Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 16:07:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Wayne A. King" <kingwa-AT-crl.com>
Subject: Re: No facts?




On Sat, 6 May 1995 Mulbnosaj-AT-aol.com wrote:

> On Wed, 3 May 1995, Wayne A. King wrote:
> > Nietzsche:  "There are no facts, only interpretations."> 
> > As I understand it, this is a central tenant of Nietzschean perspectivism.>
> 
> > I should like to ask any of the Nietzsche experts here to please explain
> > to me how they believe Nietzsche might go about defending this assertion
> > when confronted by statements which appear to be fairly objective, such
> > as: 
> >   (1) Nietzsche was once employed as a professor at Basel.  
> >   (2) F.W. Nietzsche did not have a twin brother.
> >   (3) Nietzsche did not write Chopin's Etudes.    
> > Are there other passages in Nietzsche's works where he seems to 
> > contradict his above perspectivist claim?
> ........................


>      Nietzsche means quite literally that there are no facts of any matter.
>  It is a mistake to try to qualify this attitude for our purposes.  He means
> simply that there are no facts!  It is not a fact that Nietzsche did not have
> a twin brother.  If this is factual, then so must be his not having a turnip
> growing from his forehead.    This may seems irrational.  But rationalism is
> only an interpretation against a scheme which we cannot thow off.
> (I forget the exact quite).
> -Jason Blum


Jason, I don't understand your meaning when you say it is not a fact that 
Nietzsche did not have a twin brother.  Could you clarify?  Are you 
saying we don't know for 100 % certainty that he didn't?  Maybe he did 
and maybe his family hid that "fact" from us.  Is that what you are saying?

Also, you say if the assertion that Nietzsche did not have a twin 
brother is factual, then so is the assertion that he didn't have 
a turnip growing from his forehead.  I would tentatively accept *both* 
propositions as factual.  He did not have a twin brother and he did not 
have a turnip growing from his head.  So where's the problem?

Nor does it seem irrational to me that he didn't have a turnip growing from 
his head.  Am I seriously misreading your msg?

Wayne 
Lilburn, Georgia



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