Nietzsche claims in his Course on Rhetoric that tropes are not ornaments but inherent in language. As Ricoeur puts it, “Language is figurative through and through” ( Oneself as Another 
Then Nietzsche says that for this reason language is a lie.
But the conclusion follows only if Nietzsche assumes that we can discover truth only if we can find a way (extra-linguistic?) characterized by transparency and immediacy. But he’s not supposed to believe in transparency and immediacy.
If language is a tool for discovering truth, and if language is figurative through and through, then that means that figuration is essential to our discovery of truth.
Like his postmodern heirs, Nietzsche is haunted by the paradigm he renounces.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
How the State Failed Noelia Castillo
On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…
The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves
The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…
