Introductory description

This module seeks to introduce and examine Nietzsche’s philosophy. We will focus on the study of four of Nietzsche's works: The Birth of Tragedy, The Gay Science, On the Genealogy of Morality and The Antichrist, along with a variety of secondary literature. Through these texts, we will discuss Nietzsche's idea of the “death of God,” his conception of a tragic worldview, his penetrating insights into psychology, his project of a 'revaluation' of Christian-moral values, and the values that might be offered in their stead.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Death of God
Nietzsche, The Gay Science, §109-125 (esp. 125)

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Robert Pippin, Modernism as a Philosophical Problem (Blackwell, 1999) [Part IV on Nietzsche]

Week 2: Tragedy
Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, Sect. 1-15.

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Raymond Geuss, “Introduction to The Birth of Tragedy,” in Introductions to Nietzsche, ed. Robert Pippin (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
Béatrice Han-Pile, “Nietzsche’s Metaphysics in The Birth of Tragedy,” European Journal of Philosophy 14:3 (2006).

Further Reading:
Daniel Came, “The Aesthetic Justification of Existence” in A Companion to Nietzsche,
ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson (Blackwell, 2006).
Maudemarie Clark, “Deconstructing the Birth of Tragedy” in her Nietzsche on Ethics and Poltics (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Christopher Janaway, “Beauty is False, Truth Ugly: Nietzsche on Art and Life” in ed. Daniel Came, Nietzsche on Art and Life (Oxford University Press, 2014).
Aaron Ridley, Nietzsche on Art (Routledge, 2006).
Timothy Stoll, “Nietzsche and Schiller on Aesthetic Semblance,” The Monist 102:3 (2019).
Julian Young, Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Art (Cambridge University Press, 1992).

Week 3: On the Genealogy of Morals, Preface and Genealogy Essay I
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Preface and Essay I, §1-6

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche’s Immoralism” in her Moral Dilemmas: And Other Topics in Moral Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2002).
Raymond Geuss, “Nietzsche and Genealogy,” European Journal of Philosophy 2:3 (1994).

Further Reading:
Keith Ansell-Pearson, “A ‘Dionysian Drama of the Fate of the Soul’: An Introduction to Reading On the Genealogy of Morality, in ed. Christa Davis Acampora, Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals: Critical Essays (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
Maudemarie Clark, “Nietzsche’s Immoralism and the Concept of Morality,” in her Nietzsche on Ethics and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Michael Forster, “Genealogy and Morality” American Dialectic 1:3 (2011).
Ken Gemes, “We Remain of Neccessity Strangers to Ourselves: The Key Message of Nietzsche’s Genealogy” in ed. Christa Davis Acampora, Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals: Critical Essays (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
Christopher Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Peter Kail, “‘Genealogy’ and the Genealogy” in ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
Brian Leiter, Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge: 2002).
Simon May, Nietzsche’s Ethics and his War on Morality (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Bernard Reginster, The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Week 3: GM Essay I, Cont’d: The Slave Revolt and Ressentiment
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, finish Essay I

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Mark Migotti, “Slave morality, Socrates, and the Bushmen: A Reading of the First Essay of On the Genealogy of Morals,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 58:4 (1998).
R. Jay Wallace,“Ressentiment, Value, and Self-Vindication: Making Sense of the Slave Revolt,” in ed. Brian Leiter and Neil Sinhababu, Nietzsche and Morality (Oxford University Press, 2007).

Further Reading:
R. Lanier Anderson, “On the Nobility of Nietzsche’s Priests,” in ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
Rüdiger Bittner,“Ressentiment” in ed. Richard Schacht, Nietzsche, Genealogy, Morality: Essays on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals (University of California Press, 1994).
Christopher Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Brian Leiter, Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge: 2002).
Peter Poellner, “Ressentiment and Morality,” in ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
Simon May, Nietzsche’s Ethics and his War on Morality (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Bernard Reginster, “Nietzsche on Ressentiment and Valuation,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 57:2 (1997).
Bernard Reginster, The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Gudrun von Tevenar, “Nietzsche’s Objections to Pity and Compassion,” in ed. Gudrun von Tevenar, Nietzsche and Ethics (Peter Lang, 2007).

Week 5: GM II: Punishment, Bad Conscience, and Guilt
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, Essay II

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Maudemarie Clark, “Nietzsche on Free Will, Causality, and Responsibility” in her Nietzsche on Ethics and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Matthias Risse, “The Second Treatise in On the Genealogy of Morality: Nietzsche on the Origin of the Bad Conscience,” European Journal of Philosophy 9:1 2001.

Further Secondary Reading:
Christa Davis Acampora, “On Sovereignty and Overhumanity: Why It Matters How We Read Nietzsche's Genealogy 11:2, in ed. Christa Davis Acampora Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morals: Critical Essays (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
Ken Gemes, “Nietzsche on Free Will, Autonomy, and the Sovereign Individual,” in Niet- zsche on Freedom and Autonomy, ed. Ken Gemes and Simon May
Christopher Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Brian Leiter, Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge: 2002).
Brian Leiter, “Nietzsche’s Theory of the Will,” Philosopher’s Imprint 7:7 (2007).
Peter Poellner, “Nietzschean Freedom” in Nietzsche on Freedom and Autonomy, ed. Ken Gemes and Simon May (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Bernard Reginster (2011) “The Genealogy of Guilt,” ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Geneal ogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
Bernard Reginster, The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Week 6: Reading Week

Week 7: GM III: The Ascetic Ideal and the Will to Truth

Nietzsche, F., On the Genealogy of Morals, Essay III

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Maudemarie Clark, “Will to Power and Sexuality in Nietzsche’s Account of the Ascetic Ideal
Inquiry 60 (1-2):96-134 (2017).
Ken Gemes, “Nietzsche’s Critique of Truth” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52:1 (1992).

