Wayne Klein

This dissertation examines the questions of interpretation raised by the naturalist vocabulary employed by Nietzsche in the writings of his last creative years, 1885-88. In particular, the concepts of life, physiology and nature which are central to these texts are elucidated in relation to the theory of language and rhetoric that Nietzsche developed in the early 1870's. The first chapter details the problems posed by this naturalistic vocabulary: in particular whether it justifies the interpretation of Nietzsche as a contradictory and irrational thinker, who criticizes metaphysics only to reinscribe a naturalistic metaphysics within his own philosophy. The chapter concludes with the hypothesis that it is appropriate to approach the later writings in light of Nietzsche's early theory of language and rhetoric. The second chapter is devoted to a close reading of the two most important texts by Nietzsche on the subject of language and rhetoric, the essay "On Truth and Lie in the Extra-Moral Sense" and the notes for the course on rhetoric. The third chapter examines the relationship between these texts and The Birth of Tragedy, written eighteen months earlier. Here I argue that the model of signification articulated in "On Truth and Lie" and the course on rhetoric is already operative in the earlier text. Drawing on the conclusions of the two preceding chapters, the final chapter returns to address the question of Nietzsche's naturalism. The concepts of life, physiology and nature are elucidated in relation to Nietzsche's theory of language and rhetoric and the various textual models at work in these texts

The title of Babette Babich’s recent book might surprise many readers. While many would agree that Nietzsche undertakes a critique of science or Wissenschaft, and of the concepts of objectivity and truth which it presupposes, there appears to be little evidence in Nietzsche’s work of the type of sustained, critical reflection which would merit being called a philosophy of science. The central aim of Babich’s book is to reverse this impression. With an impressive knowledge of Nietzsche’s oeuvre and a keen eye for the nuances of his texts, Babich persuasively argues that the problem of science is central to Nietzsche’s work, by showing how, for Nietzsche, science and art are inextricably linked.