Nietzsche contra Rousseau: A Study of Nietzsche's Moral and Political Thought / Edition 1

by Keith Ansell-Pearson

Overview

Keith Ansell-Pearson's book is an important and very welcome contribution to a neglected area of research: Nietzsche's political thought. Nietzsche is widely regarded as a significant moral philosopher, but his political thinking has often been dismissed as either impossibly individualistic or dangerously totalitarian. Nietzsche contra Rousseau takes a serious look at Nietzsche as political thinker and relates his political ideas to the dominant traditions of modern political thought. In particular, the nature of Nietzsche's dialogue with the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is examined, in order to demonstrate Rousseau's crucial role in Nietzsche's understanding of modernity and its discontents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521575690
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/08/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 8.43(h) x 0.79(d)

Table of Contents

1. Nietzsche contra Rousseau; 2. Civilization and its discontents: Rousseau on man's natural goodness; 3. Squaring the circle: Rousseau on the General Will; 4. Nietzsche's Dionysian drama on the destiny of the soul: on the 'Genealogy of Morals'; 5. Zarathustra's descent: on a teaching of redemption; 6. Bending the bow: great politics, or, the problem of the legislator; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'…a major achievement to have so successfully and originally marked out the arena in which Nietzsche's moral and political thought took shape…effectively modulating fine–grained exegesis with critical commentary…written with power, passion and persuasiveness.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

'In order to secure a point of entry into this forbidding dimension of Nietzsche's thought, Ansell–Pearson deploys a novel – and highly successful – interpretive strategy…an ambitious study of Nietzsche's moral and political thought and a formidable accomplishment.' Review of Metaphysics

From the Publisher