Nietzsche's Complementary Man

In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche introduces a term for a notion, equivalent to 'Superman', according to some, that has been significant to him for years previously--the 'complementary' man. The latter is one "in whom the rest of existence is justified", someone who "incorporates" the entire range of humanity's past experiences and values, thereby overcoming the past, as Zarathustra does. Since Nietzsche also characterizes this ability to incorporate as a "plastic power", the notion of complementarity clarifies the evaluative criterion 'degree of power' entailed in the doctrine of Will to Power--i. e. the more comprehensive the incorporation, the greater degree of power involved. So, not only men and actions can be evaluated in terms of more or less comprehensiveness, so, too, can interpretations and theories, for example. Thus, when a scientific theory is praised as possessing greater 'explanatory power', it is being evaluated on the basis of the Will to Power criterion. Likewise, the criticism of Leo Strauss, previously presented here, is on the grounds of the narrow scope of his proposed interpretation of Nietzsche. In Formaterialism, comprehensiveness is called 'Complexity', and a relation of greater comprehensiveness is called 'more Evolved'. So, the notion of complementarity helps explain how the doctrine of Will to Power is a precursor to the 'Evolvementalism' that has been presented here. More important, it helps refute the common impression that the doctrine of Will to Power is a promotion of rapacious brutality, and it undercuts any presumption that superiority is a function of 'racial purity'. It is unfortunate that such a fruitful notion has been overshadowed by some of Nietzsche's more provocative rhetoric.