Nietzsche's Noble Aims - by Paul E Kirkland (Hardcover)

About the Book

This innovative volume presents an account of Nietzsche's claims about noble, life-affirming ways of life, analyzes the source of such claims, and explores the political vision that springs from them. The result is an illuminating discussion of how through his philosophical confrontation with modernity Nietzsche aims to move his readers toward a noble embrace of life.

Book Synopsis

This innovative volume presents an account of Nietzsche's claims about noble, life-affirming ways of life, analyzes the source of such claims, and explores the political vision that springs from them. Kirkland elucidates the meaning of Nietzsche's remarks about life-affirmation through an examination of his rhetorical identification with values, such as honesty, that he ultimately seeks to overcome. The book includes an extended treatment of the meaning and implications of Nietzsche's doctrine of eternal return, which uncovers how this element of his philosophy challenges both ungrounded metaphysical oppositions and reductionist accounts of human life. The result is an illuminating discussion of how through his philosophical confrontation with modernity Nietzsche aims to move his readers toward a noble embrace of life.

Review Quotes

"Paul Kirkland gives an impressively comprehensive and illuminating account of Nietzsche's thought, emphasizing its life-affirming goals more than the critique of traditional metaphysics and modern science. Kirkland argues that in his major works Nietzsche takes on a set of distinctive stances or rhetorical "masks"-the free spirit, the proponent of perspectivism, and the philosopher of the eternal return-to create a "politics of contest." Out of that contest, Nietzsche hopes that a new form and understanding of human nobility will arise." --Catherine H. Zuckert

"This book makes a significant contribution, not only to Nietzsche scholarship, but even more to the current debate between modernity and post-modernity." --Horst Hutter, Concordia University, Montreal

About the Author

Paul E. Kirkland is assistant professor of political science at Carthage College.