Further Secondary Reading:
Maudemarie Clark, Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1990), Esp. Chs. 4 and 6
Nadeem Hussain, “The Role of Life in the Genealogy” in ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
Christopher Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche’s Genealogy (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Scott Jenkins, “Nietzsche’s Questions Concerning the Will to Truth,” Journal of the History of Philosophy 50:2 (2012).
Brian Leiter, Nietzsche on Morality (Routledge: 2002).
Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature (Harvard University Press, 1985), Ch. 7.
Bernard Reginster, The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Tom Stern, Nietzsche’s Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Week 8: Christianity and Nihilism

Nietzsche, F., The Antichrist

Recommended Secondary Reading:
Ken Gemes, “Who Are Nietzsche’s Christians?,” draft manuscript
Dylan Jaggard, “Nietzsche’s Antichrist” in ed. Ken Gemes and John Richardson, Oxford Handbook of Nietzsche (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Further Secondary Reading:
Jessica Berry, “Nietzsche’s Attack on Belief: Doxastic Skepticism in the Antichrist,” Journal of Nietzsche Studies 50:2 (2019).
Maudemarie Clark, “Nietzsche’s Nihilism,” The Monist 102:3 (2019).
Andrew Huddleston, “Nietzsche on Nihilism: A Unifying Thread,” Philosopher’s Imprint 2019.
Paul Katsafanas, “Fugitive Pleasure and the Meaningful Life: Nietzsche on Nihilism and Higher Values,” Journal of the American Philosophical Association 1:3 (2015).
Bernard Reginster, 2006. The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism, Harvard University Press.

Week 9: The Eternal Recurrence

Nietzsche, The Gay Science, §341
Excerpts from Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Will to Power [tbc]

Maudemarie Clark, Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy, Ch. 8.

Recommended Reading:
Scott Jenkins, “Time and Personal Identity in Nietzsche’s Theory of the Eternal Recurrence,” Philosophy Compass 7:3 (2012).
Alexander Nehamas, “The Eternal Recurrence” Philosophical Review 89:3 (1980).

Further Reading:
R. Lanier Anderson, “Nietzsche on Truth, Illusion, and Redemption,” European Journal of Philosophy 13:2 (2005).
Béatrice Han-Pile, “Nietzsche and Amor Fati,” European Journal of Philosophy 19:2 (2011).
Paul Loeb, “Identity and Eternal Recurrence,” in ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson, A Companion to Nietzsche (Blackwell, 2005).
Alexander Nehamas, “How One Becomes What One Is,” Philosophical Review 92:3 (1983).
John Richardson, “Nietzsche on Time and Becoming,” in ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson, A Companion to Nietzsche (Blackwell, 2005).
Ivan Soll, “Reflections on Recurrence: A Re-Examination of Nietzsche's Doctrine, die Ewige Wiederkehr des Gleichen,” in ed. Robert Solomon, Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays (Anchor Press, 1973).

Week 10: Nietzsche’s Values and Legacy

Hedwig Dohm, “Nietzsche and Women,” in ed. Kristin Gjesdal and Dalia Nassar, trans. Anne Ezekiel, Women Philosophers in the Long Nineteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Thomas Mann, “Nietzsche’s Philosophy in Light of Recent History,” in Last Essays, trans, Richard and Clara Winston (Knopf, 1949).

Recommended Secondary Readings:
Maudemarie Clark and Monique Wonderly, “The Good of Community” in ed. Julian Young, Individual and Community in Nietzsche’s Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Nadeem Hussain, “Nietzsche’s Metaethical Stance” in eds. Ken Gemes and John Richardson, Oxford Handbook of Nietzsche (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Further Reading:
Stephen Aschheim, The Nietzsche Legacy in Germany 1890-1990 (University of California Press, 1994).
Maudemarie Clark, “Nietzsche’s Misogyny” in her Nietzsche on Ethics and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Maudemarie Clark, “Nietzsche’s Antidemocratic Rhetoric,” in her Nietzsche on Ethics and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Brian Leiter, “Nietzsche’s Metaethics: Against the Privilege Readings,” European Journal of Philosophy 8:3 (2000).
Simon May, “Why Nietzsche is Still in the Morality Game” in ed. Simon May, Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality: A Critical Guide (Cambridge, 2011).
John Richardson, “Nietzsche on Life’s Ends,” in ed. Ken Gemes and John Richardson, Oxford Handbook of Nietzsche (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• understand Nietzsche’s key ideas and the contribution they make to areas of philosophical inquiry, and be able to provide critical responses to his ideas.
• isolate the important claims within readings, understand the structure of arguments, test views for strengths and weaknesses, make pertinent use of examples, and compare the substance of views consistently.

Indicative reading list

The Birth of Tragedy, The Gay Science, On the Genealogy of Morality and The Antichrist, along with a variety of secondary literature. These texts are available in a variety of paperback editions. Further details about recommended translations can be found in the syllabus. If students are looking to bundle together, they could buy new or used editions of The Portable Nietzsche and Basic Writings of Nietzsche. These contain the full texts of the four books we will be treating, and lots of other good material in addition. The translations are all by Walter Kaufmann.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

• close-reading and textual analysis of primary source materials (i.e. Nietzsche’s writings), and independent research and assessment of secondary literature
• organisation and articulation of independent responses to the subject matter in written and verbal forms
• construction and defence of critical stances and arguments

Transferable skills

• comprehension and analysis of complex and nuanced written communications
• oral and written communication of independent responses to a range of materials
• presentation of well-reasoned argument in support of a conclusion