This course focuses on one of the seminal figures of continental political philosophy: Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s thought has long been acknowledged to present one of the most trenchant critiques of modern society, science, philosophy, art and politics. His insights into the nature of truth, subjectivity and morality have been extremely influential on many of the major currents of thought of contemporary philosophy; from the phenomenology of Heidegger to the existentialism of Sartre, from the critical theory of Adorno and Horkheimer to the poststructuralism of Foucault. The overall aim of the course is to orient the students towards an in-depth, sustained critical engagement with some of the foundational ideas of contemporary philosophy and politics via a close reading of Nietzsche’s work. Issues that are of special interest include the nature of morality, ideology, politics and the state.
