Nietzsche As Philosopher

by Danto, Arthur Coleman

• ISBN13: 9780231135191
• ISBN10: 023113519X
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-31
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Few philosophers are as widely read or as widely misunderstood as Friedrich Nietzsche. When Danto's classic study was first published in 1965, many regarded Nietzsche as a brilliant but somewhat erratic thinker. Danto, however, presented a radically different picture, arguing that Nietzsche offered a systematic and coherent philosophy that anticipated many of the questions that define contemporary philosophy. Danto's clear and insightful commentaries helped canonize Nietzsche as a philosopher and continue to illuminate subtleties in Nietzsche's work as well as his immense contributions to the philosophies of science, language, and logic. This new edition, which includes five additional essays, not only further enhances our understanding of Nietzsche's philosophy; it responds to the misunderstandings that continue to muddy his intellectual reputation. Even today, Nietzsche is seen as everything from a precursor of feminism and deconstruction to a prophetic writer and spokesperson for disgruntled teenage boys. As Danto points out in his preface, Nietzsche's writings have purportedly inspired recent acts of violence and school shootings. Danto counters these misreadings by elaborating an anti-Nietzschian philosophy from within Nietzsche's own philosophy "in the hope of disarming the rabid Nietzsche and neutralizing the vivid frightening images that have inspired sociopaths for over a century." The essays also consider specific works by Nietzsche, including Human, All Too Human and The Genealogy of Morals, as well as the philosopher's artistic metaphysics and semantical nihilism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface to the Expanded Edition	xiii
Preface to the Morningside Edition	xix
Original Preface	xxiii
Nietzsche as Philosopher
1. Philosophical Nihilism	1	(17)
2. Art and Irrationality	18	(32)
3. Perspectivism	50	(32)
4. Philosophical Psychology	82	(30)
5. Moralities	112	(32)
6. Religious Psychology	144	(33)
7. Übermensch and Eternal Recurrence	177	(19)
8. The Will-to-Power	196	(15)
Nachwort	211	(6)
Aftertexts
1. The Tongues of Angels and Men: Nietzsche as Semantical Nihilist	217	(12)
2. A Comment on Nietzsche's "Artistic Metaphysics"	229	(4)
3. Beginning to be Nietzsche: On Human, All Too Human	233	(12)
4. Nietzsche's Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality	245	(6)
5. Some Remarks on The Genealogy of Morals	251	(20)
Notes	271	(10)
Index	281