Nietzsche and Law: The Revaluation of Values

2018

One of Nietzsche’s main projects was to critique morality and to invite a revaluation of our values. Neither secular nor religious interpretations of Nietzsche’s critique of morality do it justice. Each support their own interpretation by appealing to certain aspects of his writings. The former appeal to Nietzsche’s rejection of Christianity and Christian morality; while the latter appeal to Nietzsche’s anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian remarks. In actuality, Nietzsche was neither of the two: he argued that Western secular moralities are a modern manifestation of Christian morality, and that Christian morality is a manifestation of what he comes to call “Slave Morality.” On this account, this thesis is a humble attempt to bring forth a philosophical interpretation of Nietzsche’s critique and historical analysis of morality, and how we can incorporate his critique and revaluation of values into our lives so we can live a better life. I hope that my contribution will be a meaningfu...

The notion of law as such is subject to contradictions. Nietzsche found the concept of the philosophy of law as flawed. This article seeks to find the implications of the question of what the ramifications of Nietzsche’s critique of religion is on the law. If one accepts the proposition that law and systems of laws came from religion, then what would Nietzsche’s critique of law be? The origin of law as emanating from religion is the minor premise of this article. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim’s sociological thought argued that law and laws came from religions. Durkheim’s thought constitutes the minor premise of this article. The major premise of this article is the philosopher’s Fredrich Nietzsche’s critique of religion in his writings. The syllogistic argument will be the combination of the two systems of thought. If religion is accepted as the origin of law, then what value does Nietzsche’s critique of religion and law have? What would Nietzsche’s critique of law be? This article seeks to answer these questions. Likewise, the title of this article is in part a pun on Nietzsche’s consistent discussion of the “death of God.” If God is dead, does this mean law is dead as well?

This essay explores the emergence of a science of law through a close reading of Nietzsche’s writings on law and art. Against the belief that scientific truth leads to justice, Nietzsche affirms the necessity of illusion and error. The essay argues that Nietzsche’s reconceptualization of law as a work of art opens the possibility of a non-positivist idea of law beyond science, morality, and politics.

It goes without saying that I do not deny -unless I am a fool -that many actions called immoral ought to be avoided and resisted, or that many called moral ought to be done and encouraged -but I think that one should be encouraged and the other avoided for other reasons than hitherto. We have to learn to think differently -in order at last, perhaps very late on, to attain even more: to feel differently.

Kriterion: Revista de Filosofia, 2013

The article discusses how Nietzsche understands the institution of law and morals in distinction to Kant and the Christian tradition. It argues that Nietzsche to a large extent is inspired by the paradigm-shift toward a evolutionary biological thinking introduced by several of his peers in the late 19th century, among else F. A. Lange, who sees this shift as a sobering scientific-materialistic alternative to Kant. In Nietzsche, the Kantian moral imperative is replaced with a notion of a morality emerging thanks to historical, or pre-historical, civilizational processes, imposed on a feebleminded human without any inherent rational dispositions to obey Law. It is also a process, which rather than universalizing the human, splits it in a duality where one part obeys old immediate self-interests and another part obeys new 'commands,' having been shouted 'into the ear' by a so-called…

2014

This dissertation looks at the details of Friedrich Nietzsche\u27s concept of the revaluation of all values. The dissertation will look at the idea in several ways to elucidate the depth and complexity of the idea. First, it will be looked at through its evolution, as it began as an idea early in Nietzsche\u27s career and reached its full complexity at the end of his career with the planned publication of his Revaluation of All Values, just before the onset of his madness. Several questions will be explored: What is the nature of the revaluator who is supposed to be instrumental in the process of revaluation? What will the values after the revaluation be like (a rebirth of ancient values or creation of entirely new values)? What will be the scope of the revaluation? And what is the relation of other major ideas of Nietzsche\u27s (will to power, eternal return, overman, and amor fati) to the revaluation? Different answers to these questions will be explored. Ultimately, the conclusio...

Nietzsche, Politics, and Power, ed. Herman Siemens (Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2008), 2008

In this essay I want to explore elements of Nietzsche’s Genealogy that have a significant bearing on political philosophy, particularly with respect to the law and legal institutions. I take up Nietzsche’s account of the ‘sovereign individual’ in GM II 2 and the question of justice and law in GM II 11, in order to show that Nietzsche is promoting neither an ideal of individual autonomy nor a radical denial of political institutions. Rather, his genealogy of social norms provides an analysis of social structures that departs from, and undermines, traditional political theories, especially the modern liberal contract theory of government. I conclude that Nietzsche’s espousal of the agonistic structure of social life offers a robust alternative for political philosophy, especially with regard to legal institutions and democratic politics.

2014

NIETZSCHE’S REVALUTION OF ALL VALUES Joseph Kranak Marquette University, 2014 This dissertation looks at the details of Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of the revaluation of all values. The dissertation will look at the idea in several ways to elucidate the depth and complexity of the idea. First, it will be looked at through its evolution, as it began as an idea early in Nietzsche’s career and reached its full complexity at the end of his career with the planned publication of his Revaluation of All Values, just before the onset of his madness. Several questions will be explored: What is the nature of the revaluator who is supposed to be instrumental in the process of revaluation? What will the values after the revaluation be like (a rebirth of ancient values or creation of entirely new values)? What will be the scope of the revaluation? And what is the relation of other major ideas of Nietzsche’s (will to power, eternal return, overman, and amor fati) to the revaluation? Different a...

Philosophy in Review, 2010

Études en L’honneur du Professeur Iacyr de Aguilar Vieira, 2022

O texto aborda a perda do pathos da retórica em relação ao ser humano, poder e afetos na lei, sob a perspectiva de Friedrich Nietzsche. Ele explora a visão nietzschiana de um mundo baseado no poder para o ser humano como um ser de afetos e potência, em contraste com uma visão racional. Nietzsche propõe uma reconstrução das influências e objetivos em seu projeto crítico, destacando sua oposição a Platão e Kant, ao mesmo tempo em que é influenciado por eles. O filósofo questiona se a filosofia tem sido apenas uma interpretação do corpo e um mal-entendido do corpo, em contraposição à dicotomia entre conhecimento e realidade presente em Platão e Kant. Nietzsche enfatiza a importância do corpo na compreensão da moralidade, relacionando-a à Vontade de Poder e à Transvaloração dos Valores, com a presença do Além-do-Homem como metáfora. A reflexão filosófica sobre dualidades como corpo e alma, mortal e eterno, bem e mal, entre outras, é essencial para a compreensão da cultura e da lei. Nietzsche propõe uma nova compreensão da moralidade a partir do corpo, buscando uma melhoria do corpo humano como parte fundamental do aprimoramento moral.