Nietzsche's Moral Psychology

Examines Nietzsche's thinking on the virtues using a combination of close reading and digital analysis.

Mark Alfano (Author)

9781107424340, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 April 2021

315 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.466 kg

‘Alfano's virtue-theoretic reading is a stimulating and original contribution to the lively debate about Nietzsche's moral psychology. Everyone interested in that debate should read his book.’ Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Nietzsche, a trained philologist, frequently urges his readers to interpret him carefully. In this book, Mark Alfano combines detailed close reading with digital methods (corpus analysis and semantic network visualization) to reframe our understanding of this major figure. He argues that virtue is a neglected concept in Nietzsche's writings, and sets out a fresh interpretation of Nietzschean virtues as well-calibrated drives. As different people embody different constellations of drives, so virtues differ from person to person. For Nietzsche himself, Alfano argues, five virtues are essential: curiosity, courage, a sense of humor, and pathos of distance (that is, contemptuousness) toward one's self and toward one's society. This innovative and original book will be invaluable for historians of philosophy, contemporary researchers in moral psychology and virtue theory, and philosophers interested in the fast-growing methodologies of the digital humanities.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Précis
2. Methodology: introducing digital humanities to the history of philosophy
Part II. Nietzsche's Socio-moral Framework: 3. From instincts and drives to types
4. From types to virtues
5. Socializing Nietzschean virtues
Part III. Nietzschean Virtues: 6. Curiosity
7. Courage
8. Pathos of distance
9. Sense of humor
10. Solitude
Part IV. Conclusion: 11. Conscience and integrity
12. Prospectus
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy [HP], Humanities [H]