Nietzsche's controversial "aestheticist" claim that existence and the world are only justifiable as aesthetic phenomena provides the motivation for this thesis. The aestheticist claim is summative of Nietzsche's characteristic aestheticism, which allows for a link between the typically distinct concepts of art and truth. Although the available literature includes analysis of Nietzsche's aestheticism, no full defence of it has previously been offered. The general view seems to be that aestheticism should be treated sceptically, and as such, it remains underdeveloped within contemporary Nietzsche studies. The chief aims of the thesis are therefore to respond to this relative neglect of the aestheticist view of the art/truth relation, and to develop and defend a standard account of aestheticism. Additionally, in so doing the thesis aims to offer implicit evidence of Nietzsche's philosophy as continuous in order to raise the question of the textual periodisation technique, which lends methodological weight to the sceptical attitude towards Nietzsche's aestheticism. The question of aestheticism is contextualised within the 'Two Cultures' debate on the relation between art, truth and science and the nihilistic crisis of values in modern culture. As such, the wider significance of defending Nietzsche's aestheticism is made appreciable. Following analysis of the available readings of aestheticism, key elements are considered and the features of a standard account are identified. However, three problems which turn on issues surrounding the art/truth relation in Nietzsche are also identified: the problems of metaphysics, ethics and common ontological ground. The thesis proposes solutions to each of these in turn. Nietzsche's aestheticism is therefore defended by appeal to an interpretative link between art and truth in the terms of Nietzsche's conception of being.

This dissertation aims to revitalise and revalue a currently disregarded conceptual field of tolerance, and explores the prospect of it - and its respective practice (toleration) - satisfying Nietzsche"s criteria of life-affirmation and flourishing. The project of revaluation undertaken within this dissertation entails an evaluative re-appraisal and a critically selective incorporation of the particular concepts of tolerance and toleration once highly esteemed during the Hellenistic period. This inquiry centres on the axiological, ethical and psychological perspectives on tolerance and toleration, whilst investigating their compatibility within a Nietzschean valuation. Considerations of a few overlapping epistemological perspectives which are apposite to the aforesaid are articulated. Including the effects on the affective and cognitive accompaniments to toleration, possible formulations of tolerance that undermine life-affirmation and flourishing are also considered from a meta-ethical perspective. In order to do so, a critical analysis of the incorporated aspects of tolerance and toleration is conducted in relation to resentment and ressentiment. The primary questions I address are: „what is it to tolerate?", „how would tolerance and toleration read within a Nietzschean valuation?‟, „what are the psychological - i.e. affective and cognitive - intricacies of tolerating and how do they feature in its procedure?", „what kinds of psychological attachment does one qua human being create in connection with the entities one tolerates?" and „are there possible psychological dangers regarding tolerance and toleration that a Nietzschean valuation can help identify?" / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Philosophy / MA / Unrestricted

The heart of this thesis is an examination into the relevant differences between Nietzsche’s perspectivism and standpoint theory. Briefly, both standpoint theory and perspectivism have been subjected to various charges that dissolve into two major ones, which are worthy of additional scrutiny: the charges of essentialism and incoherence. My overall argument in thesis is that standpoint theory, in spite of recent feminist defense, is still susceptible to these charges, and this proves counterproductive to its aims of combatting marginalization. Moreover, I argue that Nietzsche’s perspectivism provides a corrective to the short comings of standpoint theory.

