Abstract

The subject of this dissertation is an investigation into the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The dissertation is concerned specifically with the implications of Nietzsche's philosophy for questions of value and politics insofar as Nietzsche undertakes what he calls a "revaluation of values." This work demonstrates that the philosophy of Nietzsche is a philosophy that recasts the question of value in terms of a non-systematic, but nonetheless consistent, understanding of value based on Nietzsche's radical conception of becoming. The work further demonstrates that Nietzsche's re-thinking of value is exemplified in his writings and addressed to the reader who lives in the milieu of modern Western culture. The significance of Nietzsche's thought lies both in his anticipation of the modern problem of value and in his response to that problem by transforming his writing into a means of "re-valuation." Nietzsche's books therefore should be considered as actions, actions which prompt the reader to undertake his or her own "revaluation of values." ;The research conducted for this dissertation consisted of an extensive reading of Nietzsche's texts, combined with research into contemporary French thought and commentary on Nietzsche. The French thinkers most relevant to the dissertation work are Gilles Deleuze and Francois Laruelle. Deleuze, perhaps more than anyone, resuscitated the vital and active sense of Nietzsche's thought in his work and commentary on Nietzsche, Nietzsche and Philosophy. For this reason, Deleuze's philosophical presence remains a constant throughout this work. Francois Laruelle, on the other hand, has provided us a new, but nonetheless Nietzschean understanding of social and political forces. The philosophy of Laruelle is relevant to this dissertation as his heuristic yet radical thinking of society and individual reawakens the need to re-think Nietzsche's politics. ;The conclusions of this dissertation can be condensed into the following proposition: Nietzsche's philosophy is aimed, vis a vis his writings, at transforming his audience, the modern individual, for the sake of creating a society that is yet to come. This society would perhaps be beyond good and evil, or perhaps beyond both democracy and tyranny