This video is 2nd in the 8-part series, Nietzsche and the Postmodern Condition (1991).
Lecture notes:
I. Nietzsche was accused of being a Relativist.
A. His view of the function of truth and lie was mislabeled as perspectivism, which no one really believes in.
B. Nietzsche was opposed to the dogmatism inherent in the Western theoretical tradition.
C. Nietzsche believed that binding everyone to one view is bad, and that all views are not equally good or interesting.
D. It's consistent to believe in something passionately, and also to believe that this belief may be wrong.
E. Nietzsche respected Socrates, but Socrates wanted an answer to the question, "What is X?" Any answer would be dogmatic.
F. This dogmatic tradition is imperialistic and breeds conformity.
II. The standard philosophical refutation of relativism:
A. The relativist can't state a position -- because this implies "truth" which is what they're trying to refute.
B. This is a self-referential paradox.
III. The current theory of truth is redundant and deflationary: "Truth is what is the case."
IV. Nietzsche's theory of truth comes from "On Truth and Lie".
A. "In short, it's a sum of human relations which has been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people"
B. "Truths are illusions" about which one has forgotten that is what they are.
C. Truth is "mutually agreed upon fictions".
D. The statement that "the U.S. is a democracy" is such a truth.
E. Important words such as truth can get worn out after much use.
V. Nietzsche's text is filled with virulent sexism.
A. Nietzsche asked -- what if truth turned out to be a woman?
B. What if gossip and not philosophy has held the world together?
VI. Nietzsche denied that facts can determine our interpretations.
A. For example, creationists won't be persuaded by bare facts because interpretations determine what is fact.
B. Certain interpretations are overused and lose their usefulness.
C. "Human beings are in love with what vanishes."
For more information, see [ Ссылка ]
A philosophy podcast, The Partially Examined Life, held a detailed discussion of Nietzsche, which can be found here:
[ Ссылка ]
