Nietzsche Philologist,Philosopher and Cultural Critic

The book contains the proceedings of a seminar, Nietzsche: Philologist, Philosopher and Cultural Criticheld at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi in November 2004.The papers appearing here were written by scholarsfromIndia, France, Germany and Spain. They also come from several disciplinary backgrounds such as Philosophy, Literature, Political Science Semiotics, Mathematics and Aesthetics. The authors deal with different and variedaspects of the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s life and work.

Nietzsche has been one of the most important influences on contemporary cultural criticism. Post-structural and post-modern thought in the late 20th century French context owes much to Nietzsche’s philosophical critique of European culture, in particular and by extension, of any totalising cultural, political and ethical theory or practice anywhere. Beginning his career as a trained philologist, Nietzsche employed a mode of critical hermeneutics in order to deconstruct the highly cherished values and orientations of Europe, especially those associated with post-Socratic Greek thought, puritan Christianity and modern science. Nietzsche’s critical relationship with philology was similar to that between post-structuralismand structuralism in the 20th century.

Nietzsche was a controversial, colourful and multifaceted philosopher. The effects of his philosophy have been felt in fields as literature, aesthetics, religion, ethics, musiccriticism, ecology and feminism. The over-valuation of art with respect to the domain of knowledge was one of his enduring contributions to modern/post-modern philosophy. Nietzsche is also known, not the least, as a stylist of philosophical writing: the transformation and transgression of the limits of the dominant discourse being one of his more important philosophical concerns.