Nietzsche, Agonistic Politics, and Spiritual Enmity

Bibliographic Data

ID6339271
AuthorsPaul E Kirkland (0000-0002-7538-1536, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, USA, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume73
Issue1
Pages3-14
Publication date2020-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1065912919868772
OpenAlexW2970150047
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

This article examines the agonistic elements of Nietzsche’s thought in light of theorists who have sought to develop an agonistic democratic theory that would challenge democratic theory oriented by consensus. It argues that Nietzsche’s praise for a spiritualization of enmity provides support for a politics that embraces contest rather than seeking the elimination of conflict through either consensus or domination. Yet, unlike contemporary democratic theorists, Nietzsche’s view challenges egalitarian commitments by presenting the sources of such conflicts in noble faiths. Instead of following the practice of many scholars in identifying the agonistic with its utility for democratic politics, the paper examines Nietzsche’s view of the underlying sources of contest, including important tensions between theory and practice. The paper presents contest among noble faiths as crucial to Nietzsche’s political thought while highlighting a contest between politics and philosophy behind it. He thereby offers what he sees as an alternative to the philosophical politics of settled unified authority and reveals the deepest contest as one between politics and philosophy

Aggression · Agonism · Agonistic behaviour · CONTEST · Democracy · Epistemology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Praise · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hegel · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Psychology · Social Psychology