Nietzsche\'s interpretation of his sources on Darwinism: Idioplasma, Micells and military troops

Abstract

While he did not believe in the idea of a perfect society and humanity, for Nietzsche development [Entwicklung] implied growth and intensification of the will to power of a single organism or a social organism. Development has no final goal or ‘purpose'. Nietzsche interpreted ‘struggle' differently from Darwin as evidence of the most basic sustaining quality of all life: ‘Herrschaft' [rule, government] or ‘Macht' [power]. Nietzsche\'s genealogical approach would contend that structural alterations in societal considerations are illusions, since the foundation, the genealogy, remains the same. Nietzsche\'s reception of Darwin through the work of C. von Nägeli allows us to understand how his philosophy interacted with one of the most important scientific theories of his time.

S. Afr. J. Philos. Vol.24(4) 2005:260-272