The Philosophy of Nietzsche (Level 6)

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Assessment: a 1500-word essay (40%) and 2000-word essay (60%)

In this module we focus 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 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