PHILOSOPHY 312 - CLASSICAL MODERN PHILOSOPHERS

              N       4-5:20  TUTH    317 GREGORY

      HALL        SCHROEDER

      Topic: Nietzsche’s Ethics

This course will examine Nietzsche's contributions to the pursuit of an exemplary life as well as to ethical theory. The focus will be on Nietzsche's constructive or positive ethical views, the virtues he thought worth pursuing, and the reasons he gives for pursuing them.  But his critiques of traditional ethical theory and classical moral virtues will also be explored.  Close attention will be given to Schopenhauer as Educator, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Genealogy of Morals; however, relevant sections of all of Nietzsche's major books will be read and discussed.  I will develop an interpretation and critical evaluation of Nietzsche's ethics in the lectures, investigating the kind of theory he offers, the specific virtues he recommends, and the techniques for self-transformation he suggests.  We will examine how Nietzsche's ethical views develop, motivate and make comprehensible his opposition to much that is still taken for granted by contemporary ethical and political theory, and clarify the originality of Nietzsche's

contributions to current ethical life.  We will also evaluate various criticisms of Nietzsche's approach to ethics and of his substantive positions.  Some introductory familiarity with Nietzsche is assumed, but anyone who is willing to work hard on reading the texts will be able to manage the course. There will be a mid-term assignment, a final exam of some kind, and a main term paper.  Class sessions will be a mix of lecture and discussion.