The Death and Redemption of God: Nietzsche’s Conversation with Philipp Mainländer

In contrast to positivistic assignations of influence in Nietzsche-studies, this article considers the possibility of “conversational” reconstructions of contexts, where the focus is less on “whether” and “when” Nietzsche read a text, and concentrates instead on “how” and “why” he read it. This meth...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Nietzsche studies 2023-03, Vol.54 (1), p.22-50
Main Author: Jensen, Anthony K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amor Fati
Death of God
Eternal Return
General Interest
Philipp Mainländer
Philosophy
Will to Power
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In contrast to positivistic assignations of influence in Nietzsche-studies, this article considers the possibility of “conversational” reconstructions of contexts, where the focus is less on “whether” and “when” Nietzsche read a text, and concentrates instead on “how” and “why” he read it. This method is exemplified by the case of Philipp Mainländer, a contemporary about whom Nietzsche says almost nothing of philosophical importance. This article shows that six key leitmotifs of the Zarathustrazeit happen to form direct solutions to dangers entailed by Mainländer’s system: the Death of God, the Übermensch, the Last Man, Will to Power, Eternal Return, and Amor Fati. That each of these tropes serves as a neat solution to Mainländer suggests that Nietzsche was engaged in a sort of competitive intellectual conversation with his philosophy. And as such, Mainländer’s influence on Nietzsche, even if mostly negative, should not continue to be neglected.
ISSN:0968-8005
1538-4594
DOI:10.5325/jnietstud.54.1.0022