Introduction

An important feature of Nietzsche’s thought, experimentation (experimentieren) bears on the roles he thought science and art should play in the future generation of knowledge and values. While the function of experimentation in his philosophy is not often examined, that is changing, yet in the specific context of this volume’s theme—experimentation via art and science—it has not been examined before. This is doubtless because, despite frequent mentions of it, he does not identify experimentation as a major concern. Yet insofar as it links his major concerns and would, as he repeatedly indicated, serve to realize his overarching philosophical objectives, Nietzsche’s advocacy of experimentation proves quite important to his thinking. This anthology therefore takes up that theme, examining the role that Nietzsche expected experiments to play in his philosophy, particularly in the form of artworks, broadly construed, and the various uses to which science could be put to advance his free spirit’s life-affirming aims, including the revaluation of all values and the overcoming and transfiguration of humankind.