James S. Pearson

Conflict is a fundamental concept within Nietzsche’s social and political philosophy. There is a great deal of disagreement, however, regarding the specific type of conflict that Nietzsche himself endorses. Some read him as an aristocratic warmonger; others, though, interpret him as a democratically minded advocate of non-violent contest or agon. In a recently published monograph – Nietzsche on Conflict, Struggle and War (CUP, 2022) – I try to resolve this controversy by constructing a unified account of Nietzsche’s understanding of conflict. This presentation provides an overview of the main findings of this monograph.

Bio

James S. Pearson is a Junior Researcher at the University of Lisbon (CFUL). He previously worked as a lecturer in philosophy at Leiden University (NL) and as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tartu (Estonia). Aside from the monograph being discussed in this presentation, James has co-edited (with Herman Siemens) a volume on Nietzsche’s philosophy of conflict (Bloomsbury, 2018) and published articles in various journals, including Nietzsche-Studien, The Journal of Nietzsche Studies, The Canadian Journal of Philosophy and the Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie.

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