Com o intento de fundar a metafísica rumo ao conhecimento certo, Descartes rejeita a história precedente da filosofia. Com efeito, esta carrega consigo uma pluralidade de opiniões e disputas, o que é inaceitável face à unidade da verdade e da razão. Por isso, o progresso da filosofia em direção ao futuro só pode se dar mediante uma ruptura com o passado, ruptura que se opera por meio da dúvida metódica. Leibniz, ao contrário, defende que o avanço do conhecimento rumo à descoberta de novas verdades pode e deve retomar o que já foi anteriormente estabelecido. Isto porque, à diferença de Descartes, o autor da Monadologia possui uma outra concepção da relação entre pluralidade e unidade, o que se pode constatar de maneira privilegiada na sua tese de que cada mônada ou ser criado representa o universo inteiro de uma determinada perspectiva. Ora, como todas as representações possuem o mesmo referente o mundo , todas são verdadeiras e harmônicas entre si, de modo que o que varia é a maneira como o mundo é representado, isto é, os graus de distinção presentes na representação. Deste modo, a pluralidade dos sistemas filosóficos redunda em diferenças (de modo que uns são mais perfeitos do que outros e que haja determinadas partes mais relevantes do que outras dentro de um mesmo sistema), mas não em uma heterogeneidade radical. Ora, justamente sem a consideração de que há alguma conveniência subjacente na diversidade das filosofias, não é possível a tentativa de conciliação do que haveria de melhor entre elas, isto é, se há uma heterogeneidade irredutível, como Descartes considera, não há qualquer ponto de transigência. Assim, a fim de dar conta de como este projeto de conciliação das filosofias é possível, examinar-se-á nesta dissertação a tese de que cada mônada representa o universo inteiro de uma determinada perspectiva, exame no qual se enfatizará as noções leibnizianas de espírito, de conhecimento e de sistema / Willing to found metaphysics toward right knowledge, Descartes denies the preceding Philosophy history on the basis that the plurality of opinions and disputes this Philosophy holds is not acceptable under the unity of true and reason. As a result, Philosophy cannot evolve toward the future unless by breaking up with the past, a rupture that operates by way of the methodic doubt. Leibniz, in contrast, advocates that the evolution of knowledge toward the discovery of new truths can and should resume what was established antecedently. This is so because, unlike Descartes, the author of Monadology conceives the plurality-unity relationship in a different way, which one has the privilege to infer from his thesis that each monad or created being represents the entire universe from a certain perspective. Now, since all representations have the same referent the world , all are true and harmonic in relation to each other, and thus what varies is how the world is represented, i.e., the degrees of distinction in the representation. Therefore, the plurality of philosophic systems results in differences (where one is more perfect than another and certain parts are more relevant than others within a system) but not in a radical heterogeneity. Indeed, precisely without considering that some convenience underlies the diversity of philosophies, one cannot attempt to conciliate them in what would be the best in them, i.e., if an irreducible heterogeneity does exist, as Descartes proposes, then there is no point of convergency. Therefore, in order to apprehend how this project of conciliation of philosophies is possible, this paper will address the thesis that each monad represents the entire universe from a certain perspective, with an emphasis on Leibnizs notions of spirit, knowledge, and system

Esta pesquisa pode ser considerada um ensaio analítico a partir de questões de cunho filosófico que transbordam no documentário contemporâneo e encontram um diálogo muito fértil com a obra de Joel Pizzini. A nossa proposta é abordar a obra deste cineasta, especificamente o filme 500 Almas (2004) como inspiração para repensar o real, no documentário, enquanto uma questão de ponto de vista. Para tanto, torna-se necessário entender tal questão como um gesto de implicações mais profundas, comparativamente às teorizações cinematográficas e literárias acerca deste elemento. Trata-se, quiçá, de outra forma de conceber o ponto de vista no cinema, orientada pelo perspectivismo filosófico - pensamento presente nas reflexões de Leibniz, Nietsche, Deleuze e posteriormente assimilado pelo perspectivismo ameríndio com Viveiros de Castro - que amplia e reverbera o seu significado não se limitando à expressão ou fixação do ponto de vista de um sujeito autor. Trata-se da possibilidade acarretada pelo documentário, uma forma que é por pressuposto híbrida, de questionar, de produzir verdades, de repensar a distinção entre essência e aparência, entre real e invenção. Estas questões são problematizadas a partir de autores como Comolli e Guy Gauthier que pensam o documentário contemporâneo e as implicações de outros sujeitos e elementos envolvidos no filme que se faz em fricção com o real: a mise-en-scène dos sujeitos filmados, os sujeitos espectadores, a montagem criativa. Ao analisar o filme 500 Almas, observamos de que forma esses e outros elementos são engendrados para constituir o ponto de vista do real. / This research can be considered as an analytical essay from matter of philosophical that abound in contemporary documentary and find a very fruitful dialogue with the work of Joel Pizzini. Our proposal is to address the work of this director, specifically the film 500 Almas (2004) as inspiration for rethinking the real as a matter of the point of view. Therefore, it is necessary to understand this issue as a gesture of deeper implications, compared to cinematographic and literary theorizing about this element. It is, perhaps, another way of conceiving the point of view in cinema, guided by philosophical perspectivism - present thought the reflections of Leibniz, Nietzsche, Deleuze and subsequently assimilated by amerindian perspectivism with Viveiros de Castro - which expands and reverberates your meaning not limited to the expression or fastening point of view of an individual author. It brought about the possibility for the documentary, which is a form of hybrid assumption, to question, to produce truths, to rethink the distinction between essence and appearance, between real and invention. These questions are problematized from authors such as Comolli and Guy Gauthier who think contemporary documentary and implications for other subjects and elements involved in the film that is in friction with the real: the mise-en-scène of the subjects filmed, the subjects spectators, the creative mounting. When analyzing the film 500 Almas, we observe how these and other elements are interwoven to build the point of view of the real.

