This study proposes to examine the tension in Nietzsches works between two competing discourses, i.e., the discourse of theology and the discourse of philology. It argues that, in order to understand Nietzsches complicated standpoint and the aim of hisKulturkritik, we have to appreciate how he operates with two different discourses, one indexed to belief, faith, liturgy (i.e., the discourse of theology) and another indexed to analytical reason, sceptical investigation, and logical argumentation, as well as historical context and linguistic precision (i.e., the discourse of philology). Its core thesis is that, in the end, Nietzsche can no longer believe, because he thinks he has uncovered a fraudulentproduction of meaning in the texts, in a way that is comparable with his insight into theproduction of morality inOn the Genealogy of Morals(1887).
Paul Bishop is William Jacks Chair of Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow.
1. Introduction.- 2. Nietzsche and the History of Atheism.- 3. Nietzsche and the Quest for the Historical Jesus.- 4. Nietzsche, David Friedrich Strauß, and the post-Straussian Tradition.- 5. Nietzsches Methods and Portrait of Christ.- 6. Nietzsche and St Paul.- 7. Nietzsche on Philology.- 8. Conclusion.
