Abstract

Nietzche has been persistently maligned by his interpreters as a thinker who has no "system" and whose writings reduce themselves to incoherent vacuities. It is the contention of this dissertation that these interpretations are unwarranted and unjustified in the light of Nietzsche's writing style and intentions. Although Nietzsche is not a philosopher who is attempting to build a great philosophical edifice, Nietzsche's philosophy does "hang together." In short, Nietzsche's philosophy does manifest an internal consistency, and this consistency is best explicated by an elucidation of Nietzsche's conception of freedom. It is the explication of Nietzsche's concept of freedom that this dissertation makes a contribution to Nietzschean scholarship, for it is also my contention that without a clear view of Nietzsche's idea of freedom Nietzsche's works will, indeed, reduce themselves to vacuities. Also, Nietzsche's views on freedom contribute greatly to clearing up one of the most lurid ideas associated with Nietzsche: the overman. In the course of this disquisition on Nietzsche's conception of freedom I shall attempt to show the interrelatedness of all the main Nietzschean concepts, particularly Nietzsche's critique of modern man and Plato's other-wordly philosophy.