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Nietzschean and Post-Nietzschean Aesthetics

Vak
2009-2010

Description

A course examining art and its relation to theoretical discourse in Nietzsche and some post-Nietzschean thinkers. The central question derives from Nietzsche’s claim that art is the ‘necessary correlative and supplement of theory’. Does this take the side of art against reason (Habermas), or does it name a more complex, internal relation in which art, in its very otherness, makes good the failures of reason? We will trace the constellation of art, theory and life in its transformations across Nietzsche’s work from ‘The Birth of Tragedy’ to the late Nachlass, where art is cast as the ‘counter-movement to nihilism’. Heidegger’s ‘Der Wille zur Macht als Kunst’ provides the bridge to further post-Nietzschean thinkers, including: Derrida, Foucault, Bataille, Blanchot, Kofman, Blondel and Deleuze.

Teaching method

Lecture and seminar

Admission requirements

Comprehension of German is a big advantage, as is some familiarity with Nietzsche’s works.

Course objectives

Course objectives will be made available on Blackboard at the start of the course.

Required reading

  • Various texts from the ‘Kritische Studienausgabe’ (DTV/de Gruyter, 1980ff.) of Nietzsche’s writings;

  • Heidegger’s ‘Der Wille zur Macht als Kunst’;

  • A selection of secondary material to be discussed in the seminars.

Test method

Assessment will be based on active participation in the seminars, including seminar-assignments and oral presentations (20%), and a paper of 6000 – 8000 words (80%) on a topic of the student’s choice, subject to the express approval of the instructor.

Time table

See: Timetable MA Philosophy

Information

Dr. H.W. Siemens ( h.w.siemens@phil.leidenuniv.nl )

Registration

Please register for this course on U-twist. See registration procedure

Blackboard

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Remarks

Specialisation MA in Philosophy: Practical Philosophy
Specialist course in MA Philosophy of Art History
Specialist course in MA Philosophy of European Languages and Cultures