The Politics of Nietzsche's Philosophy: Nihilism, Culture and Power

In: Political studies: the journal of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, Band 33, Heft 3, S. 418-438

Abstract

This article sketches an approach to what might be called the politics of Nietzsche's philosophy. Taking as its point of departure Nietzsche's diagnosis of nihilism in Western culture, the article aims to show that through his analysis of nihilism Nietzsche raises in an intrinsically political way the philosophical issue of how human agency is possible in an historical world. The methodology Nietzsche follows in constructing the problem provides a second arena of interest for political theory and philosophy. A critical dimension in Nietzsche's thought comparable to Marx's stems from the manner in which he related nihilism—a crisis of power manifest as a failure of self-understanding—to political experiences and reified cultural practices. Finally, the article concludes that Nietzsche could arrive at his overt politics only by combining his critical analysis of nihilism, culture, and power with uncritical assumptions about the modern determinants of nihilism.