«Un mondo libero dotato di trasformabilità camaleontica». Nietzsche lettore di Lichtenberg

The essay aims to investigate the influence of Lichtenberg’s thinking within Nietzsche’s thought. The first part of the essay analyses the eighteenth-century debate around physiognomy between Lichtenberg and Lavater, with the aim of showing how Lichtenberg anticipates in many respects a dynamic and plural conception of subjectivity. The second part of the essay analyses Nietzsche’s direct references to Lichtenberg between 1867 and 1873. In particular, I emphasise the importance of Lichtenberg’s writing style for Nietzsche and the influence it also had on Schopenhauer. The third part of the essay analyses Nietzsche’s use of Lichtenberg’s thought in the first Untimely Meditation. What emerges is a contrast between Lichtenberg as a sceptical, anti-religious Enlightenment scholar and David Strauss as a cultural philistine. The final part of the essay dwells on the philosophical significance of aphoristic writing, placing it in close relation to Lichtenberg and Nietzsche’s critique of the Cartesian method.