[pt] Esta dissertação analisa o ensaio Las kenningar, de Jorge Luis Borges. Debruçando-nos sobre suas reflexões acerca desse recurso próprio dos poemas medievais islandeses, encontramos vez para discutir a linguagem, em geral, e a metáfora, em particular. Mostraremos mais especificamente que certo ângulo aberto pelo texto de Borges permite pensá-las de uma forma que é surpreendentemente próxima do tipo de perspectivismo descrito pelo antropólogo Eduardo Viveiros de Castro em suas reflexões sobre a vida e o pensamento ameríndio. Tal afinidade é fomentada por inusitados encontros: se o sangue, por exemplo, nas kenningar, pode ser a cerveja dos corvos; para os ameríndios, pode ser o cauim do jaguar. Destaca-se nos dois casos, conforme mostraremos, o privilégio de uma perspectiva e a predominância das relações em devir – e isso de um modo que promete subverter de forma especialmente radical o pendor logocêntrico, que tende a permanecer como matéria velha em percepções contemporâneas ocidentais sobre a palavra, mesmo entre os mais perseverantes críticos da visão representacionista da linguagem. Busca-se mostrar também como o ensaio de Borges, na contraluz do perspectivismo ameríndio, abre espaços para se repensar o jogo entre metáfora e alteridade. / [en] This dissertation analyses Jorge Luis Borges’ essay Las kenningar. Looking on his reflexions about the kenningar - a resource typical to the icelandic medieval poetry -, a discussion on language, in general, and on metaphor, in particular, arises. It is shown specifically that an angle explored by Borges allows to think metaphor in a very close way to anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s perspectivism definition as found in his works on Amerindian people life and mind. Such an affinity is fomented by amusing encouters, e.g. if blood in the kenningar can be crows’ beer, to Amerindian people it can be jaguar’s cauim. In both cases, it will be shown that a certain perspective is privileged and that becoming relationships are dominant. All this ocurrs in a specially radical way that promises to subvert the logocentric penchant - which becomes “old stuff” in the contemporary western perceptions about language. It also tries to show how Borges’ essay along with Amerindian perspectivism call for a rethinking of the metaphor/alterity game.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the often tumultuous relationship between Friedrich Nietzsche and democracy. Nietzsche has always had an antipathy towards democracy. Nietzsche has claimed that democracy espouses a will to equality which levels the greatest men along with the most average men. For Nietzsche, his Ubermenschen must emerge from the muddle of mediocrity and similitude in order to set themselves apart from the herd. The herd is more than happy to live in a democratic society since no one will be rendered better or greater than anyone else. I argue that Nietzsche does not realize democracy's many assets. Liberal democracy could very well be the best political springboard for his Ubermenschen. For Nietzsche, higher culture emerges in spite of modernity's leveling snare. These great men engage in contests. They create their own rules and values. They say what they like. In a fascist society, these men would never be allowed to do as they please. One benefit of liberal democracy is that we are given the right to dissent. We are given the right to express ourselves. Democracy could facilitate the emergence of the elusive Ubermenschen. These are men who transcend the average and the ordinary. In this dissertation I begin by exploring Nietzsche's cultural criticisms. He devotes a great deal of energy condemning modernity and its leveling tendencies. Out of the cultural morass that is modernity comes this higher culture of which Nietzsche speaks highly. In chapter two, I argue that higher culture must begin with the individual. I will examine what it takes for a man to be able to transcend his mediocre culture. In chapter three, I examine the contemporary political climate and try to determine whether these great individuals could emerge in such a climate. Finally, in chapter four I examine which political system could best help this culture emerge. I argue that liberal democracy is the best environment for these higher men.

