Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Will to Power, Competitiveness, Profit-Seeking

On Nietzsche's usual analysis of it, Will to Power qua Self-Overcoming is a synchronic structure, i. e. in which the result of the exercise of control of a 'lower' Self' by a 'higher' Self is simultaneous with the exercise. In contrast, according to a diachronic interpretation of Self-Overcoming, one which it is unclear that Nietzsche does or would endorse, the transcending of Self by Self leads to a superior Self that is subsequent to the transcending. Thus, since Profit-Seeking entails the surpassing of one condition by a subsequent greater one, it could be attributed to the diachronic Will to Power. Now, on Nietzsche's diagnosis, Self-Overcoming is the product of the internalization of aggression. So, likewise, as an expression of the Will to Power, Profit-Seeking can be understood as the internalization of Competitiveness, i. e. of a triumph over another force. But, if so, then Profit-Seeking and Competitiveness are not identical drives, contrary to the generally accepted premises of Capitalism. So, while the Will to Power might be a more versatile Psychological principle than Self-Interest, which is the standard principle of Capitalist theory, the attempt to incorporate it into the latter only brings the incoherence of that model into greater relief.

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