EVOKING INTROSPECTION AND COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF STYLISTIC DEVIATION IN NIETZSCHE'S BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

Abstract

Nietzsche's philosophical work Beyond Good and Evil is famous for its style, its arrest and unusual quality that elicits a sense of negativity and can lead to a reconsideration of one's ideas and general assumptions, as much as to an act of judgment. The point of the contrast is this to force the reader to gaze, to face the ground position he momentarily embodies so much so, that he feels compelled to reconsider it Nietzsche's gotus is a psychological one. The idea of the contrast is to make one confront and rethink his very deep-seated beliefs; that's the point of the contrast: to make the reader feel compelled to rethink his ground position, he is deliciously in, for a short while. This paper explores certain aspects of Nietzsche's thought in his aphoristic composition, paradoxical use of language and unorthodox perspectives, aspects that such as questioning the conventional ways of thinking. From Beyond Good and Evil, for instance, in his "On the Prejudices of Philosophers," Nietzsche writes: "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. This cranks a reader to look at the opposites in their own beliefs, his style provocative and a reason to delve into the mind. The analysis shows that Nietzsche's innovations in style deviate from the conventions associated with the presentation of philosophical arguments, forcing the reader to become disoriented, uncomfortable and ultimately, to engage in very intense self-reflection and review many deeply held beliefs (Lavery, 2007). The results indicate that Nietzsche's radical methodology of philosophizing through writing plays a vital role within his entire scheme of debunking dogmatic content of philosophical reflection and engendering a perspective with a fine-grained insight into the human condition.