Abstract

The Snake’s Molting and Nietzsche’s Styles. Nietzsche’s philosophy becomes itself through a series of transformations and renewals. To describe this movement, Nietzsche uses a recurring metaphor: molting (Häutung). Like the snake he likes so much, he writes to rid himself of his thoughts, leaving them behind and starting a new life. Writing is as much an experience of self-transformation as it is the result of this molting: the rigid skin left by the animal. Working on the occurrences of «molting» and its derivatives, I will use this metaphor to try to understand the variety of Nietzsche’s styles.