Nietzsche’s Aphoristic Challenge

Joel Westerdale

Published by De Gruyter 2013

Nietzsche’s Aphoristic Challenge

Joel Westerdale

Volume 64 in the series Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110324327

Overview
Contents

About this book

The “aphoristic form causes difficulty,” Nietzsche argued in 1887, for “today this form is not taken seriously enough.” Nietzsche’s Aphoristic Challenge addresses this continued neglect by examining the role of the aphorism in Nietzsche’s writings, the generic traditions in which he writes, the motivations behind his turn to the aphorism, and the reasons for his sustained interest in the form. This literary-philosophical study argues that while the aphorism is the paradigmatic form for Nietzsche’s writing, its function shifts as his thought evolves. His turn to the aphorism in Human, All Too Human arises not out of necessity, but from the new freedoms of expression enabled by his critiques of language and his emerging interest in natural science. Yet the model interpretation of an aphorism Nietzsche offers years later in On the Genealogy of Morals tells a different story, revealing more about how the mature Nietzsche wants his earlier works read than how they were actually written. This study argues nevertheless that consistencies emerge in Nietzsche’s understanding of the aphorism, and these, perhaps counter-intuitively, are best understood in terms of excess. Recognizing the changes and consistencies in Nietzsche’s aphoristic mode helps establish a context that enables the reader to navigate the aphorism books and better answer the challenges they pose.

Author / Editor information

Joel Westerdale, Smith College, Northampton MA, USA.

Supplementary Materials

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
List of Abbreviations and Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Timeline of Key Publications Discussed and their Publishers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
Introduction. The Challenge Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One. Nietzsche and the German Aphoristic Tradition
Chapter One. “They’re aphorisms!” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Chapter Two. Aphoristic Pluralism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Part Two. The Turn to the Aphorism
Chapter Three. The Aphoristic Option Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Chapter Four. An Anarchy of Atoms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Part Three. Re-Reading the Aphorism
Chapter Five. An Art of Exegesis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Chapter Six. The Nietzsche Function Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Part Four. The Aphoristic Paradigm
Chapter Seven. Excess and Ephexis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Institutes, Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 16
- Main content: 177
Keywords: Rhetorics; Human; All too Human; The Gay Science; On the Genealogy of Morals; excess

eBook

Published: October 14, 2013
ISBN: 9783110324327

Hardcover

Published: September 17, 2013
ISBN: 9783110323931

Paperback

Published: June 20, 2016
ISBN: 9783110481754