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Nietzsche's Preface to Philosophy NIETZSCHE’S PREFACE TO PHILOSOPHY YONI MOLAD SUBMITTED IN TOTAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY M AY 2 0 1 4 SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE Thesis Abstract Nietzsche's philosophical practice is best understood as a set of practical exercises in preparation for the transformation of modern social life. Rather than providing pedagogical dogma or verifiable theses about the world, Nietzsche's life and work serve as an example of an attempt to abolish philosophy as an autonomous practice. His writings are examples of experiments and spiritual exercises with the aim of positing new tasks for his readers who are tasked with embarking on an adventure of subjective metamorphosis. As the title of this thesis asserts, Nietzsche’s work is best understood as a preface to a new philosophy, to which, after a thorough re-evaluation of the philosophical tradition, Nietzsche only provides some basic foundational co-ordinates. The thesis elaborates this by focusing on Nietzsche’s earliest philosophical writings, which serve as orienting guidelines to interpret his more mature re-elaborations of similar ideas, and hence as a foundation upon which to begin philosophizing in a different way. In addition, the thesis discusses Nietzsche’s own Prefaces to some of his books, in which he articulates his philosophical practice most clearly in order to re-affirm the experimental and provisional nature of most of his central ideas. The thesis itself is therefore also a preface to this future philosophy, and future inquiry, insofar as it highlights the preliminary and preparatory nature of Nietzsche’s philosophical practice. In this way the thesis both seeks to articulate the framework in which Nietzsche's philosophy becomes coherent and examines the ways in which Nietzsche's texts perform the redefinition and deconstruction of philosophy he attempted to complete by provoking a similar attempt in the reader. 2 Declaration This is to certify that: i the thesis comprises only my original work towards the MA except where indicated in the Preface, ii due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used, iii the thesis is less than 40 000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices 3 Acknowledgments: I would like to thank the following people for their support, concern and unwavering encouragement. At times, circumstances demanded that I test their patience and hospitality to the limit and this thesis would never have been completed without their commitment, insight and belief: My family: Omer and Erica. Yudit and Ami. Ori. Gershon and Anna. Leah. Chayim and Esther. My people: Scarlett Williams and Tyla Bear. Jason, Liza, Elijah and Rueben Freddi. Belinda and Larry. Firas and Stella. Seano. Milo, Steve Marmo. Stephen , Virgine, Nina and Elliot Pascoe. Nesim and Zephyra. Dr. Jessica Whyte. Dr. Justin Clemens. Michael Ascroft. David Mintern. Jasmine Chen. Audrey Samson I would also like to thank my supervisor Assoc Prof John Rundell for his wisdom, continuous support and perseverance. 4 Table of Contents Preface: 8-16 Introduction: Life is no argument! 17-25 Chapter One: The History of Overcoming. 26-52 Chapter Two: On the Uses and Disadvantages of Philosophy for Life. 54-63 Chapter Three: The Overcoming of History: Nietzsche's Prefaces. 65-89 Conclusion. 90-97 Bibliography. 98-103 5 ABBREVIATIONS OF NIETZSCHE'S TEXTS AC. The Antichrist, 1888 BGE. Beyond Good and Evil, 1886 BT. The Birth of Tragedy, 1872 D. Daybreak, 1881 DD. Dithyrambs of Dionysus, 1888 EH. Ecce Homo, 1880 GM. On the Genealogy of Morals, 1887 GS. The Gay Science, 1882 (Part Five, 1887) HH. Human, All too Human, 1878 T&L. On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense, 1872 TI. Twilight of the Idols, 1888 UM. Untimely Meditations, 1873–76 WP. The Will to Power, 1968 (posthumous) Z. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883–85 All editions and translations by Cambridge University Press except for: WP. trans., Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale (Vintage Books, 1967). 6 7 Nietzsche's Preface to Philosophy 8 Preface ‘Perhaps it is only in a very restricted sense that philosophy starts with a question. It might be more correct to say that it tries to arrive at a question’ – Paul Von Tonregen . Nietzsche's philosophical project was never completed due to his untimely mental collapse and subsequent early death. Yet, his philosophy is unfinished not merely because he stopped writing as a result of his breakdown but also because it is a continuous attempt to bring to consciousness an ever developing and changing struggle that language is not always equipped to articulate – the process of life itself. Instead of developing an alternative philosophical system,1 Nietzsche struggles to extricate himself from all existing philosophical systems whilst attempting to live long enough to tell the tale. His writings therefore serve only as provisional and preparatory experiments, making way for the right type of people to bring about the transformation of the modern social