‘Pain Always Asks for a Cause’: Nietzsche and Explanation
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Authors
Publication Date
2017-12Journal Title
European Journal of Philosophy
ISSN
0966-8373
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
25
Issue
4
Pages
1550-1568
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
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Bennett, M. (2017). ‘Pain Always Asks for a Cause’: Nietzsche and Explanation. European Journal of Philosophy, 25 (4), 1550-1568. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12240
Abstract
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Those who have emphasised Nietzsche's naturalism have often claimed that he emulates natural scientific methods by offering causal explanations of psychological, social, and moral phenomena. In order to render Nietzsche's method consistent with his methodology, such readers of Nietzsche have also claimed that his objections to the use of causal explanations are based on a limited scepticism concerning the veracity of causal explanations. My contention is that proponents of this reading are wrong about both Nietzsche's methodology and his method. I argue for this by: first, showing that Nietzsche was suspicious of causal explanations not only on sceptical grounds but also for reasons provided by his psychological analysis of our tendency to look for causes; and second, arguing for a non-causal interpretation of Nietzsche's approach to psychological explanation.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12240
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/286622
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