Philosophy ETDs

Publication Date

7-20-1978

Abstract

The question of unity is the central problem facing the reader of Nietzsche's philosophy. In his apparent lack of system, Nietzsche seems to be confused, contradictory, and chaotic. This dissertation argues that Nietzsche's philosophy is not irrational in these ways but is consistent and orderly, for the concept of the overman unifies virtually all of his work. In explaining how the overman so functions, this dissertation attempts to proceed from Nietzsche's self-reflexive, anti-philosophical and anti-academic perspective; yet, for present purposes, it also recognizes the need to reorganize Nietzsche's non-linear patterns of thought into more conventional lines. It does so by emphasizing the basic problem to which Nietzsche addresses himself (how to live one's life) and his general solution to this problem (live like an overman). In reorganizing Nietzsche's progress from this problem to its solution, this dissertation artificially divides Nietzsche's philosophy into two basic premises (universal change and the will to power) and a basic method (the "autobiographical") used in working through these premises. In understanding these premises, one understands the basic predicament of the individual. And in utilizing this method, one both understands the overman and approaches the overman in one's own life, for this method demands a kind of praxis, a certain combination of thought and action. But, in reaching this solution, the reorganization by which it was attained is destroyed. For if one understands the overman, one understands the degree to which this concept resists all determination: all appeals to definitions, essences, and systemization. In it particulars are elevated and nuances emphasized. In opposition to Plato, Nietzsche brings back literature to philosophy; he brings back a kind of poetry which plays with the borderlines of the expressible and finds its life in paradox and motion. At least, something much like this is almost certainly happening.

Degree Name

Philosophy

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Philosophy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Frederick Gillette Sturm

Second Committee Member

Matthieu Casalis

Third Committee Member

Brian Edgar O'Neil

Fourth Committee Member

Illegible

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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