FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE AND THE WILL TO POWER by Derek 1'. Daskalakes A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Philosophy Committee: .~' ~~~'/" .1\'1f ' r I j't/t,t'."< ,,('. ~~.,,- Director .l {/- /" ~ l/dl(.{-,~,-,.··· , '. ':'~~'~:::<i{~' ,~~~ z;~~r, Department Chairperson b7~ ~ Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: /-1pr2.J I ciS . dO I d- Spring Semester 2012 ----- George Mason University Fairfax, VA Friedrich Nietzsche and the Will to Power A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at George Mason University By Derek T. Daskalakes Bachelor of Arts Old Dominion University, 2005 Director: Martin De Nys, Professor Department of Philosophy Spring Semester 2012 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright: 2012, Derek T. Daskalakes All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my mother, Carol J. Daskalakes. In life, she inspired me to be fearless in my explorations of the world and its ideas. In death, she has taught me to appreciate and savor the time I have despite the struggles and pain I will inevitably experience. That living completely means singing and dancing through the changing seasons of one’s life in full knowledge that the music, one day, will stop. And, to know death, yet, not fear life was the highest expression of what it means to be human. That was her lesson; that was her gift. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to whom I am indebted to for their contributions toward the completion of this project. First among them is my family, who never ceased to support me in the pursuit of my goals. I am grateful to my friends for understanding and forgiving my many absences. The guidance and perseverance of my Thesis Director, Dr. De Nys, made the completion of this project possible. The other members of my Thesis Committee, Drs. Cherubin and Froman, were equally invaluable to the development of my work. Dr. Hatab of Old Dominion University also generously contributed portions of his personal time towards my project. Lastly, I am grateful to the Philosophy Faculty of George Mason for accepting me into their halls and tutelage for the short time that I was there. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1 ..............................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................42 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................70 List of References ..............................................................................................................99 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BT The Birth of Tragedy BGE Beyond Good and Evil GS The Gay Science GOM The Genealogy of Morals H1 Nietzsche, Volume 1 H2 Nietzsche, Volume 2 H3 Nietzsche, Volume 3 H4 Nietzsche, Volume 4 PPP The Pre-Platonic Philosophers PTA Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks TI Twilight of the Idols UWP Prefaces to Unwritten Works WTP The Will to Power vi ABSTRACT FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE AND THE WILL TO POWER Derek T. Daskalakes, MA George Mason University, 2012 Thesis Director: Dr. Martin De Nys “The time into which we have been thrown…disintegration characterizes this time…nothing stands firmly on its feet…everything on our way is slippery and dangerous, and the ice that still supports us has become thin: all of us feel the warm, uncanny breath of the thawing wind; where we still walk, soon no one will be able to walk.”1 What follows will be an attempt to explore and move towards an assessment of Nietzsche’s attempt at overcoming the Western metaphysical and nihilistic tradition, with particular emphasis given to the theory of will to power. I will endeavor to examine how Nietzsche understood the theory, and in what way he intended it as an address to metaphysics and the problem of nihilism. My discussion will draw on several critical accounts of Nietzsche’s philosophy in an attempt to critically assess his theory of will to power. My ultimate aim will be to bring together the entirety of my examination in the 1 WTP 57 form of a provisional assessment of will to power as an attempt to address the problem of nihilism by overcoming metaphysics. This introductory discussion is intended to provide the reader with a basic framework from which to approach the remainder of my examination. In Chapter One I will focus on developing Nietzsche’s understanding of pre-Socratic Greek culture and thought, and the influence I understand it to have had on the development of will to power within his thought. Pre-Socratic Greece, for Nietzsche, represented a counter- example to the manner in which meaning is conceived by the Western metaphysical tradition, as well as the comportment of life within the world on the basis of such meaning. I will examine the Greek affirmation of immanence and corporeality on the basis of art as Nietzsche understands it to be expressed in Greek culture, Greek tragedy, the Greek deities Dionysus and Apollo, and relevant portions of the philosophy of Heraclitus. I will similarly develop his understanding of metaphysics and the inception of the Western metaphysical tradition through an examination of relevant portions of the philosophies of Anaximander, Socrates and Plato. This contrast is intended to develop a larger issue regarding Nietzsche’s understanding of how meaning is developed and employed within pre-Socratic Greece and the Western metaphysical tradition as it is expressed in the relation between art and truth. My examination in Chapter One is intended to provide a context from which the reader can understand the development of will to power in Nietzsche’s thought, as well as his application of it as a constructive theory of meaning. In Chapter Two I will attempt to develop the conceptual framework and philosophic import of will to power. I will begin by developing the following constellation of concepts as I perceive them to be constitutive of will to power: force, value and life. Furthermore, I will examine the way in which Nietzsche understood each concept to present a counter, or subversion, to the Western metaphysical tradition. I will then turn to examining the concepts will and power as separate and distinct terms in order to illustrate the manner in which Nietzsche attempts to transform their traditional meanings, as well as the significance intended in their unification as a singular term. I will then examine and elaborate upon will to power as a constructive theory of meaning, and the philosophic significance that obtains in relation to the Western metaphysical tradition. My purposes in Chapter Two will be to develop the specifics concerning will to power in an effort to establish a framework from which to discuss its application to the Western metaphysical tradition, to be held in the following chapter. In Chapter Three I will undertake a close examination of Nietzsche’s intended application of will to power to the Western metaphysical tradition. I will begin by examining Nietzsche’s understanding of both metaphysics and nihilism. This will include an examination of the Western metaphysical forms of meaning and intelligibility, as Nietzsche understands them to be expressed in the traditional categories of truth and morality. Furthermore, I will attempt to establish in what way he understands such metaphysical categories to be problematic, in what sense nihilism is related to metaphysics, and how a resolution to the problem presented by the former requires the overcoming of the tradition grounded on the latter. That is to say I will examine in what