Synopses & Reviews
Nietzsche, Biology and Metaphor explores the German philosopher's response to the intellectual debates sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin's 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.
Review
"Moore offers the first detailed examination in English of Niezsche's knowledge of and response to 19th-century debates surrounding evolutionary theory.... This book should be a part of every academic library. It will interest students and scholars of Nietzsche, German culture, 19th-century intellectual history, and the history of science. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty." Choice
Synopsis
This study explores the German philosopher's response to the intellectual debates sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin's 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. The book analyzes key themes of Nietzsche's thought--his critique of morality, his philosophy of art and the Übermensch--in the light of the theory of evolution, the nineteenth-century sense of decadence and the rise of anti-Semitism.
Synopsis
This book explores Friedrich Nietzsche's response to the debates sparked by Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species.
Synopsis
Nietzsche, Biology and Metaphor explores the German philosopher's response to the intellectual debates sparked by the publication of Charles Darwin's 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. The book analyzes key themes of Nietzsche's thought - his critique of morality, his philosophy of art and the Übermensch - in the light of the theory of evolution, the nineteenth-century sense of decadence and the rise of anti-Semitism.
About the Author
Gregory Moore is Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
Table of Contents
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.