ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Nietzsche’s doctrine of perspectivism provides guidance not only for understanding the role of different perspectives in the construction of knowledge but also for learning how to deeply engage with the perspectives of others. We ultimately argue that Nietzsche’s perspectivism yields a tripartite “pedagogy of perspectival empathy” in which students learn to (1) heed the many perspectives that arise from their own subjective interests, (2) find new ways to conceptualize their experience through learning foreign languages and (3) seek out, internalize and live the perspectives of others. Building upon these three Nietzschean pedagogical pillars, we turn to a recent attempt to formulate a democratic pedagogy of perspectival empathy – Megan Laverty’s (2007) conception of dialogue as philosophical inquiry. Although we argue that Nietzsche would endorse Laverty’s pedagogy of dialogical philosophical inquiry as a critical element of the pedagogy of perspectival empathy, we conclude that Laverty’s pedagogy, and any pedagogy of perspectival empathy founded exclusively on dialogue, cannot ultimately offer students a way of empathizing with the perspectives of others that avoids “passive empathy” (Boler, 1997).
