The Philosophy of Nietzsche (Level 7)

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Assessment: a 2000-word essay (40%) and 2500-word essay (60%)

This module focuses on the philosophical work of Friedrich Nietzsche and some of his most important influences. Topics may include: Schopenhauer’s pessimistic doctrine that life is suffering, and the extent to which Nietzsche should be read as sharing and responding to his concerns; how art and aesthetic experience might offer meaningful redemption from suffering; Nietzsche’s genealogical method and critique of Christian morality; the value and disvalue of truth and knowledge; and the Romantics’ critique of the Enlightenment, the death of God, and the spectre of nihilism.

Indicative module syllabus

• Death of God
• Pessimism and denial of the will to live
• Idealism
• Redemption through art
• Nihilism and affirmation
• What is genealogy?
• Noble morality/slave morality
• Free will and the sovereign individual
• Ascetic ideals
• The value of truth
• Critique of Christianity
• Perspectivism and will to power
• Self-creation

By the end of this module, you will be able to demonstrate:

• a deep and systematic understanding of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy, especially his moral psychology as it is set out in his Genealogy of Morality
• a thorough understanding of the theoretical and methodological approaches deployed by Nietzsche, their strengths and weaknesses, and their distinctiveness relative to other approaches in the history of philosophy.