Rick Roderick on Nietzsche as Master of Suspicion & Immoralist [full length]

This video is 3rd in the 8-part series, Nietzsche and the Postmodern Condition (1991).
Lecture notes:
I. Nietzsche was a master of suspicion.
A. Nietzsche writes in various styles such as fragments and aphorism making it hard to know what to interpret.
B. What is style in writing? It's a writer finding his/her voice.
C. Nietzsche's styles open the problem of interpretation
1. If there is style, there must be more than one.
2. Style is only style to the extent to which we can differentiate it from another style.
II. The method of Nietzsche's genealogy.
A. A genealogy attempts to uncover the formations of an entire discursive practice.
B. Genealogy attempts a reversal of perspective.
C. It is distinguished from Marxism and other kinds of history writings because it doesn't look for a singular subject or collective subjects. Instead it looks for micrological power (force to force).
D. The truth of such accounts are the accuracy of their interpretations as a kind of choice one has made.
III. Nietzsche's argument on the genealogy of morals:
A. Nietzsche want's to trace the origins of our values.
B. The procedure he follows makes use of modes forms psychological and historical reasoning, and studying the texts that we've structured out understanding of "whole bodies" on.
C. The schema: Our morality which grew out of religion, (Christianity).
D. Nietzsche sees civilization headed toward a dead-end.
E. In The Genealogy of Morals, these is an invidious binary in the text: master and slave morality. He identifies master morality with Greek ideals and slave morality with Christian.
IV. Nietzsche's background as a philologist warned him that words underwent semantic shifts between the Greek and Christian periods.
A. The Greek word for excellence is translated as virtue or piety in the Christian period.
B. Odysseus was honored in Greek society. He was well rounded and had "active powers". Nietzsche called these noble values.
C. Nietzsche argues that the transformation of these values was life denying.
D. Nietzsche didn't think this was entirely negative because he thought it made the human race more subtle and devious.
For more information, see www.rickroderic...
A philosophy podcast, The Partially Examined Life, held a detailed discussion of Nietzsche, which can be found here:
www.partiallyex...

[@DCdabest]

"We are all individuals!" - the crowd

[@jacobm7263]

I'm not

[@DaveE99]

That is the best comment ever

[@kaastle1]

A lecture on Nietzsche ended with a quotation of Marx: "If we have no business with the construction of the future or with organizing it for all time, there can still be no doubt about the task confronting us at present: the ruthless criticism of the existing order, ruthless in that it will shrink neither from its own discoveries, nor from conflict with the powers that be." Letter from Marx to Arnold Ruge. Philosophy's purposes are to help one act in the world and to prepare for death.

[@DaveE99]

Dang that last line sunk in

[@RyanPig]

I put on this dudes lectures like background music.

[@frankgilbertlyonII]

+RyanPig Me Too

[@daviddeiss3073]

+Frank Lyon me too :)

[@Driecnk]

Really

[@ryanw3658]

No lie, finding philosophical KZbin has changed my life. I listen to this shit 80% of the time I’m not actively engaged with another person. Those engagements have also markedly improved. I pick up shit subconsciously because I sure as hell wouldn’t pass a quiz after any of these videos.

[@Powerneck]

I do ,, most will 🎅

[@chasesaladino6669]

Rick Roderick is my spirit animal

[@destroydate7887]

Nietzsche is eternal, can be read during any period of one's life, is life affirming and sweeps up a lot of the cluttered thoughts of "classic" philosophy into a beautiful system of texts.

[@jimc.goodfellas]

So true...have pulled him back out many different times over the years

[@SimplyLimbo]

2:20 finally someone who says that Nietzsche states things, observe things and that he never preach to his readers, but rather want his readers to become 'themselves', and Nietzsche gives mere the tools how to do this. How many times dont we see reactions like: if we do what Nietzsche says/preach, or if we all have to follow his theory,,... etc. Thats just not how Nietzsche meant to be read ( even according to himself )

[@geoffreywinnie5442]

Maybe he is like the lightning bolt which strikes us. What we become afterwards is simply up to us.

[@JanAndhisfiets]

+Geoffrey Winnie "Im dynamite"!!! - Nietzsche

[@crosstolerance]

Nietzsche wants us to experience life as if it was our last day on Earth. Society weakens our pursuit to become the best version of ourselves.

[@thepatient89]

I really got into post modernism and Nietzsche because of rick. Definitely effective as a lecturer. I have moved to other philosophy preferences since then (not as fond of post modernism anymore) but he did a good job of informing my undergraduate understandings of topics he covers.

[@cmattbacon7838]

Anomic Twin Serpent Really? I think he has the least accurate and least supportable things to say about nietzsche of any lecturer Ive ever heard. He basically just cherry picks, and then misrepresents the cherry picking, to use Nietzsche to prop up arguments that were actually made by a post modernist like Derrida or Foucault.

