Artful Immorality – Variants of Cynicism: Machiavelli, Gracián, Diderot, Nietzsche

Daniel Scott Mayfield

Published by De Gruyter 2015

Artful Immorality – Variants of Cynicism

Machiavelli, Gracián, Diderot, Nietzsche

Daniel Scott Mayfield

Volume 8 in the series WeltLiteraturen / World Literatures

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110431599

Overview
Contents

About this book

When a term is overused, it tends to fall out of fashion. Cynicism seems to be an exception. Its polytropic versatility apparently prevents any discontinuation of its application. Everyone knows that cynicism denotes that which is deemed deleterious at a given time; and every time will specify its toxicities – the apparent result being the term’s non-specificity. This study describes the cynical stance and statement so as to render the term’s use scholarly expedient.
Close readings of textual sources commonly deemed cynical provide a legible starting point. A rhetorical analysis of aphorisms ascribed to the arch-Cynic Diogenes facilitates describing the design of cynical statements, as well as the characteristic features of the cynical stance. These patterns are identifiable in later texts generally labeled cynical – above all in Machiavelli’s Principe. With recourse to the Diogenical archetype, cynicism is likewise rendered describable in Gracián’s Oráculo manual, Diderot’s Le neveu de Rameau, and Nietzsche’s Posthumous Fragments.
This study’s description of cynicism provides a phenomenon otherwise considered amorphous with distinct contours, renders transparent its workings, and tenders a dependable basis for further analyses.

Author / Editor information

DS Mayfield, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	VII
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
1. Artful Immorality: Imprimis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Ancient Cynicism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
3. The Close Readings
3.1. Elegant Expediency: Machiavelli’s Il Principe (~1513) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
3.2. Acute Concinnity: Gracián’s Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia (1647) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
3.3. A ‘Diogenes Redivivus’: Diderot’s Le Neveu De Rameau (~1774 / 1805 / 1891) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
3.4. Beyond Morality, Or Cynicism: Nietzsche’s Nachgelassene Fragmente (1884–1889) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
4. Morality’s Contingency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	445
Scribal Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	453
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	455
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	473

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Literary Studies, Political Science and Philosophy
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 481
Keywords: Cynicism; Contingency; Rhetoric; Diogenes

eBook

Published: September 14, 2015
ISBN: 9783110431599

Hardcover

Published: August 28, 2015
ISBN: 9783110438482