Nietzsche’s Rhetoric and the Politics of Possibility

This talk addresses the question of Nietzsche’s style and presents a reading of Nietzsche’s use of rhetoric as inseparable from his philosophical project. I provide an exegesis of Nietzsche’s own reflections on rhetoric and attend to its actual deployment. In doing so, I highlight the underexplored themes of receptivity and dissonance. I challenge common interpretations by arguing that Nietzsche’s rhetoric is neither deployed as a means to get at some unitary whole, nor is it evidence of an embrace of indeterminism. Nor yet does its significance reside only in relation to Nietzsche’s perspectivism. Rather, Nietzsche’s rhetoric, I argue, is often deliberately dissonant and oriented toward facilitating receptive effects. The aim is to alter the conditions of possibility. I conclude by suggesting that Nietzsche’s rhetoric has implications for critical theory, shifting how we might view critical political engagement in the public sphere. 

Simon Lambek
Centre for Ethics & Department of Political Science
University of Toronto

Wed, Mar 7, 2018
12:30 PM - 02:00 PM
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto
Rm 200, Larkin Building