His writings on moral philosophy are among the most widely read works in philosophy many of his ideas are both startling and disturbing. Moral psychology with nietzsche, by brian leiter mind. But the first chapter of my book situates nietzsche s naturalism by reference to hume, and compares it also to the sense in which stroud identified hume, marx, and freud as naturalists. Those who know leiter s nietzsche will recognise the main ideas, but he has organised the material to bring out his central theses, responded to criticisms and clarified his position. The book offers a complete commentary of on the genealogy of morality, but it also articulates a comprehensive and original interpretation of nietzsches critique of morality. Routledge philosophy guidebook to nietzsche on morality. This volume capitalizes on a growth of interest in nietzsches. Many of nietzsche s most famous ideas the slave revolt in morals, the attack on free will, perspectivism, will to power and the ascetic ideal are clearly analyzed and explained. First, nietzsche is said to be a value antirealist.
The aim of this volume, in short, is to articulate and defend nietzschean moral psychology. Request pdf on sep 25, 2008, rainer kattel and others published brian leiter and neil sinhababu eds, nietzsche and morality find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Most of the remaining essays are mainly of scholarly interest, though written at a high level. Nietzsche along the lines suggested by contemporary analytic naturalism. Nadeem hussain, nietzsche s positivism 2004, 55 citations 9. The book offers a complete commentary of on the genealogy of morality, but it also articulates a comprehensive and original interpretation of nietzsche s critique of morality. A polemical contribution to moral and political theory, it offers a critique of moral values and traces the historical evolution of concepts such as guilt, conscience. Moral skepticism and moral disagreement in nietzsche by brian. The routledge philosophy guidebook to nietzsche on morality introduces the reader to pdf these and other important nietzschean themes patiently and clearly. Nietzsches moral philosophy is primarily critical in orientation. Leiter nietzsche and the morality critics 251 reflected in the work of many philosophers. The routledge philosophy guidebooks series is designed to introduce students to classic works of philosophy.
It is the first book to examine the work in such a way, and will be a vital point of reference for any nietzsche scholar, and essential reading for students coming to nietzsche for the. Request pdf on jun 1, 2009, rainer kattel and others published nietzsche and morality. Many of nietzsche s most famous ideas the slave revolt in morals, the attack on free will, perspectivism, will to power. Answers to the question about the value of existence may always be considered first of all as the symptoms of certain bodies pp. Brings together some of the most important articles of the past 30 years, providing the reader with key articles on the major topics of nietzsche. If anything, the book is leiter s nietzsche, by which i mean that leiter s 2002 nietzsche on morality is never far from view. On the genealogy of morals nietzsche s gift kathleen marie higgins 5. Oct 09, 2014 both an introduction to nietzsches moral philosophy, and a sustained commentary on his most famous work, on the genealogy of morality, this book has become the most widely used and debated secondary source on these topics over the past dozen years. This volume capitalizes on a growth of interest in nietzsche s work on morality from two sides from scholars of the history of philosophy and from contributors to current debates on ethical theory. He is famous for uncompromising criticisms of traditional european morality and religion, as well as of conventional philosophical ideas and social and political pieties associated with modernity. The product is an exceptionally clear and cohesive account of philosophical views known neither for. Nietzsches moral and political philosophy stanford. I do think theres been a significant change and i think theres a simple explanation for it.
Certainly, for all his challenging views or perhaps because they proved all too challenging he was until recently absent from traditional philosophy courses on ethics. He explicitly embraces, for example, the idea of a higher morality which would inform the lives of higher men schacht 1983. Brian leiter s nietzsche on morality does that, and much more. Brian leiter and neil sinhababu eds, nietzsche and morality. In the case of nietzsche, heidegger presents him as an extravagant, and utterly implausible, metaphysical philosopher theorizing about the essence of all reality, and. This volume capitalizes on a growth of interest in nietzsche s work on morality from two sidesfrom scholars of the history of philosophy and from contributors to current debates on ethical theory.
While claiming that nietzsche works from morality back to affects, leiter renders another passage as follows. Nietzsche edited by john richardson and brian leiter oxford readings in philosophy. Leiters interpretation is said to falter because it attributes to nietzsche an implausible combination of positions. The revaluation of values 1973, 52 citations this seemed suspiciously low to me 10. Nietzsches on the genealogy of morality by lawrence j.
Brian leiter and neil sinhababu find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. In this volume of newly commissioned essays, fourteen leading philosophers offer fresh insights into many of the works central questions. In this article, the author offers a reconstruction and criticism of brian leiters interpretation of nietzsches criticism of conventional morality in nietzsche on morality. Nietzsches on the genealogy of morality cambridge core. This is a method of doing philosophy, a stance which argues that very helpful guide to nietzsche s genealogy and ns understanding of morality. Christopher janaway, beyond selflessness oxford, 2007, chapter 8. One gets the sense that leiter and sinhababus nietzsche and morality represents leiter s nietzsche on. Brian leiter nietzsche is one of the most important and controversial thinkers in the history of philosophy. Nietzsche, instead, calls attention to the single most important and embarrassing fact about the history of moral theorizing by philosophers over two millennia. Moral psychology here encompasses issues in metaethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of action, including questions concerning the objectivity of morality, the relationship between moral judgment and emotion, the nature of the emotions, free will and moral. Moral psychology with nietzsche draws from the last two decades of professor leiter s writing on nietzsche, combining substantially revised articles and book chapters into one coherent volume. Written at the height of the philosophers intellectual powers, friedrich nietzsche s on the genealogy of morals has become one of the key texts of recent western philosophy. Both an introduction to nietzsche s moral philosophy, and a sustained commentary on his most famous work, on the genealogy of morality, this book has become the most widely used and debated secondary source on these topics over the past dozen years.
