Nietzsche on Character and Translation (original) (raw)

A brief and imaginative outline for a new interpretive strategy towards the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. First, I offer a close reading of Nietzsche’s thoughts on ‘character’, arguing against 'rational reconstructivists' and 'eclectic pragmatists' that the literary character can serve as a model for synthesizing a whole out of Nietzsche’s thought, albeit a dynamic and open-ended one (1). Secondly, following Duncan Large’s speculation, and taking my cues from Nietzsche’s own writing, etymology, and the phenomenology of translation, I argue that translation is the key method by with such a synthesis could proceed (2). Lastly, I offer an axiological consideration, why such an interpretative strategy expresses precisely those values that are appropriate when dealing philosophically with Nietzsche, and conclude with a discussion of one value in question, the value of fidelity (3).