The Nietzschean Sellars : Remarks on the Nietzsche-Sellars view of mind
Magnell, Elsa LU
and Dahl, Niklas
LU
(2025)
In Southern Journal of Philosophy
63(1).
p.81-98
- Abstract
We discuss the striking similarities between Friedrich Nietzsche's and Wilfrid Sellars's respective philosophies of mind. Drawing especially on recent Nietzsche scholarship by Riccardi and Katsafanas, we argue that the Nietzschean picture of consciousness is essentially the same as Sellars's view of conceptually structured thought. In particular, we argue that both consider structured thinking to be a linguistic phenomenon whose structure, in turn, arises contingently from social interactions within a community. Further, both views provide for a special role to be played by specifically mentalistic vocabulary, making it possible to engage with the mental states of others in a reflective way. We also discuss how this parallel extends to... (More)
We discuss the striking similarities between Friedrich Nietzsche's and Wilfrid Sellars's respective philosophies of mind. Drawing especially on recent Nietzsche scholarship by Riccardi and Katsafanas, we argue that the Nietzschean picture of consciousness is essentially the same as Sellars's view of conceptually structured thought. In particular, we argue that both consider structured thinking to be a linguistic phenomenon whose structure, in turn, arises contingently from social interactions within a community. Further, both views provide for a special role to be played by specifically mentalistic vocabulary, making it possible to engage with the mental states of others in a reflective way. We also discuss how this parallel extends to their respective views on perception. Drawing on O'Shea and Riccardi, we argue for interpretations on which there still is a clear connection between their respective views. Finally, we end the article by discussing some reasons why this similarity should not be as unexpected as it initially seems.
(Less)
- author
- Magnell, Elsa
LU
and Dahl, Niklas
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Southern Journal of Philosophy
- volume
- 63
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 81 - 98
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85197733246
- ISSN
- 0038-4283
- DOI
- 10.1111/sjp.12581
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- aa572e2e-550a-42cc-8533-a473d81f617a
- date added to LUP
- 2024-12-12 11:43:23
- date last changed
- 2025-05-19 14:12:12
@article{aa572e2e-550a-42cc-8533-a473d81f617a,
abstract = {{<p>We discuss the striking similarities between Friedrich Nietzsche's and Wilfrid Sellars's respective philosophies of mind. Drawing especially on recent Nietzsche scholarship by Riccardi and Katsafanas, we argue that the Nietzschean picture of consciousness is essentially the same as Sellars's view of conceptually structured thought. In particular, we argue that both consider structured thinking to be a linguistic phenomenon whose structure, in turn, arises contingently from social interactions within a community. Further, both views provide for a special role to be played by specifically mentalistic vocabulary, making it possible to engage with the mental states of others in a reflective way. We also discuss how this parallel extends to their respective views on perception. Drawing on O'Shea and Riccardi, we argue for interpretations on which there still is a clear connection between their respective views. Finally, we end the article by discussing some reasons why this similarity should not be as unexpected as it initially seems.</p>}},
author = {{Magnell, Elsa and Dahl, Niklas}},
issn = {{0038-4283}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{81--98}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Southern Journal of Philosophy}},
title = {{The Nietzschean Sellars : Remarks on the Nietzsche-Sellars view of mind}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12581}},
doi = {{10.1111/sjp.12581}},
volume = {{63}},
year = {{2025}},
}