Agonist Spring 2020

Nietzsche’s Search for Philosophy:
On the Middle Writings
Keith Ansell-Pearson
Niklas Corall
Paderborn University
(London: Bloomsbury Academic Press. 200 pp, 2018. ISBN 9781474254717)
In Nietzsche’s Search for Philosophy – On the Middle Writings, Keith Ansell-
Pearson directs his interpretive gaze to the middle writings of Nietzsche’s
oeuvre, namely Human, All Too Human (HAH), Dawn and The Gay Science
(GS). While at least in German Nietzsche scholarship, it is rather debatable
whether or not the middle writings should have been considered “neglected”
– with perhaps Dawn being a reasonable exception – it is important to read
them as more than merely a detour from the “real Nietzsche” found in the
Birth of Tragedy and then the late works. While Ansell-Pearson does not presume
a homogeneous philosophical approach in the middle works, he characterizes
the period as a whole and each work in itself as containing important
aspects of Nietzsche’s “search for philosophy”, especially in consideration
of Nietzsche’s attempts to “unify thought and life” (4) in what is labelled
a “‘philosophical life’” (4).
In the introduction, the author explains the relevance of the middle works
and pushes back against attempts to isolate Nietzsche’s main philosophy in
the early or late works – or even in posthumous fragments. The chapters
are structured as pairs, each consisting of one essay introducing the reader
to the respective text and Nietzsche’s model of philosophizing, followed by
an additional “subsidiary chapter on a prominent theme, or set of themes
that appear in each text” (6). The primary chapters begin with a brief summary
of the main claims followed by precise and well-structured introductions
to the respective work. Every chapter though is worthwhile exploring,
as the readings provided by Ansell-Pearson present unique perspectives on
Nietzsche’s philosophical approaches and the reasoning and influences behind
them. However, in contrast to what the author suggests, the book does
not offer a cohesive interpretation of the middle works. This is because the
“chapters” originate from sometimes multiple presentations or papers, resulting
in some repetitions, abrupt changes of scope in lines of arguments
and conclusions that do not always succeed in retrospectively unifying the
arguments of the chapter.
The first chapter provides a precise introduction to Human, All Too Human.
Ansell-Pearson’s main claim concerns a development from the first to
the second part of HAH. He states that while Nietzsche “negotiates the competing
claims of the positivist goal of science and eudemonistic philosophy
by aligning himself with the former, in MOM and WS he seeks to marry
the project of naturalistic demystification with an ethical project of seeking
‘spiritual-physical health and maturity’ (MOM 184)” (18). The first part of this
enterprise is achieved through a comprehensive and lucid discussion of “Nietzsche’s
dilemma” (31) referring to the potential incompatibility of knowledge
and humanity’s well-being. However, the discussion of the second part
is rushed and after short remarks on Nietzsche’s reconsideration of previously
criticized thinkers of Ancient Greece, Ansell-Pearson turns towards
the teachings of Epicurus, providing the reader with a valuable and detailed
summary of the Greek thinker’s philosophical framework. As for the application
of this Epicurean framework on Nietzsche though, I must admit strong
reservations on whether the “project of sobriety” (18) should really be considered
Nietzsche’s response to the modern condition he diagnoses. While
this therapeutic-philosophical approach might be an option discussed by Ni-
1
192 193
2