NIETZSCHE AND TAYLOR BETWEEN TRUTH AND MEANING

Abstract

What is the relation between truth and meaning in a secular and post-traditional age? Does the longing for truth necessarily eliminate all possible forms of meaning, and, vice versa, does the human capacity to create meaning require that we suppress or even abandon the claim to truth altogether? The main goal of this paper is to examine the relation between truth and meaning by staging a confrontation between two authors who are both deeply engaged in this issue, and who initially appear to be opponents: Friedrich Nietzsche, the herald of nihilism who claimed that all previous foundations of morality have been undermined, and Charles Taylor, the advocate of 'strong evaluation' and the inevitability of meaningfulness. Despite several differences, Nietzsche and Taylor are in fact less opposed than one might think: both recognize that post-modem human beings find themselves in a field of moral tension, and that their most urgent task is to learn how to cope with the felt 'cross pressures', the permanent tensions between competing values. In this regard, it is worth noting that Nietzsche is presented as an opponent as well as an ally throughout Taylor's works. Taylor's ambiguity with regard to Nietzsche has first been noticed by Michael Shapiro and later