Between Modern and Postmodern: Nietzsche on Truth and Knowledge

Abstract

<p>This thesis examines Nietzsche’s epistemology. Its main interlocutors are two previously existing attempts to explain Nietzsche’s views on truth and knowledge. One of these interpretationsI dub the ‘postmodern’ reading, held most notably by Sarah Kofman, Jacques Derrida, and Paul de Man. The other is the ‘modern’ reading of Walter Kaufmann, John T. Wilcox, and most prominently Maudemarie Clark and Brian Leiter. Each of these readings emphasizes one aspect of Nietzsche’s thought. The postmodern reading focuses on Nietzsche’s more radical pronouncements, and promotes a type of scepticism and subjectivism. The modern reading, by contrast, emphasizes Nietzsche’s more traditional claims, and argues that he lauds science and preserves our ability to attain truth. However, neither reading is entirely satisfactory. In what follows, I first critically examine both of these readings in detail. The first chapter highlights the major points of these two readings, as well as some issues in each. After detailing these positions, I then turn to a largely chronological reading of Nietzsche’s works to establish an alternative account of his epistemology. Chapters two through four provide readings of Nietzsche’s epistemological claims in his major works from Human, All Too Human (1878) until Twilight of the Idols(1888). I combine this chronological reading withother informative aspects of Nietzsche’s thought. These other aspects include Nietzsche’s reading of Roger Boscovich (1711-1787) and his adoption of force-point ontology, his ontological commitment to nominalism, his views on evolution and its role in epistemology, and his similarities with Ernst Mach (1838-1916). Finally, I also connect Nietzsche’s epistemology with his critiques of morality and religion. I show that my reading is buttressed by the deep congruity between Nietzsche’s epistemology and his critiques, while the modern and postmodern readings are both unable to account for this congruity in a satisfactory manner.</p>