Syllabus
PHI265 01
Nietzsche
Fall 2025
MW 16:00-17:29 (N 116)
Dr. Don Dombowsky
Office Hours: By Appointment (NIC 103)
e-mail: ddombows@ubishops.ca
Course Description
Between 1872 and 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) wrote philosophical works that had an immeasurable impact on virtually every major philosophical movement of the 20th century that have persisted into the 21st, stimulating new pathways in aesthetics, ethics and epistemology. In this course, we will study Nietzsche’s ideas of the death of God, nihilism, the will to power, the revaluation of all values and the eternal return, his theory of knowledge, and his groundbreaking genealogical method in order to arrive at an understanding of the philosophical activity of this 19th-century fateful genius; a philosophical activity which may be defined as Neo-Kantian Naturalism.
Required Texts (available in the bookstore)
The Nietzsche Reader (Blackwell).
Course Requirements
1. In-Class Questions: 10%
2. Two Take-Home Assignments: 40%. Further Instructions TBA.
3. Final Research Essay (3,000 words): 50%. Further Instructions TBA.
Extensions on all assignments will be provided only for a compelling reason and if notification has been given prior to the due date. (Having work due in other courses does not constitute a compelling reason.) Otherwise, with each day late you will be deducted 1 mark. Please read the section on Academic Integrity, specifically pertaining to plagiarism, in the Bishop’s University Calendar, p. 19.
SCHEDULE
WK I. Sept. 03: Introduction to Friedrich Nietzsche: Cultural Physician
Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is (1888) (NR 500-516).
Please Watch: 1. ‘Human All Too Human’ and 2. ‘Genius of the Modern World’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9f1F5jUzaM&ab_channel=TheWorldAroundUs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_poZE8833t4&ab_channel=Pavel
WK II. Sept. 08: The Birth of Tragedy From the Spirit of Music (1872), Secs 1-6 (NR 42-58).
Sept. 10: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 7-12 (NR 58-65).
WK III. Sept. 15: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 13-18 (NR 66-79). (from this date Student Questions are required until Nov. 26th)
Sept. 17: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 19-25 (NR 79-87). (First Take-Home Assignment).
WK IV. Sept. 22: Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (1873) (NR 101-113). Focus: Heraclitus. Sept. 24: : ‘On the Utility and Liability of History for Life’ (1874) (NR 124-141)
WK V. Sept. 29: ‘Schopenhauer as Educator’ (1874) (NR 142-149).
Oct. 01: ‘On Truth and Lie in a Nonmoral Sense’ (1873) (NR 114-123). (First Take-Home Assignment Due).
WK VI. Oct. 06: The Gay Science (1882) (NR 207-237). Focus: Sections 125 and 341.
Oct. 08: ‘Notes from 1881’ (NR 238-241). Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One (1883-85) (NR 245-292). Focus: ‘Of-Self-Overcoming’ (270); ‘Of Redemption’ (274); ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’ (277) and ‘The Convalescent’ (282). Refocus: Pierre Klossowski, ‘Nietzsche’s Experience of Eternal Return’ (1969).
WK VII. Oct. 13-Oct. 17: Reading Week
WK VIII. Oct. 20: ‘European Nihilism’ (notes from 1887) (NR 385-389). Refocus: Martin Heidegger, ‘The Word of Nietzsche: “God is Dead”’ (1943).
Oct. 22: Beyond Good and Evil (1886), ‘On the Prejudices of the Philosophers’ (NR 312-324).
WK IX. Oct. 27: On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic (1887), Preface, First Essay, Sections 1-9 (NR 390-400).
Oct. 29: On the Genealogy of Morality, First Essay, Sections 10-17 (NR 400-407).
WK X. Nov. 03: On the Genealogy of Morality, Second Essay, Sections 1-11 (NR 408-416).
Nov. 05: On the Genealogy of Morality, Second Essay, Sections 12-25 (NR 416-424). (Second Take-Home Assignment).
WK XI. Nov. 10: On the Genealogy of Morality, Third Essay, Sections 1-28 (NR 424-435).
Nov. 12: Twilight of the Idols: or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer (1888) (NR 457-468).
WK XII. Nov. 17: Twilight of the Idols (NR 468-485).
Nov. 19: Twilight of the Idols.
(Second Take-Home Assignment Due).
WK XIII. Nov. 24: The Anti-Christ (1888) (NR 486-499).
Nov. 26: The Anti-Christ.
