The will to power () is a concept in the

philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' ('' The World as Will and Repres ...

. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematically defined in Nietzsche's work, leaving its interpretation open to debate. Usage of the term by Nietzsche can be summarized as

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, the concept of actualizing one's will onto one's self or one's surroundings, and coincides heavily with

egoism Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normativ ...

''Kraft'' vs. ''Macht''

Some of the misconceptions of the will to power, including Nazi appropriation of Nietzsche's philosophy, arise from overlooking Nietzsche's distinction between ''Kraft'' ("force" or "strength") and ''Macht'' ("power" or "might"). ''Kraft'' is primordial strength that may be exercised by anything possessing it, while ''Macht'' is, within Nietzsche's philosophy, closely tied to sublimation and "self-overcoming", the conscious channeling of ''Kraft'' for creative purposes.

Early influences

Nietzsche's early thinking was influenced by that of

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...

, whom he first discovered in 1865. Schopenhauer puts a central emphasis on will and in particular has a concept of the "

will to live The will to live ( German: ''der Wille zum Leben'') is a concept developed by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, representing an irrational "blind incessant ''impulse'' without knowledge" that drives instinctive behaviors, causing an end ...

". Writing a generation before Nietzsche, he explained that the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

and everything in it is driven by a primordial will to live, which results in a desire in all living creatures to avoid death and to procreate. For Schopenhauer, this will is the most fundamental aspect of reality – more fundamental even than being. Another important influence was

Roger Joseph Boscovich Roger Joseph Boscovich (, ; ; ; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa.Friedrich Albert Lange's 1865 '' Geschichte des Materialismus'' (''History of Materialism''). As early as 1872, Nietzsche went on to study Boscovich's book ''Theoria Philosophia Naturalis'' for himself. Nietzsche makes his only reference in his published works to Boscovich in ''

Beyond Good and Evil ''Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future'' () is a book by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche that covers ideas in his previous work ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' but with a more polemical approach. It was first published in 1886 ...

'', where he declares war on "soul-atomism". Boscovich had rejected the idea of "materialistic atomism", which Nietzsche calls "one of the best refuted theories there is". The idea of centers of force would become central to Nietzsche's later theories of "will to power".

Appearance of the concept in Nietzsche's work

As the 1880s began, Nietzsche began to speak of the "Desire for Power" (''Machtgelüst''); this appeared in ''

The Wanderer and his Shadow ''Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits'' () is a book by 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878. A second part, ''Assorted Opinions and Maxims'' (), was published in 1879, and a third part, ''The Wande ...

'' (1880) and '' Daybreak'' (1881). ''Machtgelüst'', in these works, is the pleasure of the feeling of

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

and the hunger to overpower.

Wilhelm Roux Wilhelm Roux (9 June 1850 – 15 September 1924) was a German zoologist and pioneer of experimental embryology. Early life Roux was born and educated in Jena, German Confederation where he attended university and studied under Ernst Haeckel. He a ...

published his ''The Struggle of Parts in the Organism'' (''Der Kampf der Teile im Organismus'') in 1881, and Nietzsche first read it that year. The book was a response to Darwinian theory, proposing an alternative mode of evolution. Roux was a disciple of and influenced by

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

, who believed the struggle to survive occurred at the cellular level. The various cells and tissues struggle for finite resources, so that only the strongest survive. Through this mechanism, the body grows stronger and better adapted. Rejecting

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

, Roux's model assumed a neo-Lamarckian or pangenetic model of inheritance. Nietzsche began to expand on the concept of ''Machtgelüst'' in ''

The Gay Science ''The Gay Science'' (; sometimes translated as ''The Joyful Wisdom'' or ''The Joyous Science'') is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche published in 1882, and followed by a second edition in 1887 after the completion of ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' and ...

'' (1882), where in a section titled "On the doctrine of the feeling of power", he connects the desire for cruelty with the pleasure in the feeling of power. Elsewhere in ''The Gay Science'' he notes that it is only "in intellectual beings that pleasure, displeasure, and will are to be found", excluding the vast majority of organisms from the desire for power.

Léon Dumont Léon Dumont (February 5, 1837 in Valenciennes – January 17, 1877 in Valenciennes) was a French psychologist and philosopher. He influenced William James and is perhaps best known for his treatise on the causes of laughter (''Des causes du rire ...

