The aim of this paper is to show that by interpreting the similarities and differences between Nietzsche and Schopenhauer’s views on concepts and signs one can clearly see how Nietzsche attempts to overcome some of the most fundamental problems of epistemology and ontology raised in modernity — that is to say, why his philosophy is, in many respects, already «contemporaneous». I start by presenting six of Schopenhauer’smain theses on concepts and signs and then six parallel theses put forward by Nietzsche. The latter may seem to be identical to the former, but in the end they prove to be radically different. My main point is that Nietzsche’s conception of words and concepts in terms of «signs» owes a great deal to Schopenhauer — and yet it ...