WK. XIV. Dec. 01: Open Lecture on Nietzsche’s Political Philosophy.
End of Classes.
Nietzsche’s Early Writings
The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
‘The Greek State’ (1872)
‘Homer’s Contest’ (1872)
Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (1873)
‘On Truth and Lie in a Nonmoral Sense’ (1873)
Untimely Meditations (4 Essays):
‘David Strauss the Confessor and the Writer’ (1873)
‘On the Utility and Liability of History for Life’ (1874)
‘Schopenhauer as Educator’ (1874)
‘Richard Wagner in Bayreuth’ (1876)
Writings of Nietzsche’s Middle-Period
Human, All Too Human (1878)
Human, All Too Human: A Supplement: Mixed Opinions and Maxims (1879)
The Wanderer and His Shadow (1879)
Daybreak (1881) (also translated as Dawn of Day)
The Gay Science (1882) Bk. V (1887) (also translated as The Joyful Wisdom)
Writings of Nietzsche’s Later-Period
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Bks. I-III (1883-84) Bk. IV (1885)
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
Final Writings of 1888
The Case of Wagner (1888)
Twilight of the Idols (written 1888, published 1889)
Nietzsche contra Wagner (written 1888, published 1889) (consists of passages from Nietzsche’s previously published works)
Dionysian Dithyrambs (written 1888, published 1892) (9 poems)
The Anti-Christ (written 1888, published 1894)
Ecce Homo (written 1888, published 1908)
Unpublished Writings
The Will to Power (Notes published by Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, 1901, 1906, 1911): ‘The... fiction that The Will to Power was actually one of Nietzsche’s books – and that in fact it was his masterwork – continues to crop up. The perseverence of this notion is... testimony to the skill with which Elisabeth [Nietzsche’s sister] foisted this... fabrication off on the philosophical world. Elisabeth selected one of the many outlines that Nietzsche had sketched for a work to be called The Will to Power and then raided his notebooks for relevant passages to fit that format. By assembling a collection of unpolished... unrelated jottings, Elisabeth – [along] with... Peter Gast – ‘created’ a work that resembled in many respects the aphoristic books that Nietzsche had published.’ (Schaberg, The Nietzsche Canon, 186.)
PHI265 01
Nietzsche
Fall 2025
MW 16:00-17:29 (N 116)
Dr. Don Dombowsky
Office Hours: By Appointment (NIC 103)
e-mail: ddombows@ubishops.ca
Course Description
Between 1872 and 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) wrote philosophical works that had an immeasurable impact on virtually every major philosophical movement of the 20th century that have persisted into the 21st, stimulating new pathways in aesthetics, ethics and epistemology. In this course, we will study Nietzsche’s ideas of the death of God, nihilism, the will to power, the revaluation of all values and the eternal return, his theory of knowledge, and his groundbreaking genealogical method in order to arrive at an understanding of the philosophical activity of this 19th-century fateful genius; a philosophical activity which may be defined as Neo-Kantian Naturalism.
Required Texts (available in the bookstore)
The Nietzsche Reader (Blackwell).
Course Requirements
1. In-Class Questions: 10%
2. Two Take-Home Assignments: 40%. Further Instructions TBA.
3. Final Research Essay (3,000 words): 50%. Further Instructions TBA.
Extensions on all assignments will be provided only for a compelling reason and if notification has been given prior to the due date. (Having work due in other courses does not constitute a compelling reason.) Otherwise, with each day late you will be deducted 1 mark. Please read the section on Academic Integrity, specifically pertaining to plagiarism, in the Bishop’s University Calendar, p. 19.
SCHEDULE
WK I. Sept. 03: Introduction to Friedrich Nietzsche: Cultural Physician
Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is (1888) (NR 500-516).
Please Watch: 1. ‘Human All Too Human’ and 2. ‘Genius of the Modern World’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9f1F5jUzaM&ab_channel=TheWorldAroundUs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_poZE8833t4&ab_channel=Pavel
WK II. Sept. 08: The Birth of Tragedy From the Spirit of Music (1872), Secs 1-6 (NR 42-58).
Sept. 10: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 7-12 (NR 58-65).
WK III. Sept. 15: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 13-18 (NR 66-79). (from this date Student Questions are required until Nov. 26th)
Sept. 17: The Birth of Tragedy, Secs 19-25 (NR 79-87). (First Take-Home Assignment).
