Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche

Nietzsche’s idea of ‘will to power’ is one of the most influential concepts of history of philosophy that emerges out as a result of his criticism of certain knowledge and tradition morality. The rejection of certain knowledge and traditional morality lead Nietzsche to regard human interest and ‘sup...

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Main Author: Muhammad Ateeq
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad 2022-02-01
Series:Journal of Research in Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jrss.numl.edu.pk/index.php/jrss/article/view/148
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author Muhammad Ateeq
author_facet Muhammad Ateeq
author_sort Muhammad Ateeq
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description Nietzsche’s idea of ‘will to power’ is one of the most influential concepts of history of philosophy that emerges out as a result of his criticism of certain knowledge and tradition morality. The rejection of certain knowledge and traditional morality lead Nietzsche to regard human interest and ‘supremacy’ as most prior. Nietzsche conceives ‘will to power’ as act of ‘free spirit’. He believes that ‘will to power’ being act of ‘free spirit’ is an inner potential by virtue of which men overcome their false beliefs which are barriers in human projection and authenticity of self. Santayana argues that ‘will to power’ is a mistaken concept. He believes that ‘life’ is not necessarily assertion of power to get supremacy over others. He raises an objection that the idea of ‘will to power’ ultimately leads to admiration of ‘egotism’ that takes superiority of human for granted and creates disharmony between human and reality. Santayana links Nietzsche’s thought to German philosophical tradition that pursues ‘free spirit’ and authenticity of self but embraces egotism. For Santayana, one can pursue authenticity of self through his wisdom and creativeness like Greek who had been supporter of ‘free spirit’ but always had harmony with reality. This paper aims to explore Santayana’s question that inquires how authenticity of self can be achieved without egotistic implication. I will revisit the notion of authenticity of self by giving an analysis of Nietzsche’s theory of ‘will to power’ and Santayana’s critique of this theory.
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spelling doaj.art-e9c95341ba0c4ae0b99a7d01cc017ea92023-02-13T11:11:58ZengNational University of Modern Languages (NUML), IslamabadJournal of Research in Social Sciences2306-112X2022-02-0110110.52015/jrss.10i1.148148Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of NietzscheMuhammad AteeqNietzsche’s idea of ‘will to power’ is one of the most influential concepts of history of philosophy that emerges out as a result of his criticism of certain knowledge and tradition morality. The rejection of certain knowledge and traditional morality lead Nietzsche to regard human interest and ‘supremacy’ as most prior. Nietzsche conceives ‘will to power’ as act of ‘free spirit’. He believes that ‘will to power’ being act of ‘free spirit’ is an inner potential by virtue of which men overcome their false beliefs which are barriers in human projection and authenticity of self. Santayana argues that ‘will to power’ is a mistaken concept. He believes that ‘life’ is not necessarily assertion of power to get supremacy over others. He raises an objection that the idea of ‘will to power’ ultimately leads to admiration of ‘egotism’ that takes superiority of human for granted and creates disharmony between human and reality. Santayana links Nietzsche’s thought to German philosophical tradition that pursues ‘free spirit’ and authenticity of self but embraces egotism. For Santayana, one can pursue authenticity of self through his wisdom and creativeness like Greek who had been supporter of ‘free spirit’ but always had harmony with reality. This paper aims to explore Santayana’s question that inquires how authenticity of self can be achieved without egotistic implication. I will revisit the notion of authenticity of self by giving an analysis of Nietzsche’s theory of ‘will to power’ and Santayana’s critique of this theory.https://jrss.numl.edu.pk/index.php/jrss/article/view/148will to power, free spirit, authenticity, good conscience, egotism
spellingShingle Muhammad Ateeq
Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
Journal of Research in Social Sciences
will to power, free spirit, authenticity, good conscience, egotism
title Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
title_full Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
title_fullStr Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
title_full_unstemmed Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
title_short Nietzsche’s ‘will to power’ and its Egotistic Character: Focus on Santayana’s Critique of Nietzsche
title_sort nietzsche s will to power and its egotistic character focus on santayana s critique of nietzsche
topic will to power, free spirit, authenticity, good conscience, egotism
url https://jrss.numl.edu.pk/index.php/jrss/article/view/148
work_keys_str_mv AT muhammadateeq nietzscheswilltopoweranditsegotisticcharacterfocusonsantayanascritiqueofnietzsche