Organized by Dr. Dr. Timon Boehm and Enes Sütütemiz, MA.
Weekly meetings will take place on Wednesdays 10 a.m. -12 p.m. (US Central Time), beginning on January 31, 2024. There will be 8 seminar sessions.
Content
Friedrich Nietzsche is not only one of the most influential thinkers of modern and ‘postmodern’ philosophy, art, and literature, but he is also one of the most important forerunners of the philosophy of orientation. Behind his seemingly aggressive doctrines of the ‘will to power,’ ‘death of God,’ ‘overman,’ and ‘masters and slaves,’ there is a refined and nuanced thinker, who carefully composes new forms of philosophical writing in order to articulate and push forward his radical and experimental ways of philosophizing. His critical perspectivism, phenomenalism, and his affirmation of the evolution of thinking has revolutionized and continues to inspire philosophy up to the present day.
Among Nietzsche’s most aggressive and polemical are his late works, driven by a heightened pursuit of public attention, such as Twilight of the Idols (1889), subtitled How to Philosophize with a Hammer, and The Antichrist (1889), his provocative Curse on Christianity. At the same time, these late works manifest great pathos, extreme density, and concision that must be taken seriously and require careful readings with attention to detail. In this seminar, we will explore, through the lens of the philosophy of orientation, the extent to which Nietzsche’s provocative late works may in fact conceal profound strategies to reorient philosophy and “transvaluate all values.”
Besides the translations of Nietzsche’s Complete Works on Stanford University Press, we recommend Werner Stegmaier’s An Orientation to the Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (Nashville: Orientations Press, 2022), which you can download for free from our website here. In addition, you can find various articles by Werner Stegmaier on Nietzsche here on our website.
This seminar is discussion-based; this means participants are expected to read the respective passages before the sessions. The seminar is free, but the number of participants may be limited. Please apply by January 24, 2024, via the application form below by briefly explaining 1.) your professional and/or academic background, 2.) your philosophical interests, and 3.) your motivation for joining the seminar (max. 100 words per field).