relations and institutions dependent on and reproducing the philosophical tradition inherited from post-Socratic culture. Far from an example of a philosophical life ‘his whole philosophy, then, would be a preface to the experiment of life itself.’2 As the title of this thesis asserts, Nietzsche’s work is best understood as a preface to a future philosophy, to which, after a thorough re-evaluation of the philosophical tradition, Nietzsche only provides some basic foundational co-ordinates. The provisionality of his philosophy stems 1 It is common in the literature to claim that Nietzsche's thought comprises a system and that he even has an 'ontology'. This is partly due to the misreading of Nietzsche by Martin Heidegger. Heidegger's lectures on Nietzsche are fascinating and justly influential, but they no longer serve as important a purpose as when first conceived. Heidegger's ontologically reductive interpretation, aimed at salvaging Nietzsche from an equally reductive biologistic appropriation by the Nazis, is guided by his insistence that the task of an interpreter is to unveil the central 'teachings' and doctrines of every philosopher. In the case of Nietzsche this kind of reading is likely to obscure the more important experimental and practical intentions of his thought. See Martin Heidegger, Nietzsche, in four volumes ed. and trans., David Farrell Krell (Harper, 1991). For a contemporary approach that attempts to read Nietzsche as a systematic metaphysician see John Richardson, Nietzsche's System (OUP, 2002). 2 This striking and accurate description is provided by Paul Von Toneregen. See ‘‘‘Ich Bin Darin […] Ego Ipsissimus […], Ego Ipsissimum’’. Nietzsches Philosophische Experimente Mit Der Literarischen Form Der Vorrede,’ Nietzsche Studien, Nov 2012, Vol. 41, Issue 1, pp1-16). 9 from Nietzsche's diagnosis that our world is still living in the shadow of dead gods. In light of this situation, anything more than a provisional approach would pretend to have overcome the cultural habits of millennia in one fell swoop and, out of haste, risk re-establishing that which it is so eager to overcome. This thesis shares this modesty in its aims and is therefore also a preface to this future philosophy, and future inquiry, insofar as it highlights the preliminary and preparatory nature of Nietzsche’s philosophical practice. The thesis does this by focusing on Nietzsche’s earliest philosophical writings, which serve as orienting guidelines to interpret his more mature re- elaborations of similar ideas, and hence as a foundation upon which to begin philosophizing in a different way. In addition, the thesis discusses Nietzsche’s own Prefaces to some of his books, in which he articulates his philosophical practice most clearly, in order to re-affirm the experimental and provisional nature of most of his central ideas. In this way the thesis both seeks to articulate the framework in which Nietzsche's philosophy becomes coherent and examines the ways in which Nietzsche's texts perform the redefinition and deconstruction of philosophy he attempted to carry out by provoking a similar attempt in the reader. Nietzsche's philosophical project is best understood as a set of practical spiritual exercises in preparation for the transformation of modern social life. Rather than providing pedagogical dogma or verifiable theses on the world, Nietzsche's life and work serve as an example of an attempt to abolish philosophy as an autonomous practice. His writings are examples of experiments and spiritual exercises with the aim of promoting new tasks for his readers. These ‘philosophers of the future’ are tasked with embarking on an adventure of subjective metamorphosis through developing a tangible philosophical practice rather than a merely reflective art. In response to the untenability of traditional philosophical questioning, Nietzsche undertakes to make his own life an experiment on the uses and disadvantages of philosophy, with the aim of transmitting this experiment to his readers. Nietzsche makes a correlation between himself and the vast array of social and cultural problems he attempts to overcome in himself through his writings. ‘My writings speak only of my overcomings: ‘I’ am in them, together with everything 10 that was inimical to me, ego ipsissimus’ (HH II, Preface, § 1).3 He offers himself as a stand-in human being upon which the problems of the age are played out. In order to overcome those problems, Nietzsche has to overcome himself insofar as he is implicated and suffers from them. As Daniel Conway correctly observes, ‘In order to complete his critique of modernity, that is, he enlists himself to stand for humanity as a whole.’4 The example given by this literary experiment is not to be mistaken as a solely literary achievement but as testimony to the experiences of Nietzsche’s own life. Nietzsche’s philosophy is to be understood as a continuous experiment, performed on his own body, utilizing only his own physiological and intellectual resources (which for him are one and the same) in which the problems of the modern age seek resolution.
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