Abstract

Recent publications have traced a relation of influence between Nietzsche's philosophy and Freudianpsychoanalysis. While Freud is certainly intellectually indebted to Nietzsche, the present paper emphasisesthe significant difference between these philosophers' works: Namely, that they exhibit a differenteconomy, and are thus committed to competing theoretical structures. This difference comes to the fore inthe approach that each takes to elaborating the mind-body relation, and especially in the contrast betweenFreud's early neuroscientific speculations and Nietzsche's emphasis uponlanguage, and particularly metaphor. In order to illustrate this ‘economical’ difference between their theories, the paper critiques Freud's early commitment to neurological discourse using Nietzsche's genealogical method