Nietzsches Aphoristic Challenge (Monographien Und Texte Zur Nietzsche-forschung, 64)

The “aphoristic form causes difficulty,” Nietzsche argued in 1887, for “today this form is not taken seriously enough.” Nietzsche’s Aphoristic Challenge addresses this continued neglect by examining the role of the aphorism in Nietzsche’s writings, the generic traditions in which he writes, the motivations behind his turn to the aphorism, and the reasons for his sustained interest in the form. This literary-philosophical study argues that while the aphorism is the paradigmatic form for Nietzsche’s writing, its function shifts as his thought evolves. His turn to the aphorism in Human, All Too Human arises not out of necessity, but from the new freedoms of expression enabled by his critiques of language and his emerging interest in natural science. Yet the model interpretation of an aphorism Nietzsche offers years later in On the Genealogy of Morals tells a different story, revealing more about how the mature Nietzsche wants his earlier works read than how they were actually written. This study argues nevertheless that consistencies emerge in Nietzsche’s understanding of the aphorism, and these, perhaps counter-intuitively, are best understood in terms of excess. Recognizing the changes and consistencies in Nietzsche’s aphoristic mode helps establish a context that enables the reader to navigate the aphorism books and better answer the challenges they pose. Acknowledgements 7 Contents 9 List of Abbreviations and Sources 11 Timeline of Key Publications Discussed and their Publishers 15 Introduction. The Challenge 17 Part One. Nietzsche and the German Aphoristic Tradition 27 Chapter One. “They’re aphorisms!” 27 Sentenz and Aphorismus 35 Lichtenberg’s Aphorismen 40 Chapter Two. Aphoristic Pluralism 50 Diverse Forms 50 Undefining the Genre 64 Part Two. The Turn to the Aphorism 75 Chapter Three. The Aphoristic Option 75 An Opportunity 76 Literature and Science 87 Chapter Four. An Anarchy of Atoms 101 The Collection 102 Aphorisms and Fragments 106 Part Three. Re-Reading the Aphorism 115 Chapter Five. An Art of Exegesis 115 What Does an Art of Exegesis Mean? 116 Cross-Textual Interpretation 127 The Limits of Interpretation 132 Chapter Six. The Nietzsche Function 139 Peeking into the Pot 140 A Wretched Minor Fiction 146 Part Four. The Aphoristic Paradigm 157 Chapter Seven. Excess and Ephexis 157 Aphoristic Excesses 158 The Ephectic Bent 167 Bibliography 180 Index 190 The "aphoristic form causes difficulty," Nietzsche lamented in 1887, for "today this form is not taken seriously enough." Over a century later, Nietzsche's Aphoristic Challenge offers the first book-length study in English devoted explicitly to Nietzsche's aphoristic writings, including Human, All Too Human and The Gay Science. The study argues that the function of the aphorism for Nietzsche changes, but can best be understood in terms of excess. The "aphoristic form causes difficulty," Nietzsche lamented in 1887, for "today this form is not taken seriously enough." Over a century later, this title offers a study in English devoted explicitly to Nietzsche's aphoristic writings, including Human, All Too Human and The Gay Science.