Nietzsche, Biology and Metaphor

Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-0-521-02427-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 236 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 396 g

Nietzsche, Biology and Metaphor explores the German philosopher's response to the intellectual debates sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. By examining the abundance of biological metaphors in Nietzsche's writings, Gregory Moore questions his recent reputation as an eminently subversive and (post-) modern thinker, and shows how deeply Nietzsche was immersed in late nineteenth-century debates on evolution, degeneration and race. The first part of the book provides a detailed study and new interpretation of Nietzsche's much disputed relationship to Darwinism. Uniquely, Moore also considers the importance of Nietzsche's evolutionary perspective for the development of his moral and aesthetic philosophy. The second part analyzes key themes of Nietzsche's cultural criticism - his attack on the Judaeo-Christian tradition, his diagnosis of the nihilistic crisis afflicting modernity and his anti-Wagnerian polemics - against the background of fin-de-siècle fears about the imminent biological collapse of Western civilization.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Moore, Gregory

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Evolution: 1. The physiology of power; 2. The physiology of morality; 3. The physiology of art; Part II. Degeneration: 4. Nietzsche and the nervous age; 5. Christianity and degeneration; 6. Degenerate art; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Moore, Gregory
Gregory Moore is Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.