Document Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Plato and Nietzsche tend to be presented as the poles of the narrative of Western philosophy: while Plato scripted the beginning of the epoch of absolute truth and value, Nietzsche announced its collapse. However, any serious reading of each makes it clear that this dichotomy is merely a convenient fiction. On the one hand, Nietzsche’s vehement response to Plato is both ambivalent (regarding the most beautiful, but diseased flower of antiquity (BGE, Pref.))1 and nuanced. On the other hand, we need to see past what became Plato’s legacy, and allow for a more broadly-focused (perhaps in part oneirocritical) reading of a philosophical dramatist, mythologist and ironist. One of my goals is to weaken the sense of opposition.
ANZSRC / FoR Code
2203 PHILOSOPHY
Publication Details
Simpson, D. I. (2007). Truth, truthfulness and philosophy in Plato and Nietzsche. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 15 (2), 339-360.
{NB: item deleted 26 June 2009}