Social and political views of Friedrich Nietzsche: Difference between revisions
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'''Nietzsche's social and political views''', although not central to his thought, are quite complex. |
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== Politics == |
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While a [[political]] tone may be discerned in [[Nietzsche]]'s writings, his work does not in any sense propose or outline a "political project". The man who stated that "The will to a system is a lack of integrity" was consistent in never devising or advocating a specific system of [[governance]], enquiry, or [[ethics]] — just as, being an advocate of individual struggle and [[self-realization]], he never concerned himself with [[mass movements]] or with the [[organization]] of groups and [[political parties]]. In this sense, Nietzsche could almost be called an anti-political thinker. [[Walter Kaufmann]] put forward the view that the powerful individualism expressed in his writings would be disastrous if introduced to the public realm of politics. Later writers, led by the [[France|French]] intellectual [[Left]], have proposed ways of using Nietzschean [[theory]] in what has become known as the "politics of [[difference]]" — particularly in formulating theories of political [[resistance]] and [[sexual]] and [[moral]] difference. |
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Owing largely to the writings of Kaufmann and others, the spectre of [[Nazism]] has now been almost entirely exorcised from his writings. Nietzsche often referred to the common people who participated in mass movements and shared a common [[mass psychology]] as "the rabble", or "the herd". He valued [[individualism]] above all else<!-- this is an oversimplification to the point of misunderstanding -->, and was particularly opposed to [[pity]] and [[altruism]] (one of the things that he seems to have detested the most about [[Christianity]] was its emphasis on pity and how this allegedly leads to the elevation of the weak-minded). While he had a dislike of the state in general, Nietzsche also spoke negatively of [[Anarchism|anarchists]] and made it clear that only certain individuals could attempt to break away from the herd mentality. This theme is common throughout ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]''. It was also long thought that one central political theme running through much of Nietzsche's work was [[Social Darwinism]] — the idea that the strong have a natural right to dominate the weak, and that feelings such as [[compassion]] and [[mercy]] are burdens to be overcome. This, too, is based on a misrepresentation of his critiques of [[morality]] and politics: the "genealogical method" is, in this sense, an appeal to the possibility of different moral values rather than a defence ''per se'' of what he describes as "master" and "slave" moralities. This has influenced a great variety of [[political movements]] in the century that has elapsed since Nietzsche's death, and, because all those movements claim Nietzsche as part of their intellectual legacy, it is often difficult to distinguish Nietzsche's own views from the views of those who claim to follow him. |
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<!-- needs a new location: Nietzsche's thought has also been a major influence on [[Ayn Rand]]'s [[objectivist philosophy]]. --> |
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Perhaps Nietzsche's greatest political legacy lies in his 20th century interpreters, among them [[Michel Foucault]], [[Gilles Deleuze]] (and [[Félix Guattari]]), and [[Jacques Derrida]]. Foucault's later writings, for example, adopt Nietzsche's genealogical method to develop [[anti-foundationalism|anti-foundationalist]] theories of power that divide and fragment rather than unite polities (as evinced in the [[liberalism|liberal]] tradition of political theory). The systematic institutionalisation of criminal delinquency, sexual identity and practice, and the mentally ill (to name but a few) are examples used to demonstrate how knowledge or truth is inseparable from the state institutions that formulate notions of legitimacy ''from'' 'immoralities' such as homosexuality and the like (captured in the famous [[power-knowledge]] equation). Deleuze, arguably the foremost of Nietzsche's interpreters, used the much-maligned 'will to power' thesis in tandem with Marxian notions of commodity surplus and Freudian ideas of desire to articulate concepts such the [[Rhizome (metaphor)|rhizome]] and other 'outsides' to state power as traditionally conceived. |
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== Views on women == |
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Noted as a Nietzsche scholar and translator, [[Walter Kaufmann]] (1976: 120) has gone so far as to call Nietzsche's remarks on women "more often than not, second-hand and third-rate". That Nietzsche also mocked men and [[masculinity|manliness]] has not saved him from the charge of [[sexism]]. However, the women he associated with typically reported that he was more amiable and respectful than most educated men of the time. Much of Nietzsche's commentary on women (and men) should be read in light of his re-evaluation of [[morality]] and his desire for humanity to evolve and overcome the limitations of the individual, e.g., why push for women's involvement in [[politics]] when women can direct their energies toward something more culturally significant? Moreover, some of his statements on women seem to prefigure the criticisms of [[post-feminism]] against prior versions of [[feminism]]s, particularly those that claim orthodox feminism does violence to women by positing and privileging the ideation of woman. In this connection to Nietzsche's commentaries, he was acquainted with [[Schopenhauer]]'s work "On Women" and was probably influenced by it to some degree. As it would at first appear, some statements scattered throughout his works seem to attack women in a similar vein. |
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Nietzsche's view of women is based upon their role as potential mothers, and he places the creation of greater things as the central task of a rich and valuable life; it is an exultation of womanhood as [[maternity]]. This stands in contrast to the then-prevailing view of woman as the receptacle of male fertility (exemplified by [[Sigmund Freud]]'s [[Sigmund Freud#Psychosexual development|views on women]]). Nietzsche argues that fruitfulness has value — because man has no natural avenue for a meaningful existence, he sets fruitful pursuits for himself. Woman, however, is herself a source of fertility and creation. That is to say, both are capable of doing their share of ''humanity's'' work, with their respective physiological conditions. |
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However, Nietzsche lacks clarity in expressing whether this image of woman is a product of [[nature]] or of [[nurture]]: While he sometimes suggests the former, he only explicitly discusses the attitudes, tendencies and values that are the latter. It may be misleading to generalise from Nietzsche's writings — he was not a systemic philosopher. The implication exists that woman can take a different path than the one he has laid out, even if it contradicts her 'nature'. Nietzsche certainly never reprimanded any woman for taking a non-maternal role—-he is not even a proscriptive philosopher, since his emphasis on the transvaluation of all values would not allow it<!-- needs quotation -->. Peter J. Burgard's ''Nietzsche and the Feminine'' and Frances Nesbitt Oppel's ''Nietzsche on Gender: Beyond Man and Woman'' both read Nietzsche's statements on women as being yet another series of word-games amongst word-games, meant to challenge the reader and incite inspection of the concepts involved. French post-structural theorist [[Jacques Derrida]] made a similar argument in his ''Spurs''. |
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==References== |
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*Kaufmann, Walter, ''Editor's Note to Thus Spoke Zarathustra: First Part''. In ''The Portable Nietzsche''. Ed. and trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Penguin Books, [1954] 1976. pp. 115-121. |
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[[Category:Friedrich Nietzsche]] |
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