Abstract

Nietzsche is famous for rejecting a great many standard philosophical methods. He does this on the basis of critical assessments of these methods. Nietzsche's historical critiques are justly famous but the question of what his new philosophy is often not explored. The important issue is what Nietzsche believed were some of the possibilities left for philosophy if his criticisms of previous philosophies were correct. This book is called the 'Reclamation of Philosophy' because Nietzsche is engaged in a task of reappropriating certain characteristics of past philosophies into his work. He reclaims philosophical reflection as practiced by French moralists, some Presocratic philosophers, and some German thinkers. As a mature writer he is no longer interested in philosophy simply as a place to display skill in analytic or logical reasoning. He is interested in a philosophy which can address the cultural and personal issues of people constructing themselves in their world. He is particularly interested in using philosophical talents to help to discover the values implicit in practices and assumptions which people hold. These 'values' are not just moral and aesthetic they are also epistemologically relevant. Nietzsche's Reclamation of Philosophy elucidates what Nietzsche has to say about value; particularly what he has to say about moral value, by looking at his views of aesthetic value.