Post-Kantian European Philosophy Seminar (Tuesday - Week 2, MT24)
Tuesday 22nd October, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Ryle Room, Faculty of Philosophy
Stephen Mulhall (New College, University of Oxford): 'Reading German, Speaking American: Heidegger, Nietzsche and Emerson'
Abstract: This paper attempts to determine what difference it would make to our understanding of Heidegger's critical engagement with Nietzsche if we interpret Nietzsche's writings as deeply indebted to Emerson - a figure for whom he expressed deep affection from his earliest work. First, I will argue that Emerson's philosophical significance is best understood in terms proposed by Stanley Cavell rather than by Benedetta Zavatta (in her recent book Individuality and Beyond: Nietzsche reads Emerson). Then I will show how Nietzsche's debt to Emerson (thus understood) might alter our understanding of his late text Thus Spake Zarathustra, and so alter our critical evaluation of the critique Heidegger offers of Nietzsche (largely focussed on that late text) in his famous 1936-40 lectures.
This paper will be pre-circulated and should be read in advance of the session. If you are interested in attending the seminar, please email jack.wearing@philosophy.ox.ac.uk for a copy of the paper.