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Nietzsche's Vision of the Overhuman

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Nietzsche's Vision of the Overhuman Nietzsche’s Vision of the Overhuman. Georgios Papandreopoulos A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Staffordshire University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 1 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................. 5 Abbreviations. ................................................................................................................................... 7 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 13 Introducing Overhuman Thought. ................................................................................................ 13 Overhuman adventures. .............................................................................................................. 19 Philology of the Overhuman. ....................................................................................................... 26 Identifying the Overhuman. ......................................................................................................... 34 Nietzsche on the challenges of culture and the illusions of Transhumanity. ..................................... 39 Culture in Nietzsche’s work.......................................................................................................... 40 A note on “philosophy as a ‘way’ of life”. ..................................................................................... 46 On how one ‘does’ philosophy. .................................................................................................... 48 From philosophy to the philosopher. A change of paradigm. ....................................................... 50 More on Culture as a factory of greatness. .................................................................................. 55 On Overhumans and Transhumans. ............................................................................................. 62 From Eugenics to Transhumanism. .............................................................................................. 64 Improvement and Overcoming in Nietzsche’s thought. ................................................................ 68 Elements of Nietzschean psychology. .......................................................................................... 72 Concluding remarks. .................................................................................................................... 77 Nietzsche on Overhuman Politics..................................................................................................... 80 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................... 81 First Part: Diagnostics of the present. .......................................................................................... 82 On democrats and other hooligans. ......................................................................................... 85 The problem of orientation in Nietzschean politics. ................................................................. 92 Genius and greatness in German Idealism and Nietzsche. ........................................................ 95 A note on terminology: What is the meaning of Grosse Politik? ............................................. 101 Second Part: Towards a politics of perpetual conflict. ................................................................ 108 Mapping the history of resistance. ......................................................................................... 108 Nietzsche on agonistic power. ............................................................................................... 117 a. On agon ............................................................................................................................. 117 b. On power ........................................................................................................................... 123 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 130 Nietzsche on the genealogy of Guilt and the future of Innocence. .................................................. 133 3 Introducing Genealogy............................................................................................................... 134 The world turned upside down: The revolt of the slaves. ........................................................... 136 Making guilty I ........................................................................................................................... 141 Interception. Reading Freud - Understanding Nietzsche. ............................................................ 145 Making guilty II. ......................................................................................................................... 148 A Note on Sin. ............................................................................................................................ 153 Making guilty II (continued) ....................................................................................................... 156 Askesis contra ascetic ideals. The challenge of the Third Essay. .................................................. 159 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................. 166 The final overcoming: Otherwise than Time................................................................................... 173 A note on how to read Nietzsche (through Bataille). .................................................................. 174 Mauss’s influence. ..................................................................................................................... 177 On general (or solar) economics. ............................................................................................... 180 On Sovereignty and Nothingness. .............................................................................................. 184 Nietzsche, time and the Greeks. ................................................................................................ 189 Eternal Return: A Sovereign thought. ......................................................................................... 192 Sovereignty in ruins. .................................................................................................................. 199 Living wastefully. Concluding Remarks. ...................................................................................... 207 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 212 Toward the future. .................................................................................................................... 213 Recapitulation, achievements, limitations. ................................................................................. 218 Incipit Vita ................................................................................................................................. 226 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 228 4 Acknowledgments A PhD thesis is certainly the conclusion to a long period of academic study. In my case this journey lasted for exactly a decade, from 2004 to 2014. Over these years I had the opportunity and the great privilege to be taught philosophy by some of the greatest experts and important philosophers in the UK. My gratitude goes especially to Michael Weston, Beatrice Han-Pile, Fiona Hughes and Peter Dews from my time at the University of Essex. To Keith Ansell-Pearson, Miguel de Beistegui, Stephen Houlgate and Peter Poellner from my time at the University of Warwick. To Aaron Ridley and Christopher Janaway from my time at Southampton University and to David Webb, Martin Jesinghausen and Douglas Burnham from my time at Staffordshire University. They have all helped me to become not just a better philosopher but, what is more important to me, to become what I am. My gratitude goes also to my parents Stelios and Marlen for providing me with the best conditions of ζείν so as to be able to dedicate myself to philosophy, to my sister Katia for her support in all matters and to Eleni Papanastasiou for the infinite hours of fun that we had on Skype! I remain eternally indebted to Artemis Pneumaticos for everything. Finally, I would especially like to stress my gratitude and my deepest respect to my PhD supervisor, Professor Douglas Burnham. I have benefited from both his knowledge of the field and his intellectual generosity. This thesis would have never been completed if it were not for his patience with me and his composure at all times. This thesis belongs to him as much as it belongs to me (the mistakes though are exclusively mine!). 5 6 Abbreviations. For Nietzsche’s work in German: KSA: Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Sämtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe in 15 Einzelbänden, edited by Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. 1988 Translations
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