From Metaphor to Fable: Nietzsche on Truth, Language, and the Construction of Reality
Introduction Nietzsche’s reflections on truth trace an intellectual trajectory in which later developments extend rather than negate earlier insights. In On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense (1873), he examines truth as a product of human cognition, perception, and language. Fifteen years later, in Twilight of the Idols (1888), he turns to the historical and genealogical dimensions, tracing the fate of the “true world” from Plato to positivism. Across this evolution, Nietzsche consistently challenges the assumption of an independent, intrinsic reality behind human concepts, but he shifts from analyzing the mental mechanics of truth to critiquing its moral and cultural history. This article explores that trajectory, showing how truth moves from a metaphorical construction rooted in perception to a historical fable whose necessity gradually dissolves. Truth as Metaphor and Cognitive Construction (1873) In On Truth and Lies , Nietzsche presents a radical picture of human knowledg...