''On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense'' (german: Über Wahrheit und Lüge im aussermoralischen Sinne, also called ''On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense'' Walter Kaufmann's translation, appearing in ''The Portable Nietzsche'', 1976 edition.

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

.) is a

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

essay by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

. It was written in 1873, one year after ''

The Birth of Tragedy ''The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music'' (german: Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik) is a 1872 work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as ''The Birth of Tragedy, Or ...

'', but was published by his sister Elisabeth in 1896 when Nietzsche was already mentally ill.

Summary

Nietzsche's essay provides an account for (and thereby a critique of) the contemporary considerations of

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belief ...

and

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

s. These considerations, argues Nietzsche, arose from the very establishment of a

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

: According to Paul F. Glenn, Nietzsche is arguing that "concepts are metaphors which do not correspond to reality." Although all concepts are

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

s invented by humans (created by common agreement to facilitate ease of communication), writes Nietzsche, human beings forget this fact after inventing them, and come to believe that they are "true" and do correspond to

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, re ...

. Thus Nietzsche argues that "truth" is actually: These ideas about truth and its relation to human language have been particularly influential among

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

theorists, and "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" is one of the works most responsible for Nietzsche's reputation (albeit a contentious one) as "the godfather of postmodernism."

Raymond Geuss Raymond Geuss, FBA (; born 1946) is a political philosopher and scholar of 19th and 20th century European philosophy. He is currently Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge. Geuss is primarily known for three r ...

has compared Nietzsche's view of language, as expressed in this essay, to be similar to that of the later Wittgenstein's, in its de-emphasis of "the distinction between literal and metaphorical usage."

Notes

External links

Original text in German

(English)
On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense
(English) *Also: ''About Truth and lie in the extra-moral sense (''pages 119-128). In '' Nietzsche’s seven notebooks from 1876.'' New translation (2020) by Daniel Fidel Ferrer. Free online. {{Authority control Books about metaphors Essays by Friedrich Nietzsche

Summary

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links