Nietzsche's Philosophy of History

An exposition of the development of Nietzsche's philosophy of history in its historical context and of its relevance to contemporary theories.

Anthony K. Jensen (Author)

9781107027329, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 July 2013

250 pages
22.9 x 15 x 2.3 cm, 0.51 kg

'… it is obvious that Jensen's volume represents an exceptional piece of scholarship, both in the breadth of its survey and in the detail of its research. This book is certain to become an important resource for philosophers of history and Nietzsche scholars alike, and to provoke renewed attention to this important, but under-investigated area of research.' Andrew Jampol-Petzinger, New Nietzsche Studies

Nietzsche, the so-called herald of the 'philosophy of the future', nevertheless dealt with the past on nearly every page of his writing. Not only was he concerned with how past values, cultural practices and institutions influence the present - he was plainly aware that any attempt to understand that influence encounters many meta-historical problems. This comprehensive and lucid exposition of the development of Nietzsche's philosophy of history explores how Nietzsche thought about history and historiography throughout his life and how it affected his most fundamental ideas. Discussion of the whole span of Nietzsche's writings, from his earliest publications as a classical philologist to his later genealogical and autobiographical projects, is interwoven with careful analysis of his own forms of writing history, the nineteenth-century paradigms which he critiqued, and the twentieth-century views which he anticipated. The book will be of much interest to scholars of Nietzsche and of nineteenth-century philosophy.

Introduction
1. Philological centaurs
2. Early meta-history and context
3. Aesthetic intuition and the history of tragedy
4. History and historians
5. Positivism and perspectivism
6. Genealogy as history
7. Autobiography as history
Epilogue: Nietzsche's influence on philosophy of history.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Philosophy [HP]