American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Ideas

by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

Kaufmann considered Nietzsche just the thinker to bring existentialism and analytic philosophy, Europe and America, into dialogue with each other. On the one hand, Nietzsche exhibited the “temper” of existentialism. According to Kaufmann, he blended philosophy and psychology, examined the consequences of the death of God for modern man, and drew from literary sources in his cultural criticism. On the other hand, Nietzsche also exhibited a “positivistic streak” : his rejection of metaphysics, his empiricism, and his attention to the uses of language all demonstrated his affinity with analytic philosophers.57 In pulling these two strains together in Nietzsche, Kaufmann also showed their unexpected harmonies. Despite the antagonisms between them, both sought to dispel illusions masquerading as truth and to question false necessities, and desired “to bring philosophy down to earth.”