PHIL 312(S) Nietzsche's French Receptions

Nietzsche's relationship to philosophy was ambivalent but never lukewarm. Drawing on and responding to the philosophical tradition, within which he thereby placed himself, he nonetheless insisted that that tradition could not contain him. He both claimed to have thought what philosophy could not, and (therefore) presented his thoughts in a variety of styles that the tradition could not recognize as philosophical. In the twentieth century, especially in France, Nietzsche has served as an inspiration and source for a wide variety of thinkers and projects. These include Derrida and deconstruction, Foucault and genealogy, and the many works of Cixous, Deleuze, Irigaray, and Kristeva. This course will begin with Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietsche's least philosophical work and the one he considered most important to his "positive teachings." We will then examine some of the above twentieth-century projects. Throughout, we will be confronted by the questions: What is philosophy? What are its limits? What would it be to think beyond those limits? What would such projects of post-philosophical thinking look like, and what might they accomplish? Requirements: participation, several short papers, and one longer paper. Prerequisites: Philosophy 101 or 102; (Philosophy 201 recommended.)

Hour: DUDLEY