This thesis is an investigation into ways of seeing 12 Step fellowships. The latter provide a popular but controversial means of recovery from various addictive behaviours. The conceptual basis of 12 Step fellowships is the idea that addictions are an illness or disease, and this idea has become the focus of the negative critiques of 12 Step fellowships. Concepts of illness and disease are closely related to concepts of personhood. What 12 Step discourses construct as 'illness' can also be understood as a condition characterised by failure of human capacities for agency, choice, and responsibility. How we understand 12 Step discourses of addiction, illness, and recovery will depend greatly upon the concepts of personhood, illness, and knowledge that inform our view. In order to investigate the concepts that make diverging views of 12 Step fellowships possible, this study develops post-Enlightenment concepts of personhood, illness and knowledge. I use these concepts as a lens with which to examine the negative critiques, and to provide a more positive reading of 12 Step fellowships and illness concepts. In doing so, this thesis aims to show, first, that a positive view that can articulate the value of 12 Step fellowships to 12 Step members is possible, and second, that 12 Step fellowship discourses are philosophically interesting and challenge modern western notions of the self and its capacities. The thesis has six chapters. Chapter One presents an overview of the study, and introduces the basic concepts and practices of 12 Step fellowships. Chapter Two presents an epistemology called perspectivism which provides my research methodology as well as a means of analysing the epistemological assumptions at work in the negative critiques of 12 Step discourses. In order to understand how the capacities of the self may fail, and how such failures might be remedied, Chapter Three presents a post-Enlightenment theorisation of personhood as constituted, embodied, and socially embedded subjectivity. This theorisation enables us to examine how embodied selves may be constituted with diminished capacities for agency, responsibility, and choice, and permits the construction of an account of addiction that explains why addictive disorders are a significant social problem in contemporary western societies. Finally, this theorisation enables us to investigate the concepts of personhood that inform the negative critiques. Chapter Four investigates how concepts of illness inform the negative critiques, and shows that it is possible to understand terms such as 'illness' and 'disease' in a non-medical sense. Arguably, such understandings are better able to illuminate the connection between the notion of illness and recovery practices in 12 Step discourses of addiction. Chapter Five uses the conceptual framework provided by Chapters Two, Three, and Four to present a positive view of 12 Step fellowships and discourses. The three key features of this view are, first, that 12 Step fellowship discourses describe addictions as an illness of the self; second, they provide a phenomenology of the sick self; and third, 12 Step recovery discourses and practices are consistent with the notion that the constituted self is limited, and can be reconstituted or changed through practice of the 12 Step recovery program. Together, these three key features show us that 12 Step fellowships provide a valuable social resource for people with limited capacities for self-regulation to help themselves and each other. Chapter Six considers the implications of this more positive view of 12 Step fellowships in terms of the primary and secondary aims of this thesis.

The history of landscape painting in the West has dictated and reiterated a phenomenological point-of-view derived from the Cartesian coordinate plane system. After having journeyed to northern India for eight months, I became influenced by other pictorial conceptions of space, namely the radial cosmological mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism and yantras of Hinduism. Unable to fully eliminate the coordinate plane system from the recess of my mind, I embarked upon a creative journey through consciousness in which my own studio practice provided the means to construct a new orientation, not only in terms of the perceivable, external world, but within the realm of my own embodied mind.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse David Lodge&rsquo / s campus novels Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975) and Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) to see how nihilism is dealt with in the modern academic world by the main characters in the novels. The characters will be examined in the light of Friedrich Nietzsche&rsquo / s Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (1883-85). As the prophet Zarathustra in Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the mouthpiece of Nietzsche himself, this thesis aims at studying Lodge&rsquo / s novels in the light of Nietzsche&rsquo / s ideas. In this respect, this thesis provides a closer look into Zarathustrian (Nietzschean) concepts of &ldquo / will to power&rdquo / , &ldquo / eternal recurrence&rdquo / and &ldquo / overman&rdquo / , and it reveals to what extent Lodge&rsquo / s main characters can achieve a full &ldquo / will to power&rdquo / , attain a joyful acceptance of &ldquo / eternal recurrence&rdquo / , and overcome themselves on the way to becoming &ldquo / overman&rdquo / . With the elaboration of these three concepts, this thesis aims to uncover the ways in which Lodge&rsquo / s main characters recover from the negative effects of futility and depression caused by nihilism in the modern world.