University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy Philosophy 2016 Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology Jennifer L. Hudgens University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.503 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Hudgens, Jennifer L., "Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology" (2016). Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy. 14. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/philosophy_etds/14 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Jennifer L. Hudgens, Student Dr. Arnold Farr, Major Professor Dr. David Bradshaw, Director of Graduate Studies Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Jennifer L. Hudgens Alexandria, Louisiana Director: Dr. Arnold Farr Associate Professor of Philosophy Lexington, Kentucky 2016 Copyright © Jennifer Lynn Hudgens 2016 Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology Abstract The nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is notoriously a misogynist according to many feminists. In parallel, Nietzsche’s theory of value, perspectivism, is relativist according to many philosophers. However, I propose a counter-reading of both Nietzsche’s comments regarding women and his comments regarding perspective in which I interpret Nietzsche as neither misogynistic nor relativistic. I adopt a stance which is non-apologist, in that I do not merely wash my hands of Nietzsche’s apparently sexist remarks about women as Walter Kaufmann does, for example. Rather I demonstrate that Nietzsche is performing a polemical attack on a particular kind of naïve feminism which only seeks certain privileges for women in principle without determining whether those privileges are valuable for the empowerment of any actual women. I argue that Nietzsche’s perspectivism and his remarks about women are explicitly and inextricably intertwined because of his repeated and explicit connections between ideas of women and ideas of truth. Thus any reading of Nietzsche’s remarks about women must be tied to a reading of Nietzsche’s remarks about truth and other axiological judgments made from necessarily human perspectives. Judgments made from the inhuman perspective of ‘objectivity’ fail to obtain regarding truth or women. Because Nietzsche’s perspectivism advocates a non-relativist plurality of interpretations about truth and hence also truths about women, I argue that Nietzsche’s perspectivism actually provides a feminist argument. KEYWORDS: Nietzsche, feminism, perspectivism, axiology, epistemology, relativism Jennifer L. Hudgens 07/15/2016 Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology By Jennifer L. Hudgens Dr. Arnold Farr Director of Dissertation Dr. David Bradshaw Director of Graduate Studies July 15th, 2016 Hudgens Forget Not the Whip Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the mentorship of Dr. Arnold Farr. Thank you for your time, your positive feedback, your constructive criticism, and your ever-useful advice. Special thanks goes to Amanda Lusky for her most constant friendship and support over the entirety of my time at the University of Kentucky; to Brandie Martinez- Bedard for crucial insight into argument and fallacy, among other things; to Kathleen Poynter and Jessica DeLeon for their good timing, generosity, and patience; and to Glenda Jarred who gave me strength. iii Hudgens Forget Not the Whip Forget Not the Whip! Nietzsche, Perspectivism, and Feminism: A Non-Apologist Interpretation of Nietzsche’s Polemical Axiology Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Introduction: A Feminist Counter-Reading of Nietzsche and Perspectivism ..................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Problem of Nietzsche’s Supposed Misogyny ................... 10 §2 The First Received View: Nietzsche as Misogynist .......................................... 11 §3 Diethe on Nietzsche’s ‘Woman Question’ ........................................................ 14 §4 Diethe on Nietzsche’s Women: Part One .......................................................... 18 §5 Diethe on Nietzsche’s Women: Part Two .......................................................... 40 §6 Other Accusations of Misogyny and Anti-Feminism ........................................ 46 §7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 2: Introduction to the Problem of Nietzsche’s Supposed Relativism.................. 57 §1 The Second Received View: Nietzsche as Relativist ........................................ 57 §2 Danto’s Nietzsche .............................................................................................. 58 §3 Danto’s Interpretive Strategies .......................................................................... 62 §4 Danto’s Treatment of Art ................................................................................... 68 §5 Danto’s Perspectivism ....................................................................................... 75 §6 Danto’s Psychologies, Religion, and Moralities ................................................ 94 §7 Danto on the Übermensch, Eternal Recurrence, and the Will-to-Power ......... 108 §8 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 113 Chapter 3: An Account of Nietzsche’s Remarks Regarding Women, Gender, and Feminism......................................................................................................................... 119 §1 A Biographical Sketch ..................................................................................... 120 §2 Nietzsche’s Early Period .................................................................................. 128 Birth of Tragedy (BT) ...................................................................................... 128 Untimely Meditations: David Strauss, the Confessor and the Writer (UM I) . 135 Untimely Meditations: On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life ........ (UM II) ............................................................................................................. 137 Untimely Meditations: Schopenhauer as Educator (UM III) .......................... 140 Untimely Meditations: Richard Wagner in Bayreuth (UM IV) ....................... 145 “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense” (OTL) ....................................... 148 §3 Nietzsche’s Middle Period ............................................................................... 150 Human, All-Too-Human (HATH) .................................................................... 151 iv Hudgens Forget Not the Whip Assorted Opinions and Maxims (AOM) .......................................................... 155 The Wanderer and His Shadow (WS) .............................................................. 157 Daybreak (D) ................................................................................................... 161 The Gay Science (GS) .....................................................................................