(1837–77), whose 1875 book ''Théorie scientifique de la sensibilité, le plaisir et la peine'' Nietzsche read in 1883, seems to have exerted some influence on this concept. Dumont believed that pleasure is related to increases in force. In ''The Wanderer'' and ''Daybreak'', Nietzsche had speculated that pleasures such as cruelty are pleasurable because of exercise of power. But Dumont provided a physiological basis for Nietzsche's speculation. Dumont's theory also would have seemed to confirm Nietzsche's claim that pleasure and pain are reserved for intellectual beings, since, according to Dumont, pain and pleasure require a coming to consciousness and not just a sensing. In 1883 Nietzsche coined the phrase ''Wille zur Macht'' in ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche; it was published in four volumes between 1883 and 1885. ...

''. The concept, at this point, was no longer limited to only those intellectual beings that can actually experience the feeling of power; it now applied to all life. The phrase ''Wille zur Macht'' first appears in part 1, "1001 Goals" (1883), then in part 2, in two sections, "Self-Overcoming" and "Redemption" (later in 1883). "Self-Overcoming" describes it in most detail, saying it is an "unexhausted procreative will of life". There is will to power where there is life and even the strongest living things will risk their lives for more power. This suggests that the will to power is stronger than the will to survive. Schopenhauer's

(''Wille zum Leben'') thus became a subsidiary to the will to power, which is the stronger will. Nietzsche thinks his notion of the will to power is far more useful than Schopenhauer's will to live for explaining various events, especially human behavior—for example, Nietzsche uses the will to power to explain both

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

life-denying impulses and strong life-affirming impulses as well as both

master and slave morality Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

. He also finds the will to power to offer much richer explanations than

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

's notion that all people really want to be happy, or the

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

nist notion that people want to be unified with the Good. Nietzsche read

William Rolph William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

’s ''Biologische Probleme'' around mid-1884, and it clearly interested him, for his copy is heavily annotated. He made many notes concerning Rolph. Rolph was another

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

ary

anti-Darwinist Objections to evolution have been raised since evolutionary ideas came to prominence in the 19th century. When Charles Darwin published his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species'', his theory of evolution (the idea that species arose through desc ...

like Roux, who wished to argue for evolution by a different mechanism than natural selection. Rolph argued that all life seeks primarily to expand itself. Organisms fulfill this need through assimilation, trying to make as much of what is found around them into part of themselves, for example by seeking to increase intake and nutriment. Life forms are naturally insatiable in this way. Nietzsche's next published work was ''

'' (1886), where the influence of Rolph seems apparent. Nietzsche writes, ''Beyond Good and Evil'' has the most references to "will to power" in his published works, appearing in 11 aphorisms. The influence of Rolph and its connection to "will to power" also continues in book 5 of ''Gay Science'' (1887) where Nietzsche describes "will to power" as the instinct for "expansion of power" fundamental to all life.

Carl Nägeli Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli (26 or 27 March 1817 – 10 May 1891) was a Swiss botanist. He studied cell division and pollination but became known as the man who discouraged Gregor Mendel from further work on genetics. He rejected natural selecti ...

's 1884 book ''Mechanisch-physiologische Theorie der Abstammungslehre'', which Nietzsche acquired around 1886 and subsequently read closely, also had considerable influence on his theory of will to power. Nietzsche wrote a letter to Franz Overbeck about it, noting that it has "been sheepishly put aside by Darwinists". Nägeli believed in a "perfection principle", which led to greater complexity. He called the seat of heritability the idioplasma, and argued, with a military metaphor, that a more complex, complicatedly ordered idioplasma would usually defeat a simpler rival. In other words, he is also arguing for internal evolution, similar to Roux, except emphasizing complexity as the main factor instead of strength. Thus, Dumont's pleasure in the expansion of power, Roux's internal struggle, Nägeli's drive towards complexity, and Rolph's principle of insatiability and assimilation are fused together into the biological side of Nietzsche's theory of will to power, which is developed in a number of places in his published writings. Having derived the "will to power" from three anti-Darwin evolutionists, as well as Dumont, it seems appropriate that he should use his "will to power" as an anti-Darwinian explanation of evolution. He expresses a number of times the idea that adaptation and the struggle to survive is a secondary drive in the evolution of animals, behind the desire to expand one's power – the "will to power". Nonetheless, in his notebooks he continues to expand the theory of the will to power. Influenced by his earlier readings of Boscovich, he began to develop a physics of the will to power. The idea of matter as centers of force is translated into matter as centers of will to power. Nietzsche wanted to slough off the theory of matter, which he viewed as a relic of the metaphysics of substance. These ideas of an all-inclusive

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

built upon the will to power do not appear to arise anywhere in his published works or in any of the final books published posthumously, except in the above-mentioned aphorism from ''Beyond Good & Evil'', where he references Boscovich (section 12). It does recur in his notebooks, but not all scholars treat these ideas as part of his thought.

