On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (German: Über Wahrheit und Lüge im aussermoralischen Sinne, also called On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense[1]) is a philosophical essay by Friedrich Nietzsche. It was written in 1873, one year after The Birth of Tragedy,[2] but was published by his sister Elisabeth in 1896 when Nietzsche was already mentally ill.
Nietzsche's essay provides an account for (and thereby a critique of) the contemporary considerations of truth and concepts. These considerations, argues Nietzsche, arose from the very establishment of a language:
Every word immediately becomes a concept, in as much as it is not intended to serve as a reminder of the unique and wholly individualized original experience to which it owes its birth, but must at the same time fit innumerable, more or less similar cases—which means, strictly speaking, never equal—in other words, a lot of unequal cases. Every concept originates through our equating what is unequal.[3]
According to Paul F. Glenn, Nietzsche is arguing that "concepts are metaphors which do not correspond to reality."[4] Although all concepts are metaphors invented by humans (created by common agreement to facilitate ease of communication), writes Nietzsche, human beings forget this fact after inventing them, and come to believe that they are "true" and do correspond to reality.[4] Thus Nietzsche argues that "truth" is actually:
A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms—in short, a sum of human relations which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins.[5]
These ideas about truth and its relation to human language have been particularly influential among postmodern theorists,[4] and "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" is one of the works most responsible for Nietzsche's reputation (albeit a contentious one) as "the godfather of postmodernism."[6]
^ abcGlenn, Paul F. (December 2004). "The Politics of Truth: Power in Nietzsche's Epistemology". Political Research Quarterly. 57 (4): 576. doi:10.2307/3219819. JSTOR 3219819.
^Cahoone, Lawrence E. (2003). From modernism to postmodernism: an anthology. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 109. ISBN9780631232131.
^Geuss, Raymond (2005). Outside Ethics. Princeton. p. 98. ISBN9780691123424.
Further readingedit
Clark, Maudemarie (1990). Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521348508. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
McKinnon, AM (May 2012). "Metaphors in and for the Sociology of Religion: Towards a Theory after Nietzsche" (PDF). Journal of Contemporary Religion. 27 (2): 203–216. doi:10.1080/13537903.2012.675688. hdl:2164/3056. S2CID 143730044.
Podgorski, Daniel (January 2016). "Truth and Lies in a Genealogical Sense: Tracing Friedrich Nietzsche's Discussion of Truth through his Life (by Considering Two of his Texts)". The Gemsbok.
External linksedit
Original text in German
On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (English)
On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense (English)
truth, lies, nonmoral, sense, german, über, wahrheit, lüge, aussermoralischen, sinne, also, called, truth, extra, moral, sense, philosophical, essay, friedrich, nietzsche, written, 1873, year, after, birth, tragedy, published, sister, elisabeth, 1896, when, ni. On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense German Uber Wahrheit und Luge im aussermoralischen Sinne also called On Truth and Lie in an Extra Moral Sense 1 is a philosophical essay by Friedrich Nietzsche It was written in 1873 one year after The Birth of Tragedy 2 but was published by his sister Elisabeth in 1896 when Nietzsche was already mentally ill Contents 1 Summary 2 See also 3 Notes 4 Further reading 5 External linksSummary editNietzsche s essay provides an account for and thereby a critique of the contemporary considerations of truth and concepts These considerations argues Nietzsche arose from the very establishment of a language Every word immediately becomes a concept in as much as it is not intended to serve as a reminder of the unique and wholly individualized original experience to which it owes its birth but must at the same time fit innumerable more or less similar cases which means strictly speaking never equal in other words a lot of unequal cases Every concept originates through our equating what is unequal 3 According to Paul F Glenn Nietzsche is arguing that concepts are metaphors which do not correspond to reality 4 Although all concepts are metaphors invented by humans created by common agreement to facilitate ease of communication writes Nietzsche human beings forget this fact after inventing them and come to believe that they are true and do correspond to reality 4 Thus Nietzsche argues that truth is actually A mobile army of metaphors metonyms and anthropomorphisms in short a sum of human relations which have been enhanced transposed and embellished poetically and rhetorically and which after long use seem firm canonical and obligatory to a people truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal no longer as coins 5 These ideas about truth and its relation to human language have been particularly influential among postmodern theorists 4 and On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense is one of the works most responsible for Nietzsche s reputation albeit a contentious one as the godfather of postmodernism 6 Raymond Geuss has compared Nietzsche s view of language as expressed in this essay to be similar to that of the later Wittgenstein s in its de emphasis of the distinction between literal and metaphorical usage 7 See also editBeyond Good and Evil Deconstruction Herd Behavior On the Genealogy of Morality On the Use and Abuse of History for Life Teleology in biology TruthNotes edit Walter Kaufmann s translation appearing in The Portable Nietzsche 1976 edition Viking Press Portable Nietzsche 42 Portable Nietzsche 46 a b c Glenn Paul F December 2004 The Politics of Truth Power in Nietzsche s Epistemology Political Research Quarterly 57 4 576 doi 10 2307 3219819 JSTOR 3219819 Portable Nietzsche 46 47 Cahoone Lawrence E 2003 From modernism to postmodernism an anthology Wiley Blackwell p 109 ISBN 9780631232131 Geuss Raymond 2005 Outside Ethics Princeton p 98 ISBN 9780691123424 Further reading editClark Maudemarie 1990 Nietzsche on Truth and Philosophy Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521348508 Retrieved 19 April 2016 McKinnon AM May 2012 Metaphors in and for the Sociology of Religion Towards a Theory after Nietzsche PDF Journal of Contemporary Religion 27 2 203 216 doi 10 1080 13537903 2012 675688 hdl 2164 3056 S2CID 143730044 Podgorski Daniel January 2016 Truth and Lies in a Genealogical Sense Tracing Friedrich Nietzsche s Discussion of Truth through his Life by Considering Two of his Texts The Gemsbok External links editOriginal text in German On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense English On Truth and Lie in an Extra Moral Sense English Also About Truth and lie in the extra moral sense pages 119 128 In Nietzsche s seven notebooks from 1876 New translation 2020 by Daniel Fidel Ferrer Free online Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense amp oldid 1110142588, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
