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Nietzsche, Politics and Modernity
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Nietzsche, Politics and Modernity

December 1995 | 192 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
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"Owen's arguments are presented in an organized manner. . . . This book is interesting and relates Nietzsche to contemporary concerns quite well; therefore it is to be recommended for those interested in the relevance of Nietzsche to the current political debate." --Choice Within the domain of politics, Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy has been linked to anarchism, socialism, Zionism, feminism, nationalism, Nazism, existentialism, and, more recently, postmodern relativism and nihilism. Written in a clear and engaging style, Nietzsche, Politics, and Modernity shows Nietzsche's significance as a philosopher and as a political theorist by highlighting his critique of liberalism in both its philosophical and political forms. In describing Nietzsche's diagnosis of the modern condition, author David Owen covers this aspect of his thought, including the will to power the Overman, the thought of eternal recurrence, and self-overcoming. This book traces the relevance of Nietzschean philosophy to current debates and engages thinkers such as MacIntyre, Taylor, Rorty, and Rawls. Owen shows how liberalism of the latter two can be seen as the contemporary expression of Nietzsche's dystopian vision of the Last Man. Students in political theory, political philosophy, and social theory courses will find Nietzsche, Politics, and Modernity to be ideal for any course on Nietzsche's thought. Its interdisciplinary style spans the areas of politics, philosophy, and sociology.
 
Introduction
 
Nietzsche contra Liberalism
Reflections on the Character of Contests in Political Theory

 
 
Truth and Eros
A Critique of the Philosophical Commitments of Liberal Reason

 
 
On the Genealogy of Modernity
A Critical History of the Philosophical Commitments of Liberal Reason

 
 
Modernity and the Destruction of the Ascetic Ideal
Nihilism, Decadence and the Necessity of a Counter-Ideal

 
 
Modernity, Ethics and Counter-Ideals
Amor Fati, Eternal Recurrence and the Overman

 
 
Agonism, Liberalism and the Cultivation of Virtu
Ethics, Politics and the Critique of Political Liberalism

 
 
Conclusion

`Nietzsche, Politics and Modernity will be of interest to everyone concerned about Nietzsche's politics, proponents and opponents of liberalism, and students of Nietzche who want a better understanding of some of his central notions. Using Nietzche, Owen makes an important and original contribution to current debates over liberalism and political theory' - Ethics

`The best recent thing I have read on Nietzsche is Daviv Owen's Nietzsche, Politics and Modernity.... Owen's nose for the deeper currents of Nietzsche's thought is an immensely cultivated one, and on most central issues - truth, truthfulness, value - he is a thoroughly illuminating commentator.... Nietzsche's concerns and arguments are situated sensitively within the intellectual history from which they arise, are explained and delved into, sometimes improved upon, and are allowed, at the right moments, to speak for themselves' - The Philosophical Quarterly

`This book is an important contribution to the remarkable body of British literature from which a new Nietzsche has emerged in recent years.... Owen presents a highly persuasive case for regarding him as a leading theorist of agonal politics. More generally, even those who cavil at Owen's interpretation will be unable to deny that this accomplished work provides an irresistible case for Nietzsche's inclusion in the canon of political theory' - Political Studies

`Owen's arguments are presented in an organized manner... This book is interesting and relates Nietzsche to contemporary concerns well' - Choice

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