ABSTRACT
Nietzsche is well known for challenging ultimate motivations and hidden agendas in his critical philosophy. He identifies limitations of perspectives both personal and at the general level of the human, and throughout his writings, he tests the utility and efficacy of the tools of inquiry, including various forms of reasoning and observation. The chapter examines a possible positive contribution that stems from Nietzsche’s critical legacy, including his practice of mental modeling and his use of this tool as a technology for drawing on, as well as producing, empirical evidence. I argue that this sheds important light on the peculiar way in which Nietzsche pursues a form of naturalism, and I discuss it in light of contemporary philosophies of science and mind that explore reasoning practices in the sciences and processes of cognitive recruitment.
