Nietzsche’s interpretation of his sources on Darwinism

Idioplasma, Micells and military troops

Bibliographic Data

ID11420229
AuthorsAnette Horn (University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume24
Issue4
Pages260-272
Publication date2005-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth African Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0258-0136 • E-ISSN: 2073-4867
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4314/sajpem.v24i4.31426
OpenAlexW2067748558
LanguageEN
References cited19

While he did not believe in the idea of a perfect society and humanity, for Nietzsche development [Entwicklung] implied growth and intensification of the will to power of a single organism or a social organism. Development has no fmal goal or ‘purpose’. Nietzsche interpreted ‘struggle’ differently from Darwin as evidence of the most basic sustaining quality of all life: ‘Herrschaft’ [rule, government] or ‘Macht’ [power]. Nietzsche’s genealogical approach would contend that structural alterations in societal considerations are illusions, since the foundation, the genealogy, remains the same. Nietzsche’s reception of Darwin through the work of C. von Nägeli allows us to understand how his philosophy interacted with one of the most important scientific theories of his time

Darwinism · Epistemology · Linguistics · Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hegel · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism