M. Colsen (Marc) MA

Nietzsche’s Hermeneutics and the Experimental Way of Dealing with Nihilism

‘Nietzsche – Experiment and Nihilism’ is a research project prompted by the Laura Foundation (Dutch: Stichting Laura) and conducted at Radboud University Nijmegen. Part of this project is a PhD research into Friedrich Nietzsche’s hermeneutics in relation to his thoughts on experiment and nihilism. The condition of nihilism is at the heart of Nietzsche’s later writings. In his book 'Die fröhliche Wissenschaft' ('The Gay Science'), Nietzsche suggests that there is no way of escaping this condition. He points to an experimental way of dealing with it, but doesn’t offer much detail. The question under consideration is whether Nietzsche’s hermeneutics can be tied to this experiment and whether it can contribute to dealing with nihilism.

Supervisors: prof. dr. Paul van Tongeren and prof. dr. Gert-Jan van der Heiden

• Center for Contemporary European Philosophy