본문 바로가기
  • Home
Basic Search

Three Ways of Interpreting Nietzsche: Postmodern Leftist Reading, Heideggerian Reading, and Virtue Ethics Reading

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2024, 81(4), pp.453-481
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.81.4.202411.453
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : October 27, 2024
  • Accepted : November 13, 2024
  • Published : November 30, 2024

Park, Chankook 1

1서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

There are so many different interpretations of Nietzsche, from the far left to the far right, from androcentric to feminist, that there are all sorts of interpretations of Nietzsche, some of which even contradict each other. But I believe that any creative interpretation of Nietzsche should at least smell like Nietzsche, to the point where it can be thought of as interpretation about Nietzsche. Like Nietzsche, I believe that Christian values have dominated Western philosophy since Christianity came to dominate, values that assert the dignity and equality of all human beings. Nietzsche, on the other hand, believes that all human beings are not dignified and equal, but that there are grades among human beings and that a hierarchy should govern according to these grades. In other words, there are noble humans and lowly humans, and noble humans should rule society. Nietzsche also believes that the essence of human beings is the will to power, so conflicts and struggles over power cannot disappear in human society. Interpretations that de-emphasize these two basic ideas — the recognition of grades among human beings and the view of human nature as the will to power — are interpretations that remove the distinctive character of Nietzsche's thoughts. Even if we interpret Nietzsche creatively, it is necessary to interpret him so that he at least smells like Nietzsche. From this position, this paper examines three ways of interpretation of Nietzsche that have gained traction in recent years: the postmodern leftist, Heidegger’s interpretation, and the interpretation of Nietzsche as a virtue ethicist. It exposes the problems with the postmodern left and Heideggerian interpretations and shows that the virtue ethicist reading of Nietzsche is the most appropriate reading of Nietzsche. This paper reviews three ways of interpreting Nietzsche that have recently gained prominence: postmodern leftist reading, Heideggerian reading, and virtue ethics reading. It exposes the problems with the postmodern left and Heideggerian interpretations and shows the validity of the virtue ethicist reading of Nietzsche.

Statistics

  • 13 Viewed
  • 17 Downloaded

Tools

Issue List

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Basic Search Advanced Search