Nietzsche Colloquium 2019: THE DOMINANT SUPER-ANIMAL – Nietzsche’s Constructions of Masculinity
Thursday, September 26 to Sunday, September 29, 2019, all day, Hotel Waldhaus Sils
Nietzsche shook up gender stereotypes. Long before the feminist controversy as to whether sex or gender contributed to masculine or feminine sexual identity, he explored the question of how biological factors on the one hand and cultural and social norms on the other affect the self-image of people who are constantly confronted with the conflicting needs of body and mind. As a physiologist, Nietzsche postulated that “at our base, really ‘deep down’ […] there is something unteachable, some granite of spiritual fate” (JGB; KSA 5, 170), the weight of which consistently grounds self-identity. As a philosopher and a psychologist, he was interested in interaction with the ego essence, which stubbornly resists all of the instructions issued ‘from above’. Intellectual claims of validity in the form of moral and social norms are unable to impress gender as they hit ‘granite’ with their demands.
A different coordination between “down” and “above” is therefore necessary. Nietzsche posited a typically ideal construction of masculinity for man “who by his nature is m a s t e r” (ibid., 293), which he sharply delineates against models of female self-determination. His malicious attacks on “woman as such” are legendary and have been interpreted as misogynous. This has often obscured the fact that he also mocked and ridiculed the role-specific pretensions of men.
The Colloquium is in German language. It is intended both for experts and for an interested public in general. The events can be attended separately.
Prices: Colloquium ticket CHF 180 (students CHF 50) / individual events CHF 20 (students CHF 10) / concert CHF 30 (students CHF 20). Advance registration is not necessary.
PROGRAM (in German)
Important note: Next year’s Nietzsche Kolloquium will start on Wednesday instead of Thursday. It will take place from Wednesday 30 September to Saturday 3 October 2020.
