Quotation
Last reviewed:
“There is only a perspective seeing, only a perspective 'knowing'.”
Friedrich Nietzsche · Genealogy and perspectivism · Modern · 1887
What does it mean?
There is only a perspective seeing, only a perspective 'knowing'. The scare quotes on knowing are the point. He is not saying that knowledge is a shrug. He is saying that seeing is always from somewhere, and that the opposite of a perspective is not a view from nowhere but more eyes. A rival reading hears relativism: every perspective equally fine, so criticism is bad taste. The section wants the capacity to use different perspectives in the service of knowledge. Another reading drops the quotes and hears a denial that we know anything.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English keeps the scare quotes on 'knowing'. Maudemarie Clark and Alan Swensen also keep them. The quotes mark that he is handling a word, not announcing that nothing is known. The section argues for multiplying perspectives, the more eyes the better, not for 'anything goes'.
Where it comes from
On the Genealogy of Morals III §12, in Walter Kaufmann's translation
Approximate date: 1887.
How to use it
In a newsroom or a clinic in London, two descriptions of the same event are both situated. The sentence does not say they are equally good. It says the demand for a view from nowhere is the wrong demand. Ask what a further perspective would let you see, not whether perspective as such has refuted the inquiry.
A mindset reading
Multiplying eyes is an epistemic discipline. 'That's just your perspective' as a way to end an argument is the opposite of the section. He thinks more perspectives serve knowing. The scare quotes warn you not to turn knowing into a sneer.
Understand the philosophy
Genealogy III §12 is an aside inside the essay on ascetic ideals, and it is one of his clearest statements on knowledge. It is published. It is not the notebook line about facts and interpretations, which is a different card and a weaker source.
- knowledge
- mind
- ethics
FAQ
What does it mean?
There is only a perspective seeing, only a perspective 'knowing'. The scare quotes on knowing are the point. He is not saying that knowledge is a shrug. He is saying that seeing is always from somewhere, and that the opposite of a perspective is not a view from nowhere but more eyes. A rival reading hears relativism: every perspective equally fine, so criticism is bad taste. The section wants the capacity to use different perspectives in the service of knowledge. Another reading drops the quotes and hears a denial that we know anything.
Did Friedrich Nietzsche really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. Kaufmann's English keeps the scare quotes on 'knowing'. Maudemarie Clark and Alan Swensen also keep them. The quotes mark that he is handling a word, not announcing that nothing is known. The section argues for multiplying perspectives, the more eyes the better, not for 'anything goes'.
Which work is it in?
On the Genealogy of Morals III §12, in Walter Kaufmann's translation Approximate date: 1887.