The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality

Author:   Bernard Reginster (Professor of Philosophy, Brown University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780198868903


Pages:   224
Publication Date:   19 August 2021
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $175.95 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

The Will to Nothingness: An Essay on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality


Add your own review!

Overview

On the Genealogy of Morality is Nietzsche's most influential book but it continues to puzzle, not least in its central claim: the invention of Christian morality is an act of revenge, and it is as such that it should arouse critical suspicion. In The Will to Nothingness, Bernard Reginster makes a fresh attempt at understanding this claim and its significance, inspired by Nietzsche's claim that moralities are 'signs' or 'symptoms' of the affective states of moral agents. The relation between morality and affects is envisioned as functional, rather than expressive: the genealogy of Christian morality aims to reveal how it is well suited to serve certain emotional needs. One particular emotional need, manifested in the affect of ressentiment, plays a prominent role in the analysis of Christian morality. This is the need to have the world reflect one's will, which is rooted in a special drive toward power, or toward bending the world to one's will. Revenge is plausibly understood as aiming to bolster or restore power, and the invention of new values is a particular way to do so: by altering the agent's will (her values), it alters what counts as power for her. By revealing how it is well suited to play such a functional role in the emotional economy of moral agents, the genealogical inquiries arouse critical suspicion toward Christian morality. The use of this moral outlook as an instrument of revenge is problematic not because it is immoral, but because it is functionally self-undermining.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bernard Reginster (Professor of Philosophy, Brown University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.30cm
Weight:   0.290kg
ISBN:  

9780198868903


ISBN 10:   0198868901
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   19 August 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

Reginster has produced an extraordinarily readable and useful text that stands out in relation to the many books and articles written on Nietzsche's Genealogy. * G. Wrisley, CHOICE *


Author Information

Bernard Reginster is Professor of Philosophy at Brown University. He holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His focuses on issues in 19th century ethics and moral psychology and issues arising from psychoanalysis, particularly on self-other relations, on which he has begun to publish papers as well. He is the author of The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (Harvard University Press, 2006).

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List