Book contents
- Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy
- Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Contest between Homer and Plato and the Homeric Education on the Gods
- 2 The Homeric Education in Human Excellence
- 3 Plato’s Critique of the Homeric Education
- 4 Homer and Machiavelli on Education and Human Excellence
- 5 Nietzsche on the Contest between Homer and Plato
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Nietzsche on the Contest between Homer and Plato
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2022
- Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy
- Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Contest between Homer and Plato and the Homeric Education on the Gods
- 2 The Homeric Education in Human Excellence
- 3 Plato’s Critique of the Homeric Education
- 4 Homer and Machiavelli on Education and Human Excellence
- 5 Nietzsche on the Contest between Homer and Plato
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Nietzsche criticizes Plato for having praised the philosophic life in such a way as to deprive the active political and military life of the honor and vitality it enjoyed in the Greek culture founded by Homer and therefore seems to call for a reversal of the moral and political legacy of Platonism and Christianity and a revival of Homeric culture. But Nietzsche ultimately criticizes Plato more seriously, not for explicitly celebrating the philosophic life as the best way of life for a human being, but rather for presenting the philosopher as a champion of morality and religion and thereby obscuring the skeptical nature of the philosopher and he therefore seeks, through his rhetorical presentation of philosophy as emphatically opposed to morality and religion, to reintroduce the radical moral and religious skepticism of philosophy to a world that has lost sight of it.
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- Information
- Homer and the Tradition of Political PhilosophyEncounters with Plato, Machiavelli, and Nietzsche, pp. 247 - 305Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022