Moral Psychology with Nietzsche - Brian Leiter

Abstract

Brian Leiter needs little introduction: renowned legal scholar, creator and long-standing editor of the controversial ranking of US philosophy departments the Philosophical Gourmet Report, author of the recent Why Tolerate Religion?, but especially herald of an uncompromisingly naturalistic interpretation of Nietzsche’s philosophy. His recently published book Moral Psychology with Nietzsche is comprised of seven chapters that all come from previous work, but have often been thoroughly revised to take into account critical responses and new interpretations in the secondary literature that have emerged in recent years. The book systematically and succinctly showcases all the major themes of Leiter’s research on Nietzsche, with special emphasis on value anti-realism, the relation between affects and moral judgments, the freedom of the will, and the nature/nurture debate around our character and personality. All these, and many other topics, are related by virtue of their relevance to moral psychology, and actually constitute, in Leiter’s opinion, Nietzsche’s most significant philosophical contribution to this field of enquiry.