The Poet, The Professor, and The Prophet: Georges Bataille and Gilles Deleuze Read Nietzsche

This thesis examines how Georges Bataille and Gilles Deleuze engaged with Friedrich Nietzsche.Bataille and Deleuze were 20 th century French philosophers who are credited with resuscitating Nietzsche's reputation in France after Nietzsche had fallen into disrepute due to his appropriation by the Nazis.This thesis therefore reconstructs that moment in French philosophical and political thought.The thesis draws from a mixture of biographical detail, sociopolitical context, and close readings of texts as necessary to explain the objectives, conclusions, and implications of Bataille and Deleuze's readings of Nietzsche.The thesis' primary contention is that Bataille was a more "political" thinker arguing against fascism, while Deleuze was a more "philosophical" thinker arguing against nihilism.Both turned to Nietzsche to help them do this, and both demonstrated exceptional examples of what can be done with Nietzsche. The Prophet: Friedrich NietzscheMay I be forgiven the discovery that all moral philosophy has so far been boring… 1 Assuming that our dearly departed God will not be returning to us anytime soon, how do we live in an unsettled world?The triumphs of scientific advancement and liberal values in the 20 th century ushered in an era of unprecedented individual freedom-and uncertainty.Many of our current political problems stem from our inability to answer epistemic and existential questions without the Church or the State determining absolute truth.We witness a widespread sense of political and social disillusionment, and a "resurgence" in authoritarian political forms many in the Western world once thought defeated.In the face of the world's ills, some begin to question whether life is worth living at all.These are not new insights: Friedrich Nietzsche stands out as a philosopher whose portentous diagnoses of the ills of modern life have borne miserable fruit.Nietzsche also bears the dubious distinction of being a philosopher that nearly always requires the issuance of some kind of clarification whenever he is cited.Who is Nietzsche?There is no easy answer.He was a German philosopher who was born in 1844 and first died mentally in 1889, 2 then physically in 1900.He wrote mostly in aphorisms, creating or reviving numerous concepts such as the "will to power", the "eternal return", and the "Overman", whose meanings are for the most part held in the eye of the beholder.3 Nietzsche is in fact often associated with 1 "...and was a soporofic and that 'virtue' has been impaired more for me by its boring advocates than by anything else, though I am not denying their general utility."Nietzsche, "Beyond Good and Evil" in Basic Writings of Nietzsche 1992, 346. 2 Nietzsche's madness was gradual but culminated in him collapsing in the streets of Turin; according to legend, it was at the sight of a horse being beaten-he threw his arms around the horse's neck to protect it, weeping uncontrollably à la Raskolnikov.After this Nietzsche was an invalid, requiring the 24/7 care of asylum doctors, his mother, and his abusive sister.By the time he died in 1900, he had already been more-or-less comatose for years.3 There are some markers by which we can judge an "accurate" reading of Nietzsche, but if you believe you have figured out the "correct" way to read him, take a number and wait in line. advocating for what is often called perspectivism alongside his fiery denunciations of Christian morality.A cursory reading of Nietzsche's most popular books may give the impression of a devilmay-care relativist, or perhaps a mad neo-reactionary prophet, depending on the reader's disposition.The fact that his writing is so cryptic, so arrogant, so unphilosophical, makes it easy for some to write him off as more style than substance-and consider admiring him a youthful phase one is expected to grow out of.But Nietzsche was a genius.Few other philosophers before or since have matched his powers of insight or creation, or have had such an extensive influence on all that came after them.Even critics of Nietzsche must contend with what he did to our image of thought, however they may lament the consequences.Georges Bataille and Gilles Deleuze were captivated by Nietzsche's genius.These two were Frenchmen, writing in the face and within the shadow of the Second World War, who turned to Nietzsche to help them figure out how to live.Nietzsche at the time was still widely associated with Nazism, and both Bataille and Deleuze argued for a "left-wing", emancipatory vision of Nietzsche to reclaim him from this disgrace.However, neither Bataille nor Deleuze were primarily Nietzsche scholars, and they quickly absorbed the gains from their engagements with Nietzsche into their broader projects-which are significantly more popular.For that reason, their role as interpreters of Nietzsche remains understudied.Neither author was in a strict sense "faithful" to Nietzsche, and in fact their Nietzsche scholarship could be considered examples of what Adrian Blau calls productive misreadings.4 That is, neither Bataille nor Deleuze cared to ensure they were reproducing a "true" version of Nietzsche's ideas.They instead engaged with him in whatever manner they thought would 4 See Blau, Adrian."How (Not) to Use the History of Political Thought for Contemporary Purposes."American journal of political science 65, no. 2 (2021): 359-372.

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