Will to power and eternal recurrence

Throughout the 1880s, in his notebooks, Nietzsche developed a theory of the "eternal recurrence of the same" and much speculation on the physical possibility of this idea and the mechanics of its actualization occur in his later notebooks. Here, the will to power as a potential physics is integrated with the postulated eternal recurrence. Taken literally as a theory for how things are, Nietzsche appears to imagine a physical universe of perpetual struggle and force that repeatedly completes its cycle and returns to the beginning. Some scholars believe that Nietzsche used the concept of eternal recurrence metaphorically. But others, such as Paul Loeb, have argued that "Nietzsche did indeed believe in the truth of cosmological eternal recurrence." By either interpretation the acceptance of eternal recurrence raises the question of whether it could justify a trans-valuation of one's life, and be a necessary precursor to the overman in his/her perfect acceptance of all that is, for the love of life itself and

amor fati is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "love of fate" or "love of one's fate". It is used to describe an attitude in which one sees everything that happens in one's life, including suffering and loss, as good or, at the very least, necessa ...

Interpretations

In contemporary Nietzschean scholarship, some interpreters have emphasized the will to power as a psychological principle because Nietzsche applies it most frequently to human behavior. However, in Nietzsche's unpublished notes (later published by his sister as "The Will to Power"), Nietzsche sometimes seemed to view the will to power as a more (metaphysical) general force underlying ''all'' reality, not just human behavior—thus making it more directly analogous to Schopenhauer's will to live. For example, Nietzsche claims the "''world is the will to power—and nothing besides!''". Nevertheless, in relation to the entire body of Nietzsche's published works, many scholars have insisted that Nietzsche's principle of the will to power is less metaphysical and more pragmatic than Schopenhauer's will to live: while Schopenhauer thought the will to live was what was most real in the universe, Nietzsche can be understood as claiming only that the will to power is a particularly useful principle for his purposes. Some interpreters also upheld a biological interpretation of the ''Wille zur Macht'', making it equivalent with some kind of

social Darwinism Charles Darwin, after whom social Darwinism is named Social Darwinism is a body of pseudoscientific theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economi ...

. For example, the concept was appropriated by some

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s such as

Alfred Bäumler Albin Alfred Baeumler (sometimes Bäumler; ; 19 November 1887 – 19 March 1968), was an Austrian-born German philosopher, pedagogue and prominent Nazi ideologue. From 1924 he taught at the Technische Universität Dresden, at first as an unsalari ...

, who may have drawn influence from it or used it to justify their expansive quest for power. This reading was criticized by

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

in his 1930s courses on Nietzsche—suggesting that raw physical or political power was not what Nietzsche had in mind. This is reflected in the following passage from Nietzsche's notebooks: Opposed to a biological and voluntary conception of the ''Wille zur Macht'', Heidegger also argued that the will to power must be considered in relation to the ''

Übermensch The ( , ; 'Overman' or 'Superman') is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his 1883 book, '' Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' (), Nietzsche has his character Zarathustra posit the as a goal for humanity to set for itself. The repre ...

'' and the '' thought of eternal recurrence''—although this reading itself has been criticized by

Mazzino Montinari Mazzino Montinari (4 April 1928 – 24 November 1986) was an Italian scholar of Germanistics. A native of Lucca, he became regarded as one of the most distinguished researchers on Friedrich Nietzsche, and harshly criticized the edition of ''The ...

as a "macroscopic Nietzsche".

