摘要：This article aims to show the relevance of Nietzsche’s philosophy of metaphor. Against the metaphysical tradition, Nietzsche understands that language develops from evolution and realizes that its fundament does not rest in logical principles but rather in metaphors, and that false beliefs derive from erroneous values. In order to understand the role of the verb “to be” in constructing false beliefs, I analyse Nietzsche’s interpretation of Parmenides’ philosophy of being. Nietzsche claims that the logical consequence of Parmenides’ metaphysical thought, according to which our language descends from the true transcendent world, is that concepts represent the essence of things. I claim that, for Nietzsche, this belief is erroneous, as far as he states that there is no essence or substance, no transcendent world beyond the empirical one, which our language comes from. Our language as well as our knowledge derive from our body, which demonstrates that the body is one with the soul. Insofar as we develop our language by creating metaphors starting from our bodily sensations, Nietzsche considers metaphors as the fundament of our language and points out that they become concepts only to express the same meaning.
关键词：Nietzsche; theory of metaphor; philosophy of language; metaphor and ethics