Brian leiter, nietzsche and the morality critics 1997, 58 citations 8. Friedrich nietzsche stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Nietzsche thinks the death of god also means the death of morality, or, at least, the death of christian morality, or herd morality, or, as i have called it, morality in the pejorative sense mps to mark off the diverse moral views he takes as his critical target. Nietzsche is one of the most popular and controversial figures in the history of philosophy. On the genealogy of morality belongs to the late period of friedrich nietzsche s writings. Its essayistic style affords a unique opportunity to observe many of nietzsche s persisting concerns coming together in an illuminating constellation. Essays by hurka on nietzsche s perfectionism, clark and dudrick on moral objectivity in nietzsche, and leiter on nietzsche s pioneering moral psychology are particularly useful for general readers. This introductory textbook offers a comprehensive, close reading of the entire work, with a sectionbysection analysis that also aims to show how the genealogy holds together as an integrated.
Nietzsche holds that people lack freedom of the will in any sense that would be sufficient for ascriptions of moral responsibility. Nietzsche and morality edited by brian leiter and neil sinhababu. Both an introduction to nietzsches moral philosophy, and a sustained commentary on his most famous work, on the genealogy of morality, this book has become the most widely used and debated secondary source on these topics over the past dozen years. On another interpretation, nietzsche is opposed to the values of the priests primarily because of their negativity. Nietzsche s moral philosophy is primarily critical in orientation. This is a method of doing philosophy, a stance which argues that very helpful guide to nietzsches genealogy and ns understanding of morality in general. Brian leiter s nietzsche on morality routledge, 2002 brian leiter s the future for philosophy oup, 2004 brian leiter s philosophy blog. His writings on moral philosophy are amongst his most widely read works, both by philosophers and nonphilosophers. I am more relaxed on the matter now, but still feel that to talk about morality as a. This is a draft of the introduction to a forthcoming monograph on moral psychology in a nietzschean vein. Almost everyone agrees that nietzsche is a skeptic about the objectivity of morality,1 but beyond that point, disagreement abounds as to the grounds for this. Mar 17, 2017 friedrich nietzsche 18441900 was a german philosopher and cultural critic who published intensively in the 1870s and 1880s.
New preface to the greek edition of nietzsche on morality. On the significance of genealogy in nietzsches critique. If anything, the book is leiters nietzsche, by which i mean that leiters 2002 nietzsche on morality is never far from view. Heidegger and derrida were careless readers quite generally of earlier figures in philosophy, as is well known among scholars of any thinker they mangled. Books nietzsche and morality roger caldwell responds to an analysis of nietzsche s morality for many, nietzsche and morality make an unlikely conjunction. Morality in the traditional sense there is an obvious way in which nietzsche uses the term morality, namely as referring to what brian leiter has called morality in the pejorative sense or traditional morality. With its distinctive emphasis on naturalistic themes, it forms a very significant contribution to the study of nietzsche and is poised to become a work of reference in the. The first edition established the centrality of naturalism to nietzsche s philosophy, generating a substantial scholarly literature to which leiter. Nov 21, 2017 for reasons that will become clear, i do not take a position on whether nietzsche is right that morality is dangerous to the most valuable kinds of human flourishingthough i do believe we should be worried by his challenge, as i am. In contrast to the positive and lifeaffirming nature of the. When nietzsche says, as he frequently does, that the truth is terrible he has in mind three kinds of terrible truths.
Do you think theres been a shift in the way scholars have seen nietzsche s view of morality over the past 60 or 70 years. For alasdair macintyre, for example, nietzsche is the first to diagnose the failure of the project of postenlightenment moral theoryeven though, according to mac intyre, nietzsche. For alasdair macintyre, for example, nietzsche is the first to diagnose the failure of the project of postenlightenment moral theoryeven though, according to mac intyre, nietzsche wrongly thinks that such theory is the last hope for. In this article, the author offers a reconstruction and criticism of brian leiter s interpretation of nietzsche s criticism of conventional morality in nietzsche on morality. An interpretation of nietzsche s genealogy of morals richard white 6. Nietzsche s on the genealogy of morality 1887 is a forceful, perplexing, important book, radical in its own time and profoundly influential ever since. Many of nietzsche s most famous ideas the slave revolt in morals, the attack on free will, perspectivism, will to power and the ascetic. Nietzsche was surprisingly neglected by most englishlanguage moral philosophers until recently. The philosophy guidebook to nietzsche on morality brian. He works on a variety of topics in moral, political, and legal philosophy. New preface to the greek edition of nietzsche on morality 2009. Leiter s interpretation is said to falter because it attributes to nietzsche an implausible combination of positions. One gets the sense that leiter and sinhababus nietzsche and morality represents leiters nietzsche on. For nietzsche, morality represents a system of errors that one have incorporated into the basic ways of thinking, feeling and living.
Chapter 7 hussain is an important treatment of nietzsche. Leiter, brian, moral skepticism and moral disagreement in nietzsche july 11, 20. On the genealogy of morality is nietzsche s most influential, provocative, and challenging work of ethics. Nietzsche, genealogy, morality by richard schacht paperback. In moral psychology with nietzsche pdf, brian leiter defends a set of radical ideas from nietzsche. Mark jenkins, journal of nietzsche studies 2009 the book offers one of the most comprehensive and compelling interpretation of nietzsches critique of morality. Brian leiters nietzsche on morality does that, and much more. Nietzsche s lmmoralism and the concept of morality maudemarie clark 3. Leiter successfully shows that n is a naturalist, in particular that he is an mnaturalist, or a philosopher who believes in a methodological doctrine of naturalism. Nietzsche was surprisingly neglected by most englishlanguage moral.