Date of Award
8-11-2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Jessica N. Berry
Second Advisor
Andrew J. Cohen
Third Advisor
Eddy Nahmias
Abstract
There is an apparent disagreement between recent commentators who find in Nietzsche both a constructive philosophy and a compatibilist account of freedom, and Brian Leiter’s reading that rejects both. The reason for this disagreement, I argue, is that Leiter’s “illiberal” view is limited in scope to Nietzsche’s critical philosophy, while Nietzsche also has a constructive philosophy aimed at select readers. I read Nietzsche’s critical philosophy as targeting the metaphysical entities that underpin asceticism and herd values, not the mental states and processes with which these entities are associated. The “no such entity” reading preserves the resources needed to read Nietzsche as offering a replacement for the ascetic ideal—and an alternative source for life’s meaning. Although few of his readers will have been born with the drives needed to throw off herd values and enjoy compatibilist freedom, these readers are the intended audience for Nietzsche’s constructive philosophy.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/7162825
Recommended Citation
Duhaime, Walter, "Nietzsche's Constructive Philosophy: Self-understanding and the Sovereign Individual." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2015.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/7162825