'The Law of Life': Nietzsche, Justice and Self-Overcoming
In this thesis I attempt to elucidate the complex relationship between life and justice in Nietzsche's thought. My basic contention is that this relationship needs to be understood metaphysically as a relation ofaccordance, such that just people and their acts accord with the nature ofthe world. I argue that the recent preference in the literature for naturalistic readings ofNietzsche misses something important about life and justice and in doing so fails to give an adequate account ofNietzsche's moral thought. In the opening introductory chapter I set out the ways that Nietzsche uses the terms 'life' and 'justice' and then outline three basic questions that his usage provokes. I go on to look at the way these terms have been understood in the secondary literature, focusing on two examples representative ofdifferent styles ofinterpretation and giving reasons for favouring my own metaphysical reading. In the second chapter I pursue the question ofjustice through an analysis ofHeidegger's interpretation ofNietzsche, in which I introduce the idea ofjustice as a metaphysical idea. I develop this in chapter three by tracing out the influence ofHeraclitus' conception ofjustice on the second Untimely Meditation.
Gillham, Simon
'The Law of Life': Nietzsche, Justice and Self-Overcoming. In this thesis I attempt to elucidate the complex relationship between life and justice in Nietzsche's thought. My basic contention is that this relationship needs to be understood metaphysically as a relation ofaccordance, such that just people and their acts accord with the nature ofthe world. I argue that the recent preference in the literature for naturalistic readings ofNietzsche misses something important about life and justice and in doing so fails to give an adequate account ofNietzsche's moral thought. In the opening introductory chapter I set out the ways that Nietzsche uses the terms 'life' and 'justice' and then outline three basic questions that his usage provokes. I go on to look at the way these terms have been understood in the secondary literature, focusing on two examples representative ofdifferent styles ofinterpretation and giving reasons for favouring my own metaphysical reading. In the second chapter I pursue the question ofjustice through an analysis ofHeidegger's interpretation ofNietzsche, in which I introduce the idea ofjustice as a metaphysical idea. I develop this in chapter three by tracing out the influence ofHeraclitus' conception ofjustice on the second Untimely Meditation.
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