour que la philosophie s'empare avec acuité de cette question. ± [...] je fis de ma volonté de santé, de vivre, ma philosophie? : accablé d'une maladie terriblement douloureuse, l'auteur du Gai Savoir fait d'une expérience vécue un terrain d'expérimentation pour la (...) pensée. La force de vivre est exclusive chez lui de toute recherche d'un quelconque salut dans une foi ou dans une cause. Non pas fuir la maladie, mais se l'approprier en l'explorant par la pensée. En découlent une leçon et une question. Une leçon : la souffrance ne prive pas la vie de son sens, ni ne préjuge de sa valeur. Une question, celle du philosophe qui se fait ± médecin de la civilisation? : le nihilisme peut-il être surmonté? (shrink)

Complexe, énigmatique car radicalement novatrice, la pensée nietzschéenne donne le sentiment d'être trop dispersée pour pouvoir être saisissable. Du reste, y a-t-il un ou plusieurs Nietzsche? Celui de L'Antéchris et d'Ecce Homo est-il le même que celui de La Naissance de la tragédie? Mais complexe ne signifie pas chaotique, et l'incertitude se dissipe si l'on repère les moments où se constituent ses positions fondamentales: quand la notion de pulsion se met-elle en place? Avec quel ouvrage la théorie des valeurs apparaît-elle? (...) À quel moment la logique du sentiment de puissance est-elle identifiée? Quand la philosophie est-elle comprise comme un dire-oui? Dans quel livre la tentative de lire la réalité tout entière comme volonté de puissance se fait-elle jour? Cet ouvrage apporte une réponse à ces questions. Il caractérise l'apport des principaux textes de Nietzsche, et montre que l'évolution de sa réflexion n'est pas faite de revirements ni d'abandons de thèses au profit de thèses nouvelles, mais d'un affinement progressif au sein d'une problématique invariante: conquête d'un mode de pensée réformé dont les grandes lignes sont dessinées dès son premier livre, La Naissance de la tragédie"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Much has been said on particular feelings that appear in Nietzsche's works, such as pity, revenge, altruism, guilt, shame, and ressentiment. But there has not been a significant study on Nietzsche's overall teachings on feeling and emotion. What does Nietzsche mean by feeling and the related phenomena? Out of such disparate types of feelings and disparate reflections by Nietzsche on them, can one make sense or can one speak of a theory of feelings in Nietzsche? If so, how does this (...) theory fit with his philosophy of value? On the other hand, how do his teachings relate to some of the later concepts of his philosophy such as the overhuman, the will to power and the eternal return of the same? While the book will contextualize Nietzsche's emotive theory in relation to other emotive theories in the history of ideas, it will also explore Nietzsche's influence on later generations in this area. (shrink)

In 1889, Danish literary critic Georg Brandes published "Aristocratic Radicalism: An Essay on Friedrich Nietzsche," which transformed the as-yet-unknown German-Swiss philosopher into a European, and ultimately global, phenomenon. The article sparked a furious public debate between Brandes and a fellow Dane, philosopher Harald Høffding, who swiftly issued a rebuttal, "Democratic Radicalism: An Objection." What began as a scholarly disagreement over Nietzsche's philosophy rapidly spiraled into a sprawling contest of competing visions of society's future, one radically aristocratic and the other radically (...) democratic. Marking the moment at which the uniquely Nordic concept of social democratic welfare was first contested in the public sphere, this debate provides insights into not only Nietzschean philosophy and its immediate reception but also the foundational concept of modern Scandinavian social, cultural, and political organization. This volume presents, for the first time in any language other than Danish, the debate in its entirety: three essays by Brandes and three by Høffding. A critical introduction by editor and translator William Banks explores the exchange in its context and convincingly argues that the principles contested by the two Danish luminaries still very much resonate in Western society today. (shrink)

On the Genealogy of Morality (GM hereafter) analyzes an enormous range of topics. Its pacing is erratic, shifting instantaneously from patient strolls through arcane scholarly topics to breathless gallops through large intellectual districts at such high speed that attending to any one topic is nearly impossible. It refers to obscure 18th and 19th century intellectuals most 21st century readers have never heard of, along with figures from the ancient world many readers will only have heard of in other contexts, and (...) even some figures many of us are likely to think should not be mentioned in a book of philosophy. Despite these challenges and difficulties, GM is expansive, enlightening, entertaining, probing, and devastating. (shrink)

Schopenhauer und Nietzsche haben eine bedeutende Rolle in Schlicks philosophischem Werdegang gespielt. Es geht um einen bis dato wenig berücksichtigten Umstand, dem freilich nicht bloß eine biographische Bedeutung zukommt. Denn Schopenhauer und Nietzsche sind zwei Hauptfiguren, die nicht nur die Bildungszeit Schlicks prägten, sondern auch seine spätere philosophische Tätigkeit, und zwar bis auf die Wiener Zeit, verschiedenartig beeinflusst haben. Dieser Einfluss lässt sich besser verstehen, wenn das übliche Bild von Schlick als subtilem Ausleger der Relativitätstheorie und als Vater der wissenschaftlichen (...) Weltauffassung erheblich modifiziert bzw. ergänzt wird. Wie Edgar Zilsel anlässlich der brutalen Ermordung Schlicks bemerkte, war neben der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit auch „eine zweite Linie“ deutlich, die „ganz ebenso zu seinem Werk gehört“. Nach Zilsel. (shrink)