Abstract

What is "the matter" in this dissertation? Above all, rhetoric and criticism matter. The dissertation presents a distinctively Nietzschean criticism by extracting a critical theory from Nietzsche's rhetoric lectures. Before doing so, rhetoric and criticism first are engaged as such--that is, tentative answers are proffered about certain basic concepts in order to further the thinking about Nietzsche, rhetorical studies, and the like. The study should be read as a response to the existing rhetorical tradition, not as one prescribing a monolithic Nietzschean method. ;The various sections of the dissertation indicate a distinctive style of questioning attributable, in part, to the special perspectives encouraged by Nietzsche. Toward what end? Questioning opens ways. In order to get the thinking underway, the way must be prepared, and so a "method" is sought within the tradition of rhetoric and rhetorical criticism. First, a brief walk back through the tradition helps put that tradition in perspective. This traditional view then is supplemented by Nietzsche's view of rhetoric. Next, a singularly Nietzschean "method" is developed, using these traditional definitions as counterparts. After the "method" is applied to a disciplinary debate about rhetoric and epistemology in Chapter Three, the tradition is revisited in Chapter Four where the tradition vis-a-vis Nietzsche are reworked in light of the ground covered during the course of the study. Finally, speculations about future scholarship in the Nietzschean tradition are offered