This is how we drink up the sea: Liberal democracy and the prospect of truth

Abstract

I begin my paper by deconstructing Nietzsche’s two distinct theories of truth—Perspectivism and Interpretationism—and the ways in which they differ from one another. I then suggest that by conceiving modern politics to mean liberal democracy, it follows that there are a number of critiques that Interpretationist truth has to bear on the institution. With this synthesis, I argue that rather than posing any danger to modern politics, liberal democracy is endangered only to the extent that it ignores Nietzschean theory and its ramifications for both the political institution and individuals in society. In particular, I suggest that there is a role for philosophy, theory, culture and art to ‘interrupt’ liberal democracy, and in so doing regenerate its capacity for creativity, guard against its habit of static domination, and frustrate its tendency toward deindividuation such that institutions and individuals can attain existential and material freedom. My conclusion supports the notion that a positive understanding of nihilistic philosophy is credible, and could be constructively employed to enrich the political experience if actors chose to embrace it.