Nietzsche: A Selected Annotated Bibliography

Nietzsche’s Epistemology

Nietzsche repeatedly called into question the value of truth.   Scholars have ascribed every major theory of truth to him, while others have claimed he has no epistemology nor was he interested in one.

Clark, Maudemarie.  Nietzsche On Truth and Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).   JFD 91-4468

The most comprehensive book on Nietzsche’s theory of truth.  Clark is critical of scholars such as Derrida, DeMan, and Nehamas who claim that Nietzsche is a nihilist, who believes there is no truth.   For Clark, the belief that there is no truth is an early position that Nietzsche gave up in his later writings.

Cox, Christoph.  Nietzsche: Naturalism and Interpretation.  (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).

For Cox, the “death of God” is what gives unity to Nietzsche’s seemingly fragmentary thought and is the foundation for his naturalism, i.e., his rejection of metaphysical principles to explain how we know.  Clear and concise, this is a superb account of Nietzsche’s theory of truth.  Also, the footnotes, often with a dozen citations, provide excellent overviews of the conflicting interpretations among Nietzsche scholars.