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Spring, 2007

PHIL 501
SEMINAR ON HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Topic: Nietzsche
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Professor Richard Schacht
Section: RLS
T 4:00 – 5:50
402 GH
CRN: 35568

Few figures in the history of modern philosophy loom as large as Nietzsche does -- particularly in relevance to contemporary inquiry, as well as in influence upon subsequent philosophical developments.  Yet few figures are as often misunderstood.  I have long sought to contribute to Nietzsche's interpretation and assessment, in such writings as my book Nietzsche (1983, in Routledge's "Arguments of the Philosophers" series) and the essays collected in my 1995 Making Sense of Nietzsche (U of I Press).   I have continued to do so in a subsequent series of essays (some published, some not), which I am preparing for publication as a new book (tentatively) to be titled Taking Nietzsche Seriously.  This seminar will be structured by and around that collection of essays, which span much of Nietzsche's philosophical career and most of his main interests.  It will be made available as a course pack.  The Table of Contents may be obtained in the Department office, and will give a pretty clear indication of what will be discussed in the seminar.  (The basic plan will be each week to discuss the topic of one essay/chapter, with the essay/chapter itself and relevant related readings in Nietzsche's writings as grist for the mill.)

 

Texts (which those taking the seminar will be expected to have or have access to): (1) the course pack, Taking Nietzsche Seriously; (2) Making Sense of Nietzsche (which it would be well for those taking the seminar to read prior to the beginning of the semester); (3) my Nietzsche; and (4) all of Nietzsche's more important books (in one translation and edition or another) from Human, All Too Human onward, including The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, and the collection of material from Nietzsche's notebooks of 1883-88 published under the title The Will to Power.  (The German texts of these works are also desirable for those with any knowledge of German.)

  

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TAKING NIETZSCHE SERIOUSLY:

Renderings and Reckonings

 

RICHARD SCHACHT

Introduction: Nietzsche in a Nutshell

Moments

Questions

Perspective? Nietzschean Perspectivism

Reality? Nietzsche’s “Will to Power”

Naturalism? Nietzsche on Human Reality

Ethics? Nietzschean Normativity

Politics? Nietzschean Politics

Religion? Nietzschean Religiousness

Individualism? Nietzsche and Individuality  

Excursions  

Sport: A Nietzschean Perspective

Music: Nietzsche, Music, Truth, Value, and Life

Afterword

Guide to Selected Topics

Bibliography