The will to power in Nietzsche

Nietzsche is one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century, along with other prominent figures such as Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. These thinkers have been called “philosophers of suspicion” for their desire to unmask the falsehood hidden under the enlightened values ​​of rationality and truth. In particular, Nietzsche spoke of the will to power.

According to Nietzsche, Western culture is flawed by having attempted to establish rationality in all aspects of life. Since the beginning of Western culture in Greece, rationality represents a symptom of decadence. Everything that opposes the values ​​of man’s instinctive and biological existence is decadent.

Therefore, the fundamental principle of Nietzschean theory is the concept of life. To understand what this thinker meant by “life” and its relationship with the will to power, continue reading this article.

Previous influences of Nietzsche

Nietzsche’s thought is strongly influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer, whom Nietzsche discovered in 1865. This philosopher conceives that the universe is driven by a primordial force: the will to live. This current drives all living creatures to avoid death and procreate. For Schopenhauer, this will is the most relevant aspect of reality, even more than being.

Nietzsche’s other important influence was Ruđer Bošković. Nietzsche makes the only reference to Bošković’s published works in Beyond Good and Evil, where he declares war on the atomism of the soul. The idea of ​​centers of force would be fundamental in Nietzsche’s later theories about the will to power.

Nietzsche and the concept of life

For the German philosopher, Life is based on two basic principles: the principle of conservation and the principle of increase..

It postulates that there is only life as long as it preserves itself. Of course, this capacity for conservation is due to constant movement, the need for increase. If what is conserved does not increase, it dies. Life is preserved because it increases thanks to the achievement of that which makes us have more life.

All of this vital space, whose principles we have echoed, is understood as the will to power.

The two vital principles of Nietzschean philosophy are conservation and increase. If we do not try to increase what we have, we will not be able to preserve what we have.

The will to power in Nietzsche

For Nietzche, will is a process inherent to all organic processes. It is not only present in living beings, it is also present in the entire universe. On the other hand, power is not the act of dominating or subduing others, it is, rather, a self-transcendence, a going beyond oneself. In this way, we can understand the will to power in Nietzche as the tendency to development, to self-affirmation.

The will to power is the very evolution of life. It could even be said that Life is the will to power because it is it that conquers what we long for.the one that tries to obtain what we want and the one that dominates what we possess.

The will to power is life expelled towards a horizon in which we find and obtain what we want. Therefore, he wants things and wants to increase what he has. But it is essential to say that the will to power, before desiring anything, must will itself; Only in this way will you want to increase what you have to preserve what you already have.

The fundamental purpose of the will to power is to restore the vision of the world and convert it into an assessment where the nature of the human being plays a predominant role. In this sense, Nietzsche’s analysis of the will to power delves into the essence of the values ​​that our Western society has assumed since the definitive destitution of the sensible world.

Let’s imagine that we want to buy a car, but, at the moment we want it, we do not have enough liquidity to obtain it. Maintaining that desire will only be possible if we work to try to increase our savings. in order to be able to pay for the desired car. If we did nothing to achieve that goal, that desire would disappear as a desire and as a motivation.

The will to power loves itself

Once the will to power wants its own preservation, it also understands that everything it has conquered cannot be maintained if it only preserves it. In order to preserve, you have to increase, you have to continue conquering ground.

The will to power is intentional and projected towards the world of life, the only place where you can obtain what you want. The nature of this will is movement, never stopping, continuing to expand. According to Nietzsche, if we are satisfied with what we currently have and do not try to increase it, we die (in a metaphorical sense in which the will to power is petrified).

Where does the truth lie, then? For the German philosopher it is clear that it is found in the will to power. There is a very close relationship between truth and power.

Let’s imagine that a certain media outlet publishes a news story in the morning. All other media outlets echo it and each tells the story from the perspective of their ideology. It is likely that each person will take as true the “fact” published by the media that best fits his or her ideas.

Now let’s imagine that, given the different versions of the media, controversy arises and, at night, people from the various media gather in a sit-in to discuss what is for them the truth of what has happened. happened (truths collide precisely because there are only interpretations of the facts). It is at this moment that a critical mind will understand that the TRUE she is the daughter of power

This being so, it is obvious that the hegemonic truth will always be supported by power, since it is a powerful expression of the will that wants to increase to preserve itself (to understand this, let’s think about totalitarian regimes whose truth was absolute).

The will to power vivifies us

In each of us beats the desire to improve ourselves, to increase what we already are to preserve that which permeates our entire existence: life. Each step we take on the ladder of our self-realization is a seed we cultivate to preserve our own life, our most precious asset.

Thanks to our development, to that desire to go further, to that will to power that floods us, we can conquer the unknown terrains of our human condition. Every time we increase, through the achievement of that which makes us have more life, we are not only more, but we live longer. If what is conserved does not increase, it dies.

To end, Any will to power that does not seek to increase to preserve itself is just a life imbued with nothing: what we understand today by nihilism (the word nihilism comes from the Latin nihilindefinite indeclinable pronoun meaning “nothing”).

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