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Nietzsche and the Politics of Perspectivism

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Nietzsche and the Politics of Perspectivism NIETZSCHE AND THE POLITICS OF PERSPECTIVISM Government 396/696.003 Professor Borden Flanagan The American University Office: Ward 220 Fall 06 Phone: 885-6258 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:20-12:30; Tu-Fri 12:45-2 There is perhaps no philosopher who has exerted as profound an influence on contemporary thought as has Friedrich Nietzsche. He may properly be considered to be the philosopher of the twentieth century, and, to the extent our thought continues in its current trajectory, the twenty-first. Even as the thought of Marx rose to be the official armature of vast despotisms its intellectual vigor began a long downward march, so that, remarkably, thinking persons on the left found it necessary to look to Nietzsche, or to Nietzsche's follower Heidegger (both men of the radical right), as sources of philosophic vitality. Marx is very important to contemporary thought, but primarily as a Nietzscheanized version. Nietzsche is the common source of post-structural political, social, feminist, and literary theory. These later modes of thought may vary in seriousness and rigor. For all movements in thought there is a hard core and a flabby periphery, and the originators are, because of their originality, often forced to articulate and defend their positions more thoroughly than those who, coming later, are able to inherit a position without needing to search it to its depth. It is especially useful, then, for those who wish to understand contemporary postmodernism and to evaluate its various schools, to understand the central arguments of the thinker who inspired it. It is also necessary for us to understand Nietzsche because variants of his thought are all around us, and we need to know where we are. We need to know because we need to decide, if we are not to be unthinking dogmatists, whether or not we agree with him, and are prepared to live accordingly. In this course we will engage in a semester-long (perilously short) close reading of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. Textual interpretation will be the centerpiece of the course. You must come to class having prepared the text with a fine-tooth comb; merely doing the reading will not be enough. Arrive with questions and tentative answers, for I will be doing the same. Class time will be spent in a kind of apprenticeship, or learning-by-doing: Read along with Mr. Flanagan. Do not expect me to lecture, for this book does not work like that. Nietzsche has his own manner of educating his readers which is highly interrogative. Perhaps no thinker since Plato has required as much interrogation (questioning, but also mulling, revisiting, piecing-together, implication-hunting, etc.) as Nietzsche. If you apply yourself, you open the door to high philosophic adventure, but if you don't this class will be dull and punishing to your transcript. Three papers will form the basis of your grade along with class participation. The importance of participation is reflected in the weight assigned to it: 15% of your grade. The first and second papers will be on a topic I assign, will be 5 pages long, and will count for 20% of your grade each. For these papers SECONDARY SOURCE MATERIAL IS FORBIDDEN. I don't want you to read about Nietzsche, I want you to read Nietzsche and interpret it on your own. The first paper is due October 12th. The second paper is optional; if you wish, you can opt to have your first paper count for both, which means your first paper will count for 40% of your grade. If you opt to write the second paper, it will count for 20% and will be due November 30th. Your final paper will be ten pages long, and will count for 45% of your grade. Secondary source material is allowed for your final paper. If you use secondary source material, you MUST cite it. Beware: The above distribution of grades does not apply in cases of academic dishonesty. If you violate the academic integrity code on an assignment, I will raise the percentage that that assignment represents to 50% of your final grade, I will give you a zero for that assignment, and you will therefore fail the course. I will report any student who I deem to have committed a violation of the academic integrity code to the Dean, and begin official proceedings that may result in the suspension or expulsion of the student. By registering for this course you have declared that you are aware of the rules of the Academic Integrity Code and agree to abide by them. If you have any questions about the Code and/or its application in the context of the assignments in this class, please see me for clarification. Required Text: Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. Walter Kaufmann (Vintage Books; New York, 1966) Assignment Schedule: 8/28 Introduction 8/31 Handouts: The Madman (from The Gay Science); Prologue from Thus Spake Zarathustra; "The German Connection" and "Values" from Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom. 9/07 Beyond Good and Evil, Preface and Part One: aphorisms 1-12 9/11 Part One: aphorisms 1-12 (Hereafter: I 1-12) (A repeated assignment means that you must REREAD those aphorisms.) 9/14 I 13-23 9/18 I 13-23 9/21 II 24-34 9/25 II 24-34 9/28 II 35-44 10/02 II 35-44 First Paper Assigned 10/05 III 45-55 10/09 III 45-55 10/12 III 56-62 First Paper Due 10/16 III 55-62 10/19 V 186-194 10/23 V 190-198 10/26 V 194-203 10/30 VI 204-08 11/02 VI 206-10 11/06 VI 208-13 11/09 VII 214-224 11/13 VII 225-34 Optional Second Paper Assigned 11/16 VII 235-39 Thanksgiving Break 11/27 VIII 240-48 11/30 VIII 249-56 Optional Second Paper Due 12/04 IX 257-281 12/07 IX 282-96 Final Paper Due 12/14 .
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