Vernunft und Vernunftkritik in Nietzsches Denken

Abstract While in the history of philosophy all manifestations of culture were brought before the judgment seat of reason, today it seems rather the other way around, as if reason is in turn standing before judgment. Like many philosophical problems, Nietzsche also recognised the problem of the crisis of reason in modern times in his inimitable way, foresightedly and at an early stage, elaborated it with captivating originality and thus himself prominently contributed to its crisis. Nietzsche sums up and draws conclusions about his philosophical thinking of reason primarily in the third section of his work Götzen-Dämmerung . In this article, I explore two questions: First, I examine what Nietzsche’s critique of reason consists of exactly and what larger philosophical references he has in this regard. Secondly, I elaborate on what Nietzsche’s programme of a ‘restored reason’ consists of and what relevance we can ascribe to it today. Nietzsche’s thinking about instinct, happiness and nature will be given special consideration, as will his view of Goethe.