WK IV. Sept. 22: Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (1873) (NR 101-113). Focus: Heraclitus. Sept. 24: : ‘On the Utility and Liability of History for Life’ (1874) (NR 124-141)
WK V. Sept. 29: ‘Schopenhauer as Educator’ (1874) (NR 142-149).
Oct. 01: ‘On Truth and Lie in a Nonmoral Sense’ (1873) (NR 114-123). (First Take-Home Assignment Due).
WK VI. Oct. 06: The Gay Science (1882) (NR 207-237). Focus: Sections 125 and 341.
Oct. 08: ‘Notes from 1881’ (NR 238-241). Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One (1883-85) (NR 245-292). Focus: ‘Of-Self-Overcoming’ (270); ‘Of Redemption’ (274); ‘Of the Vision and the Riddle’ (277) and ‘The Convalescent’ (282). Refocus: Pierre Klossowski, ‘Nietzsche’s Experience of Eternal Return’ (1969).
WK VII. Oct. 13-Oct. 17: Reading Week
WK VIII. Oct. 20: ‘European Nihilism’ (notes from 1887) (NR 385-389). Refocus: Martin Heidegger, ‘The Word of Nietzsche: “God is Dead”’ (1943).
Oct. 22: Beyond Good and Evil (1886), ‘On the Prejudices of the Philosophers’ (NR 312-324).
WK IX. Oct. 27: On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic (1887), Preface, First Essay, Sections 1-9 (NR 390-400).
Oct. 29: On the Genealogy of Morality, First Essay, Sections 10-17 (NR 400-407).
WK X. Nov. 03: On the Genealogy of Morality, Second Essay, Sections 1-11 (NR 408-416).
Nov. 05: On the Genealogy of Morality, Second Essay, Sections 12-25 (NR 416-424). (Second Take-Home Assignment).
WK XI. Nov. 10: On the Genealogy of Morality, Third Essay, Sections 1-28 (NR 424-435).
Nov. 12: Twilight of the Idols: or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer (1888) (NR 457-468).
WK XII. Nov. 17: Twilight of the Idols (NR 468-485).
Nov. 19: Twilight of the Idols.
(Second Take-Home Assignment Due).
WK XIII. Nov. 24: The Anti-Christ (1888) (NR 486-499).
Nov. 26: The Anti-Christ.
WK. XIV. Dec. 01: Open Lecture on Nietzsche’s Political Philosophy.
End of Classes.
Nietzsche’s Early Writings
The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
‘The Greek State’ (1872)
‘Homer’s Contest’ (1872)
Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks (1873)
‘On Truth and Lie in a Nonmoral Sense’ (1873)
Untimely Meditations (4 Essays):
‘David Strauss the Confessor and the Writer’ (1873)
‘On the Utility and Liability of History for Life’ (1874)
‘Schopenhauer as Educator’ (1874)
‘Richard Wagner in Bayreuth’ (1876)
Writings of Nietzsche’s Middle-Period
Human, All Too Human (1878)
Human, All Too Human: A Supplement: Mixed Opinions and Maxims (1879)
The Wanderer and His Shadow (1879)
Daybreak (1881) (also translated as Dawn of Day)
The Gay Science (1882) Bk. V (1887) (also translated as The Joyful Wisdom)
Writings of Nietzsche’s Later-Period
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Bks. I-III (1883-84) Bk. IV (1885)
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
Final Writings of 1888
The Case of Wagner (1888)
Twilight of the Idols (written 1888, published 1889)
Nietzsche contra Wagner (written 1888, published 1889) (consists of passages from Nietzsche’s previously published works)
Dionysian Dithyrambs (written 1888, published 1892) (9 poems)
The Anti-Christ (written 1888, published 1894)
Ecce Homo (written 1888, published 1908)
Unpublished Writings
The Will to Power (Notes published by Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, 1901, 1906, 1911): ‘The... fiction that The Will to Power was actually one of Nietzsche’s books – and that in fact it was his masterwork – continues to crop up. The perseverence of this notion is... testimony to the skill with which Elisabeth [Nietzsche’s sister] foisted this... fabrication off on the philosophical world. Elisabeth selected one of the many outlines that Nietzsche had sketched for a work to be called The Will to Power and then raided his notebooks for relevant passages to fit that format. By assembling a collection of unpolished... unrelated jottings, Elisabeth – [along] with... Peter Gast – ‘created’ a work that resembled in many respects the aphoristic books that Nietzsche had published.’ (Schaberg, The Nietzsche Canon, 186.)
- Teacher: Don Dombowsky