Nietzsche and the Stoic Concept of Recentes Opiniones

Abstract

In the context of the well-established importance of Nietzsche’s engagement with Stoic thought for his work as a whole, this article seeks to make two claims. First, that the Mausoleum reference in Lecture 4 of “On the Future of Our Educational Institutions” constitutes a substantial engagement with the Stoic doctrine of recentes opiniones as presented in Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations; and second, that this reference taken in its textual and intertextual context, constitutes a critique of the Stoic views of time and of the relationship of nature and culture. In so doing, the article seeks to contribute to the wider issues of Nietzsche’s views on naturalism, fatalism, desirability, and culture.