Nietzsche's Anti-darwinism

by Dirk R. Johnson

• ISBN13: 9780521196789
• ISBN10: 0521196787
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-09-27
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Friedrich Nietzsche's complex connection to Charles Darwin has been much explored, and both scholarly and popular opinions have tended to assume a convergence in their thinking. In this study, Dirk Johnson challenges that assumption and takes seriously Nietzsche's own explicitly stated "anti-Darwinism." He argues for the importance of Darwin for the development of Nietzsche's philosophy, but he places emphasis on the antagonistic character of their relationship and suggests that Nietzsche's mature critique against Darwin represents the key to understanding his broader (anti-)Darwinian position. He also offers an original reinterpretation of the Genealogy of Morals, a text long considered sympathetic to Darwinian naturalism, but which he argues should be taken as Nietzsche's most sophisticated critique of both Darwin and his followers. His book will appeal to all who are interested in the philosophy of Nietzsche and its cultural context.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. viii
List of abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Early Darwinism to the "Anti-Darwin"	p. 15
Towards the "Anti-Darwin": Darwinian meditations in the middle period	p. 17
Overcoming the "man" in man: Zarathustra's transvaluation of Darwinian categories	p. 47
Nietzsche agonistes: a personal challenge to Darwin	p. 79
Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals	p. 109
Nietzsche's "nature": or, whose playing field is it anyway?	p. 111
The birth of morality out of the spirit of the "bad conscience"	p. 140
Darwin's "science": or, how to beat the shell game	p. 172
Conclusion	p. 203
Bibliography	p. 215
Index	p. 229
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.