Thursday, November 12, 2015

Socialism, Superman, Will to Power

In 'On the Philosophy of the Superman', Trotsky strongly opposes Nietzsche's concept, on the grounds of its privileging Individuality.  However, that judgment is significantly complicated by the passage from Their Morals and Ours that has been previously discussed.  For, his characteristization, in the latter work, of a Human "power" over Nature, that includes that over the natural "power" of one human over another, plainly expresses an adoption of Nietzsche's Will to Power principle.  He thereby diverges from traditional Marxist analysis, by attributing Capitalist exploitation as for its own sake, not as a means to economic profit.  He also extends the principle in a direction that is generally unconsidered by Nietzsche.  For, he ascribes power over Nature to the species, not to an individual, thereby entertaining the possibility of the former as possessing a Will to Power of its own, which Nietzsche never seems to do.  Similarly, therefore, the Superman can be interpreted as the species with respect to individual humans, and, hence, as equivalent to the Dionysian principle.  Thus, Trotsky shows, wittingly or not, how Socialism can be derived from the Will to Power, or, in other words, that Marxism intersects with Nietzsche's doctrine.

No comments:

Post a Comment