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A Model Sophist: Nietzsche on Protagoras and Thucydides

A Model Sophist: Nietzsche on Protagoras and Thucydides Abstract: While many commentators have remarked on Nietzsche's admiration for the Greek historian Thucydides, most reduce the affinity between the two thinkers to their common commitments to "political realism" or "scientific naturalism." At the same time, some of these same commentators have sought to minimize or dismiss Nietzsche's enthusiasm for the Greek sophists. We do not deny the importance of realism or naturalism, but we suggest that, for Nietzsche, realism and naturalism are rooted in a rejection of moral absolutism and its leading advocates, Socrates and Plato. Through careful exegesis of crucial sections from Daybreak , we show that, as early as 1880 (if not earlier), Nietzsche regarded the agonistic, anti-absolutist stance of the sophist Protagoras as an indispensable model both for Thucydides's history and for his own philosophy. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Nietzsche Studies Penn State University Press

A Model Sophist: Nietzsche on Protagoras and Thucydides

Mann, Joel Eryn
The Journal of Nietzsche Studies , Volume 42 (1) – Nov 4, 2011
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Penn State University Press
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Copyright © Penn State University Press
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1538-4594
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Abstract

Abstract: While many commentators have remarked on Nietzsche's admiration for the Greek historian Thucydides, most reduce the affinity between the two thinkers to their common commitments to "political realism" or "scientific naturalism." At the same time, some of these same commentators have sought to minimize or dismiss Nietzsche's enthusiasm for the Greek sophists. We do not deny the importance of realism or naturalism, but we suggest that, for Nietzsche, realism and naturalism are rooted in a rejection of moral absolutism and its leading advocates, Socrates and Plato. Through careful exegesis of crucial sections from Daybreak , we show that, as early as 1880 (if not earlier), Nietzsche regarded the agonistic, anti-absolutist stance of the sophist Protagoras as an indispensable model both for Thucydides's history and for his own philosophy.

Journal

The Journal of Nietzsche Studies – Penn State University Press

Published: Nov 4, 2011

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