The Aesthetic Justification of Existence: Nietzsche on the Beauty of Exemplary Lives

A disagreement about the nature of Nietzsche’s “aesthetic justification of existence” has recently emerged in the literature. In this essay, I argue that the disagreement stems from a common but mistaken assumption that Nietzsche focuses on works of art to justify life. Instead, in the Untimely Meditations, Nietzsche shifts to the beauty of exemplary individuals to justify life. Through an examination of the Kantian practical arguments in the Untimely Meditations, I show how the scholarly debate can be overcome and suggest that Nietzsche’s early period views can illuminate the basis of some of his late period ideals, such as the overman and philosopher of the future.