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

also emphasized the connection between the will to power and eternal return. Both Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze were careful to point out that the primary nature of will to power is unconscious. This means that the drive to power is always already at work unconsciously, perpetually advancing the will of the one over the other. This thus creates the state of things in the observable or conscious world still operating through the same tension. Derrida is careful not to confine the will to power to human behavior, the mind, metaphysics, nor physical reality individually. It is the underlying life principle inaugurating all aspects of life and behavior, a self-preserving force. A sense of entropy and the eternal return, which are related, is always indissociable from the will to power. The eternal return of all memory initiated by the will to power is an entropic force again inherent to all life. Opposed to this interpretation, the "will to power" can be understood (or misunderstood) to mean a struggle against one's surroundings that culminates in personal growth, self-overcoming, and self-perfection, and assert that the power held over others as a result of this is coincidental. Thus Nietzsche wrote: It would be possible to claim that rather than an attempt to 'dominate over others', the "will to power" is better understood as the tenuous equilibrium in a system of forces' relations to each other. While a rock, for instance, does not have a conscious (or unconscious) "will", it nevertheless acts as a site of resistance within the "will to power" dynamic. Moreover, rather than 'dominating over others', "will to power" is more accurately positioned in relation to the subject (a mere

synecdoche Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy; it is a figure of speech that uses a term for a part of something to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term is derived . Common English synecdoches include '' ...

, both fictitious and necessary, for there is "no doer behind the deed," (see ''

On the Genealogy of Morals ''On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic'' (; sometimes also translated as ''On the Genealogy of Morals'') is an 1887 book by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It consists of a preface and three interrelated treatises ('Abhandlungen' in Ge ...

'') and is an idea behind the statement that words are "seductions" within the process of self-mastery and self-overcoming. The "will to power" is thus a "cosmic" inner force acting in and through both animate and inanimate objects. Not just instincts but also higher level behaviors (even in humans) were to be reduced to the ''will to power''. This includes both such apparently harmful acts as physical

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

, lying, and domination, on one hand, and such apparently non-harmful acts as gift-giving,

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, and

praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's ...

on the other—though its manifestations can be altered significantly, such as through art and aesthetic experience. In ''

'', he claims that philosophers' "will to truth" (i.e., their apparent desire to dispassionately seek objective, absolute truth) is actually nothing more than a manifestation of their will to power; this will can be life-affirming or a manifestation of

nihilism Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...

, but it is the will to power all the same. Other Nietzschean interpreters dispute the suggestion that Nietzsche's concept of the will to power is merely and only a matter of narrow, harmless, humanistic self-perfection. They suggest that, for Nietzsche, power means self-perfection ''as well as'' outward,

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

elitist Elitism is the notion that individuals who form an elite — a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage — are more likely to be construct ...

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

domination. Nietzsche, in fact, explicitly and specifically defined the egalitarian state-idea as the embodiment of the will to power in decline: Nietzsche thought that the drive is to manifest power rather than self-preservation. He thought it was most of the time incorrect that organisms live to prolong their life-time or extend the life of their species. Resistances are not painful annoyances but necessary for growth to occur. Suffering annoyances and being thwarted in ones attempt to accomplish a goal are necessary pre-conditions for our power. In 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' Nietzsche said "And life confided the secret to me: behold, it said, I am that which must always overcome itself." Nietzsche thought it necessary to have the power to discharge ones strength and thus fulfil one's purpose in the manifestation of will to power.

Individual psychology

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...

borrowed heavily from Nietzsche's work to develop his second Viennese school of psychotherapy called individual psychology. Adler (1912) wrote in his important book ''Über den nervösen Charakter (The Neurotic Constitution)'': Adler's adaptation of the will to power was and still is in contrast to Sigmund Freud's pleasure principle or the "will to pleasure", and to

Viktor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (; 26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and The Holocaust, Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's mean ...

logotherapy Logotherapy is a form of existential therapy developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. It is founded on the premise that the primary motivational force of individuals is to find meaning in life. Frankl describes it as "the Third V ...

or the "will to meaning". Adler's intent was to build a movement that would rival, even supplant, others in psychology by arguing for the holistic integrity of psychological well-being with that of

social equality Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and social servi ...

. His interpretation of Nietzsche's will to power was concerned with the individual patient's overcoming of the superiority- inferiority dynamic. In ''Man's Search for Meaning'', Frankl compared his third Viennese school of psychotherapy with Adler's psychoanalytic interpretation of the will to power:

References

External links

''Der "Wille zur Macht" – ''kein'' Buch von Friedrich Nietzsche''
a selection of texts from Nietzsche's estate related to his philosophical concept and book projects "Wille zur Macht" ("Will to Power"), edited by Bernd Jung based on th
''Digital Critical Edition of Nietzsche’s Works''
2012/13
"Nietzsche – Will to Power"
a video explication of the will to power concept. {{Nietzsche Concepts in metaphysics Concepts in the philosophy of mind Free will Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Motivation Nihilism Power (social and political) concepts