[@nightoftheworld]

1:11 “Facts do not occur independent of their interpretations-facts are implicated in interpretation.”

[@jali4000]

Interesting to see how far back the tradition of dunking on Dinesh D'souza goes

[@nightoftheworld]

27:08 *Genealogy of morals* “Nietzsche wants to trace the origin of our values. In other words-what are the values of these western values?”

[@differous01]

0:42 "...the untruthful origins of truth. By that I mean its origin in the human community" as opposed to its supposed origin in another realm. We invented it-and-the-other-realm.. Rick just drops these pearls all over the place. The decadence of a culture being the decline of respect for authority, the loosening of the Christian grip on the West and of the Shinto grip on Japan. The suspicion of the 'morality', previously taken for granted, enforced by habit of tradition; might it not be as solid as it seemed? What could make mankind ask such dangerous questions in days of empires? The death of thousands on the barbed wire of WW1 is what woke our culture to distrust, but Nietzsche didn't live to see that, or that he was right. He rivals Van Gogh for tragedy. "Here are the young men A weight on their shoulders Here are the young men But where have they been? Knocked on the doors Of hell's darkest chamber Pushed to the limit We dragged ourselves in." ('Decades' by Joy Division) "What ceremonies of expiation, what sacred games, will we have to invent?" Well, Poppy Day for starters...

[@mrinalkalita4102]

I deeply appreciate the Derrida slip

[@tehdii]

Now imagine the scene from Dark season 3 While Jonas is asked by Martha why he has his yellow rain jacket with him and he says: "I have forgotten my umbrella" It would be paradoxical :)

[@nightoftheworld]

25:47 *The problem of interrogating Supreme Court justices*

[@michaelhebert7338]

As always a very good lecture thanks for sharing.

[@Hazzard0]

If you mute the video he becomes Russell Crowe

[@ApolloBlatenszky]

He’s a great communicator of complexity

[@socrates0ne]

How can "biological determinism" be reconciled with the idea of personal responsibility? Wouldnt it be our genes that are "responsible" for our actions?

[@SupercovenGW2]

Read Sam Harris's "The Illusion of Free Will". tries to answer your question.

[@derekjeffries5554]

Thats virtue ethics

[@amitjyala7816]

40:00

[@MichaelLopez-nc3xz]

29...😮😮😮.. coms

[@DaveE99]

But did the witches float?

[@KnightofEkron]

Why is he so cool.. I want to be this cool..

[@nightoftheworld]

22:02 “genealogy has a reversal of perspective built into it”

[@LuckyLucky-pc3tz]

Cool...❤️❤️❤️

[@stoodmars]

5:29 Can someone explain this remark to me? I think I may have misunderstood but is he against classes in African American culture?

[@davidcapps5536]

Listen again, he's saying this sarcastically.

[@EsatBargan]

Davis Betty Walker Christopher Hernandez Larry

[@parthdeshpande2966]

Ricksell Crowederick

[@ИринаКим-ъ5ч]

Moore Betty Garcia Edward Harris Susan

[@dandre3K]

A person of any race saying "I'm not racist" isn't comforting because I don't feel anxious around other races and thus I don't need to be comforted. I'm observant enough to notice how anxious modern society is which is why I don't assume malice when people qualify themselves that way.

[@stephencharman9604]

It's a subtle point he's making but possibly the inference is that they actually mean "I'm not racist... but...)

[@moodist1er]

Racism is a system of power and some people don't possess that power so they can't be racist. Anyone can be prejudice.

[@lifeisabadjoke5750]

I wonder how you feel now 😂

[@davidd854]

@@moodist1er That's just an arbitrary definition of racism plus assumes that there is some overarching system of power for the entire society. But there can be many systems of power in different parts of society that have something to do with prejudice based on race/ethnicity. So you cannot say that the 'system of power' of a society gives people of a certain race/ethnicity power in all situations across society. For example the white kid getting bullied for his skin color in a predominantly black school is in an inferior position of power because of his race/ethnicity. Thus this seems like a politically motivated definition of racism to me.

[@benlevinson1949]

Nietzsche is pietzsche

[@floresdta]

No wonder these lectures suck. It’s all about post-modernism 😪

[@christopherhamilton3621]

Wut? 😂😂😂😂

[@RMStrasser]

Feels like he learned this from a textbook. Or a group of people who had read a textbook. Funny he brings up Foucault.

[@timquigley986]

Philosophers usually write and read books

[@RMStrasser]

@@timquigley986 That's the point... the Foucault jab there at the end... I'm saying, I don't like his style of philosophizin'. And he's not welcome at the dinner table.

[@christopherhamilton3621]

That’s some petty point & argument there, mate…😂