“One Jew More or Less—What Does It Matter?”: Nietzsche on the Jewish Question

This paper examines Friedrich Nietzsche’s treatment of the Jews in the context of his overall project: the revaluation of values. Contrary to common (mis)perceptions, the Jews do not occupy some marginal place in Nietzsche’s philosophy nor are they decried outright by the German philosopher; instead, they constitute a central component of Nietzsche’s thought and determine constructively the directionality of his thinking. While the feasibility of Nietzsche’s ambitions may be open to question, his reverence of the Jews, I argue, is not.