Ehrlichkeit and Parrhēsia: The Development of Nietzsche’s Cynicism from Schopenhauer as Educator to Ecce Homo

<p>Abstract:</p><p>Nietzsche commits himself to a practice of honesty (<i>Ehrlichkeit</i>) in <i>Schopenhauer as Educator</i>. This article argues that this practice is an adaptation of Diogenes’s <i>parrh</i><i>ē</i><i>sia</i>, the Cynic virtue of outspokenness, and that Nietzsche’s commitment to <i>Ehrlichkeit</i> increases from 1874 to 1888. The article emphasizes the interpersonal dimensions of <i>Ehrlichkeit</i> and <i>parrh</i><i>ē</i><i>sia</i> and the author resists the widespread tendency to conflate Nietzsche and Diogenes in terms of shamelessness. The article demonstrates that, using Diogenes as an exemplar, Nietzsche gradually renounces the scholarly pretense of hiding the personal significance of his opinions behind needlessly theoretical language. This development culminates in his explosive autobiography, <i>Ecce Homo</i>, which the author interprets, against the grain of Nietzsche scholarship, as the book of <i>Ehrlichkeit</i>, not <i>Redlichkeit</i>, par excellence.</p>