Aestheticism and the Others: The Social Dimension of Nietzsche's Views on Self-Fashioning

Abstract

In this article, I shall explore the social dimension of Friedrich Nietzsche's views on self-fashioning, focusing on the interpretation offered by Alexander Nehamas. First, I shall briefly present Nehamas's understanding of Nietzsche's views on self-fashioning and the overall significance of their social aspects. Then I shall investigate the necessity of the audience to assess one's attempt at self-fashioning. Furthermore, I shall explore how one's pursuit of self-fashioning is influenced by and influences other similar efforts. Finally, the article will reveal the role of contest in the phenomenon of influence.

Keywords

• Friedrich Nietzsche
• Alexander Nehamas
• self-fashioning
• audience
• influence
• contest