ABSTRACT

A century after Nietzsche homelessness is still with us, both in its literal and its metaphorical sense. There also still exists a nostalgic longing for home, for a place that we can truly call our own, for the safety of community and nation. In consequence, we find it hard to accept Nietzsche's optimistic claim that 'there is great advantage to be gained in distantly estranging ourselves from our age'.2 We are less confident than he that this condition alone prepares us for the redemptive gift of a 'philosophy of the morning', the gift 'of all those free spirits who are at home in mountain, wood, and solitude ... . Born out of the mysteries of dawn, they ponder on how, between the tenth an the eleventh stroke of the clock, the day could present a face so pure, so light-filled, so cheerful and transfigured. '3