Nietzsche's Darwin, and the Spirit of the Agon

Dissertation, Indiana University (2000)
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Abstract

The thesis is the first to argue that Nietzsche was a committed anti-Darwinist, and that his mature philosophy, particularly the Genealogy, must be understood in relation to its polemical anti-Darwinist bias. Whereas previous commentators have appreciated Darwin's importance for Nietzsche's development, none has recognized in the Nietzsche-Darwin relationship a key to understanding Nietzsche's major philosophical preoccupations. In contrast to those interpreters who believe that Nietzsche was intent in criticizing Darwin's followers, or the "English psychologists" , not Darwin himself, this thesis contends that the development of Nietzsche's antagonism to Darwin is central to Nietzsche's spirit of the agon , whereby one seeks out a worthy competitor in order to assert affirmative will to power. While the first part of the thesis is devoted to a chronological analysis of Nietzsche's philosophical development in relation to Darwinian ideas and methods, the second part focuses on the Three Essays of the Genealogy and how they challenge the assumptions of a complete Darwinian worldview. By concentrating on the Nietzsche-Darwin relationship, and more specifically, on the anti-Darwinian nature of that relationship, the thesis hopes to break through some of the critical impasses that have impeded progress in Nietzsche scholarship, particularly in relation to the controversial "biologism" of Nietzsche's thought

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