Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of Philosophy - 9781009370974

Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of PhilosophyThe Seal of Liberation\nAuthor(s): Allison Merrick\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781009370974, 978-1009370974\nSynopsis\nWe are, says Nietzsche, often unknown to ourselves. Most recent studies of Nietzsche's works focus on our reactions to conditions of self-estrangement, particularly nihilistic despair or decadence. Allison Merrick takes a different approach, focusing on what she argues is Nietzsche's greatest contribution to philosophical thought: the method of genealogy. While genealogical analysis is often understood as having vindicatory, subversive, or problematizing aims, Merrick emphasizes its emancipatory potential. Nietzsche's analysis reveals how our motivations and our feelings, our reflective thoughts and our judgments, are shaped by evaluative 'templates' of which we are often unaware and how these templates can be revealed, articulat.