Abstract

In this dissertation, I attempt to reconstruct a 'tradition' of thinking which focusses upon the autonomy of the individual life as the most important issue of all. Thus, in Part One I show how in St. Paul's Letters to the Romans, the individual is commanded to take charge of himself in the interest of salvation--though such a project is ultimately abandoned in favour of self-denial, and reliance upon the grace of God. Then, I turn to Kant, and I show how in his ethical writings the same ideal of autonomy serves as the only proper basis for morality, and as the highest expression of freedom. Nevertheless, as the deepest tendency of his philosophical system, Kant's 'metaphysics of reason' ultimately entails the betrayal of individual autonomy--for in specifying autonomy as the commandment of rational nature, Kant relies upon a problematic metaphysical model which only devalues the individual as such. ;In Part Two, I turn to Nietzsche's early writings, and I show in what respect the project of individual autonomy is also the most crucial problem in his work. Thus I show how Nietzsche describes autonomy, in terms of self-empowerment and the willing of one's own will; and, how he sought to provoke autonomy, through various strategies, like the recollection of tragedy or the thought of Eternal Recurrence. I then offer a reading of Zarathustra as a parable of Neitzsche's 'philosophy of will.' ;In Part Three, I consider Nietzsche's later work, and how through his discussion of history, autonomy comes to represent the very counter-movement to nihilism: For if, as Nietzsche claims, the basic determination of nihilism is that of 'willessness', then its remedy lies in that which forces us to start willing again. Thus Nietzsche shows that autonomy is an urgent demand which is placed upon the individual life. And in helping us to understand how the individual may take charge of himself and "become what he is," his thought offers the highest testimony to the individual as such. ;Finally, in an Appendix I reply to Heidegger's criticism of Nietzsche and the 'philosophy of will.'